The Blackening
| The Blackening | ||||
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| Machine Head studio album | ||||
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Publication |
March 23, 2007 |
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| Label (s) | Roadrunner Records | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
61 min 09 s (regular version) |
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| occupation |
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Robb Flynn |
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Studio (s) |
Sharkbite Studios, Oakland |
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The Blackening ( Engl .: The Darkness ) is the sixth music album of American Metal - band Machine Head . The album was released on March 23, 2007 on the Roadrunner Records label and received excellent to euphoric reviews. The Blackening reached number 12 in the German album charts and was among the top 20 in four other countries.
In the US , the album sold more often in the first two weeks after its release than its predecessor Through the Ashes of Empires in three years. The first single Aesthetics of Hate was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category.
Emergence
Songwriting
In early 2005, Machine Head members began writing new songs. The first completed song was called Godfather 4 . The title refers to the guitar riff , which, according to singer Robb Flynn, had a godfather- like feeling. However, the song was not used for the album; said reef was used in a B-side . Slanderous was the first finished song used for the album. In addition to Slanderous , Beautiful Mourning and a raw version of Aesthetics of Hate were completed by February 2005 . At the same time, Machine Head recorded a cover version of the Metallica song Battery for a tribute sampler for Kerrang!
In February 2005 Flynn was named together with Dino Cazares ( Divine Heresy , Fear Factory ), Matthew Heafy ( Trivium ) and Joey Jordison ( Slipknot ) as one of four "Teamcaptains" for the Roadrunner United project on the occasion of Roadrunner 's 25th anniversary Records appointed. During this project Flynn produced four songs and gained valuable experience, which he brought to the production of The Blackening .
In November 2005 the band recorded a thirteen song demo . Among these pieces were early versions of the songs Halo and Aesthetics of Hate . In the middle of the month Machine Head took a break while Flynn continued to work on the pieces single-handedly. The band wrote a total of 26 songs. The eight tracks that made it onto the album came together as a unit.
During the songwriting it turned out that the new songs are far more complex and longer than on the previous album Through the Ashes of Empires . At the time , Flynn and drummer Dave McClain took musical inspiration from the 1977 Rush album A Farewell to Kings. In an interview, Flynn stated that the songs on this album “are not just a series of riffs, but rather a catchy one Return to the hookline or the starting topic ”. When dividing the guitar work in terms of solos and harmonies , Flynn and Phil Demmel based themselves on the Judas Priest guitarists Glenn Tipton and KK Downing . For the lyrics, Flynn drew inspiration from the novels Johnny Goes to War by Dalton Trumbo and Illuminati by Dan Brown .
According to singer Robb Flynn, the length of individual tracks simply came about when the band put the ideas of each member together in the rehearsal room. When the songs were finished they were up to ten minutes long and consisted of 20 to 30 riffs per song. According to Flynn, the nine-minute piece Wolves even consists of 75 riffs. Trials were made to shorten some of the songs. However, these plans were discarded by the band, as it was believed that the songs lost much of their strength.
The Roadrunner record company had concerns about opening the album with Clenching the Fists of Dissent . Flynn recalled in an interview that the Roadrunner staff asked questions like, “Are you sure you want to open the album with a ten and a half minute song? Don't you want to start with something more direct? ”After a brief thought, the band members decided not to heed the objections of their record company because they were convinced that Clenching the Fists of Dissent was the only song that should come first.
With The Blackening , Machine Head have set themselves the high goal of creating the Master of Puppets of today's generation.
“And when I say that, I don't mean that we want to be as big as Metallica. [...] It's about creating something that has the power, the influence and the timelessness like said work. "
Flynn jokingly referred to The Blackening as the Thrash Metal version of Pink Floyd's The Wall .
Studio recordings
On August 17, 2005, the band announced The Blackening as the album title. Over the next two days, Flynn and drummer Dave McClain put the finishing touches on the selected songs with a jam session and began pre-production. Actual recordings began on August 21, 2005 at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland . As with the previous album, Robb Flynn took over the production .
