‘Arrrrhhhhh f**k the world!’ demands frontman Robb Flynn in the first line of Volatile as he storms into the room! It’s a fitting start to Machine Head’s new release Catharsis: bold, unapologetic, definitely a little bit adolescent, but absolutely pulsating with passion and righteousness. When its at its best that is… Honestly this is one varied blend of genre-twisting shockers that will probably leave you in a bit of a daze the first time around. But it’s a ride you just might learn to enjoy.
VOLATILE
So at the first bend we’ve got the sort of deeply infectious groove metal riffs that take us back in time to Slipknot’s debut release. If you’re the sort of Machine Head fan who’s surprised by hearing them here then you better take a seat before listening to the rest of this album! You might also be surprised that this track is unashamedly political. But not a light one for the dinner table – it’s a pointed angry protest against the far right ideals that sparked 2017’s Charlottesville Massacre. These lines are bold and unsubtle: ‘Sick of the white folks privileged and vain, protesting the culture that isn’t the same’ – no need for googling the meaning here! More on the politics later – prepare to get used to that sense of clarity and directness.
Midway through Volatile the tempo breaks down and then bursts into a whirlwind of guitar solo mania – reminding us of lead guitarist Phil Demmel’s technical prowess and the epic compositional style that’s made previous Machine Head albums so popular. The only thing taking the edge off this one is Robb and bassist Jared’s vocal harmonising to ‘dead and bloated’ in the chorus. It adds a dynamism to the track but doesn’t sit quite right amongst the otherwise solid metal opener to the album.
CATHARSIS
The second track bearing the album’s title starts off in the same vein that they typically open an album – a tense and foreboding cry on the wind feeling with a little sampling and orchestration that steadily draws in your attention and then focuses it right down onto the track’s first spine-cracking riff. Textbook Machine Head (Since their Blackening era anyway). However Catharsis stands out from most of the band’s work with the almost contrapuntal use of clean vocals through the choruses. Initially it took me a little while to get my head around this but in all honesty it has grown on me a lot. The piece can be read like the two conflicting sides of one personality at odds with one other. In the verses one side is growling away with determination: ‘Got to crush my struggles…I’m gonna fight for my life tonight’. Then in the chorus the clean vocals reveal the weakness and vulnerability of the other side: ‘Whenever I fall…you’re there to watch me crumble’. The theme of internal struggling isn’t new for Machine Head but this fresh execution makes for an interesting title track that certainly visits the progressive and nu-metal neighbourhoods. Not to mention there are numerous moments here that really do set off the goose bump meter. It’s difficult to not enjoy hearing Robb shout ‘Can you feel my catharsis’ with the monstrous quaking riff that follows it.
BEYOND THE PALE
Then there’s Beyond the Pale – the album’s first single and the precise point where it starts to irritate me a little bit. Unfortunately this is the one I’ve listened to the most since attempting and then abandoning the music video competition posted by Robb on its release. The track’s best quality is the main riff which by coincidence or not sounds almost identical to that of Strapping Young Lad’s 2005 release: Love. So problematically Love is called in for comparison and Beyond the Pale loses. SYL’s frontman Devin Townsend makes that riff into an altogether mesmerizing, existential bombardment of joyous industrial metal mastery that would pose an incredible challenge to anything sounding even remotely similar. But even if Devin Townsend had never written Love, Beyond the Pale would still feel generic, flat and disjointed.
The verses do suit the riff and lyrically embody that familiar listener empowerment we remember Machine Head for. However the tone then climbs up a few too many notches and the song castrates itself with the pre-chorus: ‘The rain is falling down on me”. Wow! I’m immediately struggling to digest that line. Dials are flagging all over the place and I’m picturing Robb Flynn’s head spliced on Tim Robbins at the end of The Shawshank Redemption! It’s a dangerous mix of the most orthodox cliché conceivable and the most un-enjoyable high pitched vocal harmonising ever. Not that Robb can’t or shouldn’t try to sing like this – no fan of Machine Head will be unfamiliar with the grandeur of tracks like Halo or Descend the Shades of Night. But this one just doesn’t enchant us enough with its composition to pull that sort of thing off. Neither have they shied away from clichés before but this simply has no taste. Afterwards it is relieving to get back to the riff but ultimately the song fails to redeem itself. The solo doesn’t quite ebb and flow in the way that it should and sometimes passes by without me realising – something I should never have to say about a Machine Head solo. I would have left this one out.
