ALBUM REVIEW: Evolve – Diesel Machine

Remember when TOOL released their first album in thirteen years and everyone made a fuss because oh wow, what a long time to wait? Well, DIESEL MACHINE want us to hold their beer. The Los Angeles five-piece released their debut twenty years ago and it’s taken them this long to get together and record a follow-up. But to be fair, it’s not entirely their fault.

Their first album did decent, if unspectacular business and they were beginning to climb the ladder when bassist Rich Gonzalez was in a life-threatening motorcycle accident and their momentum stalled while he recovered. As so often happens with cult bands, they then found themselves being scavenged for parts by more established acts. Vocalist AJ Cavalier enjoyed a brief spell in the spotlight as the singer for SOIL, while guitarist Patrick Lachman found work with Rob Halford’s solo band, touring with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and as frontman for DAMAGEPLAN. So, they’ve done all right, they’ve stayed connected to the wider metal world and have finally got their old band back together for one more go at it.

And frankly, Evolve is a bad choice for album title because DIESEL MACHINE don’t seem to have developed at all in the last twenty years. This is old-fashioned groove metal and a throwback to a pre-NWOAHM era. Listening to it is like discovering a lost album from a time when up and coming bands yearned for a second-stage slot at Dynamo or a tour with BIOHAZARD and FEAR FACTORY. It’s knuckle-headed, testosterone-laden music and it’s so macho it wouldn’t be surprising if even their pets had barbed wire tattoos. If Fear Innoculum was a lavish, seven course banquet created by Michelin Star Chefs, Evolve is a burger with fries served from a food truck.

It’s also a mixed bag. Some of it is great; Death March for starters is an enjoyable opener. If this track were a steak, it would be uncooked, bloody and still attached to the carcass of a cow. It’s a fist pumping bulldozer, designed to help you summon the extra strength needed to lift those dumbbells for one more rep. The title track on the other hand is a stomping pit-igniter, while Ounce Of Strength is a thrashy anthem and Exit Wound has shades of PANTERA in its sluggish, mid tempo drawl.

Then there are songs like Shut It which manage to be both brilliant and terrible at the same time. This one is riotously enjoyable, a bouncing, fast paced brawler that seems amazing until you pay closer attention. The lyrics are utterly excruciating, juvenile nonsense about how people need to shut up or risk getting beaten up. It’s the kind of thing that LIMP BIZKIT would dismiss for being too childish and the fact it’s performed by a bunch of guys in their forties makes it even  worse.

I’m Insane leaves a similar taste and herein lies the problem; for every headbanging mosher, DIESEL MACHINE have an embarrassing and cheesy counterpart. Their focus is on anger, violence and putting upstart punks in their place. Which is fine, everyone loves a dumb fight song occasionally, but there’s only so much bragging and bad language you can take before it gets one-dimensional. Evolve is a long way from being bad and if you need to get pumped up before making your entrance at an AEW event, dive right in. It’s one dimensional, it’s stupid, but there’s just the right amount of moronic charm to carry it over the finish line.

Rating: 6/10

Evolve is out now via Metalville.

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