NorthernLights Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I just realised that in a few weeks time it'll be the 10th anniversary of the release of Toxicity 10 years on and I still love listening to this album from time to time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian84 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Metal Hammer review of the new Machine Head album, "Unto the Locust" - cannot wait for this now! Machine Head’s ‘Unto the Locust’ is ready to be released on September 26th as part of the Metal Hammer fan pack! Unto The Locust will be the follow-up to Machine Head’s 2007 sixth album, the Metal Hammer-dubbed ‘Album of the Decade, ‘The Blackening’. “This is gonna be fucking awesome! It’s ridiculous,” says Robb Flynn! Here is a track-by-track breakdown of the album by Hammer scribe, Dom Lawson. I AM HELL (SONATA IN C#) It starts with an eerie acapella intro, sung in Latin by a multi-layered Robb Flynn and drenched in reverb, before erupting into a devastatingly heavy opening riff that, as Hammer’s underground guru Jonathan Selzer rightly states, “sounds a lot like Triptykon”. So far, so mind-bending. And then, Machine Head kick into gear. I Am Hell takes off like a fucking rocket; a storm of ferociously fast and brutal thrash riffing interspersed with crushing, doom-laden choruses, it’s pretty much the darkest and heaviest thing the band have ever done. Robb Flynn sounds absolutely fucking deranged as he spits out the lyrics which recount the crimes and bug-eyed rage of a female arsonist. At around the six minute mark, the all-out assault recedes and is replaced by some fragile, medieval-sounding acoustic guitar, before exploding again into a destructive slow-motion doom riff. At over eight minutes in length this is the longest track on Unto The Locust but it flies by in what seems like a fraction of that time. A stunning start by any sane standards. BE STILL AND KNOW Major Maiden vibes kick off track two, thanks to a tapped riff that is strongly reminiscent of the UK legends’ Wasted Years. What follows is unmistakably Machine Fucking Head, however, as a pounding, pendulous groove underpins Robb Flynn’s impassioned lyric about tough times and how to negotiate your way through them. When the gloriously anthemic and stirring chorus kicks in, you will have to be either daft, deaf or dead to resist throwing your hands towards the sky. With a multi-part mid-section that shoots off in all manner of directions, with stops, starts, blazing lead breaks and juddering percussive punctuations, this is far from a simple song, but its overall sentiment of trusting that the sun will rise and that you have the strength to make it through life’s shittier moments is irresistible. It’s hard to imagine another band pulling it off with such skill. LOCUST You’ve already heard this, right? Well, unless you’re a big mental, you will already know that this is one of the most powerful tracks that Machine Head have ever recorded. Predominantly mid-paced and defiantly melodic, it’s also deceptively complex and features numerous sublime moments of interplay between the four members of the band, most notably Flynn and Phil Demmel, who harmonize gloriously during the song’s extended mid-section. And let’s face it, the pulverising sort-of-breakdown at the end of the song is worth the price of admission on its own, isn’t it? THIS IS THE END The first song to be written for this album and arguably the one that most succinctly encapsulates where Machine Head are in musical terms right now, this proud and vicious epic starts with an elegiac classical guitar intro before exploding into life with a magnificent Dave McClain drum fill and a single-string guitar motif that sounds like a cross between Satyricon’s Mother North and Muse’s Plug-In Baby. Possibly. The rest of the song is an all-out assault comprising flat-out thrash riffing, clattering blastbeats, some astonishing solos from both Flynn and Demmel and another soaring, instant sing-along chorus that brilliantly showcases how much stronger Robb Flynn’s voice has become over the years. And by Christ, he sounds fucking pissed off. Excellent work. DARKNESS WITHIN Like Descend The Shades Of Night before it, Darkness Within is very obviously the mood-shifting curveball on Unto The Locust. A brooding, heartfelt and emotionally charged paean to Flynn’s life as a musician and the intense relationship he has with music itself, it boasts the finest lyrics that the frontman has ever penned, but it’s also one of the most musically adventurous tracks of Machine Head’s career to date. Beginning with simple, staccato acoustic guitar chord sequence and Flynn’s passionate vocal, it builds and builds, before erupting into epic metal splendour when the second chorus kicks in. From then on, this is an exercise in grandiose power as brutal, syncopated riffs rain down amid Flynn’s bellowed cries of “Music, my saviour!” Holy. Fucking. Shit. An instant classic. PEARLS BEFORE THE SWINE Perhaps the strangest track on Unto The Locust, this structural oddball comes across as a bewildering collage of monstrous metal riffs, held together by Flynn’s incensed vocals and the overwhelming