The More Things Change...

At the midway point between their iconic debut and the commercial-sounding period in their discography that would follow, this album stylistically sits between both worlds with traces remaining of what made them so exclusive, bathed in a far more sterile solution. Despite starting off strong with a song as heavy as its title (that would be 'Ten ton hammer'), with its dark taint and a tormented chorus easy to get behind, what follows is quite frankly a (very) poor man's 'Burn my eyes' without trying to sound haughty. "The more things change, the more they stay the same" is an oddly deep quote to pick for an album that prides itself on its lack of subtlety. The massive balls on 'Burn my eyes' are turned into a trite testosterone overdose here, with a strong penchant for groove for the sake of groove rather than heaviness absorbed into excellent song-writing. The tracks do have identity on this but there's a general feeling of obviousness throughout, like the contagious energy from the first is now just the excess let loose without the channeling, blunted by careless composition, akin to something like structural laziness and a worrisome lack of focus. The riffs are made too simplistic in the Machine head formula and have little lift behind them past the huge 5150 amp sound and in-your-face production.

'Burn my eyes' had (arguably at least) some of the best riffs from that whole mid-90's period on it. It had 'Davidian' and a host of immediately recognizable metal themes. This explores the more tedious hardcore aspect of the MH sound, as loudness over-saturates the listener quickly unless they're a sucker for repetitive chug-chug-chug, and the parts far too often settle for massive, low-definition chunks thrusting at the audience. In comparison to their previous effort, it feels generally like the songs are almost "unfinished", like they're lacking an entire dimension to them and the band just focused on the rhythm section and forgot the riffs - something to that effect. Loads of the material here is just the same minimalist grooves on repeat, with certain songs focusing entirely on the buildup; only there just isn't enough at the starting point to build up from, and the developments are lackluster. And it's not just one song, it's the next, and the one after that. It's just too bare, even uneventful, for its own good. And when the album feels like mixing it up a little and introducing a bit of detail with some of its darker moments starting off with a dissonant soloed guitar eventually leading to the all-instrumental climax, even those sound uninspired and hardly convincing. So much here sounds just...aimless. Or at least, vain. In varying degrees.

Not that this represents the entire album (which, by the way: 50 plus minutes for this style is just way too long), but taking the song 'Bay of Pigs' for example, that bam-bam-1-2-3-4, bam-bam-1-2-3-4 chorus is alright, but is it worthy of a spot on a studio album ? It sounds like a cool groove one would come up with on the spot at the jam space with the guys, and then forget about it the following week. There are just too many stereotype repetitions of pick slides and soloed growling bass moments and benign chug-kah-chuchug chug-kah-chuchug, bland wah effects and Flynn screaming in your ear on this for it not to get aggravating at some point. It all works towards this formulaic, predictable space of "ugh, we're here now..." and no spark seems like it'll be coming. A song will come up that'll feel a tad more interesting, say 'Violate' towards the 35min mark; with its dark-lonely-thoughts-while-wasted energy; but then it's another one of those sludgy refrains the album has already been berating its audience with for the past hour - or so it feels.

The album title reminds: 'The more things change...'. Yes, well, things would change from Machine Head indeed immediately after this disappointing effort, making this feel like it's on the right side of their timeline, ironically enough, before the less-than-ideal period to come. Really, it doesn't suffer from "yo yo mothafucka" nu-metal-itis, but rather, suffers from general ineptness. How many people would willingly want to listen to a gigantic, fifty three minute chug-fest ? Who would rather listen to this than 'Burn my eyes', which does everything this does but a hundred times better ? The late 90's/start of the new millennium were obviously a time of immaturity for Flynn and gang, and probably confusion too. Maybe the success of the first album got to their (machine) heads ?

Where Burn My Eyes sounded like it might have at least been extracted from some fossilized metal DNA of integrity somewhere along the path of its inception, The More Things Change... is little more than a giant, blubbery surrender to the most vapid and idiotic nu metal trends of the 90s, and revisiting this sophomore was admittedly both hilarious and embarrassing as I tried to scrape the dregs of the barrel and find anything, just ONE thing positive I could actually say about it. This is basically a mix of the first two Korn albums, Sepultura's Roots, and a little of the Biohazard and Sick of It All influence returning from the debut, manifest though the least shitty riffs found here, in tunes like "Stuck a Nerve", if only because bland hardcore riffs are far less obnoxious than the alternative Robb Flynn is providing us.

