Remember the feeling you got when you heard "master of Puppets" for the first time? Or "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Number of the Beast" or any other classic metal album?
Well I just had that feeling listening to this record.
Fuck me it's face-rippingly good.
I always though Machine Head's first record, Burn My Eyes (1994), was going to be their classic: at that time metal was in a slump, grunge was ruiling the roost and HEAVY shit just wasn't doing it anymore, Pantera and Sepultura aside, death/thrash were spent forces. But that record blew everything away: raw, heavy, stomping with intense lyrics and a hardcore punk flavour to metal tunes, it crushed.
But "The Blackening" just smokes about every metal album I've heard in 10 years. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating, I think the last 2-3 years has been good for really heavy music: Tool "10,000 Days" was as brilliant and mind-bending as ever, and Mastodon's "Leviathon" and "Blood mountain" were both classics of heavy music. But "The Blackening" is different from a lot of heavy music at the moment: it's METAL through and through.
This is ultra-aggressive shit: insane thrash riffs (some of these songs must have ten riffs in them) that remind me of vintage metal (ie fat and muscular) combined with time changes that Dave Mustaine would have been proud of in 1990, and melodic guitar assaults reminiscent of 80s Maiden and serious shredding done just to the right point, and avoiding self indulgence.
The drumming alternates from double-bass assaults, to Hardcore breakbeats without being overly showy and adding power to the songs, I cna't beleive all the drum trakcs were done in two days.
I recommend that everyone gives this record a listen: I know a lot of you don't like cookie-monster vocals, but Robb Fylnn doesn't use them - his voice alternates from roar to soar: there's no faking here, it's real anger and rage, beautifully emotional.
Only eight songs, but four of them knock on the door or go over 10 minutes, and yet there's no space here, no padding its all insane epic material like vintage Maiden but on full agro tilt the whole way: The last two songs "Wolves" and "A Farewell To Arms" are the record's peak - mesmerizing, expect a soar neck!
And "Aesthetics of Hate" which slams a fundamentalist Christian who said Diambad deserved to be shot is a fantastic triubte - old school thrash style, but with a twist. In all honesty, there's not a filler or a dull moment on here.
Machine Head haven't done anything wholly original, they've taken all the best bits of metal, old and new (not nu!) and welded it into something which is more than the some of its parts: this isn't a synthesis, it's a record that raises the bar to a whole new level.
Album of the year? Possibly the best metal record in 10.....
I recommend all lovers of HEAVY shit give it a spin...
Well I just had that feeling listening to this record.
Fuck me it's face-rippingly good.
I always though Machine Head's first record, Burn My Eyes (1994), was going to be their classic: at that time metal was in a slump, grunge was ruiling the roost and HEAVY shit just wasn't doing it anymore, Pantera and Sepultura aside, death/thrash were spent forces. But that record blew everything away: raw, heavy, stomping with intense lyrics and a hardcore punk flavour to metal tunes, it crushed.
But "The Blackening" just smokes about every metal album I've heard in 10 years. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating, I think the last 2-3 years has been good for really heavy music: Tool "10,000 Days" was as brilliant and mind-bending as ever, and Mastodon's "Leviathon" and "Blood mountain" were both classics of heavy music. But "The Blackening" is different from a lot of heavy music at the moment: it's METAL through and through.
This is ultra-aggressive shit: insane thrash riffs (some of these songs must have ten riffs in them) that remind me of vintage metal (ie fat and muscular) combined with time changes that Dave Mustaine would have been proud of in 1990, and melodic guitar assaults reminiscent of 80s Maiden and serious shredding done just to the right point, and avoiding self indulgence.
The drumming alternates from double-bass assaults, to Hardcore breakbeats without being overly showy and adding power to the songs, I cna't beleive all the drum trakcs were done in two days.
I recommend that everyone gives this record a listen: I know a lot of you don't like cookie-monster vocals, but Robb Fylnn doesn't use them - his voice alternates from roar to soar: there's no faking here, it's real anger and rage, beautifully emotional.
Only eight songs, but four of them knock on the door or go over 10 minutes, and yet there's no space here, no padding its all insane epic material like vintage Maiden but on full agro tilt the whole way: The last two songs "Wolves" and "A Farewell To Arms" are the record's peak - mesmerizing, expect a soar neck!
And "Aesthetics of Hate" which slams a fundamentalist Christian who said Diambad deserved to be shot is a fantastic triubte - old school thrash style, but with a twist. In all honesty, there's not a filler or a dull moment on here.
Machine Head haven't done anything wholly original, they've taken all the best bits of metal, old and new (not nu!) and welded it into something which is more than the some of its parts: this isn't a synthesis, it's a record that raises the bar to a whole new level.
Album of the year? Possibly the best metal record in 10.....
I recommend all lovers of HEAVY shit give it a spin...
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