The Metal/Punk/Rock Thread

[Egg Shen]

fuck, i wanna goto one of those shows. Black Spiders are opening too, that's a great f'n bill!

[KingOfMetal]

Only heard bits & bobs of Black Spiders. We'll be at the Sheffield Corporation show on october 26th if your planning on attending. Its going be great, first I got Clutch & Volbeat then Manowar a week later

[Egg Shen]

Black Spiders are great. Just a balls out heavy rock band, no image points, no genre riding, just good old rock music. The vocalist Pete Spiby used to be in Groop Dogdrill who were a bit of a cult band back in the late 90's, great band!

[cdm316]

Clutch have added to support Volbeat on their European tour in October & November

I think it's just the mainland European shows they are supporting. Not the UK.

[KingOfMetal]

I think it's just the mainland European shows they are supporting. Not the UK.

 

My bad, sorry to get you excited Ebb. Could still catch Clutch on the Thin Lizzy tour in the new year

[Egg Shen]

nah, according to Volbeat's website Clutch are playing the UK too.

 

Was thinking about the Thin Lizzy show.

[KingOfMetal]

If that is the case then great. Tickets for Sheffield were only

[Harvey Dent]

Clutch have added to support Volbeat on their European tour in October & November

 

 

That is fucking ace, I have tickets to London and Dublin. More people need to listen to Volbeat.

[Merzbow]

We are very sad to report that yesterday our bandmate and brother B has passed away.

 

The concerts today and tomorrow are still to be performed, but in a different form in his honor.

This information is valid and in its extreme sadness true.

 

A final statement with further details is to come.

 

Kim, Henrik (H.), Felix (Fix), Kral

 

Sad news, im sure he had just finished some work for Woundism too.

[KingOfMetal]

nah, according to Volbeat's website Clutch are playing the UK too.

 

 

That is fucking ace, I have tickets to London and Dublin. More people need to listen to Volbeat.

 

turns out I did misinform you guys, and Clutch are just playing the minland Europe shows, no the UK. Clutch are still heading over here next year for the Thin Lizzy tour though. Sorry to have gotten your hopes up (

[Egg Shen]

might be attending a Thin Lizzy show.

[KingOfMetal]

 

My promo arrived at the weekend, and Ive had a couple of listens to digest it. If you look for it, it is up on the torrent sites also.

 

For a band who a little over 10 years ago were playing metal/rap crossover, or dare I give it the dreaded 'nu-metal' tag? it is hard to fathem that it was the same band who put out 2007's classic 'The Blackening'. But having said that, was it or is it still the same band? In name, it obviously is, but the personnel has had an overhaul since those rap-happy days. Long gone are the weak riff-a-rama 4 minute ditties of 'The Burning Red' and 'Supercharger', who many fans (and yours truely) put down to Ahrue Luster's diversion from the band's original direction. Luckily for this band, he is long gone and for the longtime fan a distant memory. Since Luster was replaced by Phil Demmel in 2001, Machine Head were out to prove their true-calling in the metal-world. This started on 2003's soul-redeeming 'Through The Ashes Of Empires' and continued on the last album, the already mentioned 'The Blackening' from 2007. And after pro-longed periods of supporting Metallica over the last couple of years, it is clear that the band have learnt a thing or nine from one of the true titans of the genre. But after the huge commercial and critical success of 'The Blackening', can Machine Head possibly top it? Simply put, it is a yes...and then some.

At the barebones of the album (take away anything included in special editions or 'fan-packs'), Machine Head have unleashed 7 tracks coming in at just under 49 minutes of pure metallic brilliance. Kicking off with the 3 stage 'I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)' with its monk-like chant in stage 1, the band build the tempo slowly in stage 2 with a hard drum beat and menacing, lurking guitar screech before launching into a Slayer-esque thrash on stage 3. The token ferosity of Robb Flynn's vocals are on show from the off and the track has echoes of Gojira and Slayer, as if to form what can only be described as a progressive-thrash sound, without sounding like Im making up genres. The 8 minute opener shows how,as a band, Machine Head have become a conceptual powerhouse since recruiting Phil Demmel on guitars. Robb Flynn may be the snarling front man (a role of which he is very good), but Phil Demmel is very much the brains behind the operation interms of peicing and constructing the songs. 'Be Still And Know' sounds like it will become the opening number for the band when they tour again with great fret-tapping and a lingering gallop on the drums from Dave McClain.

First single, 'Locust', was met with mixed responces when it was unvailed earlier this year, especially on blabbermouth.net. While some people who dismissed it at first, seemingly expecting perfection such was the expectations for whatever would be following 'The Blackening', its refreshing to see the band play at speed, but not at 100mph all the time and in the process show maturity in its writing all the while producing a music experience for the listener. 'Locust' itself has a gorgeous bridge section shades of Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets', which seems to be a sound that MH want to recreate, such is the influence of Metallica on the band (and any metal fan to have picked up an instrumment in the last 28 years).

