Opening track The Embrace starts with a tribal drum, which soon blends into a wash of needlework guitar added to layers of delicate strumming.
Drums tease the guitar parts – ranging from mere tapping to heavy drumming. Vocally the band is strikingly reminiscent of Tool – soaring from quiet choral-singing to giant yelling. At times, the parallels between Parentheses and Tool mask the Machines' individuality.

But, despite this, the band is tight and the EPO is varied. Nascent is a much heavier, shoutier number – equally as dramatic as Embrace, but with greater distortion on guitars and smashing drums.

The Machines are from Sheffield, yet nowhere is this evident in the music. Unlike the Machines' fellow Sheffield groups – Reverend and the Makers, Paddy Orange and the Arctics – the Machines do not wear the region on their sleeves.

If you're a Tool fan, you'll love this Machines EP – well-crafted, crisply constructed experimental rock.