The name Saviour Machine evokes a wide variety of reactions: love, confusion, controversy, and about a dozen others. My friend George reveres them as his favorite band of all time. Others find them dense and difficult. Still others enjoy the dark mysterious sounds as well as the lyrical approach.
The band formed in California in 1989, and soon after issued a demo CD of gothic metal replete with classic metal riffs and dramatic vocals. Their label debut released in 1993 for Intense Records and still featured an even combination of gothic rock and heavy metal. Subsequent releases toyed with the recipe, adding symphonic touches, larger and smaller doses of operatic material, but the marriage of goth and metal was always at the center.
Love them or hate them, Saviour Machine made listeners pay attention. Lyrical references were almost always pointed at the end of times, but the meanings were often drenched in such heavy symbolism and poetry, that the meaning was obscured (I suppose one could accuse the Scriptures of the same).
Take our Song of the Day selection for today, “Killer.” The song could easily be about the ‘Antichrist’ or ‘son of perdition,’ but it could just as easily be about a murderer or serial killer.
Killer is dying within
Killer is taking the soul from the man
Killer is stalking again
Killer is breaking the heart of his plan
Pray for the killer
Pray for his son
Pray for the killer
Pray for his day to be done
That last line is a sentiment I suspect we can all agree with.
The nearly 10-minute track is a great example of all of the elements that make Saviour Machine was they are: the fusion of goth and metal, surreal and/or symbolic lyrics, and the epic croon of lead vocalist Eric Clayton.
