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Through the Ashes of Empires

Machine Head - Through the Ashes of Empires Audio CD

A fair review of the Machine Head "Through the Ashes of Empires" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Machine Head reviews here, or go back to the Machine Head tabs.

Band: Machine Head
Title: Through the Ashes of Empires
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-10-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Imperium 2: Bite the Bullet 3: Left Unfinished 4: Elegy 5: In the Presence of My Enemies 6: Days Turn Blue to Gray 7: Vim 8: All Falls Down 9: Wipe the Tears 10: Descend the Shades of Night

A mindblowing effort
This album might be the best metal release of the year. Man, did Roadrunner USA mess up by letting these guys go. For those claiming that Machine Head isn't real metal, get over it and take a listen - if this isn't metal, I don't know what is. Bone-crushing riffs, intense drums, and some pretty technical time changes (new for MH) make this album a must-have for any metalhead. Robb Flynn's voice has become, over the years, much more polished melodically, while losing NONE of the spine-tingling roar that he's been known for. The guitar tone is back up to overdrive, something they were known for on their debut album, Burn My Eyes. Phil Demmel, former co-axeman with Robb in the 80's thrash metal outfit Vio-Lence, has joined the band full-time and isn't afraid to unleash some flat out jaw-dropping riffs. Phil and Robb trade solos in songs such as "Vim" and "Descend the Shades of Night". Dave McClain on drums pounds out the rhythms with more ferocity than ever before, exhibiting some almost Fear Factory-esque double kicks on the album's infernal opener, "Imperium". Adam Duce is singing backup vocals again, adding his rasp to the bludgeoning ending of "In the Presence of My Enemies". A track-by-track review:

1. Imperium (10/10) - Quite possibly the best opener MH has ever done - this song bounces along at a frenetic pace with Gothenburg guitars during the bridge! A stunning opening track that will leave you short of breath and begging for more.

2. Bite the Bullet (9/10) - Robb is spitting venom into the microphone in this one. Starts off with mellow verses, but has a bone-smashing pre-chorus and chorus.

3. Left Unfinished (7/10) - Maybe the weakest song on the album, but still damn good! Moves along at a fast pace, but has a repetitive chorus that slows it down too much. Great lyrics though - very moving.

4. Elegy (9/10) - Very creepy sounding chorus in this short midpaced number.

5. In the Presence of My Enemies (10/10) - Quite possibly the most revolutionary song Machine Head has ever done. Robb's lyrics are psychotic, and the main riff is about as heavy as it gets. Phil's solo is slightly twisted. The ending of the song is a throwback to Burn My Eyes, almost fooling you into thinking the song is over, but then kicking it back into overdrive for a brutal closing. An amazing track.

6. Days Turn Blue to Grey (10/10) - A great song with an unorthodox approach. Starts out with a rocklike tempo. The bridge is an eye-opener with its tremendous melody, transitioning seamlessly into another crushing ending.

7. Vim (9/10) - A strange song. The way the words are layered on the rhythms almost doesn't click in my head. This is an unusual approach for MH, but it works very well. Great solos in the end and tremendous drumwork by Dave McClain throughout.

8. All Falls Down (9/10) - With Robb's mellow singing, the beginning of this one almost sounds like a b-side from Supercharger. . and then it kicks into a thick, crunchy riff with the trademark Machine Head harmonics. The bridge here is stunning as well - Adam and Robb make it unforgettable with their mega-melodic back-and-forth tradeoffs.

9. Wipe the Tears (9/10) - A very cool song with great lyrics, one of the better choruses on the album, and an awesome bridge with twin-guitar melody.

10. Descend the Shades of Night (10/10) - Awesome song! This one showcases the tremendous melody these guys are capable of. The solos in this one are terrific - Flynn and Demmel layer their melodies perfectly for a bittersweet ending to an amazing album.

Winners: Imperium, In the Presence of My Enemies

All in all, a great effort from the Machine Head boys. Someone please sign these guys so they can get the US recognition they deserve! And if you haven't seen their live show, prepared for some pure brutality.

Long Awaited
I have every CD they have ever released as far as I know. I'm a long time metalhead and Machine Head fan. Anyway, the new one exceeded my expectations by so far its insane. It captures the original MH edge, and adds melody, and complexity. BME was amazing in its day, but TTAOE is better overall. By far the best CD I've bought in a long time, out of hundreds. Standouts on this CD are Imperium, Bite the Bullet, and In the Presense of my enemies. The double bass is back, heavy solos are back. . . . do yourself a favor and FIND a copy of this one NOW!.