I suppose the production is fine for what it is, Adam Duce's bass tone standing out here against the churning, boring chords and the occasional higher pitched, primitive droning guitars which are used to add at least some other sort of dimension to the material beyond just the grooves. And these are absolute rubbish nu metal riffs, which took next to no time whatsoever to conceive as they merely bounce back and forth between maybe 2-3 chords max. The band does reach out to create a few added dynamics as in "Down to None" with its dissonant guitars over a slower groove, but even there the results are little more than ennui as they can't ever seem to capitalize on a less throwaway riff with anything explosive or interesting. "Take My Scars" is a prime example of how bad this is with its mindless, lazy chords, and how Flynn tries to inject some mid-ranged doped up Alice in Chains style vocal to create a contrast or chorus to the roiling nothing below. The Rage Against the Machine guitar 'scratches' and angry hip hop vocals are also hilariously lame. The lead guitar, as basic as it is, almost seems out of place for trying to be too ambitious to what this album is all about, the cheapest cashing in on the LCD of metal music.

Now I'm not opposed to really basic riffing structures, grooves or breakdowns if they're written well enough, hell I'm a pretty big fan of Helmet records like Meantime and Betty, which are likely also influences that rubbed off on some this mid-90s Machine Head era. But these guys just lack any trace of personality, it's as if you stripped down the already-basic ideas of nu metal, took away any of the goofy costumes or vocal gimmicks of the more visible bands in that scene, and came up with a generic blueprint on which to teach grade schoolers how to jump da fuc up with their wallet chains flailing around. The cover font, lazy, the cover artwork, pretty typical stuff that looks like half the proto metalcore records I used to have in the early 90s, and the lyrics are about of trite garbage like "So c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, we gotta wake up!" Are you also down with the sickness? As a general rule, the more atmospheric the album gets, where it doesn't rely 100% on the dumb nu metal bounce parts, the material becomes ever more tolerable, as in "Blood of the Zodiac", which is tucked away at the end of the track list with its eerie intro, primal pensiveness and bluesy, sad solos. It's hard to believe this ISN'T the worst album in the band's catalog. Can it get much worse? Hold Robb's beer.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

It's often noted how much I have long despised the band Machine Head. Hell I just documented that with my review for their 1994 debut "Burn My Eyes." Now I have decided to take a jab and give props to Machine Head's sophomore album "The More Things Change...". In all honesty, my theory is that Robb Flynn throughout the course of his career has always tried to perfect his "thinking man's groove metal" which actually is another way of saying "Lemme try to appeal as much as I can to mainstream Metal fans in hopes of obtaining the same success as Pantera." In that he was original and creative enough to keep in-taking so many mainstream influences that it DID keep him in the spotlight despite if it was positive OR negative attention. If that makes any sense because quite frankly for the most part, ol' Robb doesn't make sense. For now let's not go too far into HIS career. "The More Things Change..." is the sophomore album that even Robb Flynn for the longest time hated....wait. Robb Flynn hated this album? That's weird because 99.9% of the time Robb Flynn has hyped the shit out of every single thing he has done, with the major exception for this particular album. He cited the growing tension in the band, pressure to churn out another "Burn My Eyes" and recording of this album as well a bad album sales for the year 1997 not being to kind to him. If that is said to be the case, then "The More Things Change..." was his accidental masterpiece. Not something I would put in some Hall Of Fame, but as far as the most concrete offering that only Robb could create, it was his best. Too bad he's acted like an ungrateful father to one of his offspring.

