After all of the hype it received from just about every music outlet available, I gave this CD a listen and to be honest, I was surprised by how genuinely brilliant this CD was. With it's strong, heavy riffs and often quite electrifying guitar solos, it's little wonder that it has made the top 5, if not number one spot, of many of the "Best Album of 2007" reader's/listener's/viewer's polls and gained the large number of almost all positive reviews.
The album's opener 'Clenching The Fists of Dissent' gives you a clear indication as to the direction of the album - long, sometimes up to ten minute, songs, with thrash-metal-esque riffs, contrasting heavy and cleaner vocals and, of course, epic guitar solos. The lyrics too, making a change to what may be expected from many modern bands, portray a good message, speaking out against war and current American politics - in other words, things which matter. This album really helps define Machine Head as a band that take their music seriously, not just release albums for the sake of releasing. Anything that may have been bad about their previous albums has surely been corrected here.
Robb Flynn's musicianship cannot be doubted after hearing tracks such as 'Aesthetics of Hate' or 'Beautiful Mourning'; songs which don't all song identical and incorporate as much style and quality into the track as possible. Dave McClain's drumming is, as in the past, outstanding and the intricate guitar-work of Phil Demmel is clear for all to see. It isn't just Flynn's songwriting that should be praised - the nine-minute masterpiece that is 'Halo was written as a band-song and truly portrays this band as a whole. The only real drawback to this album is the length of the songs, something that may repel some potential listeners.
In the past, Machine Head have had as large an impact only after releasing their album 'Burn My Eyes' although since then, have seen themselves fall from grace after their album 'Supercharger'. But after the incredible comeback that was 'Through the Ashes of Empires', this album will give them a permanent place in metal history, providing what has to have been one of the best metal albums of the year. Hopefully Machine Head fans of old and the newer fans, like me, can agree that this album is, surely, their finest to date.
9/10
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[A/N] - This was the first review I did ^^ Great album and I thoroughly recommend it to those who haven't head it!
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