"A concept release that relates the story of a man, who is deeply convinced that machines are controlling the world he lives in, feeding on people to grow stronger. Under their influence, he feels constantly observed. He tries to run and hide, in a never-ending race."
Grind-O-Matic issued that Orwellian blurb above in regards to their latest digital EP—2023's, Influencing Machine. And I know what some of you are thinking, but a grindcore concept album isn't unheard of, yet it isn't exactly the norm in a genre that boasts songs that are just seconds long. Grind-O-Matic is making something of a habit out of themed albums. Their prior 2018 full-length, Regular Singularity, is a concept album of a similar climate about the dangers and ethics of technology, in particular, robotics and artificial intelligence. Now if that isn't topical as fuck then I don't know what is.
With the further integration of ChatGPT, the fears regarding Deepfake technology, Amazon brand industrialism, data collecting and the Hollywood general strike, things are looking bleaker and bleaker. Regular Singularity and Influencing Machine are definitely straddling that line between Nineteen Eighty-Four's Big Brother totalitarianism and Skynet's anti-human/pro-AI genocidal offensive. Both of which are becoming less science fiction and more a grim reality. Grind-O-Matic has seemingly nailed the latest of humanity's upcoming extinction events with an aberrant grindcore EP laced with personality.
With a band name that is obviously pulled from the fittingly monikered vintage commercial meat grinder and food chopper, these French Parisian prognosticators are representing a unique, yet growing grindcore genre of that spacey technical grind. Think a little Psudoku chopped up with a little Gridlink with maybe some Napalm Death thrown in on the side. Grind-O-Matic are combining a lot of influences in and out of the grindcore genre, but are also implementing those influences in an atypical way.
Right away, Influencing Machine begins with the band's signature vocal plow over forty-five seconds of an increasingly rising electronic loop that sounds very akin to Air's "Sexy Boy," before fading into twenty seconds of a somber clean guitar instrumental ballad. This is merely the intro to track one, "The Cyclop's Eye" and is not what you'd immediately expect as an average grindcore opener. In fact, that electronic loop makes a reprise on the fourth and final track; bookending the EP with the electronica crescendo. It's an immediate window into the eccentric type of grindcore that Grind-O-Matic are peddling.
When "The Cyclop's Eye" does go all-out, it rips into succinct and concise guitar riffs that boast a higher than usual timber that is melodic and brings to mind a tone similar to Takafumi Matsubara's work. This is more implied when the guitar turns towards a more technical, pianistic style of fretwork that uses progressiveness and scales to bring some dissonance and a sense of thronging. The guitar tone has that bright, rich sound that has a nice snap, but refrains from being too brutish or menacing. It's vibrant and wound and has a crafty lightness to it. Again, very akin to the likes of Gridlink.
The bass guitar on Influencing Machine is doing something very interesting and not something I remember hearing in grindcore before—or at least in recent memory. In addition to standard playing, the bassist is often sliding slowly up and down the fretboard in key with the guitar. This is appealing to me for several reasons. Firstly, this is a great way to create atmosphere and space within the songs, as well as keeping the bass up and discernable in the mix. But, as a bass player myself, I often employed this tactic when jamming in bands just to change things up and entertain myself. It was always fun and effective and works to great effect here.
Vocally, Grind-O-Matic are not too far askew from the archetypal grindcore vocals, but they are just as progressive and quirky as the guitars. The band's duel vocals intertwine among each other and they mostly stay in the overly deep growling gutturals; similar to that of Napalm Death's Barney Greenway. They have that heavy cadence that sounds like the shaking of a half-empty box of nails. Yet, they also have the tendency to peak in shrill high pitch cries that border on tortured. In the case of the song "Mechanical Beings," the vocals run the full gamut and then bottom out towards the end in a sort of Gregorian chant-esque drone.
If you're familiar with these types of grindcore bands that are playing in this similar style, than you can imagine the drumming is explosive and can switch on a dime—a requirement due to the sporadic and shifting guitarwork. Thankfully, Grind-O-Matic's drummer is no slouch. The closed hi-hats during the more spacey guitar squalls and the rock steady blast beats during the full tilt grind portions and abrupt flourishes are all present and played to perfection. There's nothing too flashy, outside of the speed of playing within the genre itself, just good solid drumming.
With only four tracks and one of them being a non-grindcore instrumental, Influencing Machine seems excessively short. And that's kind of the point. The digital EP seems to be a teaser of sorts, acting as a glorified demo for things to come. Influencing Machine is a precursor to a future full-length that Grind-O-Matic plan to release in the fall, celebrating the band's twentieth anniversary. Meaning that the band is embracing and exploiting this time of technological ruination and the modern corruption of automation. It also means that despite my now irreparable tardiness in publishing these reviews, I was punctual enough to release this review prior to that yet unnamed full-length release.
Influencing Machine, itself, is crystal clear, polished and well mixed. It is pretty exceptional for an in-house mixing and mastering job. Grind-O-Matic definitely have a memorable sound that you can tell comes from consummate professionals. The kind of musicianship that is talented without being showy or unrelieved. There's a clear vision with a clear message and an almost abstract way of getting there. But Grind-O-Matic are not absent the necessary speed and aggression. They carry that metal heft of Antigama with the nimbleness of Gridlink. There's more of the latter in this recent EP and more of the former in the band's past releases, in my opinion.
From the sounds of things, Grind-O-Matic are manufacturing a sound for themselves that is distinct in a genre that might lack what could be considered audible diversity, and they are doing it well. The band is experienced and they know what they're doing. They're fighting the good fight on the frontlines of the war of man vs. machine while also getting kind of weird with it. And I, for one, am here for it.
FFO: Antigama, Psudoku, Brutal Blues, Gridlink
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