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While nu metal has been peaking
and flooding the charts, one crew of Bay Area thrash
metallers have had a rough couple of years, with their
past two albums being torn to shreds by a media that
had hailed them as Pantera v2.0 after the release of
their debut in 94. It all went well until The Burning
Red, when lead singer Rob Flynn flirted with rap, and "hardcore" fans
snubbed the Police-covering "sellouts".
Follow up album Supercharger was
received even less favourably, with lead single
Crashing Around You being tragically released on the
eve of the September 11 attacks on America. The consequences
of this downward spiral included a serious bout of
depression for Mr. Flynn, as well as the loss of
another guitarist and even more fans.
But this is 2003 and Machine
Head are back: vexed, heavier than ever, and snarling
at anyone who so much as dares to look their way. Oh
how beautifully this album captures the spirit of a
band who have to be seen live to be experienced fully
(and no, this year's live album did NOT do them justice!).
From the first notes of guitar on opening track Imperium, if
you know Machine Head, then you will literally be able
to smell the impending onslaught of sonic violence.
Building like Vesuvius on a bad day, the militant
drums and squealing harmonics precede riffage that
breaks into a vibe groovier than Austin Powers on
amphetamines.
Fusing raw metal with occasional
moments of nu-metal melody, Imperium is somehow reminiscent of Machine Head's classic track, Davidian. It even gets very Shadows Fall around the five minute mark, with doubled lead licks and
drumming intensive enough to give Fear Factory
a run for their money.
It is often hard to liken
Machine Head to any band other than themselves, but if
there was a gun pointed to my head, and my life
depended on who was singing track four, I would, swear
it was Tool's Maynard James Keenan without a nanosecond's
hesitation every time. That is how far beyond
mimicking Mr. Flynn takes his vocals on Elegy.
The debt for this blatant
plagiarism is more than repaid on Days Turn To Gray
however, with Robb's ferociously raw vocals searing
through the mix whilst fusing emotional intensity
and beautiful melodies flawlessly. Conversely, All
Fall Down sounds like leftovers from the Supercharger
sessions and the lyrics of Wipe The Tears sound like
they have been pieced together from one too many
previous Machine Head songs.
On the other hand, if there is
one instrument that slams the others into the
relegation zone and scoops the treble with its eyes
closed, it is Dave McClain's drumming. He has
delivered straight and true on every album from 1997's The More Things Change... right through to this latest offering. The versatility and sheer musical genius displayed on Bite
The Bullet and Vim should be used as the benchmark for
all metal drummers!
Produced by Mr. Flynn himself
(with a little help from long-time collaborator Colin
Richardson), Through The Ashes Of Empires is not the
best metal album of the year and, although it does
capture the spirit of the band beautifully, the
majority of the songs aren't quite in the same league
as Davidian or Ten Ton Hammer. There should be some
kick ass live shows though!
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