After their 2007 masterpiece The Blackening, one of the top metal albums of the past decade, Machine Head earned the right to be called formally “The Mighty Machine Head.” But like Brian Billick once asked after following Ray Lewis out of the tunnel, the real question is, “How do you follow that?”
Well, Machine Head has figured out how to do the impossible: They followed it up with an album every bit as hard-hitting. Unto the Locust contains the same lengthy, progressive song structures as The Blackening – nothing over nine minutes though – but with a different lyrical focus. Instead of The Blackening’s more socially and politically conscious songs (“Clinching the Fists of Dissent,” “Aesthetics of Hate,” “Slanderous”), Unto the Locust focuses more on personal struggles.
Things get off to a roaring start with “I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)," a three-part progressive suite that starts with a Gregorian-style chant before going into full-on thrash metal for the bulk of the song. The song’s ending is reminicient of the end jam on “Clinching the Fists of Dissent,” which opened The Blackening.
While “I Am Hell” describes self-hatred and hurting those you love, the next track, "Be Still and Know” takes the opposite approach. The song is about being at peace with yourself and the world. The breakdown in the middle has some awesome guitar interplay between Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel.
The first single, “Locust,” is one of the more ambiguous songs on the record as it could be about asshole people who suck the life out of you (“Behind an angel’s disguise/an insect preys”) or about the failure of the American political and economic system and the insects that robbed the American dream (“Strings pull the marionettes,” “Forming clouds/Their shadow shrouds”). Whatever the case, the song ends with a note of triumph, “Halos of truth now they surround/the charade comes down.”
“This Is the End” goes back to the theme of personal struggles, describing a relationship gone bad. It features a cool acoustic intro before the band comes in and blasts it all to hell, a perfect accompaniment to the song’s theme: it starts off nice and lovely before blowing up in your face.
“Darkness Within” is strictly about self-loathing: There’s no antagonist other than the one within. Flynn sings the first 90 seconds alone with an acoustic guitar before the band comes in to amplify things. The song is clearly autobiographical, with its musical references (“Mystery’s forgotten chords,” ‘So pray to music build a shrine,” “Music it will set you free”).
“Pearls Before the Swine” is a tough song to get a read on. It seems to be about addiction, although it’s never totally explicit. The title is a biblical reference implying that things should not be put in front of people, or in this case, substances should not be put before yourself. Other biblical and religious references litter the lyrics. The end breakdown here is kickass, very similar to the riff from “Davidian.”
“Who We Are,” with its kids chorus at the beginning, serves to sum up the album’s theme: “This is who we are/This is what I am.” The first part of the song is about coming to terms with yourself and being proud of who you are. The end of the song serves as the most direct social commentary on the album, “We have been left disavowed/those of the black/not of the shroud/we won’t hear religious lies/their God has left us to die.” Seemingly a reference to how over the last 10 years, a select group of elites and moneymen have prospered while the rest of us have suffered. After those lines, Flynn and the kids choir come back in with the chorus, rejecting the status quo.
The most notable things about Unto the Locust are Flynn’s improved singing – he apparently took vocal lessons – Dave McClain’s drumming. Flynn still has his familiar growl, but his voice has improved to the point that he’s very convincing on the softer parts. The iTunes special edition has an acoustic-only version of “Darkness Within,” where Flynn sounds like he’s ready for “MTV Unplugged.”
McClain is simply a beast on this album. Flynn and Demmel may give Machine Head its sneer, but McClain is the muscle.
The special edition of the album also includes two cool covers of Judas Priest’s “The Sentinel” and Rush’s “Witch Hunt.” “The Sentinel” is the best of these as the band clearly is having a lot of fun doing the song. You almost can hear Flynn giggling as he sings Rob Halford’s ridiculous lyrics.
Unto the Locust is yet another triumph for a band whose career seems to be getting better as it goes on. Machine Head has staked its claim as one of metal’s preeminent bands and this new record only affirms that. |
