Machine Head
Unto The Locust

By Steve Warsup

1. I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
I) Sangre Sani
II) I Am Hell
III) Ashes to the Sky
2. Be Still and Know
3. Locust
4. This is the End
5. Darkness Within
6. Pearls Before the Swine
7. Who We Are

Hailing from Oakland, California, Machine Head burst onto the scene in 1992. With their debut release,
Burn My Eyes in 1994, they created a classic thrash album. The opening three tracks, Davidian, Old and A Thousand Lies was a great way to start any album.

Now only original members Robb Flynn and Adam Duce remain, although Phil Demmell and Dave McClain have been in the band for 8 and 16 years respectively. They return with their first release since The Blackening in 2007.

I Am Hell started off as a Rob Flynn poem and after a chanted intro, the drums and crushing guitars kick in. Telling the story of a pyromanic, this is a bruising start to the album. The drums are as fast as i`ve heard anywhere.

Be Still And Know continues the brutal theme but is a song all about hope and positivity. There is an Iron Maiden sound to the track and even a hint of Bruce Dickinson in parts in the vocals but all done at a heavier tempo. The title track begins with a guitar intro before the drums kick in. This Is The End comes as a surprise starting with some classical guitar before turing into the fastest and heaviest track on the album.The message of the track is a big fuck you.

Darkness Within is the most heartfelt track on the album. Sung from the heart. A really funky-type dark track. A great riff and really melodic. Another great riff in Pearls Before The Swine, where half way through the song speeds up even more into an absolute killer. Album closer Who We Are starts with school kids singing the intro before thunderous drums kick in again. Really catchy and amaingly heavy.

Machine Head are a fantastic thrash band. Mixing the brutality of Slayer with the rhythm of Megadeth. Their last album, The Blackening was a classic. With Unto The Locust they`ve done it again.