London-based metal act HUMAN CRUSHING MACHINE steps into the world with a debut that refuses to look away from the damage underneath the neon. “Tunnel Vision,” out October 29th on László Paprikás Records, turns its attention to the escalating homeless crisis in Las Vegas — a city selling the dream while burying the fallout.
Comments Nick Schlesinger: “Our debut single is a protest anthem highlighting the growing homeless crisis in Las Vegas, which is a city of excess with a dark side where the disenfranchised live in poverty, despair and fear. The inspiration for ‘Tunnel Vision’ came from walking up and down the Strip as well as Downtown, Old Vegas. You get to see the glittering illusion of Vegas alongside the destitute high, drunk and sleeping on the baking sidewalks and tunnels right next to it, day and night. I wanted to shine a light on an issue that plagues us as a society, with unrelenting sound and purpose.”
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The project comes from multi-instrumentalist Nick Schlesinger, joined by vocalist Simon Gordon (KILL II THIS) and guest lead guitarist Chris Poland (MEGADETH, OHM). The track pulls together thick, modern heaviness and classic metallic groove — pulverizing riffs, bleak atmospheres, and lyrics locked into social reality.
Fans of MEGADETH, ALICE IN CHAINS, PANTERA, and GOJIRA will catch the throughlines without the band leaning on nostalgia.
Schlesinger frames the project around pressure points in society — political rot, inequality, domestic violence, war — with this first chapter set in the tunnels under the Strip.
Las Vegas’ image barely disguises the situation of people sleeping beneath the streets, exposed to floods, police sweeps, and a system that treats survival like a burden. The video translates that duality into something stark: glossy illusions against an unseen architecture of fear and displacement.
“These songs come from real places and real people’s pain,” says Schlesinger. “You see the illusion of Vegas right next to people sleeping on baking sidewalks and in tunnels. ‘Tunnel Vision’ is about shining a light on that darkness.”
“Tunnel Vision” is the starting point for a larger body of work aimed directly at social and moral failures most would rather ignore — a protest put through distortion and adrenaline.
