by Justin Gaines
– Senior Columnist —
Released at the tail end of 2014, Free Nation is the debut album from Metal Machine, a new project masterminded by vocalist Csaba Zvekan (of Raven Lord and Exorcism). Zvekan also handles keys and some guitar work on this album.
Csaba Zvekan’s vocal performance on other albums may be noteworthy due to just how much he sounds like a young Rob Halford, but it’s here on the appropriately-named Metal Machine that he really takes that influence to a new level. Halford’s solo albums Resurrection and Crucible are clearly the template for Metal Machine, as is Judas Priest’s classic Painkiller album. In fact, Free Nation makes for a much better follow-up to Crucible than Halford IV: Made of Metal ever did. You know exactly what this means: Free Nation is going to have high speed riffs, thundering rhythms and above all the piercing vocal delivery worthy of Rob Halford in his prime (though Zvekan’s cleaner, lower register is quite different from Halford’s).
Of course the downside of such obvious Halford/Judas Priest worship is that Metal Machine is very predictable and somewhat one-dimensional. Yes, the songs on Free Nation sound like Halford tunes, and they’re totally enjoyable at that, but are they great metal songs in their own right? Probably not. They may not be timeless metal classics like “Painkiller,” but songs like “Nailed to the Cross,” “Morning Star” and “Black Sun” are fun to blast at high volume and definitely get heads banging.
While it never makes the jump to “essential” status, the Metal Machine debut is still a hell of a lot of fun, and as Judas Priest worship goes, it doesn’t get much better than this. If you’re a fan of Painkiller-era Judas Priest, the first two Halford solo albums or even newer bands like Cage and Rocka Rollas, you’ll want to give Free Nation a spin.
Genre: Heavy Metal
Band:
Csaba Zvekan (v) (k) (g)
Pierre Andre Mougenot (g) (d)
Track Listing:
1. Skull and Bones
2. Nailed to the Cross
3. Detox
4. Morning Star
5. World of Temptation
6. Hellraiser
7. Lord of War
8. Black Sun
9. Free Nation
Label: Dream Records
Website: www.facebook.com/metalmachineband
Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10
