Asphodel

The Machine in the Garden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 2002)
• Original Release Date: July 1, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00006I4XI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,416 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Outburn Magazine

"...the most difficult task any band can attain: their songs don't sound the same, yet they all sound fantastic."

Product Description

Asphodel by the Machine in the Garden is the band’s fourth full-length release revealing their richest and most compelling work.

Creating a powerful yet delicate mix of darkwave influences and ethereal melodies, the duo of Roger Frace and Summer Bowman invoke soaring guitars, tribal rhythms and electronic sweeps. Entwined with her majestic and evocative vocals, Summer’s words and delivery underlie their music’s unique emotional core.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great contemporary Darkwave release, December 6, 2002

By 

Matthew (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Asphodel (Audio CD)

Another remarkable triumph from Middle Pillar Presents this past fall - the anxiously anticipated and fourth full-length release from these Texas Darkwave mavens. The Machine In The Garden formed in 1994 and is a duo comprised of Summer Bowman and Roger Fracé. A great deal of curiosity and buzz has surrounded the band for many years now, as a result of numerous compilation appearances and of course, the unanimously good press that has surrounded the band ever since their debut release "Underworld."

The first three tracks on this album are absolutely fantastic and in my opinion, the strongest tracks on the entire album. "Masks" is a sprawling and genuinely creepy darkwave track, complete with eerie processed and ebowed guitars, murky electronics, and slinky drum programs. Summer's voice is thick and commanding, the perfect compliment to the stark electronic yet thoroughly atmospheric backdrop. "Outside" continues along impressively, with extremely well done drum programs, hushed trance inducing synths, and chilling interplay between the consumptive guitar swells and powerful female vocals. The Machine In The Garden has here perfected a noteworthy kind of Darkwave that is adequately balanced between the synthetic and the organic. While the guitar is the only `real' instrument played, and even it is drenched in additional effects, the feel of much of this album is one of warm, inviting substance.

"Time" is my personal favourite song - a dark track with foreboding tribal drums at its bleak and sinister nucleus. Distant ghostly vocals converge and entwine with soft melancholic verses, subtle chimes ring out above a dreary electronic bass line, and misty minimalist synths sigh throughout, like the frosty breath of a restless ghost gliding across a barren November wasteland. How's that for Goth? This song, though short, is just begging to be heard.

"Wonderland" follows next, a catchy and potentially popular track, is where I start to get temporarily restless. The song is still pretty dark, but Summer's voice suddenly acquires a slight nasal quality. Something about the song seems incomplete to me - despite its unmistakable catchiness. To me, the song recalls Switchblade Symphony, a band that in their nursery rhyme and adolescent simplicity that I have abhorred since their inception - this, however is much better, and being that I am in a relative minority with my opinion of Tina Root and co, my guess is this song will be popular. I just did not find it to be as powerful as the previous three tracks.

"Icarus" as well seems to be lacking - something? This song as well lacks the intensity of earlier tracks. "Ghost," though not at all an upbeat or dense track, it is a definitive improvement. A plodding, slow song with spine-chilling vocal harmonies, created by layers of whispers, vocal improv, and dreary disharmonic moans - very cool.

The slight lull is definitely broken by the time "Open" appears. Primarily because the haunting guitars make a welcomed and much needed return. The guitars, I believe, are that aforementioned `something.' Roger is an awesome guitarist, with a fantastic variety of voices in his pedal board and I vote he use it more. Sure, the novelty might wear off if they are used in every song, but I believe "Asphodel" could have been intensified by a more frequent appearance.

Some cool live bass guitar sneaks its way into the mix for "Clarity," and working in unison with the guitars and dynamic drum programming, a grand sound is achieved. Pianos lead "Dawn" into a beautifully depressive interlude. When I first really paid attention to this song, my heart sunk. I missed that feeling, as it happens less and less these days. This serves as a surprisingly nice interlude, with a very cool shift in mood at the song's climax.

Back into the scarcely lit foggy dance floor we go for "Echo" - slow, swirling, and dark in the way that Love Is Colder Than Death and The Azoic once were. Forlorn and striking vocals, distant guitars, and more ghostly synths shape the song. Decidely more prominent electronic beeps and blips pan to and fro along with varying degrees of punch in the drums. Well done, but probably too introspective for most dance floors as of late.

"Cry" is a more ethereal track, descent but never really goes anywhere, and doesn't have as captivating a mood to it. "Seek" however, was an interesting shift - a harder hitting drumbeat emerges, part trip hop, part Lycia - cool slap bass lines, and neat guitar climaxes at the chorus. "One" makes a return to introspective ethereal, however, cool artificial harmonic pings and bluesy, fragmented guitar leads give it a unique and suffocating feel. A song that also stands on its own for sure. A cover of Depeche Mode's "Photographic" brings the album to a satisfying and fulfilling finale - a stronger and more organic drum sound, acoustic strums, and another flawless performance by Summer at the mic.

Despite's its occasional lulls "Asphodel" is a standout album. There are a lot of songs here, the variation between them being dangerously delicate and subtle. You really have to listen to the album as a whole to truly appreciate it. Though there are fourteen tracks, things move along quickly, as most songs rarely pass the comfortable three-minute mark. The Machine In The Garden utilize synthetics and electronics in a way that is more thought-provoking and emotionally striking - they are true Darkwave at it's finest, and if you are a devotee of the danceable gloom spun from the black hearts of acts like Malign, Wench, Attrition, and SubVersion, this will definitely tickle your neglected fancy, as well as put a fresh spin on a familiar and time-tested formula.

*...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazed and in awe, March 22, 2003

By 

J. Markham (alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Asphodel (Audio CD)

all i have to say is that i am completly blown away by the vocals and the music itself. it just draws you in making you want to feel every emotion in the spectrum. Summer's voice is enchanting and the music is exhilerating.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect, November 6, 2002

By 

Pablo Golcher "Electronaut" (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Asphodel (Audio CD)

This CD is amazing, it's dark, it's dreamy... it's great, if you like darkwave then you should busy this one, this is the MITG CD I like the most. The songs I like the most are Wonderland & Ghost.