The God Machine - Scenes from the second storey

The God Machine formed in San Diego at the end of the eighties. Like Sparks many years earlier, they moved to the UK in order to increase their chances of success, shedding a guitarist in the process. They recorded and released the three track Purity EP, which was well received by the UK music press. They then signed to Fiction records, releasing two excellent albums. Bassist Jimmy Fernandez died from a brain tumor during the recording of their second album, One Last Laugh in a Place of Dying, leading the two remaining members to call it quits. Vocalist/guitarist Robin Proper-Sheppard later went on to form the vastly underrated Sophia.

The God Machine's debut album Scenes from the second storey is a alternative/gothic/atmospheric rock masterpiece. It is unashamedly epic in vision, scope and length (78 minutes). The sound ranges from sparse and restrained to mesmerising and skull-crushingly heavy. Drummer Ronald Austin played using mallets rather than conventional drumsticks, giving the drums an almost orchestral intensity. Proper-Sheppards vocals are piercing, malevolent, yet melodic. The album features re-recordings of all tracks from the Purity EP.

Opener Dream Machine starts funeral paced, with backwards masking and spooky sound effects, before launching into a mid-paced heavy track full of grand gestures. She Said is the closet the band come to the musical fashions of the time, starting of fast-paced with a Smashing Pumpkins type riff, before changing to a slower tempo midtrack.

The Blind Man commences with acoustic guitar picking and world weary vocals, evolving into an malevolent, funeral paced track, before changing pace for a long instrumental coda. I've seen the man is a shorter, heavy mid-tempo track. The Desert Song starts with a sound collage featuring eastern vocals and ambient atmospheric noise, leading into a circular, descending guitar riff, a rolling tom based beat, and underlying eastern wailing and sampled voices.

Home starts with more eastern wailing, evolving into a slow tempo, grinding track propelled along by a subterranean, epic bass riff. It's all over is driven by a slow tempo bass riff, with the guitar providing ambient noodling. Temptation is an instrumental, based around a single heavy guitar riff, with a second guitar alternating between ambient noise, shoegazer-like noise and feedback.

Out starts with clean guitar, before evolving into a mid tempo, heavy track. Ego starts with a bass riff and ambient guitar noise, before the drums crash in, leading into a slow tempo track with an epic guitar riff and piercing vocals.

Seven is the albums epic. It slowly builds up to the eight minute mark, before dropping back down to bass, drums, ambient guitar and slowly building again over the next 8 minutes. Purity is another slow builder, starting with acoustic guitar and cello. Closer The Piano Song features piano and bass with background noises.




The God Machine - 1993 - Scenes from the second storey

1. Dream Machine
2. She Said
3. The Blind Man
4. I've seen the man
5. The Desert Song
6. Home
7. It's all over
8. Temptation
9. Out
10. Ego
11. Seven
12. Purity
13. The Piano Song

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