Local Review: Dwellers – Corrupt Translation Machine

Dwellers
Corrupt Translation Machine
Small Stone Records
Street: 05.23.2025
Dwellers = Pink Floyd + Muse

Salt Lake City’s Dwellers are back after an 11-year hiatus with their third record, Corrupt Translation Machine. It’s almost an hour long, divided over just eight tracks of heavy rock that is dark, emotional and fascinating. This record feels like smoking a cigarette in the cold, dark October night, thinking about your past.

Dwellers are session players with Kellii Scott on drums (Failure), Chase Cluff on keys (Last) and Oz Inglorious on bass (ex-Bird Eater, Suffocater, IOTA). The band draws inspiration for Corrupt Translation Machine from Radiohead, Mad Season and Pink Floyd. To me, it’s a very dark, moody album. Lyrically, it speaks of heartbreak, darkness, addiction and abuse. It’s full of heavy guitar, slow but heavy drums, deep bass and vocals reminiscent of grunge singers of the 1990s, like Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and Laney Staley (Alice In Chains).

Corrupt Translation Machine is a heavy record, in both sound and spirit. My top three favorite tracks are “Headlines,” “Inside Infinity” and “Marigold.” It pulls not just from grunge, but from synth-heavy space rock and emo as well. When I listened to this album for the first time, the images it invoked in my mind were those of edgy rock music videos from the early 2000s, like Muse’s “Uprising” and movies such as The Crow (1994). It throws me into a world where it’s always nighttime and full of nightmares, with the protagonist raging because of their lost love or at the government, drenched in constant rainfall. I love Corrupt Translation Machine for invoking this kind of scenery; it’s the kind of moody, powerful record that hits you deeply and lingers for weeks after, while making you inspired to write stories in your head of dark tales and powerful emotions.

The album opens with “Headlines,” a track that grabs hold of your attention with a powerful drum rhythm and fuzz-coated riffs. It’s intense pulling you deep into Dwellers’ newfound world of dark, intense sound and deep emotional lyrics. “Spiral Vision” follows, a favorite track of mine with lyrics about finally ending a relationship with someone who has played with their heart: “Watch you throw your heart on the floor / You’ve made your decision / There is no rescue outside that door / I’m left here with these hints of spiral vision.” 

The next track is “Old Ways,” a soulful song about bittersweet memories, bad habits you have to run away from. It has a screeching guitar and biting drums, which leads us into “The Beast,” a song with thick bass lines and loud drum solos. It feels almost feral, as if it’s the backdrop to a werewolf transformation in the moonlight. I love it; it feels spooky and gets me pumped. “Inside Infinity” follows, which opens with the twangs of an electric guitar. This track is a bittersweet love song about falling in love with a woman who is dying — a bit gothic in its storytelling, which I love. “The Maze” is a faster track about being lost following someone throughout life, and musically, it reminds me of Muse, with words drawn out for dramatic effect. 

“The Sermon” is the second to last track on Corrupt Translation Machine. If this record were a movie, this would be the last battle before the hero falls. It invokes images of a anti-hero of sorts battling the undead and demons: “Circled by vultures above / One final small offering… resting, unknowing / All will return to the ground,” the lyrics say, making it sound like our protagonist has lived and lost, and is finally ready for death. “Marigold (Heart of Stone)” ends the album, an 11-minute track that is cathartic, romantic and haunting. It’s the end of the movie with the anti-hero bleeding out, using his final breaths to think about his great love. The track itself is a journey, the instrumentals like waves swelling in and out, crashing into the side of the cliffs before making its final, quiet retreat — a perfect way to close Corrupt Translation Machine.

Lyrically, Corrupt Translation Machine deals with themes of life, death, heartbreak and fighting ‘til the end. It’s about how life and meaning too can become twisted by painful human experiences, such as grief and abuse. The songs move between anger and reflection, darkness and life… It’s the sound of Dwellers not just returning, but transforming and reaffirming their spot as a band to listen to and love.

If you’re a fan of hard rock that blends grunge with a cinematic, gothic feel, Corrupt Translation Machine is a record you should give a listen to. It’s not a comeback album but a rebirth, like a phoenix rising from their ashes. Corrupt Translation Machine is a record that is haunting and unforgettable. —Cherri Cheetah

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