Machine Head – “Unto The Locust”

With their album The Blackening, Oakland, CA’s Machine Head became one of the most talked about metal bands; creating buzz and affording them spots on some of the biggest tours/festivals metal has to offer. Riding that high, they’ve returned with their follow up entitled, Unto The Locust. With the pressure on, everyone was watching to see if the band could yet again stun us all with a new release.

Before getting into the music, I would like to point out the album’s fantastic art. The booklet is fully plagued with locusts spawning out of the band members. Pick up a hard copy of Unto The Locust and you’ll know what I mean. Now for the audio…

Musically Machine Head has stuck to what they do best…THRASH! Each track rips through the listeners’ ear drums with hasty/vigorous instrumentals. What differentiates this album from The Blackening however, is how they have added a few slower albeit behemoth-sounding parts which totally slay.

With truly epic parts (the children singing on “Who We Are”) MH keep things interesting while sticking to their style of metal. And with a few new tricks up their sleeves they’ve successfully further defined their own sound. I highly, and I do mean highly, suggest every metal head buy Unto The Locust… it’s a must-have!

Track Listing:

01. I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)
02. Be Still And Know
03. Locust
04. This Is The End
05. Darkness Within
06. Pearls Before The Swine
07. Who We Are

Run Time: 48:47
Release Date: September 23, 2011

Check out the song: “Locust”