Review Summary: Robb Flynn Poetry Hour: Rotten Throwing Tomatoes Available At The Door
Much like the person you are now will not be the person you are in 25 years, the idea of the constant ebb of change goes for bands as well. Members change, styles change, interests change, and, sadly, quality of music changes too, as time marches on. It is hard to be who you were when you started, but that doesn't mean it's hard to be the best you can today.
After the release of "Bloodstone and Diamond" Machine Head were in a pickle. Their previous two albums were very well received, and this newest one was, less than well received, to say the least. I would assume I and most people here were not part of any discussions that happened after that -- but I highly doubt the conclusion was this , "Let's go back to our worst era, take influence from there, all while taking influence from some of the worst the modern era has to offer, and while we're at it, let's forgo lyricism and simply write whatever mish mosh comes to our heads". I'd like to imagine that isn't what was said, but well, it's what happened.
"Catharsis" is one of the most frustrating albums I've ever listened to. I can hear the control of Robb Flynn being exerted on the band, choking them of any input as he fumbles with half baked ideas, fails at recapturing what is presumed to be his idea of the "best" of the late 90's, and spouting cliched nothings at the Trump Administration. Album opener "Volatile" is, at its best, tolerable. Second track "Catharsis" which was the lead single, is once again, neither great nor unbearable, it simply just isn't good. The clean vocals are whiny and weak, and the riffs are also just impotent compared to the monster riffs of their past (i.e Death Church)
By far the worst track on the album is the 5th track, "Triple Beam". Absolutely embarrassing on multiple levels, it's as if a rapper as benign and simple minded as Rick Ross became a fan of nu metal, started hanging out with Atreyu, and wrote a song about what I presume to be some Breaking Bad inspired meth nonsense? This is preceded by the second worst track on the entire album, "California Bleeding", which is absolutely asinine with lyrics referencing getting "head" and women being the reason men go broke. It's astonishingly difficult to not just flat laugh at this nonsense, but then you realize that Robb Flynn is actually trying to be serious here, and you just hang your head in secondhand embarrassment.
The most problematic issue is how far up his own ass Robb Flynn has become, and how unequally not creative, and awful his lyrics and musical ideas have become. "Burn My Eyes" was great. "The Blackening" was also great. But it seems the election of Donald Trump has been so traumatic to Robb Flynn he's become unable to write music without being compelled to rap, moan or cry about it. I'm all for political stances, but please make sure if you have a political stance in music, that the music does not absolutely fall flat on its face. The politics on this album are not political, it's ham handed statements straight from your over-the-hill uncle on Facebook. "
Honestly, save for these tracks and single "Bastards", the rest of the album is so forgettable, bland, and unoriginal that it is almost as offensive as the teenage political diatribes of Mr. Flynn. This is by far their worst work. Even "Supercharger" is a little better than this disaster -- as Supercharger was a mistake, this album was intentionally made to be like this. Simply put, this album is a failure on so many aspects it's really hard to see how Machine Head will ever bounce back from this. It is a colossal failure to the fans of the band, a humongous failure personally, and even worse -- a growing sign of the stranglehold Robb Flynn has on Machine Head. All is not well in Machine Head land, and may never be again.
