Metal Underground.com

Groove and brutality have seldom coexisted as well as they do on Marazene's "MachiNation." It's a smooth running industrial machine that will get your blood and your fist pumping. This Chicago-based band has a sound that's reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, and other industrial mainstays, without sounding derivative. Marazene's is a thick, multi-layered sound, with a wall of guitars, bass and drums existing alongside programmed electronic noise and samples. Small wonder then that when the band tours, the colorfully named mainstay members skUM (guitars, keyboards and programming), DieTrich Thrall (bass, guitars and vocals), and Kristov (drums) are joined by guitarists Daniel Gash and Jeph Stiph.

The album begins deceptively quietly, with the first part of "Bete NoiRe" featuring a quiet, creepy keyboard before the drums and guitars come crashing in. Kristov's hard hitting drumming powers this song, which features a welcome dose of anger and self-loathing in the lyrics. A sudden twist into dance floor territory and back into metal keeps things interesting as well.

"Infidel Society" has a bit of a Rob Zombie "Hellbilly Deluxe" feel in the beginning. It's less of a pure metal track, but has enough guitar bite and shouting that most metalheads won't mind.

Overall, there's a fair amount of variety on the disc, with metal-leaning tracks like "giVe (Skumf***erz)," "Self-WorTh," and "AnTiThesis," as well as more "glow-sticks-and-ecstasy-tabs" stuff like "XecuTe" and "(I) See The." The band even experiments with softer sounds on "tHere is BeauTy," which starts harsh and ends with what sounds like a single synthesized violin.

On the downside, there are too many tracks that just feel like samples and ambient noise. One of them, "MonStroSity," features a creepy sample of ravings by Charles Manson and works well. On the other hand, "A Prayer for the PaTheTic/The BirTH of wRaTh" and "MooGs LaMent" simply feel like filler, making the album seem longer than its 52 minutes.

Still, on balance, Marazene's "MachiNation" is a solid slab of industrial metal. It mixes anger with hooks and grooves and beauty with brutality in a way that will get your heart racing and your head banging.