First, Dave McClain recorded his drum parts. For the drum sound, McClain and Flynn were inspired by the Slayer album South of Heaven . McClain recorded six of the eight songs on the album in one day, including both ten-minute pieces. The other two tracks were finished the next day. Next, the guitars were recorded. In particular, the recordings for the song Wolves turned out to be difficult, according to Robb Flynn. In a large number of the riffs, the technique of "downpicking" was used, a playing technique in which the strings are only plucked from top to bottom. This causes the strings to vibrate more strongly and produce a harder sound. In late October 2006, the band invited a group of fans into the studio who contributed backing vocals for the song Clenching the Fists of Dissent . The recordings were completed on November 18, 2006.
Mixed was The Blackening the Briton Colin Richardson in the Strongroom- and Metropolis Studios in London . Richardson was assisted by sound engineer Matt Hyde . Mixing the intro of Clenching the Fists of Dissent described Flynn as a "nightmare" due to the high number of audio tracks used . Of the total of 90 tracks one used u. a. 20 for the snare drum , five for the bass drum and cymbals , three acoustic guitars , five each for the electric guitar and vocals and two for the bass . Flynn called the process of mixing these traces together madness.
The mastering took Eddy Schreyer at Oasis Mastering in Burbank . On February 16, 2008 Roadrunner Records made the song Aesthetics of Hate available for free download . Six days before the release, the entire album could be listened to as a stream on Roadrunner's Myspace page .
Music videos
Music videos were shot for the songs Now I Lay Thee Down , Aesthetics of Hate and Halo , directed by Mike Sloat . Originally, the first video was to be shot for Clenching the Fists of Dissent or Halo . Because of the length of both titles, attempts were made to shorten the songs to about five minutes. These plans were discarded and the second shortest song Now I Lay Thee Down was taken instead. The video for Aesthetics of Hate was shot in Virginia . Musicians from the bands Trivium and Gojira have guest appearances in the video. In addition to a censored and abridged version for music television stations , an uncensored version was also released, in which all curses and swear words are used. For the filming of the Halo video, Machine Head invited their fans to appear as extras . The video was shot on April 3, 2008 in San Francisco .
background
| Track list | |
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1 Only included on the limited version. |
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Aesthetics of Hate
The song Aesthetics of Hate is a response to an article by William Grim. Grim wrote the article "Aesthetics of Hate: RIP Dimebag Abbott & Good Riddance" on the conservative blog The Iconoclast, which portrayed a personal attack on the murdered former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell . Darrell was shot three times in the head by Nathan Gale, a former Marine, on December 8, 2004 at a concert by his then band Damageplan in Columbus .
Grim described Darrell as "an ignorant, barbaric, and untalented guitar owner" who " looked more like a monkey than a human ." After Flynn read this article, angry he wrote the song Aesthetics of Hate as a tribute to Darrell. Flynn attacked Grim sharply in a statement on the Machine Head homepage and described his friendship with Darrell.
“What do you already know about love and values? [...] All you know is to teach prejudice, and your heart is as black as that of the ignorant, filthy, and hideously ugly heavy metal fan you are trying to portray in your perverted, ostensible chatter. It is through people like you that Nathan Gales is in this world, not through the dimebags and metal musicians who work to unite the world through their music. "
During the recording, Flynn used a guitar that Darrell gave him. Darrell had taken Flynn's replacement guitar on stage while drunk during a coal chamber concert and then destroyed it. A week later, Flynn received a new guitar from Darrell's signature line from Darrell, valued at about $ 2,500 . The text of the song refers, among other things, to the Pantera album Far Beyond Driven ("But he made us Driven / such deep reference / Far Beyond the rest"). The words “Far”, “Beyond” and “Driven” are capitalized in the booklet.
Flynn has been criticized for the lyrics of the song. In a later interview, Flynn confirmed that the text for Aesthetics of Hate is completely childish, but that he had a pretty good feeling writing it himself.
Other meanings
Clenching the Fists of Dissent and A Farewell to Arms deal with the Iraq war . The lyrics to these songs were written after the band members grappled with the topic and found out that many things did not go together. While Clenching the Fists of Dissent is directed against the propaganda spread by the US government , A Farewell to Arms deals with the suffering of the victims.
