Machine Head - Locust

Motley Crue

Thank FUCK this band are still going, and they just get better and better with age......

If you're a fan of Through the Ashes of Empires you will like this a lot:D

Oh, and at 7.43, don't say I didn't warn you to turn THIS UP VERY HIGH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jGZJxnJk-4

GrizzlyMan

Machine head are a band that havent done anything for me in years, this new track to be honest is bland and sounds like most of the "safemetal" thats out there. just my opinion im more than sure it will give most machine heads their fix.

lord lucan

Started off great but then seemed to lose it's way a little in the middle before getting on track towards the end. Seemed a little long,trim it back to 5 minutes maybe and it'd be killer.

Still excited about the new album though.:)

Knifey Spoony

I never thought that I'd hear a follow up to the Blackening, seems like it came out so long ago. Not a bad song, the clean parts sounds a bit too much like some of the clean parts in A Farewell to Arms though. Looking forward to hearing more of the new album.

Numina

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

I never thought that I'd hear a follow up to the Blackening, seems like it came out so long ago.

I'd call 4 years a long time.

Sephiroth_dude

Whens it out?

Useful.Idiot

That song does start off well, some nice heavy riffage. Track seems to drag a bit too. The clean parts aren't really up to par with the highlights of the Blackening (an album that I adored when it came out).

Motley Crue

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Whens it out?

This song is officially out today on ITunes

The album is out later this year....according to the band....

Normally, one would be wise to avoid a plague of locusts. Prophets even warn about locusts in The Bible. However, in the Summer of 2011, metal fans and headbangers are going to happily succumb to a "Locust" in the form of a brand new track from Bay Area metal icons Machine Head.

TheStickyBandit

Being a drummer it is obvious that I am going to listen to the drums in this track, but is it just me or does anyone else think they got Lars Ulrich to play on this?

It just seems too bland and boring, it's nothing compared to songs from The Blackening, which I was seriously impressed with. Hopefully the rest of the album will be better!

Malice

I'll definitely be checking this out later.

chin_grin

This sums up MH discography for me.

Burn My Eyes - f*ck yeah.
The More Things Change - f*ck yeah again.
The Burning Red - Hmm......Still awesome though.
Supercharger - .........?
Through the Ashes - Meh.
The Blackening - More meh.

This song. F*cking terrible.

Malice

Most of The Blackening didn't grab me. The massive exception is this masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wp3XUSMHB0

Simply put, Aesthetics of Hate is one of the greatest metal songs I've ever heard.

Useful.Idiot

Malice wrote: »

Most of The Blackening didn't grab me. The massive exception is this masterpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wp3XUSMHB0

Simply put, Aesthetics of Hate is one of the greatest metal songs I've ever heard.

what?! Aesthetics of Hate wouldn't even be a highlight of the album for me! its all about Clenching the Fists of Dissent and Halo!

This sums up MH discography for me.

Burn My Eyes - f*ck yeah.
The More Things Change - f*ck yeah again.
The Burning Red - Hmm......Still awesome though.
Supercharger - .........?
Through the Ashes - Meh.
The Blackening - More meh.

This song. F*cking terrible.

No wai! The Blackening was by far and away the best thing they've ever done, defintely way way better than Burn My Eyes anyway.

Malice

Useful.Idiot wrote: »

what?! Aesthetics of Hate wouldn't even be a highlight of the album for me! its all about Clenching the Fists of Dissent and Halo!

Hey, I can't help it if you're wrong!

Useful.Idiot wrote:

The Blackening was by far and away the best thing they've ever done, defintely way way better than Burn My Eyes anyway.

Yep, definitely wrong

Sephiroth_dude

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

Being a drummer it is obvious that I am going to listen to the drums in this track, but is it just me or does anyone else think they got Lars Ulrich to play on this?

It just seems too bland and boring, it's nothing compared to songs from The Blackening, which I was seriously impressed with. Hopefully the rest of the album will be better!

The drumming on the blackening was class alright.

Magaa

Amazing is all i can say!

