0 [FROM THE CRATES #17] Machine Head - The Blackening (2007)

Review by Matt Abramson

Machine Head - The Blackening
(2007 - Roadrunner)

I will put myself squarely in the line of fire here: this album stands up to 'Master of Puppets'. It kicks so much fucking ass that I can hardly stand it.

It seems in the past six or seven years a whole subgenre of metal evolved out of emulating 'Master of Puppets' (Trivium, Shadows Fall, et all) - mostly with catastrophic or half-cocked results. Machine Head fall into this category by comparison only. As a thrash band, they have the kind of ingenuity that inspired 'Master of Puppets' in the first place. 'The Blackening' runs a total clinic on dual-guitar leads, massive wah pedal semi-modal shreddery and frantic double-kick up tempo drumming. For kicks they throw in more clean vocals and Pantera-worthy groove breakdowns (side note: the third track, "Aesthestics of Hate" is a tribute to Dimebag and response to some conservative dickmonger's article about the positive aspects of the tragedy due to the "immorality" of metal fans).

The numerous parallels between The Blackening and Master of Puppets resist explanation by coincidence or similarity of genre. Both albums begin with clean, somber classical interludes. Both albums feature eight tracks, each pushing six minutes or well beyond. Both albums take an opposite approach to quick and dirty Slayer-esque thrash via complicated breakdowns and epic choruses. Most folks will throw out the word "commercial" here, and those folks likely have severe faults in their mental capacity for processing music and the world in general. Finally, 'The Blackening' features a cover of "Battery". Does that make it overt? No. 'The Blackening' as a whole clearly does not intend to emulate or replicate Metallica, it sounds like Machine Head - albeit completely fucking overcharged with awesomeness - through and through.

The decision to include "Battery" has a simple, albeit mystical explanation. Deep in the caves of the holy mountain of ancient metal, written upon a stone tablet, lies the axiom that "no metal band shall ever experience complete greatness until they perform a Metallica song at or above the level of Metallica themselves." Most Metallica covers exist in the realm of complete shit, but some bands have risen to this challenge. Mastodon's take on "Orion" blew away the original. Dream Theater performed the entire 'Puppets' record live. Machine Head's "Battery" kicks as much ass as Metallica's original, thus providing the final stamp of thrash authenticity to 'The Blackening' for any metal nerd naysayers to stick in their ass.

It seems mildly paradoxical to discuss the greatness of 'The Blackening' only through the lens of the more generally lauded 'Master of Puppets'. There probably lies a fair amount of truth in that. If the record possesses such epic qualities, it should speak for itself. But sometimes you have to up the stakes beyond "fucking awesome" and "fucking heavy" and "fucking shrednasty guitars" to discuss a radical piece of music, or metal, or thrash, or whatever. So if the task requires getting totally angular and making some far-out claims, then I can totally fucking dig it. In short: go listen to this damn album.