CALIFORNIA BLEEDING
California Bleeding is the first time on Catharsis that we find some evidence of experimentation. Instrumentally it sounds tight. The whole thing is more minimalist but has a nice percussive groove that keeps you locked in right from the get go. The twist here is that Robb’s vocal style fluctuates between his typical metal growling and – far more surprisingly – rapping. Spoiler alert – this isn’t all of it! Anyway lyrically, it fires up brooding and protesting and then descends into a kind of youthful punk rock to-do-list: ‘I’m not the billionaire class…’ and later: ‘Berryessa, stumbling and stammered, East Bay tramps out drinking and hammered’. It’s actually kind of brilliant. Insight, anarchism, alcoholism – they’re all blended into one drink that has a lot of interesting flavours. Some of it comes across as odd considering Robb is now fifty years old (according to his Wikipedia page!), but it can be very enjoyable. Though not for everyone. The vocals really hold centre stage here and that won’t satisfy one’s primal taste for pure succulent metal.
TRIPLE BEAM
So here it is ladies and gentlemen – the full on nu-metal, hip hop/metal mashup that we all feared would be in here. It will shock you, it will alienate you, it will deeply confuse you – and then after all that you might well enjoy it. Of course this isn’t the first time Machine Head have delved into the forbidden realms of hip hop. Their 1999 album The Burning Red sparked criticism for such vocal styling on the tracks Desire to Fire and From this Day. Otherwise the imagery of the band has often crossed over with hip hop in clothing fashions and in a sense of street culture. Even the band’s video for 2007’s full on thrash single Aesthetics of Hate depicted them rallying down the lens in such a way as their fans moshed behind them in the alleyway.
Yet it is still very surprising to hear Machine Head reviving what was for many of their fans an embarrassing period in their career – especially since they’ve received such unanimous praise for their recent heavier and thrashier metal formula. Though 2014’s Bloodstone and Diamonds does start to show leaks appearing in their boat that make us suspect they are keen to experiment with their sound once again. It’s almost as if Robb has always secretly yearned to make Machine Head this hip hop metal crossbreed and had to compromise creatively with the style that brought us Metal Hammer Magazine’s album of the decade.
Regardless of all that – Triple Beam just breathes in the way that only the best music does. It’s built around this enormous load-bearing riff that has absolutely no difficulty in launching us right through the track – this riff feels like it could be used as a newfound source of energy to power humanity on through the next millennium. It’s almost as if Robb Flynn’s deliberately put this beside his rapping to antagonise us as some sort of psychological taunt. That would be the case if these two elements didn’t complement each other so well. The whole melodical gearbox runs like a dream – hearing Robb’s voice accumulate this angst through each verse that then bursts back into that riff: excellent.
Lyrically is where Triple Beam is most likely to distance some fans. I had to google the term to find it described as a scale used to measure accurate quantities of ‘chemicals’ – textbook gangster rap vocabulary. In a similar way to California Bleeding, and even knowing that Robb Flynn had a history with drug crime, it sounds bizarre coming from the mouth of a fifty year old father of two and then going into the ears of a heavy metal community not expecting to hear it there. These lines tell us an unambiguous story about Robb’s past:
He swung at the first, but then he missed
2nd one got lucky, 3rd one took a hit
The 4th got caught this time he wasn’t missing
Teeth grit down, survival of the fittest
And he stabbed him, and he stabbed him
And he stabbed him again
Kill that motherf**ker, let him never breathe again
There’s a fine line between being vivid with lyrics and being too on the nose. In this case I’d say it’s become entirely understandable why he decided to name the album ‘Catharsis’ and this sense of valiance swells up in the album’s most noteworthy and enjoyable moments.
