1 REPULSIVE | 2 Pure shit | 3 terrible | 4 must avoid | 5 average | 6 good effort | 7 good | 8 very good | 9 EXCelLent | 10 pure c
MACHINE HEAD
8
Nuclear Blast (2014)
OUT NOW
Bloodstone & Diamonds
W
e all know by now that Machine Head’s last record Unto the Locust was good, but it wasn’t superb. More than anything, it prompted the following question: would Machine Head return to the glory of a career defining moments such as The Blackening and Ashes, and would new bassist Jared Anderson provide a new creative spark that could keep pushing the band forward? The answer arrived in Bloodstone & Diamonds, a record where Machine Head dutifully delivered. Bloodstone & Diamonds is a really solid album, with all those well known traits we came to love in Machine Head: viciously gripping groovy sections, clean sung melodic interludes and a fine assortment of their signature pinched harmonic stabs as tails to their riffs. But, if we cast aside some of the more regular Machine Head numbers such as “Killers and Kings”, ”Eyes of the Dead” or “Game Over”, one realizes that there’s so much more to this record than there ever was in the band’s past. From string sections to keyboards and piano, going through enormous vocal choir ensembles and different singing styles… Bloodstone & Diamonds is all about experimentation. Nothing comes out as predictable, and most of the times you never really know what’s gonna happen in each turn of the corner. Machine Head transcended themselves as songwriters as tracks like the memorable “Now We Die”, the gargantuan “Sail into the Black” or the symphonic “In Comes the Flood” clearly demonstrate among the rest. However, if one had to mention only one song, it would have to be “Damage Inside”. Though far from their main style, it’s undeniably one of Machine Head’s best songs ever. Irreprehensible. The melodies are just incredibly chilling and haunting. I would go as far as saying that whoever wrote this song must have been in a really miserable state to produce such a truly memorable and melancholic piece of art. Overall, Bloodstone & Diamonds is the best record the Head made since Ashes, the most multi-dimensional and by far the most musically diverse and interesting effort in their career. Jared Anderson really couldn’t have hoped for a better premiere with this band.
FOR FANS OF:
Machine Fucking Head, Beers, big songs and more beers
ESSENTIAL TRACKS:
Killers and Kings, Now We Die, Eyes Of The Dead LUIS ALVES
94
music&riots
December