Saviour Machine

The ‘90s were a decade of tremendous growth for gothic music. Metal’s embrace of this movement was initially slow, barely making headway. Saviour Machine was one of the first bands (among others like Stillborn, Asylum, Paradise Lost, Type O Negative, and Secret Discovery) to implement gothic influences in order to take it to a heavier plateau. Ambitious to a fault, Saviour Machine was ahead of the curve by bridging goth rock and heavy metal by 1990. In 1993, this came to a head as their debut, Saviour Machine I (SM:I), and albums by their peers were released, establishing a benchmark for other metal bands to follow. If only that meant all of it was good…

The mind of SM:I is Eric Clayton and his powerful singing. I’m spellbound by his voice like I’m in a spiritual trance. His baritone style doesn’t compromise his sorrow-filled, natural inimitability and commanding narration. I’m moved as he guides the listening experience with soul, no doubt heavily influenced by David Bowie’s own memorable method and storytelling skills. Saviour Machine’s Christian leanings cannot go unmentioned as it adds to the band’s enigmatic existence (for better or worse). Self-critical, introspective, and contextually bereft of preachiness, the writing draws me in instead of tuning me out like countless other Christian bands.

When listening to SM:I I dig the succulent bass, the cold snaps of the drumming (as standard as the fills are), the dramatic atmosphere and the melodious piano. But there can only be one heart, and that is Jeff Clayton and his stellar leadwork. Emotional guitars are a staple in gothic rock / metal, including the familiar delayed-effected leads. Clayton took the familiar and made it beguiling, dazzling with varying flow and solos. The melodies and harmonies on “Carnival of Souls”, “Ludicrous Smiles”, and “The Mask” are some of the most efficient and catchy in all of ‘90s goth. The oozing, spacey guitar leads intertwining with Eric’ vocals are very gratifying.

But far from being perfect, they should have known to leave you wanting more. “The Widow and the Bride” ups the aggression but just doesn’t land well compared to its heavy counterpart in “Force of the Entity”. I have to steel myself to listen to “Killers” as it plods with a pleasant Egyptian-esque lead but otherwise substandard writing. And after hearing one of the best songs on the album in “The Mask”, the final two songs feel like afterthoughts when there was already an excellent slower number in “Legion” earlier. Make a few cuts and maybe bump up the mixing on the guitars to give the riffs some balance and an already good album becomes legendary.

This isn’t to say this album’s reputation is sullied; it is overlooked, though. When a band strives to be passionate, it can easily turn into pomposity. Between my praise and condemnation comes a caveat – this is the only Saviour Machine album I actually enjoy. Whereas all their other albums maxed out the runtime (which this one comes close to) and overloaded the formula with bombast, SM:I is the most grounded and metallic. It’s an epic debut with a purpose. It does what the band’s subsequent albums didn’t – sound like a good gothic metal album (not self-indulgent gospel soundtracks).

Gothic music, whether metal or rock, tends to be something I'm not a fan of. It's usually cheesy (there are exceptions) cliche, over-dramatic and generally lacking in quality. There's obviously good bands in the genre, but for the most part my experience has been negative.

The debut album of Saviour Machine, "Saviour Machine I," however, may very well be one of the best goth metal/rock albums ever released and is up there with some of the best music ever released, in my opinion. This is a powerful album, with real feeling and atmosphere, relying on the writing and composition of the music rather than walls of typically mournful keyboards.

Eric Clayton's voice is brilliant, period. I don't know if there is another vocalist in the metal/rock world who has the power and emotion that this man has in his voice. Whether it's bloodcurdling screams, deep baritones, soft whisperings, huge operatic moments, passionate and gut wrenching notes or mournful wailing, the vocals here are absolutely second to none. There are notes hit here that will chill you with how powerfully they resonate; Eric Clayton is one of the very few modern singers who has such perfect control over his voice.

The instruments...where do I begin. Everything here is masterfully played. The bass in particular, while not being super-fast or super-technical, adds such a good feel and flavor to the music and does much more than just provide a low end; often it carries the entire melody of the song. Guitars are breathtaking. The opening track, "Carnival of Souls," is a good example of the guitars on this album; there's some brilliant leads, solid, catchy riffs, softer and cleaner breaks and outstanding solo work with true emotion shining through. The drums do a perfect job here, driving the music with terrific beats and expert fills. While not insanely fast (except for the beginnings of the tracks "Killer" and "The Widow and the Bride") they are flawlessly played by someone who is obviously a master at his craft.

As a whole, this album deals with mostly end-times themes taken from the Book of Revelation, and deals with them quite brilliantly. The lyrics are very, very well written; controversial and sometimes graphic but never playing for shock value. This is a quality every Saviour Machine song has and something that really separates them from the typical love/loss/suicidal themes of most goth music. When subjects like those are addressed they are done so from a mature perspective that shows them in a very thought-provoking light and provide sound ways of dealing with them.

Highlights for this album for me are "Legion," with its piano driven melody and absolutely spellbinding vocal work and "A World Alone," which may be the high point of Saviour Machines entire career (except for "American Babylon," which I will argue is their best song). "A World Alone" features a vocal performance that completely redefines soaring, with choruses so big and operatic that I'm hard-pressed to think of any comparable songs. Phenomenal writing and instrumentation make this one of the best songs I've heard in a long, long time.