Can you say HUGE!???!
I was really scared that Machine Head didnt learn their lesson with Supercharger and that i would be disgusted all over again. It was a nailbiting few weeks before the realease of this album. I was still hoping that my love for this band and knowing that they have the ability to be absolutely superb, would pull it through. . . . . . and they SO did!! I must say, Phil Demmel was probably the best decision MH made in the past few years and his involvement delivered probably the best album of the band's career. TTAOE has the heaviness of Burn My Eyes and The More Things Change and the more diverse and melodic touch of The Burningred and for the first time Machine Head was able to combine all these factors into one album and let me tell you it's HUGE! The guitars will take your breath away, that combined with amazing vocals by Flynn and equally good harmonising and kick ass melodies, as heared in songs like "Days turn Blue to Gray", brings the familiar Machine Head feel back - something that has been missing for a while and something a lot of fans were worried were lost forever! Imperium is a classic opener and i suppose it was MH's way of giving a "F#%$ YOU VERY MUCH!!!" to all their critics over the past few years and giving all the listeners an introduction that makes Davidian sound like a Christmas Carol! There are numerous songs on this album that bring back MH to their roots, with the fast, bone crunching guitars to what has to be Dave McClain's best performance on drums in his entire career (the doulbe bass on VIM is amazing).

The thing im most pleased about is that the guys really thought long and hard on the mistakes they made in the past few years and to have such an amazing come back deserves a pat on the back!! Weldone Robb, im sure you didnt only recruit a TON of new fans but you made those who doubted you and who got lost along the way come back to the Machine Head of old. . . . pity theres only 10 songs on the album.

Heavier than Rosie O' Donnell's left leg
I have no idea when this album is supposed to hit stores in the US, but I already have it. so there. Guitarist Ahrue Luster left the band last year after recording 1999`s `The Burning Red`, and 2001`s `Supercharger` while in the fold. Both albums showed a band in an extremely experimantal state. The results were both compelling and repelling. I own both albums and frankly enjoy them, but after hearing TTAOE I find myself wondering just what they were doing. Through The Ashes Of Empires shows flashes of the previous two albums, but relies heavily on the brutality of 1995`s `Burn My Eyes` and 1997`s `The More Things Change`. . . and who said that was a bad thing? New axe man Phil Demmel (who was with vocal/guitar man Robb Flynn in Vio-lence) seems to have lit a fire under the band, because this album is about as subtle as a heart attack. David McClain`s drum work is absolutely off the charts, the mix by Colin Richardson is the classic MH sound that he helped engineer: god of thunder drums, and a wall of guitars. Robb Flynn`s voice sounds the best that it ever has, and his songwriting has taken yet another giant leap forward. Also bassist Adam Duce has returned to adding backing vocals, his contribution in that field has grown to adding trade off rants at key points, the results are effective to say the least. Kicking off with "Imperium", as good of an album opener as they`ve ever played, which at one point features an Iron Maiden-like 2 guitar harmony. Flynn admitted that he finally will allow himself do such a thing. Through the 53 minutes of this disc, there are many surprises. "Days Turn Blue To Gray" features a breakdown in the middle that I can best describe as Coldplay with Dave Lombardo in the background. Let`s not forget "Left Unfinished" a song that displays Flynn`s love for his adopted parents, and a blistering resentment for his biological parents. There are too many great moments in this album for me to accurately describe. My advice to you is to get a hold of this album any way you can. This is by no means some Limp Bizkit-like attempt to be cool with `da kids`. This is serious, grown-ups metal. This band is not by any means back, they never left. . . you people just never noticed. . . shame on you.

This is the best album they've made in 6 years
Their guitarist that replaced Logan Mader is thankfully gone, good bye, and good riddance. It's definitely hands down the best in 6 years. In to replace him is Rob Flynns old bandmate from Violence, and these two definitely make an awesome guitar tag team. The fast riffs that are heard on Burn my eyes and The more things change are back, especially on the songs, 'Left Unfinished', 'Bite the bullet', 'Vim', and 'Imperium' which has a very similar riff that was featured on the first song off the first album, the song called 'Davidian'. Back and as good as always are, very thankfully, the guitar solos, which were taken out pretty much completely on Burning Red and Supercharger. The solos are something I found enjoyable on their first two albums. Although they aren't as frequent on this album as they were on Burn my eyes, they sound pretty damn good. I must say I am very impressed by Dave Mcclains drum work on this album. He does his fastest and best double bass drumming since The more things change. It seemed that they didn't focus as much on the drumming on the previous two albums like they did on Burn my eyes and The more things change, but they cranked up the volume on it on this album and you can clearly hear why Dave Mcclain is one of the truly gifted drummers in the music industry. Adam Duce's bass sounds as good as always and he does his part to add to the powerful heaviness that I and every other early Machine Head fan have been waitng to hear for a long while.

You can see a complete list of all Machine Head discography, or go back to the Machine Head tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.