Machine Head: The Blackening

Artist: Machine Head
Album: The Blackening
Year: 2007
Line Up:
             Robb Flynn: Guitars, Vocals
             Dave McClain: Drums
             Adam Duce: Bass
             Phil Demmel: Guitars
Sub-Genre: Groove Metal, Metalcore

The Blackening, the sixth record by American post-thrash/groove metal outfit Machine Head, is an overlong exercise in attempting to stay awake for its duration. The music on this record is a jumbled up amalgamation of third rate thrash metal, groove metal, hardcore and traces of nu-metal where none of the traces of the above sub-genres are well written enough to stand out on their own. The composed music is structurally very simple and comprises of mediocre riffs and leads which are repeated at least a dozen of times in a track just to extend its duration. The music being extremely simple, technical performances are simply not worth mentioning. The vocals when aggressive are lame Phil Anselmo ripped off shouts that sound more like the vocalist being raped rather than being angry. Though nothing special, the lead work is decent and works as the highlight of many of the tracks. In making the music sound angry, the band looses focus in making the music catchy and listenable. The choruses are lame, many a times featuring a very hideous melodic breakdown which is compounded by the fact that Rob Flynn cannot hold a note steady. Pantera Walk, this is not. The tracks are long just for the sake of being long. Progressions attempted in the tracks are very horrible and lack a general sense of cohesion in them.

The tracks that stand out include Clenching The Fists Of Dissent and Aesthetics of Hate. Both of the above tracks, though overlong, contain at least some parts where the music is fast and thrashy. The former does contain some very horrible pace changes and it sounds hideous when the music gets mid-paced. Now I Lay Thee Down, Halo, Slanderous and A Farewell To Arms are all boring, mid-paced and overlong tracks with none of the musical elements presented in the tracks working properly. Now I Lay Thee Down especially contains a very horribly written chorus and is an abomination at best. Wolves contains some decent sections in its overlong nine minute duration but are sandwiched between moments of insane mediocrity and thus as a whole turns out to be nothing more than a failure.

The fact that the album was highly praised by main-stream media at its release, being hailed as a modern masterpiece of thrash metal when the said sub-genre was actually quite niggard in the messed up jumble of ideas that were present in the compositions, is one of the biggest jokes of the decade. The shitty song-writing and composition coupled with even worse execution makes this album unfit to hear even once. Bottom-line; The Blackening is not recommended to any fan of thrash metal or even groove metal whose fans might be able to sympathize with the album with a warning to stay away from it.

Final Rating: 30/100

Black Sabbath: Dehumanizer

Artist: Black Sabbath
Album: Dehumanizer
Year: 1992
Line-Up:
              Ronnie James Dio: Vocals
              Tony Iommi: Guitars
              Geezer Butler: Bass
              Vinny Appice: Drums
Sub-Genre: Traditional Heavy Metal, Doom Metal

There are some groups of people who when they get together, are bound to deliver quality. Be it the coordination among themselves coupled with their talents, you can see a spark, a striking superior quality compared to that of their peers. OK the group may have differences, ego problems, may even split, but be what may, they are an integral part of each other, and when they are together, they are bound to shake the world. The group of Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio and Geezer Butler is one such iconic group. Though having just a couple of albums together prior to this one, there can be no denying the fire these guys brought with them. So Tony Iommi, with limited success with Tony Martin (No offense against Martin, he is a terrific vocalist), decided to go for a reunion. Totally abandoning the power metal direction Iommi had taken since Dio's arrival, the band takes a dark, heavy and punishing road which can be dated back to the days when Tony Iommi single-handedly revolutionized the art of heavy riffing.

Technically the band is in awesome form. Tony Iommi proves just why he is the God of heavy riffs. The riffs are slow, heavy and crushing and majestically interwoven into each other. It feels as if you have been hit by a dozen of jackhammers on your head. The vocals are truly spectacular; an insane combination of spite, rage and fear mixed together in a glorious manner. If ever there was a doubt about Dio singing aggressively, it is put to rest here. He snarls, shrieks, roars and croons effectively adding a bleak and unpleasant color to the music, a stark contrast from his Children Of The Sea days. Geezer is in great form himself with his grim bass lines providing for a perfect backdrop in the bleak scenario. The production is raw and punishing, with the rhythm guitar having a crisp and crunchy sound to it. The rest of the elements aren't ignored, and the vocals, drums and bass are balanced perfectly in.

The album comprises of ten spectacular tracks rooted down in pure doom metal. The consistency of the album is quite high; high so much so that this might be their most consistent album ever. A dark, sludgy and many a times an angry atmosphere decorates this album throughout its duration. The songs are catchy enough to be appreciated at the first listen and the choruses are creative and powerful. The lyrics are simple, yet powerful and go well along with the general bleak atmosphere of the record. The songwriting is simple and straight-forward, yet displaying a matured sense of musicianship which can only be achieved by veterans. Mostly the songs are constructed around a single or at most two riffs but are arranged cleverly enough to ensure that the song remains powerful throughout it's duration. The song length is perfectly balanced and is utilized well for most of the time. Low points in the album are few and between. Just somewhere between Time Machine, Sins Of The Father and Too Late, the album loses its steam which it has picked up. But fortunately the lows are not too low and are far few and between to be ignored.

This album deserves a worthy mention among the very best of Black Sabbath with such gems as Sabotage, Master Of Reality, Heaven And Hell, Tyr. Bottom-line, this album is a must listen for every fan of heavy metal. It is a shame that this album came out during the dark ages and failed to receive the attention it deserves.

Final Rating: 98/100