Tracklist:
1. Hell Yeah
2. Blind Faith
3. The Milfshake
4. Dance with Deviance
5. Synesthesia
6. Out of Touch
7. Really Don’t Care
8. Don Pedro
9. The Arouser
Listening to the debut album “Living in Oblivion” by The Fever Machine one afternoon definitely brought me back to the high school days where I would randomly pull out some “loud” CDs and just spend an angry afternoon in my room. The Fever Machine, a trio band formed by former members of The Rogue Transmission
“Hell Yeah” was a great first song to pump the listener’s energy up. The catchy melody with sudden variations in rhythm gets me up then pulls me back down just a little so I am still merely lingering in space. Every single bass drum hit beats on my chest and before I knew it I was banging my head back and forth in my bedroom like I would have in a live show.
“Blind Faith” and “Dance with Deviance” were also tracks which I favored. The former’s tight riffs between lyrics kept the atmosphere up high. Unlike many other songs where vocals are always the main scene, the guitar riffs in this on absolutely rocked the track without being washed out by the vocal or drums. When “Dance with Deviance” started playing, the intro had such a disco sound I thought to myself “geez…” Not holding high expectations, the song immediately surprised me the moment the drums, guitars and vocal jumped in, telling me at once that this is indeed a song by The Fever Machine, it was obviously their style with a little uniqueness and experimental flavor in it.
I must be honest with you that I have not been too big of a fan of heavy, metallic rock. But if you are looking for music with heavy psychedelic qualities, you might want to listen to “Synesthesia” and “Don Pedro”, which both has a low swingy taste in them, leaving your head spinning in circles of fantasy. They may not be my favorite tracks in the album, but they are definitely well produced songs among their genre.
Typical punk rock “Out of Touch” and the following “Really Don’t Care” which sounded very 60s were quite disappointing. These two songs put together unfortunately broke the whole mood that was built up in previous tracks. I would say if the previous songs brought me up to mars, these two consecutive songs definitely brought me deep down back to Earth. This was quite a pity since everything else, from the album package to song arrangements to performances were tightly linked together. Fortunately “Don Pedro”, which followed these two songs, saved the scene. Guitar riffs and solos of this song brought back the schizo mood which was broke off bringing me back up to mars.
“The Arouser” was a great upbeat song to end the album reminding me of the mood I had when listening to Hell Yeah in track 1. Despite distractions which might have encountered while listening through the album this track reinsured that I was indeed listening to the same album. One that, although filled with variety, still managed to walked me through a whole story line.
Occasion changes in rhythms in many of the songs have allowed areas for the listener to take a breath in between. However, a catch of breath and a deep breath is just a line in between, whereas the latter might result in a deep dive down in the already built up atmosphere. There was no doubt of the great conversation between the arrangement and performance of the drums, guitar and bass, all tightly linked together throughout the album, a wholesome sound unlike some bands which all elements seem to be separately living in their own world
The artwork of the album was psycho, to me seeming like a world in schizophrenia. This actually matches the songs throughout the album, which drives the listener through so many different styles of music to an extent that I barely remembered what the whole album was originally about. Other than that, I really enjoyed the angry afternoon in my bedroom I spent like a teen with “Living in Oblivion”. It would be nice to see The Fever Machines come to Hong Kong and check out what they have to offer live.
Recommended Tracks:
1. Hell Yeah
2. Blind Faith
4. Dance with Deviance
9. The Arouser
找了一個下午把自己關在房間將音響較到最大聽The Fever Machine首張專輯「Living in Oblivion」，馬上便把我帶回高中時遇上憤怒的事便將自己鎖在房中隨手拿起最嘈吵的CD大聽一個下午的日子。The Fever Machine由三位成員組成，包括前The Rogue Transmission成員Dan Shapiro (主音和結他)，Farbet Barbet (低音電結他)，以及新成員Miguel Bustamante (鼓)。
尤其對於以上海這個以缺乏錄音工作室和設備聞名的地方為本的The Fever Machine而言，作品實在是超班質素，令人滿意。
第一首歌“Hell Yeah”馬上使聽眾心情澎湃，能量湧起。易上口的旋律加上節奏上的變化將人意猶未盡，將是在空中上下浮動一樣。鼓手每打一下低音鼓彷似直打進聽者胸口，不知不覺間人也像聽現場音樂一樣前後擺動了。
「Blind Faith」和「Dance with Deviance」亦是我很喜歡的曲目。前者歌詞間的結他獨奏和間奏均將氣氛推高。與許多其他作品不同的是，這首歌中結他成功登上主角的位置，而並沒有被主音或鼓聲的風采蓋過，將結他的魅力發揮得淋漓盡致。「Dance with Deviance」的前奏有一鼓的士高的味道，我不禁想「不會吧…」起初時並沒有對此曲有太大期望，然而鼓聲、結他聲和主音切入的那一刻起便是驚喜，就像告訴我「這確確實實是The Fever Machine的作品」一樣。他們獨特的風格在此顯明易見，歌曲卻略帶一絲實驗性的新鮮感。
我必須坦誠我本身並非重金屬抱滾的愛好者。然而喜歡聽一些比較重而有點迷幻的音樂，你或會喜歡「Synesthesia」和「Don Pedro」。兩首均帶一點低迷而慵懶的味道，讓你腦子在幻想中不斷打轉。這兩首或許不是我在專輯中最喜歡的作品，然而無疑在這個類別中，兩首均是很優秀的作品。
「Out of Touch」和「Really Don’t Care」兩首曲目則讓人有點失望。將兩首歌曲連續放在一起更加打斷了前面歌曲所製造了的氛圍。前者為典型的龐克搖滾，而後者則帶著重重的六十年代風格。若前面的歌曲將聽眾帶到上火星，這兩首歌則於剎那間將他拉回地球。這點很可惜，畢竟整個專輯無論在包裝，歌曲排序到演繹均緊緊相聯。這兩首歌曲本身問題不大，什至說很不錯。然而在這麼緊密安排的專輯中則顯得像敗筆。幸而緊接著的「Don Pedro」救了整個氣氛。緊密的結他間奏和獨奏將聽眾再次發射到火星。
最後一首歌「The Arouser」是一首節奏感強烈的歌曲，是專輯很不錯的句點，更和第一首「Hell Yeah」的心情有點呼應。提醒聽眾聽了那麼多不同風格的歌曲後，「沒錯，你還是聽著The Fever Machine的作品」。
專輯中的歌曲節奏經常有變化，讓觀眾有充足空間透透氣。然而偷一口氣和深呼吸緊緊一線之差。後者可能將辛辛苦苦建立起的氣氛一掃而空，所以必須好好平衡。結他和鼓之間的合接近完美。無論是編曲或演繹都是補助著，就像真的在對話一樣。這點實在令人欽佩。
專輯的美術設計略為瘋癲，像將看者帶進精神分裂的世界中。而這點正正和專輯相應著，其所收錄的歌曲風格多得像要將聽眾逼至精神分裂。然而整體來說我很享受「Living in Oblivion」將我帶回以往將自己鎖在房中大聽音樂的日子。若The Fever Machine真來香港表演，還真想看看他們Live會是怎麼樣。
推薦曲目：
1. Hell Yeah
2. Blind Faith
4. Dance with Deviance
9. The Arouser
– Michelle Leung
