A Return to the Heights of the Blackening?
After the turmoil in the Machine Head camp over the last few years, with guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain both quitting the band, I was worried that peak Machine Head was behind us.
This was an unnecessary worry, because as great of musicians as both Demmel and McClain are, Machine Head was before and always will be after, a Robb Flynn led band and business. The Demmel and McClain involved era of Machine Head was the team responsible for one of the best of the decade.
The Blackening was great, and was a massive tour-de-force for Machine Head back in 2007. It crushed everything released that year, for my tastes anyway.
Yet as great as the Blackening was, there was always a constant worry and expectation that Machine Head would never top their magnum opus again. While it was great for putting their stamp back on the metal scene and letting the world know that Machine Head were far from done, it also laid the groundwork for an almost impossible album to top.
A Deep History of Experimentation and Progression
Over the years Machine Head have delivered a vast and varied body of work. Blowing the gates off and exploding onto the scene like an atomic bomb with Burn My Eyes in 1994, Machine Head jumped onto my radar as a young metalhead in high school.
Davidian was the shotgun blast that said “Hello Mark, we’re Machine Head and we’re here to groove like Pantera, but also deliver hip hop inspired scratching and vocals.” Burn My Eyes is still one of the best in my revolving metal catalogue 30 years later. I’m glad to see Chris Kontos and Logan Mader brought back into the fold to play these anniversary shows, they were a great lineup for the band.
The More Things Change was a great slower and sludgier follow up and this Machine Head lineup with Flynn, Duce, Mader and McClain delivered the goods yet again.
Following up with these two solid Machine Head albums, the band started experimenting deeper into their rap metal sound that was big during the new metal era and dropped The Burning Red and Supercharger, with Logan Mader departing the band and being replaced with Arue Luster on lead guitar.
After Supercharger, Machine Head dropped off my radar for a bit. I enjoyed the Burning Red a lot and a few tracks on Supercharger. Bulldozer, American High and Trepidation were good ones that stood out to me.
Upon hearing Imperium deliver the goods on From the Ashes of Empires, I knew Machine Head were back in full force and ready to crush again.
The Blackening arrived and delivered in spades and became that top, revolutionary album for the band that signalled to the world it was time to take them seriously again.
With that epic album came inevitable disappointment as the follow up efforts never were able to really match the lightning in the bottle that the Blackening delivered. Not bad albums by any stretch, Unto the Locust, and Bloodstone & Diamonds had the unfavourable task of stacking up to the Blackening.
Once Catharsis hit, and Demmel and McClain exited the band, Duce was previously let go, I thought this is Machine Head in trouble again. Catharsis seemed like a second helping of Supercharger and I was worried that the band was too far along into their career to right the ship and turn it around yet again.
And here we are with Of Kingdom and Crown. While not the Blackening for being the revolutionary, career saving masterpiece that it was, I can confidently say Of Kingdom and Crown is the best album in many years from Machine Head.
Let’s take a look at Of Kingdom and Crown track by track and see which ones hit hard and which ones miss.
Here is our Machine Head Of Kingdom and Crown album review.
Of Kingdom and Crown Track by Track Review
Slaughter the Martyr
The slow intro reminds me of Imperium. I know it’s about to get crushingly heavy and kick my ass. The clean vocals on this song are great and probably the best Robb has sounded. The track has these interesting guitar arpeggios happening beneath his vocals and give me Blackening vibes almost immediately. This is the Machine Head that I know and love.
Jared MacEachern’s vocals are sublime here, he really ups the vocal game of Machine Head to a new level. The great middle bridge riff is a real headbanger and sounds trademark Machine Head. I’m glad to hear the dual guitar solo trade-offs that became so popular when Phil Demmel was in the band are still represented.
Overall, lots of tempo and mood changes here with trademark Machine Head elements. A solid track to open the album.
Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate
This track starts off with some fast and thrashy riffs but they aren’t grabbing me. They sound a bit routine and run of the mill. The chorus tends to be the same type of filler on this one. This track ends with a great bridge riff that is crushing and will have the pit bouncing live for sure. The solo on this track is also a good thrashy ripper and fits the song well.
This is one of the faster tracks on the album and it’s got highs and lows. A decent track but not one of my faves.
Become the Firestorm
Become the Firestorm opens with some fast riffs and blastbeats. I typically don’t enjoy blastbeats much in my music, they tend to sound boring to my ears, so I don’t love the drums here to start. The main riff here is also a bit bland to be blasted over.
The bridge is where things slow down and this is when the song really comes together and kicks off for me. I really enjoy when Machine Head do very slow, sludgy type stuff and then kick the song in and up the tempo, like they do on Violate.