"The More Things Change..." really feels like Machine Head at their most authentic. If there was a moment where Robb Flynn came across as genuinely pissed-off or need to be taken serious for once, it's this album. I don't know how and I don't know why on this particular album considering that many claim of the foreshadowing Nu-metal tendencies it has. This album really doesn't come off as such and the so-called Nu-metal tendencies are actually minimal. For one the tough guy Bio-Hazard/Pantera over usage of "Burn My Eyes" seems to be toned down a lot to where it actually gives the album the freedom and ability to really let the moodiness of the middle part of the "Burn My Eyes" album and become much more concise and at times....experimental. Not the bad kind, but here we get a sense of a musician who is continuing with the same influences as his first offering but is now starting to tweak it more to his advantage. Certain elements found on "Burn My Eyes" that Robb Flynn and company are shockingly improved on and focused more. The alternative metal/grunge melodies heard in "None But My Own," "The Rage To Overcome," and "A Nation On Fire" are more of a focal point with whatever random breakdown or double-bass groove is not only more in the background. But when you finally notice them, the ebb and flow of the alternating characteristics that Machine Head (along with others) that have helped define work better.

The line-up for "The More Things Change..." did have one slight difference and that being original drummer Kris Kontos (Ex-Attitude Adjustment/Verbal Abuse) left the band and was replaced by Dave McClain. I'll say right off the bat that Dave's drumming is nowhere near Kris Kontos even though Dave McClain is suitable enough to do the job properly. In fact again, the spotlight really goes to guitarist Logan Mader and Adam Duce who even go so far to help Robb Flynn in tweaking the sound on "Burn My Eyes" where if anything, it lets Robb Flynn not feel so strained and held-back in the vocal delivery department. Robb Flynn himself actually sounds legit as fuck even with his more melodic singing which felt like he was trying so hard before now he feels more comfortable and less squeaky. Overall whatever the band and Robb was doing and considering the so-called stress and pressure the band was under, and the year came out and the two albums that surround it......it's very enjoyable. Robb Flynn again being the one to whine and complain about album sales, but fuck out of here with that bullshit dude! If anything the dissapointment and 'stress' you dealt with helped create one of your better albums outside of Vio-lence. Doofus.

This album also deserves the track-by-track review because in comparison to it's debut brother, there's a lot more going on in the 10 songs and some thing worth-noted.

1). Ten Ton Hammer - The first single off the album. Don't expect "Davidian" because this is a mid-tempo groove that has those guitar squeals that Robb is known to overuse when he wants. One thing that stands out is the heavily downtuned sound and "nu" feel to this song. Regardless of how one may feel, compared to the next song, this band is tame and ranks up there as one of Machine Head's best songs. Robb Flynn also more or less uses the same baritone/melodic singing during the chorus as he does on "Old", but here he sounds way more relaxed. This song also sets the tone for the rest of the album as far as mood goes. It's not the agrro-show-me-sum-fukkin-respect-worship of "Burn My Eyes." If anything it's waaaaaay more brooding. The interesting thing about this song is that it uses the same two guitar riff effect as found in "Deathchurch" on "Burn My Eyes." Less Godflesh influence and more Alternative Metal-driven.

2). Take My Scars - Ew. That's all I have to say. You thought the song "A Thousand Lies" was an early example of jumpdafuckup riffs and wiggerish hand movements? Well they take it to a whole new level with this one. That annoying ding-ding-ding-ding intro will keep you at bay if you let it. The rest of the song more stays in this weird area of mixing Groove Metal/Nu-metal in bridging the two. But then right at the last second when you think you've heard everything comes the "Open up your mind" part which, lol, just watch the music video to this on Youtube. You'll see what I mean.

3). Struck A Nerve - This is the first song where we see Machine Head playing faster and it gets to the pace of a NYHC song (Think of the band Sick Of It All) and again combining it with a groovy breakdown. For the most part it's not bad until you here the "Com'n, Com'n, Com'n" part. Overall the song isn't as bad as "Take My Scars"....but the ending part just dampers the effect it originally had going for it.

4). Down To None - This is the first series in a songs that take all the characteristics found during the 2nd act of "Burn My Eyes" and enhances everything to where you see at their best. The creepy intro melody that crawls by at a snails pace builds into a really heavy Sabbath-influenced doomy riff that turns into a fine example of how to do groove metal properly. When I revisited this album alongside "Burn My Eyes", I also felt this overall weird Neurosis vibe to TMTC.

