DE STAAT – Machinery

De Staat may be a name new to many, yet in their native Holland their 2009 debut release Wait For Evolution created quite a stir, cracking the Dutch Top 20 and their reputation was enhanced further by some headline-stealing performances at the Pinkpop and Glastonbury festivals, amongst others.

Wait For Evolution was 8 years in the making, and was created on a laptop with two microphones and one guitar. The approach to Machinery, however, is more of a conventional effort following recruitment of a full band whose craft was refined whilst out on the road. With Machinery, main man Torre Florim has grasped the ideas laid down on the debut and taken them much, much further to create his perfect vision of De Staat.

Album opener “Ah I See” sets a frantic pace with a driving, hard-hitting bass line, treading the sort of path that Nick Cave would take if he joined Queens Of The Stone Age and jammed with Therapy. It’s dark, mysterious, and powerful. The first couple of spins may leave you scratching your head somewhat, but persevere as repeated plays do reveal a multitude of delights for those not looking for an instant fix.

Possibly the best song on the album would be “I’ll Never Marry You” with its deceptively upbeat tempo that comes across as a sort of twisted REM track with a huge slab of Masters Of Reality for good measure. Given the right exposure, this may just have enough to give De Staat a bit of a hit. “Old MacDonald Don’t Have No Farm No More” with its call/response chant and its “We Will Rock You” anthemic claps will be a sure crowd pleaser when the band hits the road in support of this release.

Each song is totally different from the others and this could leave something of a rag tag collection of mismatched music, however De Staat manage to keep Machinery cohesive and flowing.
The music is so difficult to pigeonhole. Is it Metal? Is it Indie? Is it Rock? Who cares? When it’s this good just sit back and enjoy. For those who prefer straightforward Metal, you may want to look elsewhere, but for those who want to try something just a little bit different and varied, Machinery could be just want you are looking to discover.