Machine Head – Through The Ashes Of Empires
Machine Head were stuck in a rut when their last album failed to meet commercial success. Rob Flynn and his fellow band-mates needed to bring out an awesome metal album to achieve what they had hoped to have done with their last album. Through this period they released the awesome….
Through The Ashes Of Empires
Imperium
Awesome album opener. Starts off quiet and it just builds up and up and then Rob shouts “Here me now!” and goes into heaviness. Basic guitar riff but the drums, wow! Dave can drum good with what he has. The song is a “I am standing up for myself now!” song. It has a lot of swearing at the chorus thing. It slows down to break into this awesome riff. It’s really fast and it sounds dead thrash and it slows down for another minute to end it. This song is a personal favourite and it is possibly the best Machine Head song ever, of course that is just my opinion.
Bite The Bullet
This is more stripped down, fast dirty metal. Rob’s voice is really whiny in the verse, on purpose of course (damn emo music!) The chorus is a powerful and attitude filled number. I feel that the guitars are too low, three steps? Couldn’t they just use seven-stringers? The drums are very fast throughout the song. It is just a heavy Machine Head song is all it is.
Left Unfinished
Left Unfinished is about how Rob was adopted as a child. It starts off with the tune from the chorus as this box thing. I can’t remember what they’re called, it opens up and it has a ballet dancer in it or whatever. The song is very angry as you can see from Rob’s voice while swearing heavily in the song. It has this sort of wah-solo which is quite fitting with the song. It is melodic and fades out near the end. Brilliant song, one of my favourites.
Elegy
This song is more slower and relaxed during the verse. With Rob kind of like whispering. The song kinds of brings back the nu-metal sound that some of their other albums had. I don’t really like this song. It is a more weaker and less original track than the others I think. It should have been left off as it is one of the tracks that come close to “filler”.
In The Presence Of My Enemies
This starts off with some annoying crap with Dave hitting the bass drums. Again Rob’s vocals at the verse sounds quite rough. The Pre-chorus is ownage. It’s like the verse but heavier. Rob actually sings in the chorus. The solo is beautiful, Machine Head can think up some creative solos. It is just a really good song throughout and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to get into them. It gets faster near the end and is a total head-banger. It has a new iconic statement “On your grave I stand!”
Days Turn Blue To Gray
This was the second single after Imperium. It builds up with this bass-line and the guitars burst in. The vocals actually have singing in them. I think the lyrics are about a family falling apart. I like how it breaks the end bit up with this small guitar riff with piano I think it is. The singing is quite good. Why doesn’t Rob sing more? It would sound a lot better. After that it gets a bit heavier. I love how he sings “Father! Mother***er!” The song has an awesome ending. This again is a very awesome track. Go download it, it is terribly underrated.
Vim
One track to show off Dave’s drum work has got to be this song, superb drumming to the end. It is another stand-up and shout song. it is a heavy song but is like all the other songs on the album. Very skippable track in my opinion.
All Falls Down
This song reminds me when Machine Head did the nu-metal thing back then. Rob faintly sings in the verse to be creepy seriously. The chorus is like Vim. It has a nice breakdown. It gets more powerful. One thing Machine Head are awesome at is making powerful songs, breaking them down and then making them more powerful.
Wipe The Tears
The song starts off with some wah stuff with the drums going at the snare. Rob snarls and speaks kinda in the verse. Rob does some major screaming during the chorus. Is it my or does every song on the album have some sort of melodic break-down? The lyrics are quite long, but like I said, Rob kinda speaks during the verse.
Descend The Shades Of Night
Starts off with some beautiful acoustic guitar work. It is a some sort of “ballad”. It is a beautiful song though. I have a bonus disc that has a demo version of this. It had no acoustic and no solo. Speaking of the solo, it is the best on the album, it feels very melodic. Best track on the album.
4.5/5