KALEIDOSCOPE
After the shock of Triple Beam’s naked hip hop outburst the next track Kaleidoscope sways right across the spectrum into more of a proverbial hard rock garden. This is an upbeat number which, likely because it starts with straight up clapping, gives me the impression that it’s been tailored for their live performances. An alternative name for the track could be: ‘If you’re metal and you know it clap your hands’. Some intensity is lost here where the song’s instrumental backbone takes second stage. This one is all about big choruses and the kind of invigorating lyrics that Machine Head have become known for. In fact it’s nearly a collage of lines from previous tracks like: Sail into the Black, Darkness Within and The Blood the Sweat, the Tears. Now these are all great songs and although Kaleidoscope doesn’t stumble on its own merit – it isn’t quite as suited on an album that otherwise has such daring and pointed themes.
BASTARDS
Speaking of daring and pointed themes; there’s Bastards. This is a fully fledged folk-punk-metal liberation from one fiercely ideological heart. It knowingly dares to shatter and polarize the metal community by taking it to a place that many fans will not want it to be taken to. It is alive in the here and now – immersing itself in the divergences of our age. Here is Bastards, it is essentially an anti-Trump protest song written the day after his election win and is where Catharsis reaches the peak of its realisation as a political album.
As a composition this is definitely an unusual creature of two distinct parts: first of all Robb is solemnly reciting a conversation with his children, and then passionately preaching along in a melodic Dropkick Murphys styled anthem. Instrumentally we’re stripped back to an acoustic guitar and a riff that is most easily described as sounding like an icecream van! Regardless this is one catchy flurry of fresh air.
Leading up to this track Robb has developed a notoriety for openly speaking his mind online and painting himself as a political force in the metal world. Back in 2016 he exposed divisions in metal when calling out ex frontman of Pantera, Phil Anselmo, for a plethora of racial slurs as videos emerged of him performing Nazi salutes and screaming ‘white power’ on stage at that year’s Dimebash music festival. In the 90s Pantera’s monstrous sound was era defining and commands a huge fan base to this day. Yet it’s shocking that Robb received thousands of death threats for his criticisms of Anselmo. Though Pantera never employed any particular racial sentiment musically much of their imagery celebrates the evermore divisive Confederate flag and their southern American heritage. Eventually divisions in the metal community are just a microcosm tied in to the wider world. But the personal elements of defiance and, well, ‘catharsis’ in writing and releasing this song really give the album a sense of time and place. The sheer boldness and inflammatory nature of these lyrics will turn heads, but they are essential.
And every politician stood there idle and so smug
Empowering the racists and Second Amendment thugs
Wall Street and the billionaires, convinced us they’re so smart
Screaming, “Vote with your wallets, instead of with your hearts!”
But we won’t go away!
You won’t forget our name!
The pussy generation, the PC and the brave
The protesters that slink along these streets of misery
Then later:
So give us all your f*****s, all your n*****s, and your sp**s
Give us all your Muslims, the so-called terrorists
We’ll welcome ’em with open arms and put ’em in our mix
We’re better off together now, embrace our difference
HOPE BEGETS HOPE
I’m in two minds about Hope Begets Hope. It kicks in with a tight riff that will absolutely tickle one’s metal appetites and you’ll catch yourself nodding along with the pace of it all but somehow and for some reason you might find yourself drifting off mid way through. The tracks potential shines in through its enticing pre-chorus that builds upon the themes of the album: ‘Have you ever been the hated one, face to face with the flaws across your soul...’ I think this track would be more impactful stretched out at greater length with more time for its framework to breathe and carefully develop. Furthermore in the aftermath of Bastards the whole thing can almost pass by without being outlandish enough to grab your attention as around here the album feels like it has reached a natural conclusion.
