Machine Head have always been judged by their monstrous debut album “Burn My Eyes”. The band suffered even more criticism after their little foray into the nu-metal realm in the late nineties. Add to that the constant problems with record labels, Machine Head is a group of guys with a lot of built up tension and anger…plenty of it.

Their last album “Through the Ashes of Empires” saw the band going back to its roots and creating a real metal album. After witnessing the success of that album the band’s next step was to maintain that momentum and look foe new ways to improve it.

Now they bring us their latest album “The Blackening”. Any preconceived notions on how this album was going to be good can be thrown out the window. “The Blackening” is a relentless, heavy slab of unadulterated thrash metal and there’s no stopping this monster from becoming the band’s magnum opus. Simply put, “The Blackening” is Machine Head’s best album, even better than their debut, something many will argue about. Things start with “Clenching the Fist of Dissent”, clocking in at over ten minutes, it is one of the best songs ever written by Machine Head. Every aspect of the band’s music comes across at one time or another during this opener. A furious vocal performance by Rob Flynn, Dave McClain’s technical prowess on the drums, Phil Demmel’s screaming solos and Adam Duce’s churning bass lines. It all comes together to create and atmosphere not found very often in metal this days. The song also sets the tone for the rest of the album, songs like “Aesthetics of Hate”, “Beautiful Mourning”, “Slanderous” and “Wolves” are all dominated by pounding drums and slashing guitars. The only moment where this beast slows down is on “Now I Lay Thee Down” which brings some fantastic guitar work by Demmel and Flynn.

The overall themes behind the music are very reminiscent of early Machine Head, and let’s get things straight, aside from the Dimebag tribute “Aesthetics of Hate”, this is a political album. Filled with the kind of social commentary one would find in Rage Against the Machine.

2007 is a year of many different and interesting metal releases, but one heavy and extreme offering that has “blackened” our world will be hard to top.