Versus Machine is Stephen Tilley (vocals/guitar), Michael James Stipe (bass), and Brian Doherty (drums), a powerhouse trio blending post-grunge, alternative rock, and psychedelia. Tilley and Doherty reconnected in 2021 after nearly a decade apart, reigniting their creative spark with Stipe joining soon after, the band quickly found its name and sound. The trio have recently released their latest album `II`.
The album begins with `Pterodactyl` which is a kind of extinct flying reptile whose urban interpretation is of an old-fashioned person, one resistant to change, an opinionated, imposing, or noisy person. We enjoy a heavy doom driven opening before it becomes more reflective and kind of thoughtful. There`s a break two thirds of the way through as the number becomes more not aggressive but robust and cadenced. Intricate chords guide us into `Runaway` another contemplative number with vocals that relay a kind of exasperation. As the track evolved I found myself enveloped in its many layers of sound.
`Blanket` really shimmers and had me absorbed in thoughts of my own as this delightfully meditative composition progressed. We have a sort of brief jam in `Interlude I` lasting just over a minute in length.
`Gimmick` isn`t as the title would suggest a trick or device intended to attract attention but a more heavier stoner come doom tinged submission. There`s a lightness to `Seafoam` which does seem to mirror the effect of frothy bubbles created on the ocean’s surface when waves and wind mix with dissolved organic matter.
`Acid Rain` is a further pensive offering which becomes absorbingly reflective as it progresses with some enticingly weighty riffs and had touches of Floyd. We enjoy a further jam with `Interlude II` which lasts ninety seconds and is much more provocative.
`Red Queen` may refer to the hypothesis that suggests that a species must evolve to keep up with their enemies, who are also evolving. It a more vigorous presentation that is reflective, a little dreamy but at the same time wonderfully hypnotic. There was for me a feeling of a space odyssey or journey being undertaken in `Time Machine`, albeit that the title refers to a fictional device that allows people or objects to travel to the past or future.
`Going Home` is a tender gentle piece which feels like an illusionary or imagined guide steering a safe passage homeward bound. The final cut `Creatures` begins with what sounds like a haunting whale`s pulsed call. It then takes us on a floating drifting voyage of sound in praise of these almost mythical marine mammals.
Versus Machine`s `II` is an album that needs to be allowed the time to really seep into your psyche. It has some rhythmic and rock like riffs with passages of aural soundscapes that are fairly robust and others that are gently melodic and emotive. It, as has been as previously conveyed, fuses elements of post-grunge, alternative rock and psychedelia into a shimmering scintillating listen that at times has the ability to shine like a beacon of light in a dark world. Once you`ve listened to in it its entirety, I’d suggest you set the dial to zero and start again.
Rating 8/10