tightness of Machine Head’s rhythm section. There is no shortage of hooks here, but this is a darker, weirder and less purposefully accessible song that adds great substance and weight to the album’s overall vibe. It ends with what is almost certainly the heaviest string of riffs on the entire album, as the song fades to bile-flecked black… WHO WE ARE Okay, so you probably never expected to hear children singing on a Machine Head album, but given the unsentimental and ambiguous nature of what they’re singing (“This is who we are/This is what I am/We have nowhere else to go/Divided we will stand…”) in the intro to this gloriously epic and grandiloquent album closer and taking into consideration that the kids concerned belong to Robb Flynn, Phil Demmel and studio engineer Juan Urteaga, it’s hard to deny that Machine Head have pulled it off with considerable audacity. What follows is one of the most musically triumphant and bombastic things the band have ever recorded, with shades of everyone from Maiden and Priest through to Carcass and At The Gates combining to create a celebratory, none-more-metal denouement to this frankly extraordinary follow-up to The Blackening. Again, the chorus is ridiculously huge and utterly infectious. At one point Robb Flynn sings “Into glory we will ride!”, thus earning himself maximum metal points and a free loincloth. The song ends with some elegant strings and a very tangible sense of a job well done. Have Machine Head topped The Blackening? Yup. They really have. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I mind when all the metal writers were saying Supercharger was the dugs baws haha! Albums always get great writeups before they come out. St. Anger is another....I don't trust reviews at all 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poang Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 SLAYER!!!! on Sportscene Aye I mind the Saints -Rangers SC semi build up had a nice wee montage intro with "Cult" playing over it. Fitting that the worlds most evil sounding band be used for the worlds most evil football team. And they used Metallicas "Fuel" for the CIS semi a year or two later. Theres definitely a metal head somewhere at BBC Scotland! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Aye I mind the Saints -Rangers SC semi build up had a nice wee montage intro with "Cult" playing over it. Fitting that the worlds most evil sounding band be used for the worlds most evil football team. And they used Metallicas "Fuel" for the CIS semi a year or two later. Theres definitely a metal head somewhere at BBC Scotland! Tom Araya 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLights Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Aye I mind the Saints -Rangers SC semi build up had a nice wee montage intro with "Cult" playing over it. Fitting that the worlds most evil sounding band be used for the worlds most evil football team. And they used Metallicas "Fuel" for the CIS semi a year or two later. Theres definitely a metal head somewhere at BBC Scotland! The trailer the BBC had for our UEFA Cup tie against Bayern Munich was Hero of the Day. It was on YouTube but I can't find it now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLights Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Chimaira Announce UK And European Dates Thu 08 Mar 2012 UK Glasgow King Tuts Fri 09 Mar 2012 UK Dundee Fat Sams Sat 10 Mar 2012 UK Aberdeen Tunnel Hopefully this time the tour doesn't get cancelled. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian84 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 ^ Their new album is 'out there', not heard the best of reports on it tho... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLights Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 ^ Their new album is 'out there', not heard the best of reports on it tho... My copy of Metal Hammer arrived this morning and this months comes with a free copy of The Age of Hell. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian84 Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 My copy of Metal Hammer arrived this morning and this months comes with a free copy of The Age of Hell. Haha, my copy just landed through the letterbox and i came on to share the same bit of news. I'll give it a spin on my way to work next week. Why do bands 'give away' an album? Do Metal Hammer pay them 'X' amount of each magazine sold? Chimaira just hoping to capture a big audience, and hope they will come to their live shows/buy merch/buy the limited edition album that will be released in 3 months time? All you hear about, is how bands today make nothing off the CD, and everything is through tours/merch, but why would the Record Lable eOne Music allow the album to be released for free, or at least a lot cheaper than what would be made by selling at full price? