For a long time now I have admired the sweet sound of the music of Millencolin. The band actually formed in Sweden back in 1992, ‘Machine 15’ is the bands seventh studio album to date and it must be said that my opinion is that the bands best ever album has to be seen as ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’. Released in the year 2000, ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’ was exceptionally well crafted from start to finish and never was the music in the slightest bit disappointing. ‘Machine 15’ is the third album the band has released since 2000 and is I believe an album well worth listening to. This album begins brilliantly and although it is not the strongest that this band has ever released, ‘Machine 15’ is I feel another excellent album to have been put out there by the supreme Swedish force that is Millencolin.
One noticeable quality about this ‘Machine 15’ album is that the music is not quite so hard hitting as has been known in the past. The band has here favoured a more pop heavy approach, and even though the music may not be as edgy as it has been previously; there is still plenty to take from the bands sound here and listening to ‘Machine 15’ provides for an extremely interesting listening experience indeed. There are fifteen tracks here, the album begins with title track ‘Machine 15’ and comes to its close with ‘End Piece’. The music is not hugely powerful, the elements of the bands sound have here been put quite simply together, and yet the ‘Machine 15’ album most definitely works. The sound produced here is that of pleasant pop rock and the voice of Nikola Sarcevic comes through incredibly well. The man is exceptionally talented, his vocal display has always been perfect in the past and this is most definitely not something that has changed.
Millencolin may well be the finest punk rock band ever to have emerged from Sweden, tracks here such as ‘Who’s Laughing Now’, ‘Done is Done’ and ‘Route One’ are certainly extremely impressive and always this ‘Machine 15’ album has plenty to offer. The music is absolutely excellent to listen to and never do the vocals come across anything but exquisitely. Instrumentally the guitars are hugely impressive and the drum beats also are incredibly strong. The sound that this band produced is never bad, even though this album lacks the power of some of the bands albums in the past it is still a fine offering of music and always the experience of Millencolin as a band shines through strongly.
The album begins so promisingly with two fine tracks in my opinion. ‘Machine 15’ and ‘Done is Done’ begin the album with great power and yet this is not something that remains consistent throughout the album as a whole. These two tracks at the beginning of the album lead you to believe that ‘Machine 15’ is going to be something really rather special, and although it is indeed a good album it’s certainly not as strong as ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’. The production values are high, the music comes across well, and yet because the music here is not massively powerful this just doesn’t come across as a classic Millencolin album. I do really enjoy this album and many of the tracks here have plenty to offer musically, I wasn’t expecting more from the band than this and ‘Machine 15’ is I feel a brilliant album.
Although the album technically comes to an end with ‘End Piece’, ‘Saved By Hell’ is in fact the last musical track on this album as the outro track is merely a minute and a half of quiet indecipherable background sound. ‘Saved By Hell’ is not the strongest track here, it does however bring the album to an excellent close; a laid back and highly melodic song which finishes fantastically well this fine ‘Machine 15’ album. The album comprises of 45 minutes of music, not all of it is pulled off as powerfully and perfectly as it could well have been and yet ‘Machine 15’ is still a brilliant album that I would without doubt recommend listening to.
For those that have not yet been initiated into the world of the music of Millencolin then I feel that great enjoyment can be gained from listening to ‘Machine 15’. It’s a brilliant album, and although it is not the best of the bands career is still certainly an album that contains a lot of great music and a huge depth of excellence. Never are the members of Millencolin particularly adventurous on this album, the band plays it safe throughout this ‘Machine 15’ album and the music is therefore not quite as excellent as it perhaps could be. It’s a fine album complete with a strong helping of punk rock, the album progresses well and never are there any massively disappointing moments here. The members of Millencolin have been making music together for over fifteen years as a band now; the experience that has been gained through doing so is definitely on display for all to hear here and tightness with which the music is played is brilliant. As much as I enjoy this ‘Machine 15’ album, always I will make comparisons to the bands ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’ release; it could quite fairly be argued that Millencolin is a band well past its peak and yet the music that is being created here is still brilliant. The vocal approach is as excellent as ever on this album, all of the tracks on ‘Machine 15’ fare well and this is therefore a strong albeit not too progressive an album from Millencolin. The music is put across well and even though this is not in my opinion the best album that Millencolin has ever recorded as a band; ‘Machine 15’ should provide for an interesting 45 minutes of pop rock/punk rock for all those that hear it.
Label: Burning Heart/Epitaph
Release Date: 7th April 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
