Automaton

Automaton is the sixth album, on which Crashdïet — now on their second with Gabriel Keyes — rebooted their own raw glam metal image. Released in April 2022 and produced by the band themselves. The gap between riffs with a dangerous mood and sweet melody, and '80s choruses alongside modern sonic pressure, coexist. A stance of updating the sound for the times while never letting go of the genre's core runs clearly through the whole thing. From the short intro of the title track it flows into “Together Whatever” and “Shine On,” and the undulation is wide — the melodic beauty of “No Man's Land,” the addictiveness of “Darker Minds,” the drive of “Shell Shock,” the force of “We Die Hard,” and the closing ballad “I Can't Move On (Without You).” Steel Panther's Michael Starr guests on “Powerline.” It was made while touring was restricted by the pandemic, yet the playing's focus is if anything sharper. It also became the last album with long-serving Eric Young. A record that turned the tension of lineup change into fresh momentum without losing the band's character.