The Machine In The Garden – Before and After the Storm
Released: July 12, 2011
The Machine in the Garden is a gothic/darkwave duo featuring Roger Fracé and Summer Bowman. Initially a solo endeavor by Roger Fracé, the band’s debut, 1994’s Veils and Shadows EP, blended the dark elements of goth with new wave and industrial tinges. Summer Bowman joined Fracé in 1997 for their first full-length album, Underworld.
In June 2011 The Machine In The Garden released Before and After the Storm, their first full album of new material since 2005. Before and After the Storm is an interesting mix of beautiful vocals, synth goodness and musical subtleties. Tracks like “Mending the Sky” and “In The Vanir” are slower, synth heavy darkwave tracks. Summer’s vocals dominate while the synth tones swirl and envelope, weaving with the vocals well. “Cimmerian” is a wonderfully sluggish goth track filled with slow, tribal beats with haunting and beautiful vocals. Whereas “Power and Prophesy” speeds things up a bit with almost an 80’s vibe. It has squealing guitars and synths working together on top a basic but catchy beat.
I will say, Before and After the Storm is worth picking up for Summer’s vocals alone. It’s also, though, one of those albums where an excellent job is done mixing things up. Musically it keeps it interesting with tracks that stand on their own, but at the same time everything works together. If you’re a fan of goth/darkwave, definitely check out The Machine In The Garden.
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