The Banishment - Machine And Bone (2023)
George Lynch tries his hand at applying more nuanced guitar playing to industrial music by teaming up with sequencer Joe Haze and vocalist Devix Szell, along with a few guest vocalists.
- Reaction - Plaintive, heavily processed guitars break into a more familiar bluesy Lynch groove, then slip into a synth-driven verse with slightly scream-tinged vocals. A riff with prominent harmonics leads into a solid chorus, then an atmospheric bridge builds back into the chorus. An industrial interlude with a Lynchy lead rolls back into the chorus again, then a nice melodic outro and a reprise of the opening. Good stuff that sets the tone for the rest of the album. 7/10.
- Max Pain - An insistent industrial rhythm is joined by a beefy riff and a hint of the chorus. Richard Patrick of Filter provides guest vocals here. A moody, bass-driven verse breaks back into a slightly screamy but appealing chorus. Another verse, chorus, and verse, and then Lynch offers up a fairly chaotic yet repetitive solo before a final escalating series of choruses. Another good one, 7/10.
- Right - A cool mellow groove with some nice guitar accents leads into a melodic verse. Tommy Victor of Prong offers guest vocals here. The guitars pick up a bit, then blossom into a heavy, soaring chorus. Another round of verse and chorus, then we get a cool variant chorus and a more subdued melodic bridge before returning to the chorus and more variants. Really good with some great parts, probably does enough to round it up to an 8/10.
- Lost Horizon - A distorted bluesy guitar intro slips into a more sinister industrial groove. A half-spoken verse soon gives way to a bluesy, yet uplifting and very industrial chorus with some semi-screamy delivery. The second verse starts off more melodic, but then the vocals get non-melodic and very theatrical before returning to the appealing chorus. An atmospheric spoken word interlude with some guitar accents eventually bursts back into the chorus, which gets some new guitar flourishes and a great outro solo. The verses with the over-the-top vocals are a weakness here, but everything else about the song is strong, so I think it salvages a 7/10.
- The Dread - A bluesy riff is joined by guest vocalist and Godhead founder Jason Charles Miller for a melodic verse that blooms into a big bluesy chorus. Another round of verse and chorus, then we get a strong uplifting bridge and an instrumental interlude capped by a very bluesy solo before a final return to the chorus. Good stuff, though Miller’s voice reminds me a bit of Oni Logan, and combining that with the lack of industrial trappings this song winds up feeling more like a Lynch Mob track than a Banishment track. Still a 7/10.
- Reunion - Industrial rhythms, electric piano, and gentle guitar accents support a soft melodic verse. This opens up into a pleasant atmospheric chorus that flows into a nice interlude. Another round of verse and chorus, then we get another mellow interlude with a heavily effect-laden and gentle extended solo from Lynch. A final chorus and verse close things out. Another consistently good song, 7/10.
- Terra Nullius - Creepy guitar samples break into an industrial groove with some off-kilter rhythm guitar and vocal riffing. We get some more permutations of this with a chorus of sorts (though the vocals are more in the background), then a striking interlude with bold ringing clean guitar and some bluesy but atmospheric guitar leads that eventually blossom into a more soaring solo lead that fades away to end the song. This almost-instrumental is a little directionless at the start, but really gains focus in the back half of the track. Let’s say 6/10.
- Got What You Want - A synthetic groove with little shouts morphs into a solid verse and an OK non-melodic chorus with guitar riffage underneath. Another round of verse and chorus, then we get kind of a weird schizophrenic spoken and screamed bridge, followed by a pretty dope riff with the chorus screamed on top, then a great guitar solo. An atmospheric interlude eventually flows back into the chorus, then a rocking outro with several very hard stops. The verse and chorus are pretty mediocre here, but the instrumental parts elevate this enough to salvage a 6/10.
- Terror - A mechanical rhythm with equally mechanical but cool lead work breaks into an OK verse. Tommy Victor returns on vocals. The pre-chorus is more subdued and melodic, but it breaks into a peppier rhythm-focused chorus with nice guitar accents. Another round of verse through chorus, then an odd variant pre-chorus leads back into the chorus to end the song. The verse is the weak link here, but I think the other elements are strong enough to round this up to a 7/10.
- Machine And Bone - An industrial groove with atmospheric guitar underpins a rhythm-focused verse that blooms into a queasy melodic chorus. A brief spoken word interlude rolls back into another verse and chorus, then a second spoken word interlude with nice color work on the guitar flows into an extended instrumental before returning to the chorus to close out the album. There are a number of good elements here, but some other choices hold it back a bit, so let’s say 6/10.
Average: 6.8/10
Weighted: 6.8/10
George Lynch has apparently been a fan of industrial music for some time, and he always wanted to try bringing a higher level of guitar playing to the genre. This album is his attempt to do just that, and it’s largely successful, though nothing on it really blew my socks off.
It’s interesting to hear Lynch outside his wheelhouse like this, playing some intentionally repetitive and mechanical parts, while also bringing in his more signature sounds and a great deal of nuance in his playing around the edges of the music. Sometimes it feels a little incongruous, but most of the time it elevates the material.
The singing is a bit of a mixed bag, with Devix’s delivery in particular being overly non-melodic and theatrical at times (though this is consistent with the genre), but the guest singers generally deliver well, as does Devix when he keeps it melodic. The songwriting is also constrained a bit by the expectations of the genre, and I think these factors are what held the music back from greatness most of the time.
Still, this is a good and enjoyable album overall, and an interesting curiosity for Lynch fans, especially ones who enjoy industrial music.
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