- Text excerpt "A Farewell to Arms"
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Already on the debut album Burn My Eyes there was with A Thousand Lies a song about the Second Gulf War . In Beautiful Mourning , Flynn grapples with his own past. At a time in which he had no own apartment and spent the night with friends, he stood one day in LSD -Rausch front of a mirror and introduced himself with a razor blade injury. Originally, Beautiful Mourning was supposed to be an anti-war song, but Flynn found that the lyrics didn't go with the music. Now I Lay Thee Down describes a love story inspired by Romeo and Juliet with a tragic ending. Flynn was of the opinion that the chorus sounded pretty poppy and therefore wrote a "fucked up lyrics so that the song doesn't get radio airplay". For the text by Slanderous , Flynn collected all the insults and swear words that he was given over the years. With this text Flynn wants to show how much hate there is in today's society.
Cover artwork and album title
The album cover was designed by Paul Brown. The illustration is in black and white and is based on a copper engraving from the 16th century. It shows a skeleton that represents a king . The king is seated on a throne that sits on top of a large number of skulls . One foot of the king stands on a globe while the other foot stands next to an hourglass . The king holds a mirror in his hand on which is written in mirror writing “The mirror which flatters not.” ( English: “The mirror that does not flatter.”). According to Flynn, the mirror reflects today's society.
“The reason we chose this picture is because this album is like a mirror that we all hold up to each other. It talks about things that are currently happening, but is not specific to that time. "
The artwork is almost identical to the cover of the album Drown in Solitude by the Australian doom band Funeral Mourning, which was released a few months before The Blackening .
Versions
The album was released as a regular CD as well as a double LP . There is a limited version that includes a bonus DVD . On this DVD there is a documentary about the creation of the album as well as a tour documentary. As a bonus, the CD also contains a cover version of the Metallica song Battery . This version is delivered in a silver-colored slipcase.
The British subsidiary of Roadrunner Records has announced a special edition for October 27, 2008, which will include a bonus CD and a DVD in addition to the regular album. The bonus CD contains all cover versions, B-sides and other rarities recorded by the band to date. The DVD contains eleven live recordings of various performances, the three music videos shot for the album in uncensored and unedited versions, and a making of for each of the three videos.
tour
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Since its release in March 2007, Machine Head have played numerous concerts to promote their new album. In February and March 2007, Machine Head toured North America with Trivium and Gojira as opening acts for the band Lamb of God . This tour was followed by another tour of North America, this time as the opening act for Megadeth and Heaven and Hell . During the summer Machine Head played at various festivals in Europe , including the Download Festival , Rock am Ring , Rock im Park and the Roskilde Festival . In addition, the band played individual concerts. On June 20, 2007, Machine Head for Iron Maiden opened in the Roman Olympic Stadium . On July 8, 2007, Machine Head replaced Bullet for My Valentine as opening act at the Metallica concert at London's Wembley Stadium after Bullet For My Valentine singer Matt Tuck had to undergo a tonsillectomy .
A headline tour of the United States followed in September 2007 , with Machine Head supported by Arch Enemy , Throwdown and Sanctity . The concert in the "House of Blues" in Anaheim had to be canceled. For the owner of the "House of Blues", The Walt Disney Company , it was "inappropriate" for a heavy metal band like Machine Head to play in one of their clubs. This was followed by a co-headlining tour through Europe, Japan and Australia with Trivium, Arch Enemy as well as DragonForce and Shadows Fall . The name of this tour ("The Black Crusade") is a play on words from the album titles The Blackening and the Trivium album The Crusade . Phil Demmel's father died during the tour. Demmel was then replaced by Trivium guitarist Corey Beaulieu .
2008 began with another North American tour with Hellyeah , Bury Your Dead and Nonpoint . During this tour, the mother of the drummer Dave McClain died, who was replaced at some concerts by the drummers of the opening act. In the summer of 2008, Machine Head took part in the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival tour of North America, which also included Slipknot , Disturbed and Mastodon . On August 17, 2008, Phil Demmel collapsed during the penultimate song due to dehydration . After the incident, it was revealed that Demmel had been suffering from Cardiogenic Syncope disease since the early 1990s. This is a weak heart , which means that the heart does not send enough blood to the brain .
reception
Reviews
The album received excellent to enthusiastic reviews in the press. The German Metal Hammer named The Blackening "Album of the Month". Matthias Weckmann described The Blackening as "an outstanding album which impressively underpins Machine Head's top position in the scene". He awarded six out of seven possible points. In German Rock Hard the album took third place in the soundcheck. Conny Schiffbauer described the album as a “brutal, bombastic progressive thrash epic, which, despite its detailed complexity and numerous songs with excess length, never loses its rousing power” and awarded nine out of ten possible points.
