Unto the Locust
| Unto the Locust | ||||
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| Machine Head studio album | ||||
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Publication |
2011 |
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| Label (s) | Roadrunner Records | |||
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
53 min 2 s |
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| occupation |
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Robb Flynn |
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Studio (s) |
Jingletown Studios, Oakland |
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Unto the Locust is the seventh studio album by the US thrash metal band Machine Head . It was released on September 23, 2011 via Roadrunner Records and was both the last studio album for this record company and also the last album with bassist Adam Duce .
Emergence
Songwriting
Singer and guitarist Robb Flynn began collecting riff ideas for the new album during the numerous tours for the previous album The Blackening . In November 2009, the band had a three-month tour break, which Flynn used for songwriting. He was not satisfied with the results. In an interview, he explained that the first ideas were kept quite simple in response to the long, complex songs on the previous album.
In March 2010 the band had another tour break of several months. Two months later, Flynn resumed work and started new compositions. Together with drummer Dave McClain, Flynn began jam sessions in the band's newly occupied rehearsal room. According to Flynn, this was in a rather chaotic state, as the equipment was piled up in the room and order had to be created first.
In an interview, Flynn stated that the new songs are a natural progression from the previous album.
“ Bob Dylan once said a wise sentence: Music often finds its own way on its own. That was also my approach to Unto the Locust . I'm not trying to change Machine Head or our very own sound. Nevertheless, every album should be new, exciting and different. "
For the first time the band worked with a string quartet . Flynn got the idea when he was writing the song Who We Are and suddenly heard children's singing, a viola and a cello in his head. The contact to the string quartet was established by the band Green Day , who worked with the same musicians on their album 21st Century Breakdown . According to Flynn, the quartet consisted of four women who were excited about the idea of playing on a metal album.
Studio recordings
Unto the Locust was recorded at Jingletown Studios in Oakland , owned by the rock band Green Day. The recordings took place from April 16 to mid-June 2011. As with the two previous albums, Robb Flynn was active as a producer . The mastering was done by Ted Jensen. According to the original plans, Colin Richardson should mix the album . However, he had to cancel because of a death in his family. Juan Urteaga then took over the mixing in collaboration with Robert Flynn.
For the special edition of the album, the band recorded two cover versions with The Sentinel and Witch Hunt . The originals are from Judas Priest or Rush . The special edition also includes an acoustic version of the song Darkness Within .
background
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1 limited edition bonus title |
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The song I Am Hell is about a pyromaniac . Originally the guitarist Phil Demmel had the idea to write a song about a pyromaniac. However, Flynn could not write a suitable text and first dealt with the subject of pyromania. He found that men tend to set fire out of anger or revenge, while women act out of disappointed love. Because of this, he wrote the text from the perspective of a pyromaniac.
According to Flynn , the quasi-title song Locust ( English for ' grasshopper ') is a metaphor for people who act like grasshoppers and devastate and destroy everything they encounter on their way. In Darkness Within is about Flynn's love of music and the importance that plays the music in his life.
In Who We Are the living conditions in the United States are criticized. In an interview, Flynn stated that when he watches TV or read the newspaper there, he always feels that it is not the America he lives in. The singing children are the two sons of Robert Flynn, the son of Phil Demmels and the children of the sound engineer Juan Urtega.
"As I was writing the lyrics to the chorus , I wondered how a child would feel if they knew what they would do here on earth one day."
Juan Urteaga stated in an interview that he and the musicians were trying to achieve the innocence and roughness of the chorus of Pink Floyd's song Another Brick in the Wall .
reception
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Reviews
The German magazine Metal Hammer named Unto the Locust album of the month. Matthias Weckmann wrote in his review that the album "[is] bigger than expectations" and that "classically inspired metal in 2011 cannot be staged more powerfully". He also predicted that the album would be included in most of the “2011 best lists” and gave it the top grade 7. Conny Schiffbauer from Rock Hard magazine praised the fact that the band “presented itself as multi-layered and experimental as never before, without admitting the reference to lose their Thrash base ”. “Compositional innovation and tradition” would “be in balance”. Schiffbauer rated Unto the Locust with nine out of ten points. Peter Mildner from the online magazine metal.de attested the band “a surefire instinct for melodies, the only hurdle of which is that you only get down on your knees after a couple of runs in front of the speakers and whether an enlightenment that is just becoming apparent shoots thanks to the sky ". He awarded nine out of ten points. According to Kai Eschrich from the online magazine undergrounded.de, "the album not only meets all expectations, it actually exceeds them". He awarded 9.5 out of ten points.
Chart placements
Unto the Locust entered the German album charts at number five . This was the highest chart entry in the band's history to date. The album reached number six in Austria and eighth in Finland . Unto the Locust took tenth place in Australia and Switzerland . The album thus achieved five positions in the top ten worldwide. The album was ranked 22nd in the US album charts and sold over 17,000 times in the first week of sales. For the third time in a row, the band was able to increase the number of units sold in the US by 20 percent.
Awards
The editorial team of the German magazine Metal Hammer voted Unto the Locust album of the year. In the Metal Hammer readers poll, Machine Head took first place in the categories Best Album 2011, Best Song 2011 and Best Artist 2011. The readers of the German magazine Rock Hard also voted the album album of the year. The Loudwire Music Awards was Darkness Within named Best Metal Video of the Year.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Conny Schiffbauer: Children in power . In: Rock Hard , September 2011, p. 52.
- ↑ Jakob Kranz: Insects made of steel . In: Metal Hammer , August 2011, p. 20.
- ↑ Jakob Kranz: The Empire Strikes Back . In: Metal Hammer , October 2011, p. 22ff.
- ^ Metal Hammer , September 2011, p. 155.
- ↑ Björn Thorsten Jaschinski: Like Hot Butter on a Wednesday Night . In: Legacy # 93, p. 26
- ↑ officialcharts.com: Machine Head in the UK charts
- ↑ musicline.de: Machine Head in the German album charts ( 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.
- ↑ austriancharts.at: Machine Head in the Austrian charts
- ↑ hitparade.ch: Machine Head in the Swiss charts
- ↑ billboard.com: Machine Head Album & Song Chart History
- ^ Metal Hammer , October 2011, p. 88.
- ↑ Rock Hard , October 2011, p. 96.
- ↑ Empire: Machine Head - Unto The Locust .
- ^ Undergrounded.de: Machine Head - Unto the Locust , accessed on February 24, 2012
- ↑ blabbermouth.net: MACHINE HEAD's 'Unto The Locust' Cracks US Top 25
- ^ Metal Hammer, January 2012, p. 37
- ↑ "Reader Poll 2011". In: Metal Hammer, April 2012, p. 56
- ↑ Rock Hard, March 2012, p. 38
- ^ Graham Hartmann: Machine Head Win Metal Video of the Year in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards. Loudwire , accessed April 10, 2017 .
| predecessor | Metal hammer | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini |
Album of the year 2011 |
Kreator - Phantom Antichrist |