Album Rating: 3.0

After a few full listens hoping to find some consistency or the big picture, I can't see it. Not much different from listening to the singles one by one. Sick riffs that go nowhere and fizz out. Overall just confusing.



Hard to love and hard to hate.

Album Rating: 3.0

1. Burn My Eyes [4/5]

2. Blackening [3.5/5]

3. More Things Change [3/5] (half a great album almost exactly)

4. Bloodstone & Diamonds [3/5]

5. Unto the Locust [3/5]

6. This [3/5]

7. Through the Ashes [2.5/5] (bit overrated)

8. Burning Red [2/5] (a quarter of a great album maybe)

9. Supercharger [1.5/5]

10. Catharisis [1.0/5]



So this album is fine, it's not far off rating 4th or 5th for me

Album Rating: 3.0

artiswar - I'd like to bump TMTC a bit but...really the best five tracks on that are so much better than the others for me.



The Blackening is definitely more consistent but I liked the hardcore edge TMTC has better - if that was a consistent album I'd definitely rate it higher than The Blackening

Album Rating: 3.0

Ah, I'm definitely not the biggest fan of 'Violate' or 'Blistering', and 'Spine' I have mixed feelings about, parts of the song are quality but overall it doesn't quite hit

Album Rating: 3.0

Ah well, it's still the third Machine Head album I'd most want to listen to so there's that

Album Rating: 3.0

Vocal melodies a lot of the time, 'Violate' is not an amazing Soundgarden/AIC influenced tune, 'Blistering' I don't like the chorus, 'Spine' yeah is drawn out - parts of the song are better than others for me.



For my tastes I actually like the hardcore tunes 'Struck a Nerve' and 'Bay of Pigs' - just personal taste but I think the delivery suits Flynn a lot more on these tunes and the songs suit the whole sound of the album.



Kind of a frustrating album for me, think they rushed it a little, they could have made it as good as 'Burn My Eyes' you can hear it.

Album Rating: 3.0

Down to None is one of the best yeah, I also have a soft spot for the album I’m just being harsh with my ratings these days

Album Rating: 3.0

I have found the hard cold truth about this album; Robb Flynn is a fucking liar



If he didn't call this a "concept album" this would basically be a thrashier catharsis. No Gods No Masters is a organised religion critique and somehow Flynn said it was "where the two characters meet", which makes no fucking sense; Choke on the Ashes of your hate is blatantly anti-establishment; Bloodshot is about the degredation of the environment; and Kill Thy Enemies is about the legacy of US Slavery.



This isn't a concept album. It's a mask for Flynn to keep doing his political songs. While yes there are hallmarks of a concept album there is largely no cohesion or reasonably tangible plot; or even in line with his "apocalyptic wasteland" concept he has talked about.



aka Robb flynn is talking bullshit to everyone to cover his ass for the most part. dude it feels so desperate



No not everything has to make sense or coherent on a plot but this is just bs

Album Rating: 3.0

people listen to Machine Head for the lyrics?

Album Rating: 3.0

maybe, maybe not, I don't really care tbh



but still I'm gonna call him out lol

Album Rating: 3.0

it's a bit like Fear Factory calling every new album a unique concept album when really each is the same concept - "I watched the Terminator once"



with Robb it's pretty much the same concept every time too - "society is crumbling, man, and it makes me so mad"

lmao fear factory. I remember when they were complaining that if ross robinson hadn't sued them over concrete they could have been famous instead of korn

Album Rating: 3.0

concepts and themes are two different things lol



which both bands mutually dont understand



dude i dont even like prog but artists need to stop throwing the term "concept album" around like its a gimmick when you dont actually make a fucking concept album jesus christ

Album Rating: 3.0

Øh fØr gØds sake

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah I'd say that's a gØØd point about the concept album being a pretentious lie. I don't care much about lyrics but I don't think I'm getting to know the characters Ares and Eros and their futuristic wasteland any better when I'm hearing about white supremacy and Jim Crow.

Album Rating: 3.0

exactly, which almost pisses me off because of how the promotion of this album was like "oh this is a story" and the songs released sorta insinuated it but now we have the actual thing I feel deceived and underwhelmed. Because you realise then its not even about wasted potential, it's just bs



Machine Head has been like my make-or-break band for my relationship with heavy metal music and right now they're really straining it with their bs

Album Rating: 3.0

That was vague; I will explain.