For Alain Strasser from the online magazine “metal1.info”, The Blackening stands for “more Thrash, more melodies, more metal, simply more machine head”. Blabbermouth.net reviewer Don Kaye described The Blackening as one of the "purest, best and most powerful works of modern heavy metal". Kaye also praised the "furious guitar work by Flynn and Demmel". With 9.5 out of ten points, the album almost received the highest rating. JD Considine from the US music magazine "Blender" compared The Blackening to Metallica's album ... And Justice for All , but criticized the lyrics, which look like they come from a comic .
There were negative reviews from Rolling Stone magazine . Andy Greene praised the band for returning to their Thrash Metal roots, but criticized the length of the songs. According to Greene, A Farewell to Arms sounds like "three holdovers from Metallica's Load album ". For James Jam of the New Musical Express , The Blackening shows "no return to form" and arouses the desire to " dig out Machine Head's debut album ".
The Blackening was also received positively by other musicians . Scott Ian , rhythm guitarist for the band Anthrax , compared the album to "a good book or film that takes you out of your life for an hour and provides pure, unadulterated listening pleasure". Metallica singer James Hetfield described The Blackening as “incredible. Incredible sound, incredible power. "
Chart placements
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The Blackening entered the German album charts at number 12. This was the band's highest chart entry in Germany to date and surpassed the album The Burning Red , which debuted at number 15 in 1999. The album made further high chart entries in Belgium (12th place), Australia (14th place), Great Britain (16th place), Austria and Sweden (both 19th place), Ireland (23rd place) and the Netherlands (29th place).
In the US , the album sold around 15,000 copies in the first week after its release and reached number 54. This was the highest chart entry of all time in the US for Machine Head. The previous album Through the Ashes of Empires sold about 12,000 times in the first week and rose at number 88.
Two weeks before the album was released, the album appeared on the relevant music exchanges . It turned out that an American journalist put his promo CD online. Flynn regretted the album was available before it was released, but also noted that word of mouth had a positive impact on sales. Flynn was very surprised at the album's great success.
“ The Blackening stands against everything that is necessary for a successful album. We start the album with a ten and a half minute song. The album contains four songs that are longer than nine minutes as well as controversial lyrics and unusual artwork. […] We worked our asses off and worked hard for this album. We wanted to create a piece of art that would stand the test of time, regardless of whether someone was listening to the album in 2007 or 2017. It was a musical statement that we hoped would leave a lasting legacy. "
Awards
For the song Aesthetics of Hate Machine Head were nominated for the first time for a Grammy in the category " Best Metal Performance ". The Grammy went to the band Slayer for "Final Six". Were also nominated King Diamond , Shadows Fall and As I Lay Dying .
The Blackening was named "Album of the Year" with the "Golden God Award" of the British Metal Hammer. Robert Flynn received the award in the "Golden God" category. With the Kerrang! Awards Machine Head received awards for the best album and in the "Hard Rock Hero" category. There were further awards at the Danish Metal Awards in the category "Best International Album" and at the Swedish Metal Awards in the category "International Metal"
The readers of the German magazines Rock Hard and Metal Hammer voted The Blackening “Album of the Year”. In the “Song of the Year” category in the Metal Hammer readers' poll, Halo took second place and Aesthetics of Hate came third. The German magazine Visions had the album in their list of the 66 + 6 best metal albums of the third millennium in spring 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c metalforge.com: MACHINE HEAD: Color Our World Blackened
- ↑ a b c midwestmetalmagazine.com: Machine Head
- ↑ a b blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Frontman: 'I Can't Remember Ever Being This Excited About Recording'
- ↑ a b c mtv.com: Metal File: Machine Head, Shadows Fall, Watain & More News That Rules
- ↑ a b c d Thomas Kupfer: Spice instead of brevity . In: Rock Hard , February 2007, page 31
- ↑ a b artistdirect.com: Interview: Robb Flynn of Machine Head
- ↑ ultimate-guitar.com: Robb Flynn Of Machine Head: 'The Fans Carried Us Through'
- ↑ Anzo Sadoni: Lump of Concrete . In: Metal Hammer , April 2007, page 41
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD's New Album Is 'Big, Ugly, Dark, Mean, Fiery, Beautiful, Beast Of A Monster'
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Announces New Album Title
- ↑ blabbermouth.com: MACHINE HEAD: Drum Tracks Completed
- ↑ a b c d fourteeng.com: “It isn't the sound that's coming out of the speakers; It's the sound that is coming out of that person's soul! ” ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Frontman On New CD: 'Guitars Are Massive!'
