Album Review
Millencolin - Machine 15Millencolin - Machine 15

Who would believe that Millencolin have been going for 15 years now, that’s quite impressive, in the 15 years the band have gone on and released 8 albums, 3 EP's and many different singles, the band have also kept the same lineup throughout the whole time that they have been together which is some achievement as most bands would of had the odd line up change in a 15 year period.

The latest Millencolin album 'Machine 15', marks 15 years of the band being together and is one of the best albums Millencolin have released in years, over the years their music hasn’t changed that much they have always been about writing fast punk rock songs, when the band started out there music was a bit harder and darker than what it is nowadays but you can’t blame a band for getting poppier the older they get. 'Machine 15' is a fast paced radio friendly album that has been produced really well.

The album starts in such a strong way with the title track 'Machine 15', the song is big, fast and really poppy, but quite stomping at the same time, this is Millencolin at its best and is one of the biggest highlights from the album, but don’t worry, from me saying this is one of the main highlights doesn’t mean that the album goes down hill from here as it’s far from that.

'Done Is Done' is another strong song, it has a really big sound and has some really good guitar work with some big string arrangements towards the middle of the song, the song has a real mature feel about it.

The lead single from 'Machine 15' is 'Detox', now the song is good but is a little too poppy from what I would expect from Millencolin, it has that Busted meets Mcfly radio friendly feel about it and is too squeaky clean and overproduced to fully enjoy and it sounds like Millencolin made this song and chose to release it as a single in hope of attracting an all new fan base.

There are many top tracks on 'Machine 15' such as 'Vicious Circle, 'Who's Laughing Now', 'Brand New Game' and 'Route One', each and every one of these tracks are so listenable and easy to get into. 'Vicious Circle' sounds quite grown up and has a killer chant along chorus. 'Who's Laughing Now' is quite an interesting song it’s about the critics slating their band and that they are now laughing all the way to the bank, to be honest it’s quite a strange thing for a band to write a song about, and Millencolin do have bollocks to be able to right a song about this, the song is really strong sounding and one of the best songs on the album. 'Brand New Game' is a fast guitar driven punk rock tune that Millencolin manage to execute perfectly. 'Route One' is right up there with the album title track as one of the best songs on the album, the guitars are huge sounding and the drum beats are pretty impressive as well and frontman Nikola Sarcevic's vocals are at there best.

The album finishes with 'End Piece', the track isn’t a song as such it’s more just a piece of noise that runs for just over a minute sounding like some machine operating, before that fades out and some fuzzy soundscapes end the album in an odd way.

Fans of Millencolin will without a doubt love 'Machine 15', it is the best album offering since their album back in 2000 'Pennybridge Pioneers' and this is there 3rd album since then so I am pretty sure it will be welcomed by the bands fans with arms wide open. I do wonder how after 15 years of killer tracks and albums from Millencolin that they are still not one of the most popular and successful punk bands in the world, they have the material but they just don’t have the huge backing that some bands have got over the years, but saying that Millencolin are the most successful punk band from Sweden and always will be in my opinion.

4/5

Review by Trigger
 Band Members

Nikola Sarcevic (Vocals, Bass)
Mathias Färm (Guitar)
Fredrik Larzon (Drums)
Erik Ohlsson (Guitar)
 Track Listing
1. Machine 15
2. Done Is Done
3. Detox
4. Vicious Circle
5. Broken World
6. Come On
7. Centerpiece
8. Who's Laughing Now
9. Brand New Game
10. Ducks & Drakes
11. Turnkey Paradise
12. Route One
13. Danger For Stranger
14. Saved By Hell
15. End Piece
 Band Related Links
Millencolin Myspace
Millencolin Official Website
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?