Damn
the Machine
After leaving
(or being kicked out of) Megadeth in 1987, guitarist Chris Poland issued a solo album,
"Return to Metalopolis" (1990). He resurfaced a few years later with
new band Damn the Machine, which included his brother Mark Poland on drums,
as well as Dave Clemmons on vocals/guitar, and David Randi on bass.
Damn the Machine (A&M) 1993
1. "The Mission"
(5:40)
2. "Fall Or Order" (3:44)
3. "Corporate Reign" (3:31)
4. "Honor" (3:49)
5. "Lonesome God" (3:26)
6. "On With the Dream" (4:31)
7. "Patriot" (2:47)
8. "I Will" (2:49)
9. "Silence" (3:28)
10. "Russians" (4:19)
11. "Countryside" (3:20)
12. "Humans" (4:24)
A good prog-metal disc by ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. The music is not "over the top" progressive though, it much more heavy and raw than most of what qualifies as progressive metal in the 90's. The song writing is mostly in the mid-tempo range with melodic clean, yet aggressive vocals. Damn the Machine are not an 80's throwback either. While there are certainly some comparisons that could be made to Megadeth, D.T.M. have adopted some more modern tones as well. Each track possesses it's own personality and style. Each, however, are full of excellent guitar work and decent song writing. Tracks like "Lonesome God," feature quick riff and tempo changes yet the track is only three-and-a-half minutes in length. Lengthy songs is a progressive metal stereotype that this band avoids. However, it's Chris Poland's lead guitar work that is ultimately one of the highlights of this album. Just check out the lead in the mellow-dramatic "Silence" or the dynamic "Countryside" and see if it doesn't leave shred fans drooling. To bad this was the only album that Damn the Machine ever released. I can only imagine what else they could have come up with since their debut is quite good.