SCREAMING AT THE SUN
Screaming at the Sun immediately throws us into this brazen headstrong riff that quickly earns our attention. From there we flow seamlessly into these beautifully syncopated verses that thunder percussively through the song. Robb’s vocal efforts then lead the choruses into this unexpected but welcomed Moreno flavoured tenor that really gives the track a sense of atmosphere and elegance. This one could find its genealogy in 2003’s Through the Ashes of Empires as it has me reminiscing over the straightforward heavy metal power and enunciation that that record embodied. Screaming at the Sun doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel but is a great Machine Head song nevertheless
BEHIND A MASK
Behind A Mask takes the album on another turn in another direction – this time to a softly sung acoustic ballad that borrows its woeful tone from numerous Stone Sour and Slipknot indulgences. On a more conventional Machine Head album this would be a huge surprise but on Catharsis I’m not that phased by it. That said, this aspect of Robb’s voice is impressive. Especially when we think upon the huge variety of vocal styles that he’s demonstrated around the album. The storytelling and tonality of this one aren’t flawed – they just induce a serious case of déjà vu.
HEAVEY LIES THE CROWN
Heavy Lies The Crown is the only track on Catharsis that attempts to honour the sense of grandeur that made The Blackening so popular. It’s eight and a half minutes that passes by in a joyous evolution of carefully interwoven ideas that dramatically describe the internal scheming of King Louis XI of France as he combats those plotting against him.
We arrive in a mist of foreboding orchestration and coarse devilish vocals that bears a spiritual resemblance to Danny Elfman’s film-scoring tropes. It’s taking its time to lure us into the narrative. Into the second verse the rhythm section creeps in and you start to feel your heart rate increasing. Suddenly two thousand volts run down the back of your neck as Phil Demmel steps in with the most awe-inducing riff on the album. This is that kind of perfect intangible New Wave of British Heavy Metal guitar work that just strikes you with its tone and melody. From there the verses step up a gear. Into the chorus Robb’s voice shifts from growling into this soft harrowing tenor that gives the track an exciting sense of dynamism. By now it’s become impossible to ignore Machine Head’s generous heavy metal hospitality.
We proceed by switching up to the next massive hammering riff and Robb’s voice is roaring along splendidly to it. This tidal wave is destroying everything in its path. The tempo then dials up again and now the rhythm section is pounding away at the Slayer category of terminal velocity. We’re then slammed seamlessly into this rhythmic flowing bridge that triumphantly builds us up to the outburst of dual guitar shredding that flames up dramatically around the room to mark the peak of this mountain that we have just climbed. The track then creaking, brooding and screaming under its own weight, begins to withdraw in a percussive and menacing outro.
Heavy Lies the Crown is a praiseworthy celebration of the well thought out crescendoing structure and narrative that earned Machine Head their most well received music. Although it lacks the pureness, integrity and musical expressiveness of A Farewell to Arms it does deserve merit for experimenting with new and innovative elements. Unfortunately this is the only track on the album that exceeds the six and a half minute mark and has the allowance to really build itself up in such a way. It’s understandable that from a creative perspective they might not want to keep remaking The Blackening over and over again. But it’s easy to see why many fans will find it difficult to interpret some of the non-comparable eccentricities that Catharsis is offering in exchange.
PSYCHOTIC
Psychotic is a musically visceral piece that shares some overlap with the breed of the sinister tone we might expect from Slipknot. The guitars are employed descriptively. They set the scene scratching and squealing before leading us into this intoxicating riff that waltzes through the verses like the venomous snake that they describe. Robb’s vocal styling sounds angsty and pained as it illustrates the tribulations of a tormented war veteran. It’s an interesting one but, like Hope Begets Hope, struggles to hold my attention while under the shadow of the previous track. It might be better suited closer to the beginning of the album.
GRIND YOU DOWN
Grind You Down opens up with almost identical high pitched electric screeching to their 2001 track Supercharger before it starts pumping adrenaline and then rattling on through with a ferocious taste for blood. Then in the chorus it backs off and lifts into this – also very Slipknot sounding – vocal hook that floats above you while it imprints itself on the inside of your skull. It’s not a bad one but demands an awful lot of energy when we’re so close to the end of the album.
