Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Machine Head

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MACHINE HEAD
Darkness Within

From: Unto the Locust
Released: September 27

Could anyone have predicted in 1994, when Machine Head released their debut Burn My Eyes, that seventeen years later they would be considered one of metal’s most important bands?  Even if you did, surely you’d reneged by the time they’d gotten around to the embarrassing nu-metal shtick of The Burning Red in 1999.  And yet, somehow, Machine Head survived that sketchy period and came out the other side with a renewed fury that brought them back from the bargain bin’s brink on 2003’s Through the Ashes of Empires and placed them at metal’s summit with 2007’s stunning masterwork The Blackening (which, for my money, is a serious contender for best metal album of the ‘00s).

Following up such a staggering album as The Blackening is no easy task, and Machine Head clearly put a lot of thought into doing so with Unto the Locust.  The punishing riffs and face-melting fretwork are still present in abundance, but there’s also a heightened artfulness thanks to Robb Flynn’s research in classical music as part of the album’s preparation.  It’s evident from the start as I Am Hell, a three-part sonata, leads off the album and destroys everything in its path.  From there, Unto the Locust runs the gamut, through its surprisingly restrained 48 minutes.

Tucked a little over halfway through is the album’s real gem, Darkness Within.  Laced with enough risk to make most metal bands run to the hills, Machine Head roll the dice and come up with boxcars.  Starting off with sparse acoustic guitar (gamble number one) and Flynn’s vulnerable, depression-referencing lyrics (gamble number two), the song’s chorus soars on a melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on modern rock radio (gamble number three).  Suddenly, the song’s focus shifts gears, turning into a hymn to music and its healing powers (gamble number four).  It’s a belief I share and have felt firsthand, so to say I start truly identifying with the song at this point would be a gross understatement.  If you’ve ever been saved by a song, Darkness Within is cathartic in itself.  And then it gets heavy, which is icing on the cake, before riding one more supersized chorus into the sunset among Flynn cooing some “doo-doo-doo”s  (gamble number five). 

Of course, saying that Darkness Within is the best part of Unto the Locust is like saying the patty is the best part of the cheeseburger.  It’s the heart of the album, and it’s great on its own merit, but it’s meant to be enjoyed as part of the whole.  Front to back, Unto the Locust packs just as many thrills as The Blackening.  It’s an album that cements Machine Head’s legacy as future metal hall-of-famers, but more importantly gives metalheads a new classic, an album good enough to stand alongside Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Rust in Peace and, yes, The Blackening.

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