Machine Head - The Blackening
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Free Music Notes for The Blackening
Free Music Review: Great metal destined to be a classic
Hit: 5 Stars
Machine Head have had a bit of an up-and-down career, with a few missteps along the way, but when they're firing on all cylinders, you better get out of their way. Leader and vocalist Robb Flynn, possibility the angriest metaller out there right now, is a superb songwriter, which is too often overlooked in metal circles, with many outfits getting attention with unimaginative repetitive riffs and singers who sound like they're suffering from a bad case of irritable bowel syndrome.
Flynn does his share of growling, but also provides clear vocals and harmonies, which add the one element modern metal needs the most, dynamics. Not that "The Blackening" is a wimped out affair. This slab is heavy - like the Titanic sinking in your living room heavy. The guitar work though, is innovative, uses lots of cool bends ala Tony Iommi and some of the best lead work out there.
Every track is great, but a few really stick out, which is no small feat in a CD of such strong material. "Halo", "Slanderous" and "Wolves" are personal favorites. If Machine Head keep this level of metal up, they will be almost untouchable. Give me Robb Flynn over the over blown and bloated Metallica any day.
Free Music Review: A THROWBACK MASTERPIECE TO THE TIME WHEN METAL WAS KING
Hit: 5 Stars
This album can only be fully described in two words "EPIC MASTERPIECE" and if you love metal this is a must buy trust me I thought nothing would ever get close to my all time favorite album megadeth's "rust in peace" but that changed after i heard the blackenings first track its 10 minutes of raw heavy metal power.This album is full of energy and amazing technicality "the blackening" is probably the only album I would consider "equal" to rust in peace wich is saying A LOT!!Seriously if you like heavy metal(and thinks mainstream music like hip hop and my chemical romance is a talentless BS affair)any kind like death black metal or even rapcore and nu metal I really recommend this album since I am a huge children of bodom,chimaira,megadeth and even rage against the machine fan."The blackening" is a throwback to the times when metal thrived and with raw energy power and relentless solos were praised by the mainstream unlike now when "50 cent" has "talent" and creating a crappy song in your dirty brocken keyboard like "sowja boy" can throw you to the top unlike actually having something called "TALENT" and creating something "EPIC" and "CLASSIC" like "The blackening" Machinehead you have all my respect.Free Music Review: Epic masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
"The Blackening" is an epic masterpiece of metal music. It pounds throughout the entire hour, very heavy. By the time the CD is done, I'm always tired because my adrenaline is going strong the whole time I'm listening to it. Awesome, awesome album. This is their best work, and one of the top 3 albums I've ever listened to. Go buy it as soon as you can.Free Music Review: The last 14 years were worth the wait.
Hit: 5 Stars
Machine Head has never really been a band that stood out to me. 1994's Burn My Eyes is heralded as their best work by many, but it's got some seriously stiff competition from The Blackening. Let's just consider this their only two albums, and the rest of their time was spent experimenting.
First off, The Blackening is tough as nails metal. If you liked the sound Machine Head pioneerd with Burn My Eyes, you will love this album. Their detuned, post-thrash riffs are here in effect. Rob Flynn gives his best vocal performance to date, sounding a lot less like he's singing over the music and moreso WITH it. The guitars are BIG. I mean, they take up a ton of sonic real estate, and they give absolutely no quarter even at their most melodic. The drums and bass give the songs a rock-solid foundation, with some flair here and there but nothing flashy. This album is very utilitarian, focused metal. Not a lot of noodling, but there are a TON of great guitar solos through this disc.
What can you expect when you pop this disc in? The best music Machine Head has produced in over a decade. This disc is comparable to Metallica's classics Master of Puppets or ...And Justice For All in their compositions. Quiet acoustic pieces, drowning heaviness, a series of songs that clock in at over 9 minutes (4 of the 8 tracks, to be exact), and something Machine Head has seemingly been incapable of doing (Even to some extent on Burn My Eyes): The transitions on this album are flawless and smoothed out to a grand-piano sheen. Whereas on all of their other albums they would move, jarringly so, from one riff to the next... in essence making the songs feel like a series riffs, in The Blackening this does not happen. Their binary rigidity has gone away, and what's left is nothing but near metal perfection.
The nu-metal of Supercharger is dead, and was mostly so on their last release. No longer do people have to wonder "what could've been" with this seemingly shoo-in band that had one of the best recieved debuts in metal history. We see it now.
From the soaring choruses, bruising grooves, and awesome crowd chant of "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" at 6:30 overlaying one of the best riffs Machine Head has ever made, "Clenching The Fists of Dissent" is a mother of an album opener. It doesn't let up at all from there, either. "Aesthetics of Hate is a monster of a groove thrash song, showcasing Machine Head at their best and most brutal. "Halo" opens up with a trademark harmonic/single string groove the band is recognized for, then pours on soaring, melodic choruses that don't sound like the sugary pop-styled ones put out by the likes of All That Remains or Scar Symmetry. "Wolves" is a 9 minute epic featuring one headbanging riff after the other in succession, like a 50 legged elephant that won't stop stepping on your head. The album closes with "A Farewell To Arms", another song complete with melody and crushing grooves. I've only graced a few songs, but they're all excellent tracks. All of them. Not a bit of filler.
There is a lot to like on The Blackening. Any metalhead who may have liked Machine Head in the past, was or is a fan of bands like Pantera, Fear Factory, or just needs a breath of fresh air in a melodic death crowded, metalcore saturated, stagnant death metal infested metal scene would do well to pick this album up.
I cannot say enough about this album. I've listened to it 4 times today and I'm enjoying it more every single time. Future classic.
Free Music Review: Strike Three, oh nevermind!!! Welcome back Machine Head!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I wrote these guys off TOTALLY after the last two disasters.
What an amazing comeback.
Start to finish excellent.
I'm not one for long reviews or a song by song breakdown.
Many other reviewers do that.
I keep mine short and sweet. Or if you cd stinks. Short and harsh!
Welcome back MH, we missed you.
Congrats on another fine outing.
A must have for metal heads.