One of the all-time classics in the realm of assault-jazz, took its title from the nickname given to Peter Brotzmann by Don Cherry, who compared his furious blowing to the sound of high-powered artillery. And that fury and power was fully fleshed out on this 1968 release, a ferocious blast of high-volume, high-powered free-jazz aggression that still stands as one of the most extreme improv jazz albums ever recorded. More than forty years later, these recordings haven't lost any of their fury or muscular force, and all of the hard-blowin', ear-wastin' modern hardcore jazz units that I listen to have been influenced by this landmark album in one form or another. Machine Gun was recorded in the Spring of 1968 by a group of legendary European improvisers that were at the time just beginning to launch their careers but who have since become some of the top names within the field of Euro free-jazz, and according to the liner notes that accompany Machine Gun, this is considered by many to be the first actual European jazz recording. The Peter Brotzmann Octet featured British sax legend Evan Parker and Dutch blower Willem Breuker, both of whom are an equal match for Brotzmann's lungpower on this session, and they are joined by drummers Sven-�ke Johansson and Han Bennink, pianist Fred van Hove, and bassists Peter Kowald and Buschi Niebergall. That's one hell of an ensemble. For the three lengthy pieces that make up Machine Gun, Brotzmann takes his group into a dense, furious blast of hard blowing skree and manic fast-paced improv, the battalion of reeds bellowing and screaming in protest and rage, the rhythm section tearing through a energetic sea of fills and speedy rhythmic patterns that at times actually sound like blastbeats (!), and offsetting the chaotic sections with the occasional detour into bluesy territory before raging right back into the storm. Total blast! This is powerful stuff, still as fierce and aggro as it was when it first came out, and easily one of the most cathartic jazz/improv albums that I have in my collection. Anyone into the more modern hardcore-jazz/assault-jazz groups like Borbetomagus, Wasteland Jazz Unit, Painkiller, Hetero Skeleton, Klangmutationen, Rust Ionics, Weasel Walter Quartet, and Disclocation would do well to get this album, as it all starts here. Up until recently, Machine Gun has been an expensive, difficult to find import, but Atavistic has since rectified the situation by reissuing the album domestically, adding on several alternate takes from the same session, and including the only live version of "Machine Gun" that has ever been recorded, taken from the 1968 Frankfurt Jazz Fest. The package is rounded out by excellent linet notes from Peter Brotzmann and John Corbett, and comes in a full color slipcase. Essential.