First things first: even if you hail from Southend rather than Seattle, calling yourselves BATES MOTEL is a genius idea. Providing you sound psychotic enough, that is.
Do Bates Motel succeed in thi quest, though? Well, they certainly have a vigourous stab. Most of "Deux Ex Machina" clings to the narrow cliff face of old skool Seattle Grunge that hangs precariously over the abyss of full-on neander metal.
Indeed, tracks like "Cease And Desist", "Intoxication" and "Lost My Way" spor the kind of deathly riffs that don't so much buy Tony Iommi a drink as shoot demolition balls at his head, while vocally they remind of an unholy alliance of Vedder, Cornell and early, untutored Cobain. Hell, "Cease And Desist" even resembles "Floyd The Barber" (from "Bleach") if you head's on a bit skewhiff.
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I can't honestly say "Deux Ex Machina" is exactly my chosen chalice of hemlock or pretend this gloom-laden Grindcore hasn't been done before. However, while some of this is relentlessly grim, there is a dark power at the heart her, so who knows. Lose the widdly solos, though, lads. God (Satan?) knows there's enough of these crimes out there already.
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