MACHINE HEAD

www.machinehead1.com

The Blackening

Roadrunner Records (2007)

www.roadrunnerrecords.com

by Sully Payton

 

In the history of music, there aren't many bands that have released a brilliant debut album and then made an even more monumental record later on in their careers. Led Zeppelin quickly comes to mind with an utter classic of a debut in Led Zeppelin I and then a transcendent release several years later when they released Led Zeppelin IV. After Zeppelin, its nearly impossible to find a band that fits the pattern. Here's one for ya- Machine Head! Yes, the Machine Head that dropped the heavy as balls Burn My Eyes on the metal world in 1994; a debut record that ensured the relevance of metal as the grunge revolution got off and running. Filled with classics like "Davidian", "Old" and "I'm Your God Now", it's a debut record that sounds just as vicious 13 years later. Machine Head was never able to maintain the momentum of their debut and, by 2002, they were a band that seemed destined for obscurity after the release of  Supercharger. Signs of life returned to the band in a big way upon the release of 2004's Through The Ashes of Empires. Gone were the attempts at nu-metal and electronics. Back came skin flaying guitars and piss and vinegar vocal delivery of Rob Flynn. Ashes was 11 tracks of classic Head that made the metal world sit up and take notice of their return and brought their legions of fans back to their old ferocity. Not content to sit on their laurels, Machine Head have upped the ante on the metal world. Rob Flynn and company put their middle fingers in the air to all that dismissed them and have put out the record of their career, the record of the year and maybe a defining record of the decade with The Blackening (Roadrunner Records).

The only way to dissect this record is track by track. Opener "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" is a ten and a half minute call to arms to stand up against madness that we have wrought in the Middle East. Starting with a mellow acoustic guitar plinking over a drummed marching cadence, it soon explodes into an in your face riff-fest. Just when you think the song starts to mellow, Flynn and guitarist Phil Demel jam it back into overdrive to end with a flourish. "Beautiful Mourning" displays the guitar harmonics that we've come to expect from the Head in all of their beautiful forms. It's a song that also puts the sensitive touches of Flynn's voice on full display with some almost ethereal vocals. Don't be lulled into thinking that the Head of gone wuss on us, however. "Aesthetics of Hate" is Machine Head's response to the hate mongers that spit on Dimebag's legacy after his brutal murder. When Flynn says, "I hope you burn in hell!!" you know he has someone particular in mind. Flynn and Demel send riffs flying all over this song with drummer Dave McLain laying a brutal backbeat of double bass rolls. "Now I Lay Thee Down" puts Flynn's singing talents back on display while the guitars and drums work up a hypnotic flow, but chunky surprises lurk around dark corners of this song. "Slanderous" is an air guitar inspiring, headbanging work out, packed with more guitar scales than a high school music book. After that, get ready for the long haul, as the last three songs clock in at a whopping 28 minutes. "Halo" packs more time changes into 9 minutes than you've heard in any non-prog metal record. If the hair doesn't stand up on the back your neck at the outset of "Wolves" when Flynn yells "Unleash the wolves/carnage has no rules", you're either deaf or an unabashed Yanni fan. The favorite track of this reviewer, "Wolves" shows Dave McLain's mastery of the drumkit, with some of the most intense rhythms to be found on the record. Piggy squeals and pick slides abound on this one. Closer "A Farewell To Arms" is Machine Head's most political song ever. For a band not known for combining music and politics, the Head have written the most intense anti-war song for the current generation of metalheads. Carried by pummeling guitars and a full range of vocal stylings, this isn't your parent's protest song, but it might be more stunningly effective.

There is a ton of music packed into The Blackening. There are songs within songs. This is a record that takes multiple listens in order to pick up all the nuances. It's a record that needs to be listened to in one sitting. While every song on The Blackening is brilliant, hearing how they all fit together over the course of sixty plus minutes is exhilarating. For a band that's 14 year old, Machine Head sound like they are hungrier than any new band trying to make their mark. That hunger has clearly helped them make the record of their lives, THE record of the year and a record that's going to become a standard bearer for years to come.

      

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