Left Unfinished

Machine Head - Through The Ashes Of Empires

In 1994 a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area released an album called Burn My Eyes. Machine Head, the band in question with their debut injected life into a genre that was starting to fade. Burn My Eyes is a seminal modern heavy metal album. Hugely influential, Burn my Eyes made Machine Head a name that was on every metal heads lips for a while. After their debut though, the band seemed to falter. Their sophomore effort “The More Things Change” wasn’t a bad album but was a let down in comparison. The Burning Red for me was a little better but the nu-metal riffing and the raps of Robb Flynn meant Machine Head just kind of got boring. I never bothered with Supercharger, their 4th album, and had pretty much given up on the band still occasionally spinning Burn My Eyes and wondering if they would ever release anything with that much power and aggression again.

That was till I saw the video for Imperium, the album opener on the latest Machine Head. This song just fucking destroys everything. Easily the best metal song I’ve heard in a while. It seemed like Machine Head might still have something to offer. On first listen Machine Head’s 5th album in 9 years “Through The Ashes Of Empires” is a pretty solid comeback. One point to note is the entry of Phil Demmel. Robb Flynn’s guitar partner from Vio-lence has joined Machine Head on lead guitars. The riffs are a mix of old school thrash, the NYHC sound and the modern nu-metal riffing. Flynn is shouting again with the same intensity he had on Burn My Eyes. Dave McClain on the drums is a fucking monster. Just an awesome performance from him while Adam Duce just quietly does his bit on the bass. Never in your face but providing some great backing.

So is “Through The Ashes Of Empires” a brilliant comeback that will have everyone shouting out Machine Head’s name again ? Will they become poster boys once more ? Doubtful. The album is good. With more listens it’ll become better. Still, the whole whiny nu-metal aspect of the last two albums have not disappeared. Robb Flynn has given up on the rapping but the emo side of him that came up on Burning Red is still not fully gone and influences from the first Korn album are still present. The riffs have by and large gone right back to the old school Bay Area sound and I’m repeating myself but Dave McClain is playing his heart out on this album and so Robb’s occasional whining can be ignored. Except on the song “Elegy” where a powerful start is ruined completely by Robb’s whining. Still, the rest of the album is pretty good. “Vim” is a scorching thrash metal song towards the end of the album while “All Falls Down” reminds me of “Sliver” from “The Burning Red” and while it is shamelessly modern and nu-metal in approach its still a pretty good song. It seems quite apparent that Machine Head have been listening to some European metal as well. The whole Swedish sound makes its presence felt on this album and the band has become a lot more interesting with this addition. The real surprise for me on this album is Adam Duce. His bass playing is just rock solid on this album and he seems to be getting better and better. With McClain, Duce forms one hell of a rhythm section.

Based on the evidence of “Through The Ashes Of Empires” Machine Head are from finished. This is no “Burn My Eyes” but it is way better than anything the band have done since. The real interest now will be in what they do to follow this album. With Demmel in the band and Dave McClain going from strength to strength the next Machine Head album might well be something truly special.