Review 1 of 22

kal79 writes:

5of 5 Stars

The Blackening is a much needed kick in the ass to heavy metal! Metal fans have been dying to hear Machine Head get back to "Burn My Eyes" form since '94 and finally, 13 years later, they've surpassed expectations!!! This album has it all! It's a stopming, marching, thrashing, thundering, beautiful epic! Machine Head is one of the few metal bands around that follow bone-crushingly heavy riffs with beauty that can bring you to tears. Saying "A Farewell to Arms" sounds like "three Load-era Metallica outtakes strung together" is blasphemy! I can't even comprehend what inspired an ignorant statement like that!?!?! Nothing on Load can hold a candle to one second of The Blackening...those two albums shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. If every metal album had half the talent, drive, passion and beauty The Blackening has the world would be a better place! This is the kind of album that makes me proud to be a metal head.

Aug 18, 2007 10:19:52

Review 2 of 22

DavidJay writes:

5of 5 Stars

Message to Rollingstone, when it comes to metal you really have no idea do you? I just have to look at the rating you gave Metallica - St Anger to confirm this. No disrespect to Metallica but please that record was a dud and yet you gave it 4 stars?! Stick to Britney, Paris, Christina and Linkin Park (come to think of it are you any good at that either). That review Mr Greene was vague and absolute nonsense. Ladies and Gentlemen this is a Remarkable metal album. The interplay between Flynn and Demmel is implausible, a fine example of cohesion & coupling. Great to see this band back to their best given their previous efforts (supercharger for example).
I give this beast a 4.5.

Jun 16, 2007 01:09:32

Review 3 of 22

thereviwer writes:

5of 5 Stars

This album could quite possibly be one of the best metal albums of all time. THe blistering sound bolstered by new age amps have propelled metal into a different tonal dimension. I've seen them live twice now and thought they were better than Lamb of God. Machine Heads guitars sound more like electric cellos and the low end is awe-inspiring. Looking foreward to seeing them again soon.

Jun 2, 2007 09:08:33

Review 4 of 22

k23 writes:

5of 5 Stars

like so many people before me have stated, there are absolutely no similarities between "load" and this album or the mentioned song - if i had to compare "the blackening" to a metallica album i'd choose "...and justice for all" -- since it also features extra-long songs and is similarly "progressive" in the pure number of riffs used per song.

"...and justice for all" made me pick up a guitar, "the blackening" makes me re-appreciate the metal guitar.

the level of technicality and overall musicianship on this album is amazing and there's an ever-present sense of energy and urgency to this album that's hard to describe.

> the blackening is the best metal album i've heard in years.

btw i came here because the wikipedia article on "the blackening" lists reviews, and rolling stone's review was _by far_ the lowest.

May 12, 2007 00:36:45

Review 5 of 22

jj666 writes:

5of 5 Stars

Rolling Stone has no metal clout!! ANDY GREENE must have been a substitute reviewer transferred from the pop punk department. I mean is Metallica's Load the only disc he could think of to compare it to. There is absolutely no way Load holds a candle to The Blackening. It's hard to find metal cd's that you can call a masterpiece, but this comes damn close. Its got the attitude, speed and the bone crushing guitars their previous cd's had (meaning first and second discs, not third and forth, stay away from those!) but every song has numerous guitar virtuoso riffs and harmonies that are so fresh and interesting that the 10 min long first song seems as short as a radio edit. I can’t fathom what ANDY GREENE is listening to that made him dislike songs over 3 minutes….oh wait ANYTHING ON THE RADIO/MTV. ANDY please get an adult’s attention span. He seems to completely ignore the fact that each one of the 8 tracks has AT LEAST about 6 different riffs and you never even start to think some riff has gotten stale because right before you do they change it up. The heavy riffs aren't just them chuggin away at the two lowest strings either, they use the ENTIRE guitar, so much that Slayer would be jealous. While the frequently beautiful guitar harmonies would make Metallica (from the 80's) jealous as well. There are mellow parts all over this disc too. Fantastic vocal harmonies and melody is in every one of the eight tracks. There is pretty much the perfect balance of brutality and serenity. One example of how interesting and how much depth this cd has is while during part of the chorus of "Now I Lay Thee Down" the guitars seem to be the background melody while the bass plays a wicked riff. It's rare you can even notice that bass exists on a metal album, let alone hearing it stand out. I listened to it 7 or 8 times straight in my car over a period of 5 days, and I get burnt out on cd's quickly say, two full spins. Solid, beautiful, melodic, bone crushing, fist pumping, well written, well produced, mind blowing metal. I'm glad I don't have a subscription to this 2nd rate rag called Rolling Stone. For the love of god have somebody update ANDY GREENE's review and put him back in his place, reviewing Fallout Boy and such.

May 10, 2007 17:24:42

Review 6 of 22

Ozena writes:

5of 5 Stars

So apparently RollingStone is in the habit of reviewing cd's they have never listened to. Clenching The Fists Of Dissent is a pure masterpiece, as is Now I Lay Thee Down. Beautiful Mourning is AMAZING and the entire cd as a whole is THE clinical definition of metal. All bands should strive to make a cd HALF as good as The Blackening. This will rank as an all time metal classic which will be revered and copied a thousand times for years to come. RollingStone needs to fire this ass and find some real reviewers who actually listen to the cd's before they print a review.

May 3, 2007 05:48:22

Review 7 of 22

DAMan writes:

5of 5 Stars

The Rolling Stone reveiw people need to OPEN THIER EARS to hear the beautiful masterpiece entitled 'the Blackening'. The over 9 minute songs that they think are long and boring, are actually the best pieces of musical genius on the CD! Clenching the Fists of Decent takes you on a gut renching journey, with fast riffs and deep hooks that are arranged perfectly for an epic song, I would call it a master piece!(not boring!! shame on you RS!!) Others that are great songs are Asthetics of Hate, Wolves, Halo, and pretty much every song on the CD. I have not taken it out of my player yet, and is the best work that Machine Head has put out period.

Apr 25, 2007 22:22:57

Review 8 of 22

zenabigio writes:

5of 5 Stars

This is easily by some stretch the finest metal album in recent years. Nothing comes close and almost everything is perfect on this album. The track lenghts are perfect (ask any serious metal fan and they'll tell you this merely heightens the albums epicness), the chorus placements are brilliant as are the solos. Not one second of this opus is wasted and every riff is either crushingly heavy or beautifully melodic. The technicality is consistently insane throughout and few albums ever have achieved this whilst still maintaining musical brilliance. The only tiny chink in this otherwise inpenetreble armour is that a few of the choruses have distinct metalcore vibes which isn't really my thing. An obvious early candidate for album of the year and probably of the decade, this is possibly the strongest album i've ever heard and will hear for a very, long time. Though instantly excellent it does take a few plays to truly take in this album's magnificence.
98% - you will not hear a stronger, more majestic, epic album for a long time to come.

Apr 22, 2007 06:56:42