Warthur As with the preceding The Blackening, Machine Head's Unto the Locust is a competent collection of thrashy groove metal and groovy thrash metal which will probably please most listeners who are fond of their customary balls-to-the-wall everything-louder-than-everything-else no-subtlety approach. Personally, I find the way that the band play in high gear constantly with few to no breaks means that the songs sooner or later end up blending together a little, and the vocal delivery tends to grate. This is an album which will please Machine Head's fans, so they've at least done the minimum that can be expected of them, but if you had your doubts previously about the group Unto the Locust is not going to make you feel more positively about them.

Warthur Machine Head's The Blackening serves up competent, listenable thrash metal, no more and no less. Fans of the subgenre will doubtless enjoy themselves, though I do have to wonder how many will find themselves playing these compositions on repeat; to me, it feels as though there's a hollowness to the material here, a little too much flash and not quite enough substance. (Part of this may be the way the band take an approach of never doing anything by halves on the album - whether it's a riff, a lyric, a drum beat or whatever, it's turned up to 11 and screamed out - but somehow, the end result doesn't feel quite as forceful as an approach with just a little more subtlety to it might have). Still, full props to them for standing up for Dimebag on Aesthetics of Hate.

RuneWalsh2112 I picked up this album pretty recently in order to prepare myself for a Machine Head gig that I was about to witness. It's been quite a few years since I've actively listened to this band. Last time I saw them live was back during their "Through The Ashes Of Empires" tour where Machine Head was praised by both fans and critics for returning to their classic Thrash Metal roots after two albums fling with Nu Metal (on "The Burning Red" and "Supercharger").

Just as my previous Machine Head concert experience, this one was an enjoyable one even if I don't consider myself much of a Machine Head fan to begin with. Their music never hits me on a personal level. Instead, it's enjoyable and well calculated music that does it's job well but without any real passion to it. The only two albums that came close to changing my mind were "Through The Ashes Of Empires" and "The Blackening", so does it mean that "Unto The Locust" would be the 'it' album for me (since it's the next album in line)?

The album opens with an a cappella intro of "I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)" titled "Sangre Sani" followed by two more sections of the composition titled "I Am Hell" and the final 6 minute section "Ashes To The Sky", which is both the most melodic and Thrash Metal inclined one. The vocal melodies that Robb Flynn is aiming on all these tracks have a modern melodic style to it which unfortunately reminds me of all the Roadrunner singles of the recent years and thus not anything worthy of an artistic merit. Luckily the melodies aren't the only thing that "Unto The Locust" has going for it as the excellent sound of guitars and drums convey their messages quite nicely, especially during the instrumental passages.

After the first three tracks, which are all pretty memorable and will create the first impression highlights for any listener, we come to the album's 'make it or break it'-section. "This Is The End" immediately manages to rub me the wrong way with it's really irritating chorus line which unfortunately ruins even the track's midsection groove and the concluding solo for me. Fortunately "The Darkness Within" and especially "Pearls For Swine" return this album back it's momentum as we're treated to some of the band's most artistic compositions. This is why it feels even more irritating for me to hear a track like "Who We Are" right at the end. There's really no point of featuring such a ridiculous chorus line on otherwise pretty strong track and thus ruining the overall impression that I have of this release.

"Unto The Locust" is really not the direction that I was expecting Machine Head to undertake after "Through The Ashes Of Empires" and "The Blackening". This is by no means a return to their Nu Metal-era but the Thrash Metal featured on this release just seems very commercialized and dishonest to my ears, which is probably why I don't consider any of these seven compositions to be an overall highlight. The album fits my good, but non-essential labeling quite well.

**** star songs: I Am Hell (Sonata In C#) (8:28) Be Still And Know (5:44) Locust (7:36) The Darkness Within (6:28) Pearls For Swine (7:19)

*** star songs: This Is The End (6:11) Who We Are (7:07)

UMUR "Through the Ashes of Empires" is the 5th full-length studio album by US thrash/alternative metal act Machine Head. The album was released in December 2003 through Roadrunner Records. Many older fans of the band consider "Through the Ashes of Empires" as a return, or at least a slight return, to form after the band´s much loathed alternative period. Guitarist Ahrue Luster, who played on both "The Burning Red (1999)" and "Supercharger (2001)", has been replaced by frontman Robb Flynn´s old Vio-lence bandmate Phil Demmel, who takes on the lead guitarist role on this album.

