The End Machine, the new band featuring two members of the classic Dokken lineup — George Lynch (guitar) and Jeff Pilson (bass) — along with former Lynch Mob and current Warrant singer Robert Mason, will release its sophomore album, Phase2, on April 9th through Frontiers Music Srl. The official music video for the disc’s first single, Blood And Money, can be seen below [Dana’s note: Refresh your browser if you are having trouble viewing the video.]
Phase2 features drummer Steve Brown, younger brother of former Dokken/Lynch Mob drummer “Wild” Mick Brown, who played on The End Machine’s self-titled 2019 debut.
he new LP builds on the great bluesy hard rock music of the debut, but sees The End Machine move more towards more towards a classic ’80s hard rock sound and the result is a 2.0 reboot of a killer music machine.
Says Pilson, “On this record, we set out to make the very best songs possible and are more than excited with how it turned out. We also weren’t afraid to let elements of the Dokken sound come through loud and clear. As a result, not only was it a very organic and collaborative process, but it was a helluva lot of fun as well. I feel these are some of the best songs we’ve ever written and I’m blown away by all the performances. George was on fire throughout, Robert makes it clear he’s one of the very best rock vocalists around, and Steve delivered with all the passion and enthusiasm any band could ever desire. All in all, it is a musical statement we can and will stand behind for a very long time.”
Adds Lynch, “Jeff, Robert and I had discussions prior to pre-production and writing sessions that we would make a concerted effort to emphasize hooks and accessibility in our writing. We made sure to constantly remind ourselves of the self-induced parameters we’d created for ourselves so as not to get sidetracked and lose focus. I think that that guidance served us well. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished with The End Machine Phase2.
States Mason, “I feel that Phase2 is a logical progression from our debut record, and I echo Jeff’s point that, in the writing process, none of us felt we had to distance ourselves from our past nor our collective roots. That hit making Lynch/Pilson chemistry and song lineage is surely powerful and present, while allowing me freedom to both embrace it and show my own musical and lyrical flavors. This record shows us solidly in each other’s musical pockets and grooves, and speaking of, Steve Brown showed up to crush it on drums…and he can sing some mighty background vocals! We hope fans of all of our catalogs will embrace The End Machine and Phase2.”
Phase2 track listing:
1. The Rising
2. Blood And Money
3. We Walk Alone
4. Dark Divide
5. Crack The Sky
6. Prison Or Paradise
7. Plastic Heroes
8. Scars
9. Shine Your Light
10. Devil’s Playground
11. Born Of Fire
12. Destiny
Phase2 recording lineup:
George Lynch – guitar
Jeff Pilson – bass, keyboards and background vocals
Steve Brown – drums and background vocals
Robert Mason – lead and background vocals
Originally born from an idea of Frontiers Music Srl president and A&R director Serafino Perugino, who wanted to have the classic lineup of Dokken team up with a killer vocalist, The End Machine’s self-titled debut impressed mightily upon release. Far from being a simple rehash of the members resumes, The End Machine proved to be a jelled unit who sounded exactly like the seasoned pros they are, while taking their hard rock past and putting a stamp of modern production on things courtesy of Pilson.
For their debut album, The End Machine’s sound developed through several initial songwriting sessions between Pilson and Lynch, with Mason later partnering with them. While the lineup may have had fans making assumptions about the sound of the band, things took a different turn. Said Pilson at the time: “The real truth of it is that George and I have this great songwriting partnership that’s been going on for 35 years, and we love to work together. Robert really jelled with us too, thus making the process smooth.”
3 Responses
Is George Lynch in more bands than anyone in history? it seems like every few months there is a new project featuring him and some other people. Not that I am complaining, I just wish he would focus all his attention on one project and blow that out of the park, instead of half dozen decent projects.
Seeing George with long blond hair takes a little getting used to (for me), but it’s a solid sounding band. He and Jeff have always worked well together, and Mick’s younger brother does a creditable job on drums as well. It’s got to be difficult to make hard rock records when the genre (which I like) is so small now, and you can’t even tour. I wish them well.
Love Lynch and Pilson, Robert Mason is what draws me to this band, dude is so underrated.