To conclude, Saviour Machine, one of the most influential and well-respected Christian bands ever to form put out what I believe just might be one of the best metal/rock albums ever, goth or not. The fact that this is a debut album is almost astounding, as every second of this record is brilliantly and professionally put together. Please, buy this album, and see what heights gothic metal/rock is capable of reaching. Saviour Machine, with this debut album, set the bar as high as could be set.

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When gothic metal shocked the metal scene it was already mixed and transformed to what we currently know as beauty & beast bands (Tristania), symphonic gothic metal (Within Temptation), electronic gothic metal (later Theater of Tragedy), etc. but only a few bands really captured the essence of what gothic elements were to bring to the metal movement and Saviour Machine is one those.

Eric Clayton’s voice is similar to David Bowe and The Cure but of course he metalizes it and provide far more miles of emotion. If you have heard The Human Equation by Ayreon he shares the first song with James Labrie. He is an absolute killer vocalist and one of those few that can really move you with his interpretation.

Force of the Entity is a very metallic sound. It does not sound gothic, but more like ‘Copycat’ from Lacrimosa around the heavy and fast riffing. There are multilayered vocals. ‘Legion’ has those piano melodies that, although the mid tempo of the song and heavy riffing, it doesn’t soften it but provides an exquisite atmosphere. Almost of the songs give this feeling at ethereal sound which relates directly to what gothic metal should sound like but also, there is a wide range of songs.

The lyrics deserve special mention because they are very intelligent and thought-provoking. There are a lot of themes presented and some of them in a very orthodox way, which might shock some of the Christian circles. The Widow and the bride is another fast track for the band’s standards. In here you can actually listen to their faster tracks, which is something they will not do anymore and instead they will focus on lengthy compositions, more electronic, and more and more emotional atmosphere abandoning the metallic approach. In regards to ballads there are plenty, and they are excellent, without cheesiness (vampires or tragic doomed love ones) and very emotional with the use of haunting keyboards which don’t overpower the voice or the guitars by any means.

This album is packaged with everything: heavy riffing driven songs, gothic songs, crystal clear vocals, and smooth ballads, mid tempo songs, fast songs, very emotional vocals, some of them which fall into almost opera-esque style. They care a lot about the melodies, which in this genre is really difficult, but they managed to come up with both guitar and vocal melodies that will stick to your mind.

This is the way gothic metal should sound. I don’t have any problems with the modern wave of gothic bands (Epica, After Forever, Virgin Black, etc) but Saviour Machine really captured the essence, the dark atmospehere and the melancholic feeling this is suppose to provoke on you, dropping the vampires subject and other suicide like approach some of these bands usually took.

When it comes to Saviour Machine, the first thing that usually pops up in someone's mind is Legend. Savoir Machine is well known for their apocalyptic trilogy about the end of the world. However, four years before Saviour Machine started Legend they released what I consider to be their true metal masterpiece.

Yes, this album is gothic metal. Unlike Legend which is more of a rock opera with metallic edge, Saviour Machine’s self titled debut is a pure sonic orgasm of epic gothic metal, yet unlike anything you have ever heard. This album is completely one of a kind and every single track on this album is extremely good. Throughout this album you can just imagine floating through space seeing galaxies, nebular clouds, and exploding super nova’s creating a collage of magnificent color and beauty. This is the imagery of sound created; it’s an album of universal proportions.

“Carnival of Souls” starts the experience with powerful operatic vocals singing in harmony over a bombastic guitar riff that sounds like the climax of some futuristic otherworldly battle of titans in a video game. The verses contain an absolutely gorgeous clean lead guitar riff played over a simple yet effect bass line. The chorus of this song brings back in the electric guitars in full force, which have an awesome space carnival feel to them. I could not imagine a more beautiful opening to this album.

“Force of the Entity” proves that this album is decidedly metal if you were left wondering from the clean guitar parts in the opening song. Electric guitars are in full force throughout. They chug in all different directions creating exciting melodies in their interwoven complexity, and the bridges soar with keyboards supporting them.

“Legion” is a highlight if that can really be said about an album with so many good songs. It features beautiful piano playing interlaced with the guitars. The lyrics on this song were somewhat controversial in Christian circles:

“Naked she lies on the crucifix crying
the tears of the innocent die
The dragon slides between her thighs
The dragon breathes the fire
As blood drips from her eyes”

“The Wicked Window” is ominous building up to pure majesty. “Son of the Rain” is amazing showcasing Eric’s upper vocal range that will make your throat lump in emotion. “Killer” is certainly a killer song; it has fast heavy parts, Middle Eastern sounding guitar leads, and has one of the best bridges I’ve ever heard that with keyboards playing along with bells ringing. “The Widow and the Bride” is fast and blasting. I won’t even attempt to describe the final two songs… but they are something you must hear for yourself.

I also must say that Eric’s vocal delivery is the best out of all the Saviour Machine albums. You will not hear him hit notes this high in the Legend albums. Saviour Machine is a Christian band, but the lyrics are mostly vague in this album and don’t try to preach to you, so I wouldn’t be turned off by the fact that they are Christian.

While I adore Legend II, I have to put this one over it as my favorite Saviour Machine disc. This album is considerably more song oriented, and can be listened to hundreds of times without getting old. Every song sounds completely unique and the albums flow very well, there is not one second of filler. If you like gothic metal, this album is a must have.

Highlights: Everything.