Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer, best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...

, owner of other musical projects such as

Star One Star One was an Indian pay television channel based in Mumbai and owned by Star TV, with worldwide distribution handled by Fox International Channels. Launched on 1 November 2004, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky in November 2006. Sta ...

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk music, f ...

and

Ambeon ''Fate of a Dreamer'' is an album by Dutch singer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen under the name Ambeon, released in 2001 by Dutch music label Transmission Records. All of the ten tracks feature Sampling (music), samples from and arrangements ...

. The project's debut release, '' On This Perfect Day'', was released in August 2009.

Biography

Background

In February 2009, Arjen announced on his website that he would be working on his new side project Guilt Machine. This project features a very limited line-up, compared to Arjen's other side projects: Arjen on the instruments and backing vocals, Jasper Steverlinck (

Arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

) on lead vocals,

Chris Maitland Chris Maitland (born 13 May 1964) is an English drummer. Maitland was born in Cambridge, England. After being the drummer for No-Man on their Autumn 1993 tour (and playing on two tracks on their ''Flowermouth'' album), Maitland was asked b ...

(ex-

Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became ...

) on drums and Lori Linstruth (ex-

Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...

) on lead guitar. On 9 March, Arjen announced that fans would be able to submit their own recorded material for a possible inclusion on the project. The material had to be sent in the form of a brief audio message containing the person's thoughts in his/her mother language, with a translation. The deadline for submission was on 15 March. Recently, Arjen has signed a deal with

Mascot Records Mascot Records is a record label and rock music subsidiary of Mascot Label Group. Artists * 10 Years * King Falcon *Agent Steel *Black Country Communion * Black Label Society * Black Stone Cherry *Bootsy Collins * Calva Louise * Crobot * Conque ...

. Together with the announcement of the signing with Mascot Records at his official website, Arjen reported that more than 200 audio messages were sent, but only 19 would be included on the album. According to him, the languages range from Chinese to Tagalog and from French to Russian. He informed that the album will include an eight-minute instrumental track filled with as many messages as he could have used (although many recordings would still remain unused).

''On This Perfect Day''

On 23 June 2009, Lucassen announced the release of Guilt Machine's first release, '' On This Perfect Day''. It was released on 28 August in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on 31 August in the rest of Europe, and on 29 September in the US. Most of the songs are relatively long, the shortest lasting 6:11. Limited and Special editions were released, the limited edition contained a 32-page digibook and a DVD and the special edition came with a Digipack 24-page booklet and a DVD. Regarding a future album of the project, Arjen stated in 2009 that "we definitely want to make another Guilt Machine album.". In a Q&A in August 2018, he stated "I would love to do another Guilt Machine because I'm extremely proud of 'On This Perfect Day'' ..Lori wrote the lyrics and she did an amazing job. I'd love to do another Guilt Machine but it would probably be with different people. Again, you know, not everyone is available anymore. But yeah, it's definitely an option. It's not a plan yet, but it's definitely an option."

Musical style

According to Arjen, the music will range "''from dark and heavy to atmospheric and melancholic''". Regarding the concept, Arjen stated that instead of fantasy and science fiction themes, Guilt Machine will explore "''the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret -- the secrets we hide from ourselves.''" In spite of the differences, the songs are expected to keep the dynamic contrasts, intricated harmonies, complex rhythms and soaring melodies of any Ayreon release. Although Jasper and his band are from the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

genre, he was convinced by Arjen to work on this progressive metal project. Arjen has stated: Instead of working with

Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...

, the drummer that performed in most of Ayreon albums, Arjen chose Chris Maitland, which, according to him, "''was the ideal choice this time, having both the power for the heavy sections and the subtle touch needed in the more atmospheric parts''". Lori Linstruth, the lead guitarist and manager, pleased Arjen with her lyrics:

Personnel

* Jasper Steverlinck (

) – lead vocals *

(

/ex-

) – guitar, bass, keyboards, various instruments, backing vocals * Lori Linstruth (ex-Stream of Passion) – lead guitar *

(ex-

) – drums

Discography

*'' On This Perfect Day'' (full-length, 2009,

)

References

External links

Audio Interview with Arjen Lucassen and Lori Linstruth regarding Guilt Machine
conducted by Ragnarok Radio
Interview with Arjen on Lebmetal.com October 2009
{{Authority control Arjen Lucassen Musical groups established in 2009 Heavy metal supergroups Dutch progressive metal musical groups Dutch musical quartets 2009 establishments in the Netherlands