Saviour Machine
Saviour Machine has just released Legend, Part II, which is a concept album drawn directly from the Bible's fascinating end time prophetic scriptures. This epic creative endeavor is expected to clock in at a whopping 4+ hours, once the trilogy is completed with a 2-CD conclusion sometime in 1999.
It's truly an understatement to say that Christian music has never witnessed anything quite like it. It's equally true to note that the secular world rarely ever produces anything this single-mindedly focused either.
It's fair to say that Saviour Machine has a cult following, since it takes a large amount of dedication on the listener's part just to comprehend what the group is trying to impart. There is nothing watered down here. There are no concessions to the pop marketplace, such as obvious singles or radio songs. It represents one of those rare occasions where even the most jaded pop music fan must admit that what Saviour Machine is doing is nothing less than art for art's sake.
Although the group's tight-knit following has already devoured Legend, Part I, they're probably going to need some time to digest the dense music contained within Part II, since it chronicles the chaotic period where the Antichrist begins his earthly reign.
Head machinist, Eric Clayton, began composing this work in 1995, basing its content strictly upon his own personal study of the Bible's predictions about the earth's future. And like any good Bible study, the CD booklet for this project even includes a concordance of the Bible verses utilized.
Part I contains all the Old Testament prophecies, and the songs therein are paraphrased from the Word's oldest glances into the future. The second disc's liner notes list all of the New Testament predictions -- except for one major book. Lastly, the final set of songs is based strictly upon those prophecies found in the last remaining book of the Bible, that being the book of Revelation, and the notes list these references for the listener's edification. Not only are these references listed in their entirety, but they are sorted in the order in which they appear in the Word.
This well-researched addition can be utilized as a pretty heavy Bible study -- which is really not that uncommon in Christian music these days. But because of this subject matter's sheer depth, it should also count towards college credit for Bible students, and it is actually not at all like any of the typical studies found in today's Christian recordings.
Legend is also a unique project from a musical perspective. Its sound is a mixture of the standard guitar, bass, piano and drum instrumentation, but with the added layer of a full-on choral performance from Ensemble Cantabile, which was recorded in Wurzburg, Germany.
Clayton has been quoted as saying he is inspired by such diverse creative artists as Wagner and Pink Floyd, and when you listen to this music, you somehow get the picture of what it might sound like if Wagner had recorded with Pink Floyd right around the time of its popular conceptual work The Wall.
Clayton's vocal performances here have all the Gothic power of a Sisters of Mercy recording; combined with the dramatic appeal of an artist like Meatloaf. Only, Clayton sings a whole lot better than either of these mere posers. (Ed -- Attn: Sisters of Mercy fans. Please direct all arguments to Dan Macintosh and not HM Magazine!) In fact, you might say he alone puts the opera in rock opera.
He jokes that his record company, Massacre Records, is marketing the Legend trilogy as the "unofficial soundtrack for the end of the world," which is only appropriate, since Legend moves along with the same kind of plot-like developments as scenes in a movie script. It even ends the first part with the introduction of the Antichrist, which leaves the listener wondering just what is going to happen next, and making a way for another tried and true Hollywood device -- the sequel.
This music is certainly not everybody's cup of tea. It's a project which attempts to give the listener a literal presentation of end time events -- along with all the inherently terrifying and symbolic glory of the original text. And much like the prophecies which inspired it, this is strong drink, indeed.
Before delving into the a synopses of Part II, Clayton was asked how Legend Part I has been received by Saviour Machine's audience; especially within its secular audience, since almost half of Saviour Machine's fans are non-Christians in many parts of Europe. For example, the unlikely locale of Southern Germany is home to one of its strongest bases of support.
It's also worth noting that these European fans are probably not as well versed in the scriptures as many North Americans are. For many of them, the Bible is as much a work of literature, as it is a book of spiritual truths.
Also, the media hasn't exactly helped matters much with its sensationalistic presentations of sacred texts. Popular culture has had a field day with biblical passages, as it has played fast and loose with any sense of context, and oftentimes has really only been interested in it all as a way of finding fresh movie fodder. Unfortunately, these movie moguls have extracted all of the horror from these scriptures, without remembering to also include the power and hope that comes along with them.
One wonders if non-Christian Saviour Machine fans are attracted to this work because it appears to them as just another horror movie on disc, or if they actually are aware of the whole picture that Clayton and Co. are attempting to present.
Clayton truly hopes that all listeners will use its music as a means of escape from this cruel killing Machine called the world, and find peace with the Savior.
Clayton, too, has seen many of the horrifyingly inaccurate movies, which try and pass themselves off as reality-based stories, and he has also read a lot of the books that have clung tightly to the coattails of this unholy trend.
"I'm familiar with all those kinds of films," he notes, "and also some books that have been written about it (end times), and about 80% is fictional, and about 20% is dabbling in the truth."
"I think it's in man's nature to be curious about apocalyptic themes, because it's something that affects everyone.
"But I've always had a problem," Clayton clarifies, " (in) mixing fact and fiction when it comes to the Bible."
Clayton has found secular interviews to be his best forum for making his artistic -- and spiritual -- motives crystal clear. "I've had to state this over and over again in secular interviews throughout Europe," he explains, "that I can't make it anymore clear at this point: (And that is) that this is strictly, 100%, inspired and based upon the prophecies themselves."
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