Gramma Vedetta - The Hum Of The Machine (Album Review)

Release Date: May 27th 2022. Record Label: Mandrone Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

The Hum Of The Machine - Tracklisting

1.A Chance To Win The Orb 06:23

2.Starlight Portal Show 05:26

3.Robots For War 04:57

4.A Broken Time Machine 03:18

5.The Electric Game 05:15

6.The Future Of The Past 05:18

7.Transmission's On 07:16

8.The General Magnetic and The Spanish Wormhole 05:03

9.I Feel The Comfort (The Hum Of The Machine) 05:01

Review

The Hum Of The Machine is the new album from UK based, Psych/Stoner Rockers Gramma Vedetta. The album is a concept album of sorts fused with the power of Science Fiction and Fantastical ideas that allow the band to build a wonderfully creative and powerful folklore narrative of their own. The music is a lean, mean and muscular style of Psych Stoner Metal that will appeal to fans of Nebula, Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath and Black Rainbows.

The band have gone down the progressive route for this album but the music is all done in the best possible Stoner Metal way with cool flourishes of Psych Rock and Spaced Out Rock. The album has a powerful “retro” vibe without being described as “retro rock” or “classic rock”. 

There is a powerful selection of standout tracks such as: A Chance To Win The Orb, Straight Portal Show, Robots For War, The Electric Game, Transmission’s On and I Feel The Comfort (The Hum Of The Machine) that show how Gramma Vedetta explore many different areas of modern day Psych/Stoner Metal that’s breathtakingly original in places. Especially when strands of Ambient Rock and Post-Rock appear that can be buried under heavy amounts of Stoner based grooves.

Throw in a few “doom & gloom” based elements and the album has many similarities to the classic 80's Animated Science Fiction movie “Heavy Metal”. The album takes a similar structure to that film with separate stories showing the wilder side of Stoner Rock/Metal.

The instrumental work resides mostly in modern day sounds but Gramma Vedetta are quite adept at playing 70s' Classic Hard Rock/Heavy Rock on certain parts of the album. The vocals are varied and there are multiple different styles on the album. All brilliantly sung from start to finish with the fantastical OTT lyrics allowing Gramma Vedetta to be one of the more creative bands within the underground scene.

The production is excellent with everything sounding first rate from start to finish. This allows The Hum Of The Machine to be Gramma Vedetta's most complete record to date. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to C Squared for the promo.

The Hum Of The Machine Work will be available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Mandrone Records.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

Gramma Vedetta Premiere New Song ROBOTS FOR WAR From Their Upcoming New Album THE HUM OF THE MACHINE

Launch into an alternate universe with GRAMMA VEDETTA’s new album The Hum of The Machine on May 27th 20222 via Mandrone Records. The London-based dynamic duo draw inspiration from vintage sci-fi of the late 70s and early 80s. Heavily distorted guitars, soaring melodies and driving rhythms create a huge progressive sound that transcends this dimension.

 
Forming in 2017, GRAMMA VEDETTA released their debut EP Proof of Concept in 2018 with a grunge focus, followed by the 2020 EP A.C.I.D Compliant that leaned into stoner rock. The new album delves further into the progressive world. 

The Hum of The Machine is a collection of nine scenes that tell the story of a man who seeks to remain unique in a world where compliance ensures you a place in the upper echelons of society. “A Chance To Win The Orb” delivers an explosive opening to the album producing a wall of sound. Throughout the album the duo unleashes their creativity through different styles. The fuzz-driven banger "Robots For Wars" precedes a darker, haunting atmosphere unveiled in “A Broken Time Machine”, while “The Future Of The Past” brings immense impact through the guitars and an incredibly catchy vocal hook.

We are happy to premiere their storming new song ROBOTS FOR WAR from their upcoming new album The Hum Of The Machine.

The band say this about their new song:

In the new world, war games are played in a clever way. There is no better weapon than an entire population that has been brainwashed. The perfect army. No need for expensive weapons, just spread fake news here and there and let the ignorance do the rest.

We are all Robots, We are all products.

A fuzz driven funk riff will force you to jump from the start to the end. And the Chorus will make you scream. Think about Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Beastie Boys having a jam together.

We have 35 people singing the gang vocal on the chorus. From friends and family, to band members of Death Ingloria, Desert Clouds, Bentrees, Empty Friends, Aliceissleeping and Imaginary Dreamers.

Links:

https://grammavedetta.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ll3bpDYdNtTiPU7SsaO7K
https://www.facebook.com/grammavedetta
https://www.twitter.com/grammavedetta
https://www.instagram.com/grammavedetta

Introduce Yourselves: Gramma Vedetta

What is the name of your band?

Gramma Vedetta, which we know is not easy for English speakers to pronounce. It is also always misspelt as "venNdetta". There is no N in Gramma Vedetta

What is the genre of music that you play?

We don’t know. LOL. It’s Heavy Rock for sure, with some recalls to Stoner Rock, Progressive Rock and some hints of psychedelia.

Can you give a brief history of the band of how it came together and where it is today?

The band was born in late 2016 when Italians Dan and Marco started mixing riffs and pints of beer.

Starting with grunge/stoner influences, our sound has developed over the years and after two drummers and two EPs (Proof of concept 2018, ACID Compliant 2020) we are now in the process of releasing our first full length "The Hum of The Machine"- which also includes progressive rock influences.

Paul, the new drummer, joined the band a few months ago and brought all his knowledge on audio and video streaming, so for the future, we’ve planned monthly streaming gigs for our fans abroad and physical concerts for our fans in the UK.

Tell me more about the new release.

The Hum of The Machine will be released in May 2022 through Mandrone Records, a label created by Dan in 2020. It has been recorded by ourselves as a duo with the help of Teo from King Bong, who played the drum and mixed the album remotely.

The Hum Of The Machine is the natural evolution and progression of the sound started during our previous works and It will surely please fans of Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Rush and Pink Floyd.

Massive riffs in Drop C, fuzzy bass lines, heavy grooves and analogue synthesizers paint nine different scenes that together tell the story of a man who struggles to keep his individuality while trying to adapt to a new world found on the other side of a Black Hole. They call it the machine.

What can people expect from your music?

Big sounding riffs, down-tuned instruments, big variety in moods between songs. And lots of sci-fi in the lyrics.

What is the best release that folks should check out from your band

At the moment, A.C.I.D. Compliants is the release where the folks can understand which direction the band took in terms of sounds research and the atmosphere we like to create with our songs. But you should definitely listen to The Hum Of The Machine when it’s out.

Preferably with headphones in a dark room.

Where can people find you on Social Media?

https://www.grammavedetta.com
https://www.tiktok.com/@grammavedetta
https://www.instagram.com/grammavedetta
https://www.facebook.com/grammavedetta
https://www.twitter.com/grammavedetta
https://www.youtube.com/c/grammavedetta