'This is The End' features great guitar work from Flynn and Demmel, but here and throughout the album, the true power of the band comes from Dave McClain on drums and Adam Duce on bass, two men who as important to the continued success of the band as its two guitar players. The tempo and mood shifts completely on 'Darkness Within' with Flynn plucking away on an acoustic guitar seemingly building the atmosphere for when the band will launch in...only for them not to, at least not straight away. This was so suprising to hear, but also exactly the right thing to do from a song-writing standpoint. Rather than doing exactly what, in the past, would have been expected of them, the band has shown real progression in song-writing structure, which is further evident on 'Pearls Before the Swine' and the album closer 'Who We Are' which features a child choir of all things in a slight reprise on the opening of the album, Robb Flynn doing a James Hetfield-like vocal and once again sounds akin to thrash metal of days-gone-by with elements of Slayer and Pantera, all the while throwing the kind of guitar virtuosity associated with modern bands such as Between The Buried And Me, and closes with a cello and violin combo complementing the aggressiveness of the album with a sombre mood to finish.

All in all, 'Unto The Locust' lives up to the incredibly high standards that 'The Blackening' laid the foundations for. With this release, Machine Head have really grown into one of the best bands around. After being in music as a band for nearly 20 years (the band was formed in 1992), MH now have 4 top musicans in place who, if any were to leave, would be difficult to replace with someone of the same standard. in my opinion, this is a better album than 'The Blackening' not just in being a kick ass, loud, fast metal album, but in terms of the production that has gone into it. Robb Flynn produced the album himself (with Juan Urteaga handling mixing duties) and the album plays as a real labour of love. Everything has been done for a reason, the songs have been meticulously crafted to create and the pacing of the album is second to none. I described it to my friend this moring as 'a tour de force of metal's past and it's present'

Some self-important fans on the internet, especially blabbermouth.net (can you tell I dont like the people who post on there?) will find fault just for the sake of finding fault, believe me when I tell you this will be a contender for album of the year. Machine Head have proven that they are so far removed from the 'nu-metal' phase of their career that only ultra-hardcore fans will even remember it ever happened. And Sonisphere lineup placing-hissyfit aside, the band have shown that they truely are a force in metal, and will be festival headliners in the right own right soon enough

[Harvey Dent]

I'm interested to hear that Machine Head record. I've never been a massive fan, seen them about a dozen times opening for Metallica and at festivals so I'm used to the same stock 40 minute set that wore on me. Robb Flynn always struck me as the stereotypical agressive METULZ!!\m/ frontman, if I had a quid for everytime I've heard him say "HEADBANGMOTHERFUCKER" or "CHEERZMOTHERFUCKERZCHEERZ" in his goony rawr voice I'd be a rich man. That said, The Blackening really was a fucking blistering metal tour de force and you'd be hard pressed to find a metal fan who disagrees. So yeah, looking forward to hearing what they serve up this time round, thanks for posting a great writeup as always.

 

Also, surely no one with a brain gives a shit about comments on blabbermouth? It's a twat magnet of the highest degree. They could have an article on there Jesus has returned and created world peace and there'd be 84,000,000 comments about how Jesus has sold out, how this revival is shit compared to the last one, how he doesnt seem like he gives a shit this time etc. Morons.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Harvey Dent

[KingOfMetal]

When ive seen them live I didnt think much to them, but it was in a supporting role, so you are restricted with the time you have. And I see exactly what your sayiny about Robb Flynn, but he has created a great album here. You'll be hard pressed to find a better album this year, which is saying alot as Opeth have just released their new album and the new Mastodon hits stores soon

[Egg Shen]

I've never been the biggest lover of Machine Head, they've kinda been in and out of my life since 97 (when i saw on the More Things Change Tour), they've always been one of those bands whose albums ive never really got attached too.

 

Brilliant live band however, im hoping to go in Decemeber to see them cause i aint see them live since twice on the Ashes of Empires tour.

 

I've been spinning the new album in my car and at first i kinda thought 'meh', but it's not one of those instant albums, the songs are so f'n epic that they can take time to get your head around. It's a grower though, im not a fan and have never been a fan of Rob Flynn's vocals but musically the album is fucking crushing...i will keep listening. I do want to pick up the fan pack too.

 

As for the band's history. I was a young boy back when Burning Red came out and i was not ashamed to admit that i loved nu-metal. It was hard not to get sucked into that genre when you were a 16 year old following metal, and being the young naive fan the shft from The More Things Change to The Burning Red seemed seemless to me, and i really liked The Burning Red. By the time Supercharger came out though id kind of gone down a more hardcore path in my musical taste and to this day ive never really heard the album (although i did see the band on that tour too and they were great).

 

I've never really given the albums since Supercharger the full attention they deserve either, like i said they are kind of a band that i skate around outside on, ill do some listening.

 

As for The Burning Red, ive gone back and listened and it's a fucking terrible album...well some of it is, some of the rap-metal stuff on there is abysmal. And whilst you mentioned that many people blame Luster for the shift in direction, it's well documented that Rob Flynn is a massive hip-hop fan so he's probably got as much to do with it as anyone.