PREFACE: I wrote this review for a class when I was a "Music Industry" major (I've since gone undecided, but that's another story). For what it's worth I got an A!
“Album of the decade”, as one
publication put it. That honor allegedly goes to Machine Head’s previous album,
The Blackening. With such a hugely successful predecessor, filled with lengthy,
“epic” songs, how could Machine Head possibly live up to, least of all outdo,
themselves?
***
Before a listen through Unto the
Locust, Machine Head’s latest album (which I will not call “the follow-up to
The Blackening” to further distance it from its predecessor), a glance at the
song lengths on “Locust” makes me think that perhaps “Locust” will lack the
“epic” feel of some of the songs of The Blackening, perhaps in favor of
accessibility (although The Blackening was already pretty accessible to,
really, anyone who likes metal), with relatively shorter song lengths (although
the shortest is still 5 minutes – it looks like the average is around 7, more
than double your average – for example – pop song).
I start the album. The opener, “I
Am Hell,” beings with a chant before going straight into a chugging riff, and
Robb Flynn’s aggressive, abrasive “I am death/Arms outstretched…” At around two
minutes a power chord is held out before Machine Head goes into a chaotic, complex
riff, backed by thundering drums.
All doubts are gone. Machine Head
may have a winner.
I reach the chorus. It’s different
from your average Blackening overly melodic chorus; a thrash beat and tremolo
picking back this one. Soon the same complex riff comes back, before going into
yet another complex riff that builds up to a short guitar solo. Not one of
Machine Head’s most chill-inducing leads like the harmony you may have found on
“Halo”, but it fits.
It all comes down to around 5:50,
the tempo slowed, Robb shouting, “I, AM, HELL” over a simple yet effectively
brutal riff. One cannot help but headbang. An acoustic break follows, and then
an outro.
I nod. Powerful stuff.
“Be Still And Know” follows. A lead
guitar is joined by drums, and then a harmony lead guitar, before breaking into
what sounds very much like a Machine Head verse. The chorus in this one
wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Blackening; in fact, this whole song
could have fit on that album. This one sports trade off leads by Flynn and Phil
Demmel followed by a harmony.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that
“Be Still And Know” could be a metalcore song – somehow it lacks the emo feel
that many a metalcore chorus has. I can see this being one of the less
memorable tracks, although the leads sounded cool.
After “Be Still And Know” is
“Locust” which was released as a single several months ago. It sports another
very Machine Head-like riff and another melodic chorus, however one that is
admittedly quite catchy. By this point I can see that while Machine Head have
evolved in their own way as artists, they have not strayed too far from their
recognizable style.
There is a part in the middle of
“Locust” that is clearly an attempt to sound “pretty” to balance out the song.
I expected such of Machine Head at this point in their career, after The
Blackening. More trade off leads follows this little part. Not too intense, but
not bad.
Following “Locust” is “This Is The
End” which has an acoustic intro that is joined by lead electrics before a drum
fill introduces a thrashy section. I’m beginning to see patterns in these songs
having melodic choruses, much like in The Blackening.
“Darkness Within” follows with yet
another clean intro. It seems to be the softest song yet, although it builds up
until distorted guitars enter at about 2:30, and the whole song breaks down at
about 4:00. Overall, “Darkness Within” has a despairing feel, and in this
regard, it is quite powerful, although it isn’t much of a thrash or groove
metal song and won’t get too many people headbanging.
“Pearls Before The Swine” follows. If
“Darkness Within” was a break, this leads back to the album’s overall style,
although I can see this being one of the less memorable tracks on the album, as,
for the first several minutes, it simply lacks many catchy, heavy, or downright
headbang-inducing moments that were abundant on “I Am Hell”, although it has
its moments later on.
Following is what is technically
the closer “Who We Are” which oddly enough begins with what sounds like a
chorus of young children. However, about a minute in, it gets back the Machine
Head sound. The chorus is very melodic yet is somewhat memorable despite its
simplicity. The first solo is among the most fitting on the album. I feel
almost guilty to admit the catchiness of this song, although not catchy in the type of way I feel it should. I do wonder how the album went from the brutally heavy
“I Am Hell” to this.
On the special edition, a pretty
faithful cover of Judas Priest’s “The Sentinel” follows, along with a cover of
“Witch Hunt” by Rush and an acoustic version of “Darkness Within”.
Unto the Locust definitely chose to
start out with its most powerful song, although that’s not to say that the rest
of the album doesn’t live up to it. It’s a good album, probably almost as good
as The Blackening, although I hate to keep bringing up that album as if its
glory of success will curse Machine Head forever. When I judged the potential
of this album based on “I Am Hell”, I thought it could have easily been metal
album of 2011, with Megadeth potentially being the only one coming close.
However, after listening through this album, I think that, while it will have
its place on lists of contenders, the honor of album of the year in my eyes may
well end up with Megadeth. (NOTE: My album of 2011 ended up being neither Machine Head nor Megadeth, instead going to Arch/Matheos' "Sympathetic Resonance") However, in terms of Machine Head, Unto the Locust
does live up to their name, however does not outdo it. It’s worth your time and
money if you enjoyed The Blackening; if it was too much like metalcore for you,
maybe check out “I Am Hell” on Youtube but the rest of the album will probably
get a similar opinion. As far as quality goes, Machine Head’s Unto the Locust
gets a pretty good 7.25/10
from me.
***
Thanks for reading!
TL;DR
Rating: 7.25/10
Personal Highlights: "I Am Hell"
Recommend: Try before buy
