Album Review : Machine Head – Unto the Locust

Hailing from San Francisco, MACHINE HEAD has efficiently inherited the Bay Area Thrash environment which gave us famous bands like Metallica, Exodus etc. MH as a group have always been under intense scrutiny since arriving on the metal scene in such unforgettable style with their debut album “Burn My Eyes“. 4 years back they arrived with a masterpiece, a Grammy nominated “The Blackening” that gave MH a new lease on life and a seat atop the American metal scrap heap which was quite simply the band’s best effort since its shattering 1994 debut, “Burn My Eyes”, and may even surpass that modern classic. It was a no-holds-barred, brutally heavy, uncompromising album, a labor of love on which every single note by Flynn and team. Machine Head is back with their latest offering “Unto The Locust” is a badass product as a band that knows exactly who they are as musicians and writes confidently.

The Track-list is as follows:

01. I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)
I) Sangre Sani
II) I Am Hell
III) Ashes To The Sky
02. Be Still And Know
03. Locust
04. This Is The End
05. Darkness Within
06. Pearls Before The Swine
07. Who We Are

As a MH fan as a soon as you press the PLAY button you know its a riff attack from the 1st second with insane drumming, thundering solo’s, thumping bass lines and brutal vocals. As we know MH has inherited a habit of writing long songs so i wasn’t surpirsed to see only 7 tracks on the list.

I Am Hell is divided into three parts which starts with a minute long choral vocals, chanting with classic hi-hat shots and suddenly in no time a thrashy groove and their comes the riff fest with mindblowing drums and rapid fire throat ripping vocals from Rob. 2nd section is devastating MH, its fucking technical and even when their is a transition into a classical part it sounds so efficient and insane. 3rd section with acoustic guitar lines sounds great. Mixed with killer Iron Maiden like melody in no time we can find these guys are in full form. Its jaw droping attack and complex arrangement makes it one of the memorable track to begin the MH feast. With amazing guitar solo you can feel The Blackening vibe all over.

Be Still And Know, the only track which is below 6 minute frame opens with a cool melodic riff which leads to a pounding groove as you expect from MH and then begins the insane carnival of multiple Solo’s. Rob and Phil are crazy shredders and definitly on fire.  The middle section is heavy and sounds even more good with amazing drumming by Dave.

Each bass thump from Double D – Dave and Duce feels like a punch on the face. With epic intro in the form of I Am Hell and insane guitar duet’s oriented Be Still And Know gives way to Locust, a dark composition with clean atmospheric tone, mixed feelings which kinda relives the Metallica’s Black album moment towards the middle section of the song. Its no bull shit material, heavy as fuck with MH delivering indepth technical attack. With soft guitar parts and brutal shredding, it is one of the best track of the album.

The song ends with an amazing line:

“Tear the veil, the lies derail.
Purity ever will prevail.
Trumpets sound the shattered crown.
Halos of truth now they surround.
The charade comes down”

Now we reach the middle section of the album and its clear that MH isn’t gonna stop the murderous assault at all. Here comes the track This Is the End, with classical acoustic intro and then pounding thrashy groove. This song is the pure thrash metal feast. One of the best thrash material i have come across from many years. Chorus sonds so fuckin awesome that makes you raise the devil horns and say “Fuck Yeah this is the shit”. It has an insane moshpit written all over it. A memorable stuff from MH with finger breaking riffs and bombarding Drumming.

Darkness Within is an emotional ride. Fantastic vocals by Rob with pure emotional bliss. The lyrics are epic with “I’m just a broken man” coming out of  Rob’s heart:

“Cause God is in his laughing tone,
Salvation is found alone,
Haunted by it’s melody,
Music, it will set you free.”

You can feel the pain, the desire and passion in his voice. Its dark and with amazing melody this one is sure to turn out an anthem for all fan’s. Its a song that is beyond the ladder MH has taken earlier and is surely gonna be a part of their setlist.

Pearls Before the Swine is one of very few compostion from MH which doesn’t have a structure. Transition from one section to another is weird although the riff in the beginning is so fucking heavy that will make you go crazy. The most fascinating thing about this song is Adam Duce’s bass lines which sound destructive with extremely talented Dave on drums. His fills on Duce’s basslines are daunting, absolutely picture perfect. It will surely take several listens to this song because of the transitions. The ends on a brooooooootal riff. Now you guys really got something to die for.

It finally leads to Who We Are, the concluding track from the album. It starts with a children Choir  followed by a killer groovy rhythm section and there you get MH giving a chills. Rob singing with children choir???? God Damn, could you expect that from MH???? Fuck No, but here you find it and you will love it. Powerful vocals, sizzling harmonies, an intense fast riff in the middle make this one of the memorable moment to end an masterpiece. Ending the song with amazing vocals by Rob and choir by kids is sheer brilliance to the fucking core.

Conclusion:

TOTALLY MURDEROUS ALBUM \m/

After loosing the plot in late 90′s and with already 2 masterpeices(Through the Ashes of Empires and The Blackening), this is the third in the series which tears apart its predecessor, drives you crazy and makes you screaaaaaaaaaaaaam “MH has blown everyone’s fuckin mind”. The review is long but we cant fucking help it. This album is worth it. They should cherish the fact that this whole decade(2000 onwards) has been the best and band is in their finest hour. You have to love this album to the core. Rob himself pours out his words in the form of “This is who we are. This is what I am. We have nowhere else to go.” Its a pure headbanging feast, the best material you will come across from last few years.It has an “Album of the Year” written all over it.

RATING :  10/10