CD Review: Blacklodge - MachinatioN

Written by Colin McNamara Monday, 06 August 2012 09:21

Artist: Blacklodge
Title: MachinatioN
Genre: Industrial Black Metal
Release Date: 22nd June 2012
Label: Season Of Mist

Album Review

When one usually lumps Industrial and Black Metal together, the result tends to fall into two spectrums- gladly innovative or god awful. Fortunately, BLACKLODGE of France continues to put out music in the category of “gladly innovative”. Or at least it probably seemed that way for the first two albums. ‘MachinatioN’ is the band’s fourth album and fastest release to date (usually it takes them three to four years to get an album out). Not much has changed for the formula as far as the sound goes; it is mostly a mix of industrial thick beats that would be probably heard on DODHEISMGARD combined with the rather slow, but catchy riffs of Black n’ Roll that would be enjoyed by fans of SATYRICON. Tracks like ‘Neo.Black.Magic’ have large heaps of groove to them but pay the price with repetitive riffs. ‘Industrial Temple MysticA’ mixes a DIMMU BORGIR style of vocoded vocals with synth and almost a doomy pace for a darker techno atmosphere. The music is highly infectious and despite the raw feeling of it, comes off as sinister and clean so fans of both Black Metal and Industrial/ Dance can find the music enjoyable without feeling like this is laughable with some of its maniacal moments.

On the downside, however, after a while things seem like to be a one trick pony. Aside from ‘TridenT’ and ‘Culto al Sol’ the music tends to stay in the neutral gear of being mid paced. While this does make the music more accessible to most fans- old and new- after a while even the most seasoned fans (unless they really LOVE the Industrial genre) will feel the strain. And on the increased pace of the tracks that do seem faster, the band doesn’t do much to accomplish this. They just increase the BPM on the drums. Thankfully, the BPMs are varied as well so it doesn’t feel like the entire thing was set on autopilot the whole time. ‘The Other Side’ seems to have the most Industrial influence of all by cutting out the vocals and tossing in recorded samples here and there among the beats to make the atmosphere more mechanical, but it still feels like the band could have done a bit more to make it a real wild ride and a great way to close the album. Still, this is a mainstay for those who like Industrial Black Metal and the like or those who have followed BLACKLODGE from the beginning. The machine may be wearing down but if it’s not broken, don’t bother altering it.


Tracklist

01. TridenT - 4:17
02. NeutroN ShivA [Sun, Walk with Me!] - 3:57
03. Neo.Black.Magic - 4:09
04. Industrial Temple MysticA - 6:51
05. Antichrist Ex Machina - 4:22
06. Order of the Baphomet - 5:54
07. Empire's Hymn - 4:57
08. All Seeing Eye - 3:46
09. Culto al Sol [SolarKult] - 3:50
10. The Other Side - 5:38


Line-up

AcidJess- Bass
Narcotic- Guitars
Saint Vincent- Vocals, Guitars, Drums


Website

http://www.loginsatan.org/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10