Hailing from Manchester, England, The Machinist exploded into life back in 2020 with their abrasive, soul scouring debut album, I Am Void. Its relentless, hammering attack burned a path through the dark halls of the extreme metal underworld and fans who were left scarred by its passage have been waiting impatiently for the band to return, for another display of shock and awe tactics and overwhelming firepower. Well that wait is now over and The Machinist are set to unleash a new set of antagonistic anthems, infused with all the fury that possessed I Am Void…and a whole lot more. Contempt For Life is here!
Contempt For Life drags the listener into a broken world, a shattered, malignant vision of bleak and hopeless horror. The title track rages at our weaknesses, pitiless in its exposure of our folly, screaming at the arrogance that has brought humanity to this ending in ash…
“Crown yourself king and you reap your rewards, your own annihilation!”
From there we are lead beneath the towering, blackened monoliths of ‘Cathedrals Fall’ and through the shadowed enclaves and cold, black waters of ‘Gog’ and ‘Magog’, battered by punishing industrial thunder, flayed alive by riffs of surgical precision. Two tracks, ‘Contempt For Life’ and ‘Cathedrals Fall’, feature the final caustic vocal exhortations of former frontman Scott Walton (Reign Of Erebus), who sadly had to step down from his role, due to medical complications, before recording could be completed. His performances have been left untouched, a fitting tribute to his vital contribution to The Machinist. Perhaps Contempt For Life’s finest moment though is its last – the cataclysmic climax of ‘Cracks’. This haunting elixir of disturbing atmosphere and malefic intent, tumbles from the fragmenting ledge of sanity into a vortex of violence…ultimately leaving us lost, with no hope of rescue or return.
This second album from The Machinist retains all the exhilarating drive towards annihilation of its predecessor and adds new depths and dimensions to its unflinching nihilism. None of which allow even the slightest glimpse of light to penetrate the all consuming darkness.
Now joined with the USA’s enigmatic InViMa Records, The Machinist will launch Contempt For Life at the world on January 24th. Mixed and mastered by the renowned George Nerantzis (Abbath, Dark Funeral, Rotting Christ etc) and adorned in the artwork of Duncan Macpherson (Extinction Of Mankind, Deus Mori), this album captures the vehement entity that is The Machinist perfectly. Prepare to face a head-on, blasting collision with the terrifying truth of the human condition. There are no happy endings here.
