The End Machine

Phase 2

FRONTIERS Dokken alumni up their game.

In the 90s, both the reunited Dokken and their guitarist George Lynch’s Lynch Mob disappointed fans with records that jumped on then-current bandwagons. No such concerns applied to The End Machine’s self-titled debut, which found the Dokken nucleus of Lynch, Jeff Pilson (bass) and Mick Brown (drums, since replaced by brother Steve) and Lynch Mob singer Robert Mason filtering elements of both bands into a modern-day setting.

Lynch and Pilson’s songwriting partnership, central to Dokken’s trademark sound, yields sharper results on Phase 2, with more pronounced echoes of their past. Blood And Money’s breakneck attack and fret-scorching solo recall Tooth And Nail, and We Walk Alone and Dark Divide offer Dokken-style scything riffs and rousing harmonised hook-lines, kept in balance by Mason’s formidable vocals and a continuation of the blues flavour of the debut. Destiny

closes the album with more pyrotechnics from Lynch, and a funky twist. ■■■■■■■■■■