NEED – The Wisdom Machine

Need is a Greek band that was formed by a guitarist named Ravaya, sometime in 2003, in the country’s capital, Athens. Their debut demo CD, entitled Avoidinme, was released one year later, receiving significant attention with some enthusiastic reviews from the press. This response convinced the Greek record label Burning Star to offer these Greeks a record deal, giving them the ability of releasing their debut full-length album that was later entitled The Wisdom Machine.

The difficult task is to tag Need’s music. The first things that come to mind are that Need plays Modern Metal with some clear Stoner Rock influences, focusing on the low-tuned guitars and “dirty” sound.

Almost all of the Greek bands suffer from the “singer” illness, where the singer’s accent that stems from the Greek language’s pronunciation complexity is noticeable with English vocals. Speaking of vocals, Jon’s influences start with Metallica, then pass to Pantera and stop for a while near Armored Saint. All of these influences create a unique performing style, giving the band the advantage of forming a more personal sound.

Apart from the Stoner distinct directions, there are some Progressive Metal breaks enriching Need’s sound. This kind of musical attitude can be found in “Sea of Lost” with some pretty good guitar arpeggios and leads. The chunky and crisply rhythm guitars bring in a Nu-Metal in-your-face attitude in songs like “Torn” and “Twinsoul.”

The homonymous 11-minute song is the best moment of the album, merging all of the bands musical influences. The track kicks in with a slow and melodic tempo, and then gains some speed, turning towards the Modern sound. The Jazzy break somewhere in the middle has some interesting guitar fills and the a la Mastodon guitar riffs create a great music diversity.

The ton heavy tunes like “7H” and “Stroll of Choice” offer some quality headbanging time, revealing some Machine Head add-ons.

The sound production of the album could be clearer, especially during the melodic Progressive breaks (like in “Sutanatus”), but this is something that can be improved in future releases.

Overall, The Wisdom Machine is an impressive debut release, proving that the Greek Metal scene is evolving, giving birth to new hopeful bands. The difficult-to-tag music of Need under a specified genre is a sign of creativeness, and definitely deserves the attention of the Metal scene. Just go to the following links to learn more about this most interesting quartet from Greece.