Like their cohorts Chemlab and Sister Machine Gun, Machines of Loving Grace
fail to find intensity in their fusion of post-industrial and hard rock.
Gilt's songs are the typical semi-quiet verses and loud thrashing
choruses. The guitars and bass have an overweight sound, like a fat, surly and
stupid man stomping on lady bugs just for spite.
"Solar Temple" breaks its legs and tears its black spandex on the way to the
hard-core show, when a half a minute of good techno rhythms are forsaken for
whispered vocals crushed under Metallica-esque guitars.
Sampling "Einsturzende Neubauten," the seminal German noise-art outfit, is the
best move Machines of Loving Grace made toward a sonically interesting album,
but as Scott Benzel sings on "Casual Users:" "We were casual users/ We were
young and stupid/ We never crossed over that line"
--Karen Sheets