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavieCFC Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Time to fill up this thread with some of favourite Metal http://youtu.be/Dxe-_o5FMIU http://youtu.be/EMrThn2JZxY http://youtu.be/aX_nkbi6-Kk Yep im pretty much a Power/Heavy metal kinda guy got a few gigs in the next few months should be good, Wolf/Firewind in a coupla weeks and also Volbeat, Opeth and Turisas. Think White Wizzard and Evile are playing Glasgow soon aswell which might be worth season and as much as id like to see them, £40 for Manowar :/ especially since its in the Academy where these kind of bands normally suffer from poor sound quality (personally i wish metal bands wouldnt use this shit venue) -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 got a few gigs in the next few months should be good, Wolf/Firewind in a coupla weeks and also Volbeat, Opeth and Turisas. Think White Wizzard and Evile are playing Glasgow soon aswell which might be worth season and as much as id like to see them, £40 for Manowar :/ especially since its in the Academy where these kind of bands normally suffer from poor sound quality (personally i wish metal bands wouldnt use this shit venue) wow wow wow wait....Wolf are playing? Glasgow? Where abouts? I'm fcuking there if that's true! Saw them supporting The Haunted a good few years ago in the Cathouse. Children of the Black Flame is a tune! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavieCFC Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 wow wow wow wait....Wolf are playing? Glasgow? Where abouts? I'm fcuking there if that's true! Saw them supporting The Haunted a good few years ago in the Cathouse. Children of the Black Flame is a tune! Yep supporting Firewind at the Cathouse Sept 11th, check their website if ye want to proof. Looking forward to that gig 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThankCrunchie Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 http://youtu.be/Dxe-_o5FMIU Never really got Persuader myself, very overrated imo. http://youtu.be/EMrThn2JZxY Rhapsody are another band I never really "got". They seem to be living off reputation these days, as even to the neutral like myself, it's evident that the newer stuff is outclassed by the first four or so albums. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here, with the two creative forces behind the band parting ways. Another band that seem to be overrated imo. Just not for me http://youtu.be/aX_nkbi6-Kk Saw them with Kamelot a couple of years back, and thought they outperformed the headliners. Unfortunately the recorded stuff wasn't up to the standard of the live performance, but still very listenable. To me, they just sound like a poor man's Sabaton with the vocalist from Rage. Wasn't impressed live either. Again, not for me. Yep im pretty much a Power/Heavy metal kinda guy Likewise, although the above doesn't necessarily give that impression 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.T Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I'm thinking of going to see John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival singer) next week in Stavanger. Also playing that show - Immortal Enslaved, Motorpsycho, Overthrow and Vamp. If nothing else I want to go see how that event even works. Black metal kids with spikey boots, leather jeans with cowboy shirts and hats on with their face painted up? Imagine hearing Bad Moon Rising and Beyond the North Waves live in the same night though. Could be the greatest show ever! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavieCFC Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 @ThankCrunchie What standout Power/Heavy bands top yer list then? Still plenty i could add, Startovarius, Sabaton (as you mentioned, great live when i saw them the backend of last year), Wizard, Angra, Dragonland, Edguy, Falconer, Hammerfall, Primal Fear, Sonata Artica, Grave Digger and the list goes on 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThankCrunchie Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 @ThankCrunchie What standout Power/Heavy bands top yer list then? Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Primal Fear, Running Wild, Stratovarius, Hibria, Masterplan, Blind Guardian, Sabaton and a few Spanish ones like and I'm not totally into the overtly flowery stuff, but Sonata are a good band 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunning1874 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Primal Fear, Running Wild, Stratovarius, Hibria, Masterplan, Blind Guardian, Sabaton and a few Spanish ones like and I'm not totally into the overtly flowery stuff, but Sonata are a good band Ladies and gentlemen... welcome, to the freakshow! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavieCFC Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Primal Fear, Running Wild, Stratovarius, Hibria, Masterplan, Blind Guardian, Sabaton and a few Spanish ones like and I'm not totally into the overtly flowery stuff, but Sonata are a good band Have you ever come across this band before then? They're really good imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zizou-5 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Not strictly metal but- Motley Crue/ Def Leppard co headlineing tour with support from steel panther has been announced. 9th of december at SECC. GET THAT HAIRSPRAY OUT BABY 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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