The slower end guitars sound great doing the single note stuff and the solo is a ripper and really works well with this track.
It started off weak for me but really kicked in and upped it’s melodic game and turned around.
Overdose
A filler thematic track to push along the story and establish mood and atmosphere. Type O Negative always did a lot of these on their albums and I always skip them.
My Hands are Empty
Right off the bat, the drums sound great on this song. They remind me of fill city when Dave McClain used to be the mayor behind the kit and was always doing tom fills over guitar parts. The backing vocals and guitars behind the chorus sound really cool. The chorus is very slow and low energy, I’m not sure how well this track will translate live.
A huge bridge riff comes in that’s slow and heavy with lots of harmonics, traditional Machine Head and sounds great. The dual guitar harmonies after the bridge sound spectacular.
Great track, one that i’ll keep in my rotation for sure.
Unhallowed
I really dig the sound of the vocals on this intro. The main riff has tons of groove. The dual vocal harmonies sound great also. The tempo is constantly changing throughout this track and it’s shifting the mood and vocal styles across the song.
So far this is the most diverse song I’ve heard on the album and an instant standout track to me. Great song all around, one of my favourites so far.
Assimilate
Another filler track to push the story along and add atmosphere/flavour.
Kill Thy Enemies
Whoa! The chugging intro riff on this one is killer! I love the huge powerchords here with the slow sludgy riffs. Again, we get Robb and Jared doing great dual vocal harmonies. The solo is also very melodic and fits great with the main riffs and tone of this song. The leads swapping back and forth sound awesome and bring me back to the Flynn and Demmel era of the band. Matt Alston’s double bass drumming sounds killer behind these dual guitar harmonies.
A masterpiece of a track, I think this one is taking top spot currently as my favourite track on the album.
No Gods, No Masters
This intro has a very loose and open feel, dual vocal harmonies kick in and sound great. A massively huge and hooky chorus with the vocals is the highlight. Jared’s vocals really elevate this to a higher plateau. He’s a great singer and Machine Head should definitely get him singing as much as possible. This is the best Machine Head vocals have ever sounded to me.
Great track with the best vocal performances of the album from Robb and Jared.
Bloodshot
The intro reminds me of older Burn My Eyes era Machine Head. It’s got an awesome main riff that really moves and ties in with the vocals and the drums perfectly. Shit, I think the main riff here is the best riff on the album. A huge groove riff comes in for the bridge while it gets faster and heavier and amalgamates some death metal influences and style in.
This track rips from start to finish and needs to be added into their setlist.
Rotten
Trademark Robb aggression on vocals. Really good fast groove riffs and awesome sounding bass punching through the gaps. The bridge riff sounds like something out of The More Things Change. Robb delivers solid clean vocals throughout the middle of the song. Robb has a great clean singing voice, I’ve always loved it on all their albums over the years.
Another brilliant track that needs to be added to their setlist for live shows.
Terminus
Another filler backing track to push the story along and establish atmosphere and mood.
Arrows in Words from the Sky
Fantastic clean vocals here from Robb. Jared kicks in with backing vocals and they get harmonies going again while the guitars layer on atmosphere and emotion behind. Super dissonant and doomy sounding chords kick in and drop the song into a pit of heaviness. As soon as the solo kicks in over the interlude it provides a great, dynamic shift and contrast to the dark dissonant doom.
This song is killer and the top one on the album. It’s gonna be a permanent fixture in their set. Fantastic closer for this album.
Bonus Tracks
Exteroception
The main riff here is killer, guitar harmonies sound excellent. This instrumental track has layers and layers of riffs that just keep coming.
This song would make an excellent intro song to their live set to get the crowd cranked up.
Arrows in Words from the Sky – Acoustic
The vocal strengths of Robb and Jared really pop over the slower, acoustic guitar. The singing on this song is another vocal standout on the album. The acoustic solo is full of emotion and melody and works great over this one.
Solid and translated to acoustic with vocal perfection.
Overall Album Thoughts
Of Kingdom and Crown has a massive diversity of songs and features a ton of standout tracks. The heavy, historic Machine Head sound is still strong on this album but also introduces a lot of growth vocally with Jared getting into the mix more. The drums are faster and more aggressive than they’ve ever been with blastbeats being introduced sparingly in sections, and the guitars are darker, doomier and more dissonant here also. The resulting album is a culmination of influences from old school groove focused, harmonic infused Machine Head to heavy and dark death and doom influences sprinkled in from Vogg of Decapitated.
The album has the best vocal performances of Machine Head’s career output and I think it’s a return to form for the band as a whole.
Of Kingdom and Crown is a top 5 Machine Head album for me and a must own from their impressively diverse and quality catalogue over the years.
