Band:	Treponem Pal
Album:	Weird Machine
Style:	Industrial metal
Release date:	March 24, 2008
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Dirty Dance
02. Planet Crash
03. Unclean
04. Hardcore Massive Soldier
05. The Mad Box
06. Sonic Life
07. Freak Machine
08. Human Attack
09. Evil Angel
10. One More Time
11. Never Give Up
12. Revolutionist [bonus track]
13. Religion [bonus track]

Considering the calibre of musicians involved with this album, as well as the tragic story of Paul Raven passing away while recording it, one would really wish for the results to be a magical expression of musical genius that puts everything else in the genre to shame. Unfortunately, Weird Machine doesn't satisfy at all in this regard and although it is far from being a complete disaster, it nevertheless definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

The greatest problem here is a lack of dynamics, which is tiresome for the listener in the long run. Most of the songs chug along at more or less the same tempo and even the various electronic distractions inserted here and there cannot save them from the arising sensation of tedium. Treponem Pal's greatest traits are actually still present here - Marco Neves' misanthropic lyrical musings are as cynically amusing as they ever were and the band is still apt at creating a memorable industrial metal groove, even if their current guitar player Polak is nowhere near as gifted as Michel Bassin. The production is also very appropriate - a deep mix of slow and heavy grinding that seems to suit Ted Parson's drumming perfectly. Nevertheless, besides sparse signs of inspiration in tracks like "Planet Crash", "Hardcore Massive Soldier" and "Evil Angel", the only highlights are the so called 'industrial ballads' that the band decided to compose for Weird Machine: "One More Time" and "Sonic Life" both tone down the guitar crunch and allow for Neves to sing with more finesse, a stark contrast with the bark he adapts on the other songs. It really is a shame that for the remaining duration of the album the band seems content on just chugging away without much inspiration...

Weird Machine is not a complete dud; however, it is definitely a disappointment since we are dealing with a band that is the unsung hero in the whole industrial metal genre. The monotonous songs do not allow Ted Parsons to unleash his trademark nuanced drumming and the bass parts are similarly uninteresting. Clearly, the band wanted to create an oppressive trance inducing monolith of a record but took the monotony level too far and ended up making an album that overstays its welcome. It is still worth listening to, but only for diehard fans and the curious.