Drum Dynasty – Time Machine
Ambient rock, progressive and instrumental rock meet head on with Drum Dynasty’s third album release – Time Machine, and not having heard their first two albums I did not know what to expect from this outfit. The drummer in question is Seattle based Bruce Burgess, and each album features a different composer, this one being ambient music composer Michael Carroll. Burgess also joined forces with bandmate Cyrus Rhodes, from the group Seven Against These, to produce amazing album which sounds like a trip through time and space with a minimum of interruption from the outside world as it flies by with a cinematic effect.
RELATED ARTILCE: https://www.moderndrummer.com/2008/08/bruce-burgess/
This album is a superior grouping of instrumentals that do not just center around the drums, it showcases the astonishing work of Burgess with the ambient composer, Carroll, who brings out the best in everything he touches. I am a fan of all the genres combined here and Seven Against Thebes are also I have heard, so Burgess is not new to me, but Drum Dynasty are. Time Machine has a concept and makes no secret of that with each song title, kicking off with a smoldering “Countdown” which plays like a ship preparing to take off and once it does, it goes into pure ecstasy before the fade.
“Asteroid Field” follows with a very cool industrial factory sort of steampunk vibe as it mechanically pulsates along into the next cut, but not without making a serious impression with its theatrical rush.
Then “Wormhole” cooks up with some more amazing percussion and crazy tribal symbols that would turn the heads of any prog, space rock or nu-metal lovers. By this time, it is as if you are hearing a great movie soundtrack, and I hope that was part of the aim of this album because it is composed that way without a doubt.
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Once you are into “Lightspeed” there is no question you are on a thrill ride you don’t want to get off until the duration of, and the rest is gravy. The soothing effects of Time Machine can be described like something only prog rock bands like Pink Floyd and others are capable of, with an even more serious approach without commercial reliance even though it is an accessible album and not the first by Drum Dynasty. It might be the first one I have heard as well, but it will not be the last. “Supernova” is a cosmic treat, as is the entire set of undeniably awesome and addicting gems, some of them containing everything from Spanish guitar to piano.
“Pulsar,” ‘Dark Matter,” Seven Sisters,” “March Of The Mutants,” “Electric Eye,” “Hyperdrive Malfunction,” “Hypersleep” and “Signs Of life” all play their significantly compelling roles on the track list before the title track, “Time Machine” proceeds to blow you away with an uber percussive assault attack on the senses. And after that gets you going for more, the mesmerizing “Event Horizon,” takes you into the “Vortex” that leads you into the “Black Hole” of ambience. But if that is not enough, the album will win you completely over by a trip to the “Aurora Borealis” and leaves you in the enormously fantastic “Pale Blue Dot.”