It does not par with Halo though

Testament1

Dont like the sound of that track at all, for a bit there I wasn't even sure if that was Robb Flynn on vocals, didnt sound like him at all. I sort of lost track of Machine Head after Ashes of Empires. I really must check out The Blackening as I liked the 2 or 3 tracks I heard from it. I wont be getting worked up over Locust if the rest of the album is like that though.

TheStickyBandit

Now I Lay Thee down is definately my favourite MH song, if there is anything that resembles that on the new album I'll be delighted.

DrumSteve

Useful.Idiot wrote: »

what?! Aesthetics of Hate wouldn't even be a highlight of the album for me! its all about Clenching the Fists of Dissent and Halo!



No wai! The Blackening was by far and away the best thing they've ever done, defintely way way better than Burn My Eyes anyway.

Lets not get too hasty.

The simple fact that album opens with Davidian... Then Old.

Or has the most underrated MH song : "Bllod for Blood" (easily my favourite MH song).

At most, the blackening is on par with it but it's not better than it.

InigoMontoya

I don't think they've ever matched Burn My Eyes, and listening to this song I doubt this new album will come close. It goes nowhere, and takes at least 2 minutes too long to get there.

Motley Crue

I'm really surprised by this action, this song rocks, compared to most of the crap being given as Metal this is really god

Malice

Just getting around to having a listen to it now. It sounds very restrained to begin with. I was expecting some crushing riff to start at 0:54 but no joy. The pacing seems a bit slow too (but only a bit). Rob Flynn's singing vocals have never appealed to me but they're not too off-putting here. I didn't like the abrupt stop at 3:35 but overall it's not half bad and I'll definitely be checking out this album.

Like Motley Crue I'm also a bit surprised by the amount of negativity on this thread but it makes for a better discussion overall I suppose .

TheStickyBandit

In response to the so-called negativity, is it not acceptable to demand some more of the excellence that this band is so easily able to produce? On close examination of this teaser track, it seems that it isn't upto their usual high standards.
It's true what Motley Crue says, it is better than half the crap out there but, wouldn't it be so much cooler if the new album had some more skull crushing Davidian-like riff-age?

Motley Crue

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

In response to the so-called negativity, is it not acceptable to demand some more of the excellence that this band is so easily able to produce?

Yes, it is

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

On close examination of this teaser track, it seems that it isn't upto their usual high standards.

Well, I actually think it's a good track, but that is personal opinion. I think it is slow in parts and I think Rob's voice is almost shot at one point but I do like what I hear. Maybe because it's not as aggressive as previous efforts and I like the fact Machine Head have mellowed out a little with this song, although not as much as other bands might have done, maybe writing more technically complex songs as opposed to simply loud, fast and heavy is what the band are aiming for? Having said all that it is an Advance Mix and the album has no particularly scheduled release date so plenty more to come.

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

It's true what Motley Crue says, it is better than half the crap out there but, wouldn't it be so much cooler if the new album had some more skull crushing Davidian-like riff-age?

It would, but I doubt Machine Head will do that, I think the band has taken a certain direction since Demmel joined (given his position as a chief song writer) and given Flynn and Demmel's association extends to before Machine Head I think they both had plans to move the band into a different territory then what it was.



Machine Head, 1994



Machine Head, 2004

As well as that, Machine Head's image has also changed radically since Demmel joined, the band are now more closely associated with Metallica or Pantera then Biohazard or VioLence....I think the old MH is something Flynn is personally trying to move away from, taking the opportunity to write more complex and challenging songs, and also (despite how much he argues to the contrary) attempting to find the nearest kind of mainstream attention his band can - such as Grammy nominations

Who can blame Machine Head really, they want to sell records and continue to be relevant, rather then just be a nostalgic 90s Metal touring act, and this record is just another example of how Machine Head will continue to piss off their loyal fans by releasing good songs that forever change the style of the band in order to suit as many people as possible. And you need to piss off your fans every now and again to avoid becoming stagnant.

But, despite this, it's still some of the best material out there

InigoMontoya

I think most of the criticism is about quality rather than style.

bigbadcon

I think its a decent enough song, Id be a bit worried that it was released first as I would hope the rest of the songs on the album are better.

