Diary of a Music Addict

Album review: Rebel Machine – Whatever It Takes

Jean-Frederic Vachon

Rebel Machine is a rock quartet from Porto Alegre, Brazil that has shared a stage with names like Slash and Black Label Society. They’ve just released their second album ‘Whatever It Takes’, on the Swedish label Big Balls Productions, featuring melodic rock that sometimes crosses the line into hard rock.

Formed by Marcelo Pereira (vocals and guitar), Murilo Bittencourt (guitar), Marcel Bittencourt (bass) and Chantós Mariani (drums), Rebel Machine has a knack for ultra catchy choruses. Their brand of rock stays safely in the established boundaries of the genre, but they make the most of their influences and blend them really well to craft their own sound. You’ll hear a bit of Slash with Myles Kennedy in there, some Foo Fighters, a bit of 80’s hard rock (minus the hair spray) and even some traces of California punk. At times, Pereira’s voice reminds me of Chris Jericho of Fozzy, but he mostly has his own style, ranging from the quiet and introspective to high energy rock.

Written and produced by the four band members, ‘Whatever It Takes’ clocks in at 46 minutes, with 12 songs. I can’t help thinking that the album would have been tighter with just 10 songs; as much as a like it, it starts to drag 3/4 of the way, probably because it’s front loaded: the three singles are the first three songs. It’s a great tactic to hook you into a new band, but doesn’t make for the best listening experience. The album also suffers from production that is clean but lacks that extra edge and punch to make it sound larger than life. As it is, it sounds a little subdued.

Still, any rock fan should check them out. There aren’t a lot of new rock bands out there releasing cool tunes like these today, so make some room for Rebel Machine in your playlists.

Check them out on the web, and in the music videos below.

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