In February 2009 Lucassen announced on his website his new side-project: Guilt Machine. The project features a very limited line-up compared to other Lucassen side projects: himself on many instruments and backing vocals, Jasper Steverlinck (Arid) on lead vocals, Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree) on drums and Lori Linstruth (ex-Stream of Passion) on lead guitar. Their first album "On This Perfect Day", released the same year, received a very good critical reception but was Lucassen's least commercially successful album in many years.