The pandemic tore through the heart of the world, bringing it to a halt and inflicting silence and solitude in its wake. Rising from this stillness and the aftermath of a band breakup, Dan, a Manchester-based artist, created the alt-rock project, These Dead Machines which bursts with life, passion, and energy. Channeling raw emotion and artistic exploration through his soundscapes, These Dead Machines creates a bold, immersive, and distinct listening experience. After building a buzz with earlier releases, the artist unveils “Any Minute Now,” his debut album, which brings deep lyrical explorations of love, loss, hope, struggle, and strength through genre-fusing, emotionally-charged, multi-textured tracks.
“Subatomic Heart” opens the album to a dark, gritty, pulsating start setting the tone for what’s to come. A masterful and artful blend of distortion and dazzling textures, the music forms through heaving, wailing riffs, pounding, pacing drums, and emotive, emphatic vocal melodies. Raw emotion converges with industrial, intense sonic atmospheres paving way for a rousing, unforgettable sound.
“Phantoms” keeps the feel and momentum of the earlier track, erupting with charged vocal melodies, searing, shrill riffs, and stomping drum beats. The anthemic spirit carries on, and the emotional resonance deepens with each track.
“Hello World” veers into brighter atmospheres, with reflective yet melancholic guitars, dynamic beats, and richer vocal layers. The lush harmonies perfectly balance the grittier fabric of the riffs, forming a shoegaze-soaked-rock tapestry that is as stirring as it is soothing.
“So Skywards” takes the gravelly distortion, jangly melodic vividity, and speeding pace of the music up a notch. There’s a euphoric, frenzied, and exuberant instrumental atmosphere and vocal disposition to this track that surely does make you feel like you’re on an ascending journey into the blue expanse.
“Heartstrings” makes a stark and sublime shift in the sonic direction of the album. Slipping into a mellow and melancholic tone, the song takes shape through soft, contemplative guitar melodies, gentle beats, and tender vocal performance. This track showcases the artist’s ability to traverse various aural textures, intensity, and energy, bringing both weighty and wistful atmospheres with the same emotional honesty and depth.
The next few songs towards the second half of the album, “Illuminate,” “Signals,” “Recovery,” and “Lucky” pick back up the signature rough sheen of the sound, ringing in more of that experimental, electronic edge. There are shimmery infusions, soaring highs, driving beats, dissonant polishes, radiant flourishes, and emotive interludes, all packed tightly and seamlessly into each track, displaying the textural and tonal vastness of this album.
“Long Shadows” ends the album with a slower, somber ambiance. There is an air of introspective stillness and weight to this track that makes it a grounding experience after a gripping journey through the previously heavy and high-octane atmospheres.
“Any Minute Now” is a compelling debut album that emerges from audaciously authentic expression of creativity and introspection. With varying textures that are cohesively melded together, this album is testament to the artist’s ability to connect seemingly contrasting ends into a whole circle. The themes in the album are both deeply personal and universally felt—like melancholy, angst, resilience, and more—making it a rewarding and resonant journey both sonically and emotionally. These Dead Machines is a promising, powerful voice in the alt-rock scene. Listen to “Any Minute Now” here!
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