Burn my Eyes is Machine Heads equivalent to Master Of Puppets which means anything they write is gonna have to be absolutely amazing to come anywhere close to it.

Id agree on the comments on the drumming being a bit bland. I usually find myself concentrating on the drumming when listening to MH even though im a guitarist but didn't really notice them while listening to this.

Maybe I need to give it more time...

chin_grin

Mate had a good point about this track. "Sounds like Trivium". Good enough reason for me to avoid the new album. :pac:

Personally I didn't like where they were going with the new records. I mean I know they could've gone completely in to (c)Rapcore after Burning Red. I'm not sure how to put this but the recent albums seem very pretentious to me. Complicating things for the sake of.

But yeah, that's just me.

Malice

TheStickyBandit wrote: »

In response to the so-called negativity, is it not acceptable to demand some more of the excellence that this band is so easily able to produce?

It's not so-called negativity, it actually is negativity. I'm not going to quote posts as I think everyone's able to read and see it for themselves. As for the band being easily able to produce excellence tracks, their back catalogue would tend to disagree with that notion. Songs like Davidian, Old, Imperium, Bite the Bullet, Ten Ton Hammer and Aesthetics of Hate are the exception rather than the rule (imho). It's a bit like demanding Metallica produce Master of Puppets part 2. It's not going to happen unfortunately. Bands evolve and Phil Demmel has definitely influenced the band towards a different sound than was output with Logan Mader or Ahrue Luster on lead guitar duties.

TheStickyBandit wrote:

wouldn't it be so much cooler if the new album had some more skull crushing Davidian-like riff-age?

I'll be checking out the album regardless but I think we can all agree that more tunes along the lines of Davidian would be great .

TheStickyBandit

I too will be checking out the record regardlessly!

I have great expectations for the album still, I only hope that the material released will be slightly more along the lines of The Blackening/Burn my Eyes. It would be foolish to criticise based on one track alone.

I shall await the release of the new album with eager anticipation, waiting to eat my hat! (hopefully!)

Motley Crue

Can I just ask, anyone who is obviously disappointed with this track, what do you expect? What is it you are honestly looking for? I'm not trying to be critical I am genuinely interested to know what you expect when you hear that Machine Head have released a song from their forthcoming album?

Is it that you expect a track that's heavy and crushing from start to finish or do you make allowances for the odd mellow moment in tracks, except that this song is just too long/too mellow or too unusual?

I'd be genuinely interested to find out exactly why people don't like this song as a matter of intrigue...:cool:

juliancallan

Just to point out that this is an early mix of the track and not what's going to be on the final album so it might be different yet.

InigoMontoya

Motley Crue wrote: »

Can I just ask, anyone who is obviously disappointed with this track, what do you expect? What is it you are honestly looking for? I'm not trying to be critical I am genuinely interested to know what you expect when you hear that Machine Head have released a song from their forthcoming album?

Is it that you expect a track that's heavy and crushing from start to finish or do you make allowances for the odd mellow moment in tracks, except that this song is just too long/too mellow or too unusual?

I'd be genuinely interested to find out exactly why people don't like this song as a matter of intrigue...:cool:

It is too long, but it's not the length as such that is the problem, it's more that the song goes nowhere... meanders around pointlessly for the first half, and even when it starts to come together there's a badly-placed pause that ruins the momentum.

(I'm not a huge MH fan so I'm not particularly disappointed. They have one great album (BME), 3 good ones (TMTC, TTAoE, TB) and a couple of duds).

Useful.Idiot

Motley Crue wrote: »

Can I just ask, anyone who is obviously disappointed with this track, what do you expect? What is it you are honestly looking for? I'm not trying to be critical I am genuinely interested to know what you expect when you hear that Machine Head have released a song from their forthcoming album?

Is it that you expect a track that's heavy and crushing from start to finish or do you make allowances for the odd mellow moment in tracks, except that this song is just too long/too mellow or too unusual?

I'd be genuinely interested to find out exactly why people don't like this song as a matter of intrigue...:cool:

Doesn't matter how intense the song is or not, when I listen to any song I would expect it to hold my interest all the way through...AKA well-written songs. This song meanders off course at times and almost sounds forced or cut-and-pasted.

