System Machine releases Single/Video

Steeped in the abrasive noise of a much more experimental act than their creators actually are, “In Dust We Trust” gets started in a tizzy of anxiety-filled textures and tones that collide into each other to create an incendiary sound impossible for any heavy rock fan to turn away from. Here, we’re literally witnessing System Machine piece together the opening bars of a powerful new single designed to remind listeners of the urgency of an ongoing health crisis transpiring around the world, and in their effort to expose the truth to their fans, they will pull out as many of stops as necessary (including those their contemporaries would just as soon be leaving alone). 

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These lyrics have the scathing sting of something I would anticipate hearing in any given protest song, regardless of genre or the political issue at hand, but what makes them real, humanized and tangible to the audience has a lot less to do with what they’re telling us and more to do with how they’re being presented to listeners.

There’s a melodic streak to “In Dust We Trust” that I definitely didn’t think I’d be hearing back in the first ten seconds of the track only moments prior to the chorus (in the big picture, at least), and it’s via this melodicism that we get a staple of authenticity typically not found in most new metal music. 

I’ve been overwhelmingly disappointed with the majority of the metal, industrial and alternative rock content I’ve been reviewing in the year 2020, but I can honestly say that System Machine’s new single and music video in “In Dust We Trust” is probably some of the smartest material I’ve come across. These Northern Irelanders have something hot going for them in this sound, and it’s nice to hear them making the most of it with a good cause as their motivation in this swaggering, unforgettable performance. 

Mindy McCall