...and it´s audible from the start that Phil Demmel´s inclusion in the band signals a change in sound. It´s not that Machine Head have shed all their alternative ideas and tracks like "Fade From Blue Gray" and "All Fall Down" will probably still have older fans wrinkle their noses (as well as sections in most other tracks), but there is generally a much stronger presence of memorable and powerful thrashy groove metal riffs on this album than heard in a long time from the band. Some of these tracks kick some serious ass and they are pretty well composed and intriguing too. Take a listen to tracks like "Imperium" or "In the Presence of My Enemies" for proof of that. High level musicianship and a powerful sound production are also assets that should be mentioned.

"Through the Ashes of Empires" is definitely a step in the right direction for Machine Head and the album is most of the time a very enjoyable listen. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted.

UMUR "Supercharger" is the 4th full-length studio album by US groove/alternative metal act Machine Head. The album was released in October 2001 through Roadrunner Records.

Featuring the same lineup that recorded "The Burning Red (1999)", "Supercharger" also features a similar sound and style, to the sound and style on "The Burning Red". We´re talking groove/alternative metal pretty far removed from the more groove thrashy preceeding albums. "Supercharger" is a very long album with it´s 74:16 minutes of playing time (oh well deduct some minutes if you got the regular version without bonus tracks) and it´s also too long IMO. Robert Flynn´s vocals are just as varied as they were on the predecessor, and probably every bit an aquired taste too. Semi-rapping, angsty clean vocals and raw shouting vocals. The production is slightly more raw than on the predecessor but again it´s the vocals that steal the focus while the rest of the music is more backing than riff based. Yes there are heavy groove based riffs in spades and rather intricate drumming too, but they are ultimately not that memorable.

It´s interesting to note that the general opinion about "Supercharger" is that it is a even worse album than "The Burning Red", but personally I think both albums are pretty equal in quality. Maybe people were just double disappointed when they heard "Supercharger" because they hoped that "The Burning Red" would be a lonely "black sheep" kind of album in Machine Head´s discography. Well... it wasn´t!

If you enjoy groove based alternative metal I don´t see "Supercharger" being a much worse album than many other albums in that genre and quality wise I wouldn´t rate it lower than 3 stars, but if I said it was an album I listen to often or even on occasion, it would be a lie.

Kingcrimsonprog Elegies was the first live DVD from Machine Head; recorded, just like their Hellalive album at the Brixton Academy in London, three years later in 2004 and released in 2005.

Like with Hellalive, the band play a mixture of material from all of their studio albums up until that point to an excited british crowd, but this time the band were riding high on the critical success of Through The Ashes Of Empires. Their performance is very strong indeed, with new guitarist Phil Demmel giving the band an additional edge. The dual guitar sections from Through The Ashes Of Empires sound amazing on this DVD, they really take on a life of their own in the live environment.

The tracklisting is excellent, presenting the very best of Machine Head, new songs like ‘Imperium,’ and ‘Seasons Wither,’ sound fantastic alongside the all time classics like ‘Ten Ton Hammer,’ and ‘Davidian.’

The band aren’t afraid to drop some of the more emotional, sophisticated music like ‘Descend The Shades Of Night,’ and the title track from ‘The Burning Red,’ confidently bringing the evening to a chilling standstill, before returning to the blistering metal that made them famous.

Visually and in terms of audio, the DVD is pretty great. I personally would’ve preferred if the film grain filters hadn’t been used so often and that the concert was shown in a straight beginning to end session, without the non-live footage in between songs, but ignoring that, the look and sound is great and when you add that to the incendiary performance you have a really great concert recording overall.

The extras feature a short but interesting history on the making of Through The Ashes Of Empires in addition to some music videos.

To summarize, the Elegies DVD is a must have release that no Machine Head fan should be without.