MH has sorta been the go-to band for metal music and got me into metal and other stuff back in 2019. But like, metal these days (aka post-2010 thereabouts into 2020s) just isn't... great in production and feels very cliched (moreso than the past), which for the most part MH was able to sorta avoid; idk they may have become my quality assurance band for the genre (and basically the only band that I care about in metal anymore). Maybe it's nostalgia.



So yeah, I know Catharsis wasn't great (some aigh moments tbh, and as stupid as it sounds, I actually sorta enjoyed Catharsis because it was so bad it was fun/funny) but on this record I can literally feel the end of Machine Head is nigh; the band wants to prove they haven't lost their mojo so much that it's like almost proving that they've fallen off. It's disheartening because I just want some proof metal in general isn't just screwing itself into a cliched oblivion.



No, I'm not saying that the benchmark is MH because that's stupid and clearly there is other newer/older band's that still make noise. But like I just don't see (as) much hope of the genre improving as much anymore or reinventing itself in a way that is actually g o o d. (Remember kids; not all "development" is good.) Metal music isn't like fun or crazy, it's all about being fucking tough guy or faux emo (emo in the sense that they're white/privilaged; victimcore) and it's so fucking redundant now because (mostly) everyone's pushing themselves into homogeneous redundancy at this point.



maybe the magic that was there has just worn off. Probably. This doesn't really break anyone's back, but it breaks mine. Personal preference. I'm tired of the genre at this point and Machine Head is sorta where I give up on wanting it to improve. I should like this album, I thought this is what we/I wanted from them; but I sorta think now, it's just... dead.

Album Rating: 3.0

I'm 18 (very nearly 19) and for me when I first got into metal around 2018 or so I definitely tried to listen to the new bands of the scene (e.g. FFDP, I Prevail, among several others) as well as older stuff but over time the new stuff was completely eliminated from my taste and I have sorta got myself indoctrinated in the 1990s/2000s rock/metal scenes well enough. I don't necessarily blame the internet sometimes, considering some of my favourite albums I've just picked off the shelf not knowing anything, but for most of the music I guess it's true.



Its not like I try and fixate on brand band's; I've moved on from almost all of the ones I used to like in that regard. If it don't stick well enough, I let them go and sell my CDs (yes, I buy CDs lol; ownership is power in the internet age). With the internet this emotional detachment is faster if the music and band isn't good, NOT just because of the internet. The magic isn't there.



In terms of nostalgia, when I hear the new stuff as someone of that generation (z) for the most part I don't even think half of this music would even be fun to come back to as nostalgia in the future. I have heard the argument that "rap killed rock", "simplification", or that "it's attention spans" or other lame excuses; the reasons is the poseurism of the bands (and to an extent, the fans who may facilitate this and also gatekeep) and the lackluster band traits which don't have the actual qualities of what makes a band worth something; songwriting, dynamics and (some) talent. It's literally like "Copy of A" by NIN; "I am just a copy of a copy of a copy/everything I say has come before". I cannot perceive any source of nostalgia from most of these band's (though the future will probably prove me wrong). New is CHEAP.



I'm still finding obscure music and cool stuff, and there's a lot of band's no one's heard of I love; but the pool of music is shrinking dramatically in terms of new talent and stuff. I don't want to detatch myself or disregard new music completely, as that is delusional in itself and a mindset that would kill rock and metal, but when all the old band's and their fans are gone and the new bands are shit, what ever will happen?



Man, so many questions.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

This album is definitely a grower for me as with basically all the albums since BME, it took me a few years to fully appreciate TMTC and now that one is probably my favourite.

Since TTAOE I've kind of missed the hardcore influenced groove of early MH but oh well, things change, as do people and with each MH release I always find some excellent stuff to appreciate.



Highlights for me here are definitely Kill thy enemies (which initially I thought would be terrible upon hearing the opening line), it's surely the most savage track here but also surprisingly melodic at times and catchy. Unhallowed and My hands are empty are great too. The bonus instrumental track Exteroception is also superb.



All in all it's a very good and cohesive release, maybe Robb was slightly playing it a little safe after the critically panned Catharsis (can't blame him tbh) and lineup change, but this could have been so much worse. I think the conceptual interludes could've been expanded upon as they fall a little flat but I suppose it's really about the songs.

Album Rating: 3.0

Man, the bonus track has some absolutely sick riffs.