Zwaremachine
Be a Light

The linguistic mind sees that it is Dutch for heavy machinery that is the name for this band, or project. If you look at the cover it can be interpreted as such, but it also has me thinking about Alien. The artwork is relatively cool, this album is actually a reissue of the debut Be a Light from 2018, this contains some additional stuff like remixes by Swedish producer Planktoon whom the band has collaborated with before. Zwaremachine is from Minneapolis and is a creative outlet for visual artist Mach Fox and this special edition of Be a Light will probably reach further thanks to the wider reach of the Sliptrick record label who releases this newer version.

Heavy machinery, it is industrial or darkwave, electronic, kind of synthpop rock/metal if you want to put a label on it. It doesn’t sound exactly like everything else that ends up in my mailbox, so it is more interesting from the creative standpoint than much of the stuff I get. But the production could have been more finely polished, perhaps with a more synthetic feel to it – this lack some edge. I think the same can be said about the variation of this album, it feels slightly stale and not really dynamic enough to really enhance the experience. And while I am on the subject of things that might not be fully perfect, I think it could have a darker edge to it as well. It is more interesting from the creative standpoint as I think it feels fresh in that perspective, and it stands out slightly and that is always a positive.

Be a Light may be a light for those that are into the darkwave, synth-infused music of the rock genre. I think it has some potential and some fresh touches, but it doesn’t quite fly, it works pretty well but it isn’t outstanding or brilliant. I miss a strong hit song, something that really brings you into the album, something that grabs me as a music fan. With that said, it is certainly not bad and none of the songs can be said to be poor, a solid effort with some good creative ideas that could have been dragged a bit further is probably how I see this album.

Is it worth checking out? I guess it depends, it depends on what kind of stuff you like of course but from the creative standpoint it is more interesting than the majority of the stuff that ends up at the Hallowed mailboxes. From that standpoint it is probably worth checking out, you will probably not be too disappointed if you do – but you might not be overly impressed either, it is a solid effort but not an outstanding one but maybe it needs more heavy machinery.

HHHHHHH