Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day 5/5

01. Twisted Coil 11:43 02. Leland Street 08:03 03. Green and Cream 10:32 04. Season of Denial 10:22 05. Over 06:11 06. Perfection 10:46

“it won’t be Ayreon, that’s for sure.” - Arjen Lucassen

The above quote was given during our interview with Arjen Lucassen in April 2008 when work had just begun on Guilt Machine. Arjen has proven true to his word.

If you are expecting another Ayreon epic telling the sprawling tale of knights and wizards, space travel and aliens then this album is not for you. This album is a journey through sorrow, despair and guilt; a vast thematic and musical departure from the Ayreon project. This is not to say that if you enjoyed Arjen’s previous works you will not enjoy Guilt Machine, but there will no doubt be a few disappointed Ayreon fans out there.

I for one enjoyed this album immensely because, as with most of Arjen’s side projects, the listener gets to catch a glimpse of another side of his personality.

Although this album only contains six tracks it is far from Spartan as it contains almost an hour of rich, deep and sorrowful compositions. The music is very progressive, but not in a bombastic, over the top way. This album follows the Dark Side of the Moon style of progressive; slow and thoughtful yet sometimes trippy and bizarre. Each deep track is permeated with messages from fans, in many different languages, offering their thoughts and experiences with guilt. Some can be very hard hitting.

Many fans, including myself, had hoped to hear Arjen providing the vocals for his next solo project, but Jasper Steverlinck of Belgian rockers Arid proves to be an excellent replacement. Jasper’s crystal clear vocals perfectly compliment Arjen’s slow, mysterious music. He has an impressive vocal range and although I did not notice it until it was pointed out to me he has a singing voice rather reminiscent of the late great Freddie Mercury.

Despite the excellent music and soaring vocals, it was the lyrics of this album that really stood out to me. It was a surprise then to find that these striking words were the first lyrical attempts of guitarist Lori Linstruth. It is clear that Lori has a natural talent for lyric writing and I hope that this is something she continues to explore in future projects.

On such a deeply personal album as ‘On This Perfect Day’ it is difficult to pick out a single track that could be considered the highlight of the album as each song will hold a different meaning for each listener. For me the highlight was the track ‘Season of Denial’ as the lyrics are particularly striking and held deep personal meaning for me.

For this uninitiated into progressive rock this album may be hard to get into and with most songs being around eight to ten minutes it does require a bit of effort to listen to, but if you give it a chance I am sure you will find a lot of enjoyment in this album.

And of course if you already enjoy progressive music then I am sure you will agree that this offering from Arjen Lucassen is a great contribution to the genre.

On This Perfect Day is available to buy at play.com

Genre : Progressive Metal

Article by Ewan McNulty