Ancient Machine – Ancient Machine

Judging by their band name and title, you’d be forgiven for thinking Ancient Machine were a full-on metal band, appearances can be deceptive.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Ancient Machine
ALBUM: Ancient Machine
LABEL: Self Released
YEAR: 2021

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Emerson Tanaka – bass, drum programming * Thale Maciel – lead vocals * Kiki Dittert – guitars

TRACK LISTING: 01 Every Single Day * 02 Again And Again * 03 Listen To Your Heart * 04 Are You Ready * 05 Love Could Last Forever * 06 Never Surrender * 07 We Are Alive * 08 Last Love Letter * 09 Stay Stronger * 10 I Can’t Wait

RATING:

WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

Ancient Machine are a trio from Vancouver, formed during the hazy lockdown daze of 2020. Judging by their band name and title, you’d be forgiven for thinking Ancient Machine were a full-on metal band. Appearances can be deceptive, but no, the trio sit closer to the likes of Von Groove and other Canadian rockers playing in that style. The fact that they describe themselves as a melodic rock / AOR band on their website should be a dead giveaway.

The Songs

This debut album is ten songs deep, there are traces of keyboard introductions before guitar leads kick in to give the songs its intended impetus. Like many bands I’ve reviewed previously, Ancient Machine sound better when they ramp things up.

Conversely, they sound exposed when handling the more delicate tracks such as ballads. When you’re operating in this genre, hard and soft compositions came with the territory. Getting it right is not always an easy thing.

There are a couple of goodies, ‘Are You Ready’ and ‘Never Surrender’ stand out because they rock out slightly more. The latter is comparable to Rob Moratti and Final Frontier but without the helium vocals from Rob. The heaviest track is probably ‘We Are Alive’, while ‘Listen To Your Heart’ also has moments of appeal.

In Summary

Ancient Machine have created this package themselves, and we can only wonder what a bigger production could have achieved. Drum programming was utilised throughout, but in this genre, a real drummer would have made a significant impression I think. A very good start nonetheless, certainly a band to keep an eye out for looking forward.

Video

Never Surrender

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