RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

The Venting Machine - A Death To Your Scene
Release Date: 2007
Track Listing:
1. Devilsmouthwash
2. The Big Nothing
3. Over The Edge
4. Greed Empire
5. Agnostic Minds
6. Jaqueline
7. Thinker
8. Mr. Shaker
9. The Beast Within
10. Friends On Fire

The Venting Machine’s second release, A Death To Your Scene, delivers the spirit of Bay Area metal the way it was intended. Despite a coincidental tendency to pull from influences such as Exodus, Death, old Metallica and even Lamb Of God, The Venting Machine still have a sound that is purely their own.

This self-produced and recorded album leaves no guess work up to the listener as the album kicks off into "Devil’s Mouthwash," introducing blistering guitar work, heavy double bass lines and brutal vocals right from the beginning. Following, TVM funnels into "Big Nothing" and "Over The Edge" - both epic and catchy, but do well in not allowing the heaviness factor to be compromised.

TVM’s classic Bay Area thrash roots are given away in tracks such as "Greed Empire" and "Agnostic Minds" - which they craft with their own brand of metal and couple with heavy blast beats, dual guitar solos and memorable, intense vocals. The versatility of musicianship is displayed even further for the melodic and haunting, damn-near Spanish guitar instrumental, "Jacqueline."

The last three or four songs are drenched in staggered, catchy guitar hooks, and self reflective lyrics that touch on the existence of being human in a sense of the word that few dare venture talk about.. "Thinker," a song about the dangers of thinking too much spoke to me, as I have a tendency to overanalyze everything!

The very catchy, high energy, blast-beat ridden "Beast Within" reminded me of the book, "Amusing Ourselves To Death," as my interpretation of the song spoke to the dangers of being too plugged into American media, in particular.

In regards to production, the album was recorded in the home of their guitarist, Jeremy Epp, without the use of computer or digital editing. Crystal clear mastering and compression coupled with seamless multi-track mixing made me forget that TVM only had one guitarist, half the time!

Solid album overall. It’s clear that these four guys, who’ve been friends two days longer than dirt (and have been playing as a band since 1998) had a lot of fun recording this album. It goes without saying that TVM pulled all the stops when working on this as displayed by not only the caliber of craftsmanship of the music, but in the lyrics and production as well. If you haven’t checked these guys out yet, it is long overdue for you to do so!

For more information on The Venting Machine, please visit:

www.theventingmachine.com