ALBUM REVIEW: Flowers and Lies

KAISER and the Machines of Creation (also known as KMC3) recently released their brilliant album titled ‘Flowers and Lies.’ While individual songs are reminiscent of soft 70s rock, others are utterly eerie, unique, and quite heavy hitting. The overall album was beyond satisfying.

KAISER and the Machines of Creation are based in Adelaide, South Australia. Their lineup is fused of artists stemming mostly from tribute bands (including an Ozzy Osbourne tribute and a Deep Purple tribute called Burn). The group’s “roots lie in the classic hard rock/ metal bands.” It’s quite recognizable they find heavy inspiration in the 70s era of rock. It shows in ‘Flowers and Lies,’ which feels relatively new and exciting, along with feeling reminiscent and nostalgic.

The album opens with ‘It’s All A Lie.’ The piece is quite weird and somehow, in the same fell swoop, immensely gratifying. I dug it right away. The song is rather an experience, as is the overall album. It’s soft but hits hard in certain areas. I massively enjoy the sort of dark musical elements. The guitarist is epic, feeding further into the experience.

I was blown away by ‘Who Decides‘ it was highly comforting due to its vast 70s rock feel. It sounded soft and refreshing. However, it still had that loveable metal clasp. I’m sort of addicted to this song as well as ‘Flowers and Lies.’ The piece goes from delicate to heavy, back to fluffy and light, and then back again to heavy.

Some of the songs remind me of earlier work from EMN (Every Mother’s Nightmare). With the catchy lyrics and the balance of softness and darkness. One of my overall favorites of the album was ‘Institute.’

The band recorded in GhostNote studios giving them a massive range of instruments and equipment to perfect the album’s sound. “vintage and unique guitars from which we could get a wide range of sounds to complement different passages etc that were called for in the songs, a Grand Piano, different drums we could drop in and out of the kit, as well as a host of outboard vintage and contemporary effects, as well as a huge range of analog guitar pedals to experiment with so we could really go wild and have such a plethora of tools [to use on recording].”

Overall the album was strong lyrically and musically; it had a brilliant 70s (soft and metal) rock feel. The band’s image is widely exciting, as well as their music videos visuals. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for them.