Dwellers – Corrupt Translation Machine

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · June 17, 2025

Dwellers are an atmospheric hard rock band from Salt Lake City, Utah. They play a eclectic mix of psychedelic, blues, Americana, and are purveyors of the slow burn. The band has released two prior albums for Small Stone Records including 2012’s Good Morning Harakiri and 2014’s Pagan Fruit. They also released an experimental EP, 2011’s Peace, and Other Horrors, along with a live record, Live at Bar Deluxe, 29/04/2014. In 2024, they released a comeback single called Made. Before that, it has been a decade since we heard any new music from the Dwellers. Finally, the band returned with their latest album, 2025’s Corrupt Translation Machine, available once again on Small Stone Records. The current lineup consists of Joey Toscano on vocals, guitars, synths, and rhodes, Oz Inglorious on bass, Kellii Scott on drums, and Chase Cluff on synths, and rhodes. Corrupt Translation Machine was released on May 23rd 2025 and contains nine tracks at fifty two minutes long.

Last year, guitarist/ vocalist Joey Toscano and bassist Oz Inglorious made their fifteen plus year comeback with their original band Iota and released their excellent second album, Pentasomnia (review here). I was happy to hear that the Dwellers are back in action with another great recording. The band has stated: “In the context of the album, the Corrupt Translation Machine is the human being. These songs are mostly about impermanence, addiction, loss, love, insanity, and trying to learn from the mistakes we make due to deluded perception.” The nine tracks are dense with smooth melodies and atmospheric sounds of rock and heavy psych.

“Headlines” starts the album off with a great track of insightful rock that carries a lustrous approach of sleek song crafting with a straightforward and vibrant melody. They level things up with the second track called “Spiral Vision”. It embodies a dark rock essence with an intense and emotive tone throughout. The music has a subtle heaviness that caters to more illuminating ambience and powerful guitar leads. “Old Ways” has an interesting blues rock feel that is pushed forward with Toscano’s expressive and charming vocals. The music has a dynamic draw of exceptional guitar playing leads and expansive melodies and tones.

“The Beast” has a smooth Pink Floyd vibe caressing the song with the vocal delivery and sonically pleasing musical elements. Dwellers incorporate some progressive movements and chugs of fuzz in certain parts. They float the smooth rhythms nicely and the textures of synth are very well balanced throughout. “Inside Infinity” dives in deeper with the dreamy tones of psych. The guitars are never overly distorted which allows the rhythm section to dazzle along unwrinkled while the spacy sounds are gliding along elegantly. The addition of a fourth member to the band in Chase Cluff, adds a new dimension to the Dwellers sound. As is the case with “The Maze”, in which the band has a remarkable soundscape of illuminating psych effects and sounds. The song takes the listener on a cosmic journey into a new dimension. It really encapsulates and enhances an already thick and expansive sound.

“The Sermon” is another ambitious exploratory piece of musical art. A cool thing about the music from the band is that it’s totally unique and their own signature sound. Even after a ten year gap in albums, Dwellers are their own entity and embrace their core sound magnificently. The difference this time around though is that it’s more extensive and wide-ranging, with the added synth and rhodes. They really capture and fill in more space with the fourth member. The eighth track is one of my favorites. Entitled “Marigold (Heart Of Stone)”, the song is an excellent audio expression of beauty in melancholy. The eleven minute musical monologue is exquisite and ravishing! Driven by acoustic guitars and emotive vocals, the song has a lot of great musical depth and dynamics happening. It transitions into heavier riffing midway through and soars into a rocking movement of raging leads and explosive drumming. It’s a terrific song through and through.

The final track on Corrupt Translation Machine is called “Made (Psych Ward Mix)”. It’s another excellent score of mind altering melodies of hypnotic harmony. Dwellers really make a big statement on this album and utilize their musical talents to create a fantastic audio ascension. The long delay did not hinder their creativity at all. They have gifted us with another amazing album that will require repeated listens to really appreciate.