Scream Machine - Devil Bitch

After recently interviewing Scream Machine, I can't deny being curious and excited about the sound of 12th release "Devil Bitch". With strong memories of "Zero" in my head, I press play to see how far evolved from the Sludgy Guitar work and "bitch from hell" inspired vocals.

Immediately, I'm hit in the Mouth by "Mouth". It starts with a fast Drum segment very similar to Deicide and other Death Metal acts, and then the Guitar comes in, which is much, much heavier than I expected. I almost thought I was listening to an album by Burning Witch or Thorr's Hammer.

When pushed to label Scream Machine, I always lean towards using the legend "Deathrock", but more recent offerings have reflected the term "Machine Rock" - although I'm hardly a fan of giving Industrial any more quirky sub-genres than it already has, this title seems fitting. "Disease" for example has Guitar work that reminds me of the Jaws theme, heavily downtuned and played through a very, very pissed off Robot.

Interestingly, I was following the progress of the band on the run up to this release, and at no point to my knowledge have the band mentioned how heavy the Guitar on here is - I almost feel it's unintentional. One thing that is apparent however, is that the feedback I gave on the previous review has been acknowledged.

"Waste" features what I believe to be the first time a guest musician has featured on an SM record, and Medavon from Lockjaw is the individual in question.

By far and away, my candidate for the best track on here falls to "The Witching Hour" - it's a little slower and calmer than the average track, but has that element to it that makes me think of when I was 9 and used to watch Horror Movies, then spend hours staring at the TV looking like an absolute idiot trying to catch food in my mouth. The Bell tolling fits the track ideally.
It's eerily reminiscent in times to Danzig's "6:66 Satan's Child" - the album isn't welcomed and received by everyone in the genre, but those who like it rate it as a Desert Island Disc. I'm undecided if Scream Machine are at a place where they can claim that kind of loyalty among their fan base, but this is definately, undeniably, their finest work yet.

Finally, it's important to talk about the title track, which should always be among the finest on the album. Fortunately, it is one of the best tracks on here, with an intro that makes it instantly recognisable.

I do still have concerns that people coming into the world of Sin and Cosmo might find it hard to relate, due to the way the music and vocals are fiddled together - it's contrary to other bands such as Deadstar Assembly, but when was the last time a band got flamed for being original?

This isn't hugely different to "Zero", but it is better, and lessons have been learnt. Labels are contacting the band, and their fanbase seems to have increased significantly.

On a closing note, I feel the band are at the top of the game when it comes to self-promotion. Referring to their last 2 releases, their official fanpage has the following litany :
"We summoned the Electrowitch. Then we counted down to Zero and now... the Devil Bitch will walk this earth in just a very short amount of time."

Brilliant. Jun 10 2011