Track Listing

1. Caul- Metempsychosis
2. globalwavesystem- 2048-Bit
3. Signal Bleed- Broken Transmitter
4. Red Rum Trance- Out of Ashes
5. Torn Skin- Shoulders of Geniuses
6. Autovoice- Human Condition
7. Thymikon- Steel
8. Cradle>Grave- Moths
9. Fatal Blast Whip- Re-Creation
10. Twitch- Return the Human World
11. Joshua Bourke- Light Storm
12. Evonica- The Elven Moon
13. Blackhouse- Reason to Live
14. Dendography- Laceration...
15. Aphorism- Remnant
16. Dopple Kode- Zero Sum Cosmic

          "Mankind has travelled out of the garden of Eden and into the garden of technology". This statement from Blacklight Records about their new compilation, "Machines in the Garden", sums up a lot about the label and this CD. It reflects their Christian background, which is increasingly apparent the more I think about it. Although their religious disposition doesn't appear to come across as preachy in their releases, statements like these still seem to assume the Christian moulded past is the accepted one. The secondary point this statement makes is about the actual music. Socially we have advanced into an increasingly technological environment, and electronics in music like this is a prime example. It seems to have taken Blacklight a few releases to work out the kinks, but this is where it has all come together for them. The arrangement, the artists involved, and the cover art all reflect the experience culled from the releases under their belt. This is the second time they have released "Machines in the Garden". After the first attempt they apparently sensed the room for improvement that this version capitalises on. The majority of the songs here are instrumental, and they lean towards an experimental side Blacklight hasn't really touched on until now. Caul starts the disk off with the rich atmospheric drones of "Metempsychosis". It opens with some samples from Einsturzende Neubauten's "Drawings of Patient O.T." that foreshadow the experimentation of the tracks to follow. With their contribution, "2048-Bit", globalwavesystem introduce the percussion and samples that a lot of the bands utilize here in abundance. Signal Bleed's track of purely noise oriented mechanics adds a fair amount of diversity when held up against the guitar driven contributions of Red Rum Trance and Torn Skin. Blackhouse stick to basics with "Reason to Live", which follows the minimalist approach they are known for. This is the first disk in a set of three that will compose the Cataclysm Singles box set. Overall the production quality and worthwhile material on this disk make for a very good compilation, which is easily Blacklight's best to date.

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