MAGGOT HEART

Mercy Machine RAPID EYE

Noise/post-punk screeds from Berlin’s less bohemian quarters

The second full-length from former The Oath/ Grave Pleasures guitarist Linnéa Olsson’s darkly twisted band sees her building on 2017’s Dusk To Dusk, again backed by Uno Bruniusson (In Solitude/ Procession) but now with Olivia Airey (Dungeon) on bass. But heavy metal it ain’t. Sure, there are traces of In Solitude’s twisting metallic melodicism, but sonically Mercy Machine

harks back the grainy, harsh noise rock of the Amphetamine Reptile label. Roses is perhaps the closest to heavy metal, albeit old school with its hints of

70s proto-metal and Roky Erickson phrasing. Maggot Heart mix up post-punk and death rock with a metallic core; Linnéa’s guitars are more chime than chunk and overall it’s as much Killing Joke as Killing Machine. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Killing Joke, Grave Pleasures, In Solitude ALASTAIR RIDDELL