''Rise of the Great Machine'' is the debut and only studio album by the project

Supermachiner Supermachiner was an experimental music project that Jacob Bannon and Ryan Parker began writing for in 1994 and soon became a collection of four track recordings. When Converge (band), Converge had about six months of down time as the band searche ...

. It was released on November 28, 2000, through

Undecided Records Undecided Records was an American independent record label established in 1998 by Clifford Wiener and Alexander Kenny. The record company was founded in Loxahatchee, Florida but its headquarters moved around in various parts of Palm Beach Coun ...

. The album features artwork created by

Jacob Bannon Jacob Bannon (born October 15, 1976) is an American musician who is the vocalist, lyricist and graphic artist for the metalcore band Converge. He is the co-founder and owner of the record label Deathwish Inc. and the author of many visual works ...

Writing and recording

Writing for the album began in 1994 and soon after became a collection of four track recordings, however the project remained inactive for a number of years. When

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD s ...

had about six months of down time as the band searched for a drummer, Jacob Bannon and Ryan Parker found the time to resurrect the project. They entered GodCity Studios with

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early an ...

in the winter of 1999, to take on the piles of old four track tapes they had. During the sessions, Ballou contributed a great deal to the album material both as an engineer and musician. Bannon stated in an interview that many of the songs off

's ''

Jane Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are ofte ...

'' came from Supermachiner, the project was claimed to inspire ''Jane Doe'''s experimental side. The songs "Jane Doe" and "Phoenix in Flight" were initially intended for the Supermachiner but Bannon thought "it made sense for Converge to play them."

Release

''Rise of the Great Machine'' was released on compact disc by

in the summer of 2000. A 2xLP version was scheduled to be co-released by Undecided Records and Temperance Records in late 2000, but after continuous delays it was ultimately cancelled. In 2005, Undecided Records repressed the compact disc edition with a slightly updated layout. In 2004, Icarus Records, a subsidiary of Bannon's Deathwish, Inc. record label, hand-made 50 copies of ''Rise of the Great Machine'' on compact disc. The release was sold exclusively at Converge's merch table during their You Fail Me 2K4 Tour (promoting '' You Fail Me'') in September and October 2004. The album was reissued in 2008 by French record label E-Vinyl on a double LP, limited to 1000 copies.

Rust

Eight years after the release of ''Rise of the Great Machine'', Deathwish Inc. announced the release of ''Rust'', a 30 track double CD that featured remastered versions of the ''Rise of the Great Machine'' tracks along with

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of forgotten songs and additional audio experiments done by the band. ''Rust'' was released on March 16, 2009.

Musical style and theme

The music was much different than Bannon's band Converge, having more in common with influences

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

, and others. The lyrical content is built around the rise of technology and the death of the individual.

Track listing

* Track 13 "A New Day" is mislabeled "A New Day A New Loss" on the original Undecided Records issue of the album. As a result, track 14, "A New Loss" received the name of track 15 and track 15 received the name of track 16 and so on throughout the track listing, leaving the final track to be titled "Last". * Disc one of ''Rust'' is a reissue of ''Rise of the Great Machine''.

Personnel

Supermachiner *

– vocals, guitar,

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

* Ryan Parker – vocals, bass, electronics Additional musicians * Seth Bannon – percussion, electronics *

– guitar, saxophone, electronics * Akina Kawauchi – violin Production and recording * Kurt Ballou – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

at GodCity * Dave Merullo – mastering, editing at M-Works Artwork * Jacob Bannon – design

References

{{Authority control Supermachiner albums 2000 albums Undecided Records albums