Band:	New Keepers Of The Water Towers
Album:	Infernal Machine
Style:	Doom metal, Progressive rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	March 04, 2016
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. The Forever War
02. Tracks Over Carcosa
03. Tachyon Deep
04. Misantropin Kallar
05. Escape Aleph Minor
06. Jorden
07. This Infernal Machine

A modern shaman once firmly told us that psychedelics are not illegal because compassionate governments are concerned about you jumping out windows when you're too high, but rather because they open you up to questioning and the possibility that everything you've been told is wrong. But we all know that's a load of crap. It's really because no feds want mischief makers like New Keepers Of The Water Towers tripped out all day recording silly tributes to the Sun God when they could instead be active, productive members of the labor force. But I certainly don't mind it.

Infernal Machine, the third full length from these psyched out Swedish musicians, comes as a slight change of pace considering their past efforts, as it is far less heavy and grounded in an actual "stoner metal" type sound, and is instead focused on more of an actual psychedelic rock direction and exploring spacey atmospheres in an extended jam type of approach. This shift falters a bit on opening track "The Forever War," which feels a bit like a very long intro that drags on and on, but from there it's executed rather well, especially on the extremely groovy "Tracks Over Carcosa." To complement further, occasionally some offbeat, odd rhythms evident of the band's progressive influence pop into the mix to make things even more interesting, most noticeably on "Escape Aleph Minor."

The one thing that comes as a slight downside in all of this is the considerable lack of vocals across Infernal Machine, as it is for the most part more of an instrumental psychedelic album than anything else. This isn't a real problem, as this sort of music has almost always been inclined towards a "music > vocals" type of formula, but the issue for New Keepers Of The Water Towers on this album is that vocals appear so infrequently that when they do appear, they almost feel a bit sudden and out of place amidst the larger sound going on in the background. Infernal Machine is by no means a bad album, but definitely one that would have benefited more either from a greater vocal presence, or simply no vocals at all (preferably the latter).

Although New Keepers Of The Water Towers had definitely planted seeds for a sound leaning more toward psychedelic jamming and krautrock than toward stoner metal on previous albums, it's really Infernal Machine that sees that experimentation coming to full fruition. Less heavy and more free flowing than past releases, some listeners may be deterred by the lack of weight and structure that the music here has by comparison. Others, however, may be intrigued to see the band go deeper down the rabbit hole with their sound, and that's an itch that Infernal Machine is almost guaranteed to satisfy.

Come along on the trip, flower children.