TheStickyBandit

I agree that the song is drawn out. I was dissapointed with the drums, it was as if they were recorded in one take. Overall I just think it sounds unfinished!

Am I Evil?

Love the song, It's a grower and took a few listens to fully appreciate it

Machine Head are touring with DevilDriver and of course are not coming to Ireland

It does not please me

chin_grin

I hope they don't tour this album. It's f*cking terrible. Not even by comparing it to their better earlier stuff, but to genre of metal.

Motley Crue

chin_grin wrote: »

I hope they don't tour this album. It's f*cking terrible. Not even by comparing it to their better earlier stuff, but to genre of metal.

I won't even justify that with a response. I don't agree with everything that Machine Head do and record but this album, from all reports, is an expansion and looking at different ways of performing and not just returning to the same **** time and time again. I support Machine Head, and believe they should tour this album, and think it will be excellent.

chin_grin

Motley Crue wrote: »

I won't even justify that with a response. I don't agree with everything that Machine Head do and record but this album, from all reports, is an expansion and looking at different ways of performing and not just returning to the same **** time and time again. I support Machine Head, and believe they should tour this album, and think it will be excellent.

But you just did! :pac:

Nah, they've been on a downward spiral and what was once a raw, energetic cathartic f*ck you to everything sound has been replaced with pretentious guitar w@nk with "cute" layered vocal harmonies and songs that go on for eight minutes for no apparent reason other to fill the silence.

Note that this is in my opinion and I obviously cannot speak for the masses.

Am I Evil?

Surprised to say the least with that Chin haha


Listened to the album a good 10 times now.... Can't seem to stop :pac:
Absolutely love it,Beats everything they have ever put out before.Not a bad song on it and by far and away the best album this year

Now for Mastodon :cool:

MickShamrock

I'm on my first listen and not really liking it so far. Hopefully it gets better with repeated listening.

viadah

The best thing about Machine Head these days is Robb Flynn stopped getting wheeled out by Kerrang every time they 'did' hip-hop.

Having not touched Kerrang in about 7 years one can only hope, but then it is our right to hope, perchance even to dream.

Malice

viadah wrote: »

Having not touched Kerrang in about 7 years one can only hope, but then it is our right to hope, perchance even to dream.

You can hope for or dream about what exactly?

viadah

That they're leaving poor Robb Flynn alone these days - his hip-hop punditry coincided with the fall of Machine Head that culminated with the awful 'Supercharger'. Did anyone else get that album and think 'this is going to kick in any second now' only to stare in disgust at the CD player as it rolled on to the next track?

Shreddingblood

This has been such a sh1t year for metal. this album is terrible.

Useful.Idiot

Shreddingblood wrote: »

This has been such a sh1t year for metal. this album is terrible.

The album may or may not be terrible but...sh1t year for metal? you must be joking!

This list (compiled at the start of June) is similar to my thinking mostly!

http://stereogum.com/742971/haunting-the-chapels-top-26-metal-albums-of-2011-so-far/franchises/haunting-the-chapel/

lord lucan

Just gave this a listen today. Not up there with their best by any means but still a pretty good album imo. Biggest criticism is that some songs are way too long. Sounds like they caught St. Angeritis on return to the Bay area and needlessly extended songs with a lot of repetition.

Malice

At the risk of repeating myself, please report spam when you come across it. Don't make smart-arsed replies which are going to be out of place when the spam posts get deleted.

Shreddingblood

My reasoning behind calling it a **** year for metal is that so many well respected bands released rubbish this year. Machine Head, Opeth, Devildriver(not really well respected but still) , Morbid Angel, Metallica one doesn't look promising. To name but a few.

Seth Brundle

Got my album download yesterday. It's taking a bit if getting used to. It's good but somehow not as good as the blackening but maybe it needs a few listens.

Motley Crue

kbannon wrote: »

Got my album download yesterday. It's taking a bit if getting used to. It's good but somehow not as good as the blackening but maybe it needs a few listens.

I think so

D.Q

Machine head in metal by numbers shocker.