| Guilt Machine On This Perfect Day |
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 | Tracklist:
1. Twisted Coil
2. Leland Street
3. Green and Cream
4. Season of Denial
5. Over
6. Perfection?
Release Date: 09/29/2009 | |
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On 3 Lists
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| Summary: Arjen Lucassen's newest musical venture takes a dip into the feelings of guilt with a haunting, yet beautiful approach that truly provides a new view for the Ayreon mastermind. |
Arjen Lucassen's latest musical masterpiece is one of a more reserved nature than his more famous Ayreon project. Guilt Machine features only one prominent vocalist, Jasper Steverlinck, in addition to backing vocals provided by Arjen himself and guitarist Lori Linstruth.
Guilt Machine takes Arjen's music in a much more mellow, ambient, and in many cases, more depressing direction, while still maintaining many of the synth lines, spacey chorus phrases, and lyrical themes which have made Arjen's music iconic and instantly recognizable.
The album draws both a strength and weakness in its long track sizes. A strength in that the tracks are long enough to pull you in and compel you to listen to the whole track, and from there, the whole album; a weakness in that many of the songs contain several sections which could, for all intents and purposes, be easily broken into separate, shorter songs for more casual listening.
As with all of Lucassen's albums, however, there is always something to be said about listening to the album in full. And again, as usual, many of the tracks make use of long breaks from one style only to return to it later in the track, lending some purpose to the longer structure of the tunes.
For the lack of vocalists on this album as compared to an Ayreon album, Guilt Machine certainly does not seem wanting. As a matter of fact, at times, it even makes past Ayreon CDs seem overbearing. The usual 1-3 vocalists on Guilt Machine seem natural, while albums such as Into the Electric Castle feel a bit cumbersome in comparison. However, Guilt Machine still leaves albums featuring only one voice such as The Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator feeling slightly hollow.
It seem as if with this album, Arjen has hit his stride musically, and while the formula may very well not be one applied to his Ayreon project (and, being an entirely different entity, it should not be), this lineup and arrangement certainly seem to come together to form an album worthy of the adage "form follows function;" hitting things just so to create an album that's just right.
Recommended Tracks
Twisted Coil
Green and Cream
Season of Denial
Perfection?
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