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: New Song Available For Free Download
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: Entire 'The Blackening' Masterpiece Available For Streaming
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Frontman: Why We Chose 'Now I Lay Thee Down' As New Video Track
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: Full-Length, Uncensored Version Of 'Aesthetics Of Hate' Video Available
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: Photos From 'Halo' Video Shoot Posted Online
- ↑ The Iconoclast.com: A response to ignorance ( Memento of December 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ mtv.com: Remembering Dimebag
- ↑ a b blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD's ROBERT FLYNN: 'Long Live DIMEBAG DARRELL In The Hearts Of Us All'
- ↑ metaltheater.com: Robb Flynn from Machine Head interview ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ thegauntlet.com: Rob Flynn (Machine Head) - 'The mirror which flatters not'
- ↑ Cover of the album "Drown in Solitude" by Funeral Mourning ( Memento from February 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: 'The Blackening' European Special Editions Detailed ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD's 'The Blackening' 2CD & DVD 2008 Special Edition Detailed
- ↑ musicmight.com: Machine Head Biography ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD To Support IRON MAIDEN In Rome
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Frontman Talks About Playing With METALLICA, Hanging Out With LARS ULRICH
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD, ARCH ENEMY, THROWDOWN, SANCTITY To Team Up For US Tour
- ↑ mtv.com: Guest Blog: Machine Head's Robb Flynn Talks Censorship
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD Drummer To Rejoin Bandmates Tomorrow
- ↑ Rock Hard, October 2008, p. 7
- ^ Metal-hammer.de: Machine Head - The Blackening
- ↑ rockhard.de: Machine Head - The Blackening
- ↑ metal1.info: CD review: Machine Head - The Blackening ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Blabbermouth.net: Machine Head - The Blackening
- ↑ blender.com, April 17, 2007: JD Considine: Machine Head: The Blackening Review on Blender
- ^ Rollingstone.com: The Blackening - Rolling Stone
- ^ Nme.com: Machine Head - The Blackening
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: ANTHRAX Guitarist Reviews MACHINE HEAD's 'The Blackening'
- ↑ revolvermag.com: METALLICA: THE BEST OF THE REST ( Memento from January 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ officialcharts.com: Machine Head in the UK charts
- ↑ officialcharts.de: Machine Head in the German album charts
- ↑ austriancharts.at: Machine Head in the Austrian charts
- ↑ hitparade.ch: Machine Head in the Swiss charts
- ↑ billboard.com: Machine Head Album & Song Chart History
- ↑ a b c blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD: 'The Blackening' Enters Australian Chart At No. 14th
- ↑ musicline.de: Chart tracking Machine Head Longplay ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: SLAYER Wins 'Best Metal' GRAMMY AWARD
- ↑ thesun.co.uk: Bullet booed at Metal Awards
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: Emo Outrage Over MACHINE HEAD Win Boils Over
- ^ Metalunderground.com: Machine Head wins Danish Metal Awards
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: NIGHTWISH, MACHINE HEAD, DARK TRANQUILITY Among 'Swedish Metal Awards' Winners ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Michael Rensen: Reader's poll 2007: Your tops and flops of the year . In: Rock Hard, March 2008 issue, page 64
- ↑ The editors: So you voted . In: Metal Hammer, April 2008 issue, page 58
- ↑ oA: The 66 + 6 best metal albums of the millennium . In: Visions, issue 289, pages 52–66
Web links
- Review of The Blackening by Thom Jurek on Allmusic
- The Blackening at Discogs
- The Blackening on MusicBrainz