Machine Head
Roadrunner Records
Burn My Eyes
Line up at that CD.
Logan Mader = guitar
Chris Kontos = drums
Rob Flynn = guitar/vocals
Adam Duce = Bass/background vocals
Back in the beginning years of Machine Head. The years when they were unnoticed and still played some really good heavy metal. The band they were before they started playing awful generig Nu-Metal and the new (awesome) style they played in their last album till now. The band having Logan Mader and Chris Kontos in it. To say it in short, a whole different band they are now. Rob Flynn had a more "F*CK YOU ALL" voice with less singing he does now. The riffs were more metal, with more speed, More Metallica.
Although this was viewed by many people as their best album, it wasn't noticed in the big metal scene, or the mainstream people. It was a small underground metal band with four guys rocking the stage of. Just like all the other 8356 underground metal bands in that country. Sometimes they even played for a small 100 people.
As for the musicianship, it's a strong album. It was along with "The More Things Change" the only album with Logan Mader in it. Logan, an experienced guitar player thought of some very nice and melodic solo's like in
None But My Own. Chris Kontos was also playing in it, before he left to work with Testament. His fills are original yet very complicated, and although I hate to admit it, he's a better drummer than Dave McClain. For some really standout drumming you have to hear
Davidian with the crazy fills, or
I'm Your God Now for the couplets. The song build ups are also good, not fantastic, but just good. The most songs carry the same heaviness all the way to the end, but in a nice interesting way. Songs like
None But My Own and
I'm Your God Now have some clean riffs and almost every song has 1 or more solo('s).
This album contains classic Machine Head songs like
Davidian, or
Old. Along with other very strong songs like
None But My Own, or the creepy
Death Church. Another good part from the album is that in overall, no songs sounds the same.
Blood for Blood, a speed metal song with a lot of F*CK YOU lyrics, is very different of the more moody
I'm Your God Now.
Death Church is the creepy song while
Old and
Davidian are old school heavy metal songs. They also know how to play songs with different counting.
Block, the end song, is a sweet song almost fully written in 7/8 counting. the end of
Davidian (the slow part) has some 5/4 measures, it sounds a bit forced but it's alright.
So what genre are they actually in, it's hard to say. They sound like a Metallica-like band with the exception that the songs are more technical. The lyrics are also more refined and not the whole time "The world is too hard for me" lyrics (no offense, Metallica can still write some decent lyrics). That's also the negative point, being heavy all the way trhough the album. As I described in the TTAOTE review I wrote that different feelings can be created with creating music that features both soft and heavy. This album contains 95% heaviness and 5% more soft parts. It's not very bad though but it really takes away the life-time of the CD, it all sounds more samey (I don't think it's a word, but you know what I mean).
This CD is not for the average listener, but it is for the average
metal listener. Don't expect blistering solo's, breaktrhough riffs or any original idea. That would only make you sad about the CD. If you start listening to it, expect groovy metal riffs, some really good vocals, crazy drumming and some really
metal songs.
Recommended Tracks:
Death Church
Davidian
Old
I'm Your God Now
A 4.5/5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