RAZORBLADE SMILE
Razorblade Smile is the fast moving, ill-mannered spiritual tribute to Lemmy Kilmister that could be some sort of punk-rock crossbreed with Judas Priest. Smashing obnoxiously into the room Dave McClain’s frankly impolite drum solo just throws us into an absolute neck cracker of high voltage shenanigans. It’s got a heart that’s beating with downright full-bodied charisma and a riff that tickles your musical sensibilities with sharp metallic claws. Lyrically this one eagerly celebrates its well earned ‘explicit content’ tag by being generally obnoxious and poking around in politics. Take for example: ‘Gonna f**k your borders, barbed wire dick, Gorge on bulls**t, #1 sp*c, This is an all-black Russian hack, go USA, Trump’s in bed with North Korea, And that just might be gay’. Then topping it off somewhere in midst of all we slide into a gorgeous classic metal bridge that will quite likely tease your memories of Imperium. This one stands out on the album for its lively tongue-in-cheek charm that we rarely hear from Machine Head. You’ll want to save it up for some outlandish heavy metal party playlist.
EULOGY
Eulogy functions as the solemn all-encompassing outtro to Catharsis. Stylistically it’s a slow burning delicately woven tapestry that borrows its sombre minimalist tone from older Machine Head tracks like The Burning Red and Sail into the Black. However this one cleverly reworks key lyrics from across the album so they’re redirected back to Robb himself as an internal monologue. Most notably the chorus of Bastards is changed from ‘stand your ground’ to ‘I’ll stand my ground’. This is a simple but immensely well suited way for Catharsis to recompile thematically and draw the album to a conclusion. Robb utters solitary exhausted whispers that subtly grow as the track develops into a droning death march before fading out to brood on indefinitely…
During which time I can summarize my thoughts on the album! Number one: it’s too long. Despite me enjoying most of its tracks in isolation Catharsis is not the sort of album you’d opt to listen to in full, or find yourself getting sucked into unconsciously in the way that you should with a release that presents itself as a concept.album. There are multiple reasons for this but ultimately seventy four minutes is too long a time to concentrate on any sort of intense music. There’s no need for someone to fund scientific research into the optimal length for a metal album because everyone already knows what that is. We are aware that from a commercial perspective long albums are favoured as individual song streams count towards their overall online chart positions; but to hell with all that! I would respectfully demote a few tracks to the special edition. For me the ones that just didn’t quite embrace its full personality were: Beyond the Pale, California Bleeding, Kaleidoscope and Grind You Down.
Thought number two: some of the tracks are in the wrong order. In the aftermath of both Bastards and Heavy Lies the Crown the album seems to arrive at a premature ending. Bastards feels like a finale and Heavy Lies the Crown casts a long shadow over the tracks that follow it. Perhaps Eulogy could follow on from Heavy Lies the Crown and then lead into Bastards? That way the lyrical redirecting idea could still work but in reverse. It’s a thought. But in any case we’re struggling to fit the pieces of the puzzle together here because they are simply just too different from one another. They’re different shapes, different sizes, different forms and even possibly from different worlds. The album is chaotic.
So thirdly: my final problem with Catharsis is that it’s actually really good. This album thrives on chaos. It doesn’t want to be elegant or be pandering to the tastes of over-spoilt metal torrenting brats. It absolutely bellows out for division and criticism. From its drunken balcony it slurs and stumbles and roars down on the pathetic lowly onlookers: “I will challenge you – I will lock you bigots down and show you what music is really about!” Its unhinged stylistic mash of different genres and musical techniques is incredibly questionable but eventually it will win you over. Its lyrics aren’t metaphorical ‘five dollar words’ that almost anyone can apply anything to but they are courageous, outspoken and, well, relevant. This is an album that unlike anything Machine Head has done since Burn My Eyes has a real sense of time and place to it.
This band has been ploughing on for another decade since the soaring heights of 2007’s The Blackening, and although they haven’t made anything as good since, and although the production’s been sounding evermore engineered and although much of this album overlaps with my memories of Slipknot, Catharsis feels energised. They popped the caps off, untethered the safety harnesses and went full out doing something that they knew would cause trouble. That’s what Machine Head has always been about.
Everything Reviewed 