Roadkill - Ruled by Machines

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Australia is a very good country for Metal/Rock. Since the coming of AC/DC in the 70’s, the scene of the country revealed many good names. But as happens throughout the world, there’s no scene that gives to the world only excellent names. And although ROADKILL is a good band, as it’s shown on “Ruled By Machines”, their music still needs some improvements.

Their musical work is based on a heavy and strong traditional Heavy Metal foundation with some dirty Hard Rock/Rock ‘n’ Roll elements, sounding as a heavier mix between MOTORHEAD and AC/DC. But it’s done in an Old School format, and their work just sounds as many bands that everyone heard thousand times before. It’s not as personal as it could be, and they’re truly talented. Then, the improvements pointed above: they need to show more personality, that special feature that can make the difference between their music from the others.

The sound quality of the album bears some modern aggressive tunes but trying to be as simple as they can in many moments. It seems as they want to sound in an organic form, so it is greasy in some parts, but not sounding fuzzy or dirty in a way that the listener can’t understand what is being played by the band. So, it can be labeled as a good production, indeed.

Their 11 songs are fine, but the sensation that it was heard sometime before haunts the most experienced fans. But we can say that catchy moments permeates “Last Stop Before Hell” (very good guitars, indeed), “Breaking All the Rules” (a bit more heavier and aggressive than the previous one, but with good harsh voices), “Blood Sweat and Tears” (very food chorus and arrangements), “Looking for Love” (the touch of Boogie is evident, sounding hard as a rock, in a THE CULT way), “Fighting the Demons” (where a primal rhythmic work can be heard), and “Prime Evil” (the most accessible song of the album) show that they are truly a talented band.

“Ruled By Machines” is a good work, but if the band can bring more personality into their work, they’ll be great for sure.

Originality: 6
Songwriting: 8
Memorability: 7
Production: 7