Machine Head - TheBlackening

Tue 24th Apr, 2007 in Music Reviews

The internet seems to ruin any anticipation one could have for new albums. Having been leaked onto the internet almost two months ahead of release, there’s already been plenty of debate about Machine Head’s latest – some would say greatest – body of hate-stuffed work. Even a quick glimpse at the track listing, and consequently the lengths of the eight songs, has been enough to stir some fans into a wild-eyed frenzy. Only one song clocking in under five minutes… four of them over nine-minutes long? Surely there must be a mistake. Nope – the only mistakes that have been made are by those that have judged the band too quickly, by those that doubted Robb Flynn when he celebrated the making of this album, and by those that won’t pay for the right to hear the end result.

You see, not only is it impossible to conclude anything about The Blackening before you’ve heard each gigantic track in whole and in the order intended, but it’s also essential that you do listen to it. In future years this is an album that will be referred to time and time again, whether as one of the – œbest ever metal releases’ or as a key influence for new bands. Sure, there will be metal fans that detest the epic songwriting and wish for a return to so-called simpler times, but like it or loathe it, this is a massive record. Flynn and his fellow comrades had the metal world’s attention and rather than release a continuation of their previous work, they dared to be different and strived for greater things. For that reason alone, Machine Head deserve your money, then your opinions.

The Blackening is an hour long anthem of dissatisfaction with the status quo, but it boldly offers more than the ‘fuck it all’ attitude of youthful arrogance. It attempts to face up to the fact that change starts within, by examining your own reflection first. The album covers text speaks volumes; “The mirror flatters not.”

The song structure on display is literally breathtaking. Open up the liner notes and behold the essay’s worth of lyrics which comprise the opening number, and try and keep up with the multiple tempo changes before the Kill ‘Em All era ‘fist in the air’ break downs. While both the old school appeal and inspiration is obvious, The Blackening is not an album of escapism; it’s a wailing siren, screaming out that the world is in an abysmal state of affairs, but defiantly refusing to be defeated by it either.

The Blackening is an album that we won’t truly be able to decipher until time has played its tricks. There’s no doubting that Clenching The Fists of Dissent is a scintillating and audacious way to open a record and no questioning that A Farewell to Arms and Wolves are both contesters for Machine Head’s best ever song, but will we still be knocked over by them in one, five or ten years time? Our guess says we will, but again, there’s only one way to find out. Other than that, there’s little left to say – by now you’ve already decided if you like Aesthetics of Hate (a revenge letter to the writer of an ill-minded Dimebag essay) and Now I Lay Thee Down, as they’ve both received plenty of airplay. Needless to say, Halo, Slanderous and Beautiful Mourning are pulverising wallops of fist-to-face metal too.

It is without doubt -The Blackening_ will end the year atop many – œBest Album of 2007’ lists is a foregone conclusion. A icon in metal, an album of substance.