Turbonegro – RockNRoll Machine

Turbonegro – RockNRoll Machine
(Burger Records)

Reviewed by Doug Peters.

It’s been a long time between drinks for the Denim and Scandinavian Leather clad fans of the Norwegian deathpunk band Turbonegro – RockNRoll Machine being their first album in five years. So it is with some relief that the wait has indeed been worth it, as this is a definite return to form.

RockNRoll Machine kicks off with some heavy 80’s synth action (courtesy of new member Crown Prince Haakon Marius) before segueing into a Blizzard Of Flames-esque spoken word snippet introducing the album proper. From there it’s a thrill ride of the typical Turbonegro clusterfuck of styles – each with that traditional deathpunk sound. This album borrows heavily from past Turbonegro periods, from the ‘Party Animals’ styled production through to the aforementioned spoken word into from ‘Scandinavian Leather’, while also taking us on a bit of a journey through other major hard rock and punk luminaries – ‘Part III – RockNRoll Machine’ being blatantly AC/DC inspired, ‘Hot For Nietzsche’ having a killer The Who styled synth line, Van Halen is channeled through ‘Skinhead Rock & Roll’ while the “smoke pot” chant in ‘On The Rag’ is an homage (direct copy?) to the Dead Kennedys “Pol Pot” chant from ‘Holiday From Cambodia’. While this may sound like a mishmash of styles and has the potential to be a difficult listen, in true Turbonegro fashion it all just works and adds to the overall sound, rather than detracting from it.

Overall, RockNRoll Machine is a welcome addition to the Turbonegro catalogue that is closer to the old Hank Von Helvete period sound that anyone who is into rock, punk or 80’s synth would do well to check out. I for one hope that we’ll see Turbonegro tour this part of the world on the back of this album, because these songs are going to kick ass live!