This is probably the longest living Sleaze/ Glam band from Greece to date, originally founded in Athens under the monicker of War Machine (taken from the song by the same title on the Creatures Of The Night album by Kiss) in 1999, albeit with a different musical direction.
Following the tragic loss of their bassist and ensuing line-up changes, the band took on their current musical stylings and changed their name to Wild Machine. With the current line-up (? - the question mark indicating an incertitude on my part) of lead singer Johny Hott, guitarists Spider Lee and Mario Lux, bassist Simon Key, and drummer Andy Rozz, the band had its first release with the 3-track EP Viciouz Luv, released through Evil Records in April 2007, and in spite of its controversial title, II is the band's full-length debut. Over the past years, the band has played support slots for the likes of Gilby Clarke, Star Star, Ryan Roxie, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, and many more, most of which local acts which the band got to knw through Internet. Part of the confusion about the time-line of this band (see also question mark) comes from the knowledge that Hott, Lee, and Rozz (with one Dave K. Krasonis on guitar) have also been part of Epic Heavy Metal act Embrace Fire, a band founded in 2002 now no longer in existence, in which Lee actually handled the bass. EF recorded demos in 2002 and 2004 (entitled Attack and Slaughter respectively), and then issued the one full-length Savage through Evil Records in 2006. And those elements strangely tie in with the info above, doesn't it? So, we might conclude that Wild Machine actually only came into existence after EF's demise, somewhere late 2006 – early 2007, mightn't we? Rozz, whom apparently has a taste for the heavier stuff, also still is a member of Melodic Death Metal/ Metalcore act SlaveEatGod, which was formed in 2007 and has, to date, released the 2010 full-length Black Core Inn.
Back to Wild Machine, and their debut full-length, which was apparently recorded almost completely back in 2008, except for some details. In fact, in a late August 2008 interview, Hott stated that the tapes were already in the hands of Jay Messina (known from being associated with recordings by the likes of The Rolling Stones, Kiss, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, John Lennon, Ted Nugent, Supertramp, New York Dolls, and many more) for the mixing of the material. So, this album took a hell of a long time coming! When you listen to the instrumental side of WM's music, you have a hard time understanding why the album was not released a long time ago, because the guitarists (both handling rhythm and lead guitar parts) bring a nicely woven tapestry of energetic and slightly complex but always melodic play! The guys also bring a nice variety of songs, some faster, others close to (Hard) Rock 'n' Roll...but no ballads! A sound which has gained the band comparisons to the likes of Britny Fox, Motley Crüe, early Accept, and Krokus. The latter bringing us to the problem (at least in my opinion) with WM...the lead singer! You see, he handles a vocal style which finds him using a very high pitched voice, which is simply over-the-top and therefore somewhat...shall I say, ridiculous? Well, I've already said it, didn't I?
It's a pity, because, at least to my taste, the singer destroys an otherwize great band! To find out whether you feel differently, you can listen to a couple of the band's songs (all 3 off the EP, which were re-worked and re-recorded or the full-length, plus an album version of one of the songs, and a previously unreleased track to boot) at (www.) myspace.com/wildmachine. The rating is gained mainly because of the instrumental prowess of the musicians.