5). The Frontlines - This song was written in the touring time period between "Burn My Eyes" and "The More Things Change" and was played before the recording of TMTC. This song right here shows the pain-staking means and necessary progress that Robb and the rest in Machine Head would have to make in order to sound like they do here. For a groove metal song, it's a very unorthodox one. The tempo changes and everything really shine through in that you really don't know what to expect.

6). Spine - If Machine Head ever wanted to be considered more of an alternative metal band than a groove metal, this would be their best example. This song, at least the main riff, sounds very identical to the rhythm and tempo of the song "Shame" by the 90's industrial rock band Stabbing Westward. In fact this song as far as the pace and sheer catchiness is concerned it would have made a better 2nd single than "Take My Scars." For a song that is so Alternative Metal-driven, the most shocking thing about it is the build-up to the Sabbath/classic-sounding guitar solo at the end which makes you wonder how they could take a song that could easily qualify as a jumpdafuckup mosh fest and turn it into an unspoken groove metal classic or even a song that resembles a legit-as-shit overall classic metal feel. Fuck "Davidian".....this alongside "Ten Ton Hammer" off TMTC best represents at what Machine Head IS capable of. Also Adam Duce's bass-driven stomp in this riff fest is his shining moment. My personal favorite song off this album.

7). Bay of Pigs - The bigger and better version of "Struck A Nerve" for the most part. Not much to say other than that.

8). Violate - The most brooding song on the entire album. As if the overall atmosphere on TMTC wasn't already catching on enough, here is where Robb Flynn literally shines the fuck right through with his vocal delivery as far as melodic singing goes. Again another song that the main emphasis is the build-up but when the groove riff hits it's really well-done. If Robb ever wanted to let any sort of anger speak for itself, it's this song.

9). Blistering - Dave McClaine's drumming really shines through on this song. Another faster tempo song in the style of "Bay of Pigs," and "Take My Scars."

10). Blood Of The Zodiac - The epic ending track to an overlooked atmospheric and challenging groove metal album. And sums up everything great about this album. Logan Mader's guitarwork on this track is the highlight. The entire album is worth listening to just to get to this particular track. It's a treat.

Now that we have more or less properly dissected TMTC, can we now look at how many moments that so many claim to be those dreaded so-called "Nu Metal" moments? 2. That is it. Even if you feel at times it starts to girate a bit to the nu side, again you're going to feel a bit surprised or shocked at how it really deflects it and again puts more emphasis on groove, mood, atmosphere, song dynamics, etc.etc. There's so much more going on that it seems rather insulting and cheap to dismiss it as an that supposedly 'bridged' the half-thrash sound of "Burn My Eyes" and the Nu-Metal abomination of "The Burning Red." Actjually that title goes to Robb Flynn's most recent piece of shit "Catharsis".....good lord Robb.

It's sad really because this is where I stop. For now. May be in the future I will look over albums such as "Unto the Locust" or "Bloodstone & Diamonds" but truth be told I feel that I will be listening to a boneless Arch Enemy or even worse....a boneless Trivium that is basically a boneless Machine Head. At least for one album, Robb Flynn dropped the macho bullshit and let himself actually make something authentic. It's not forced and he's not trying to pander to whatever crowd is 'in' at the moment nor is he fucking butthurt about whatever beef he has with other musicians. "The More Things Change..." is an album that I can legit listen to over and over again. I wouldn't call it a classic, nor would I rank it in my top favorite albums, but it's a snapshot of what could have been: a confident Robb Flynn and an authentic one at that. An actual artist who would have and could have taken groove metal outside of it's own proverbial angsty box and at the end of the day....a Robb Flynn I could take seriously.

Of every album in Machine Head's catalogue this is the most forgotten, and with good reason. The band manages to write some of their most confused and unfocused material for this album, and as a result this is their least consistent and most uneven work. On top of that, given the band in question it's naturally a grating, 4th tier exercise in amplifying the worst aspects of whatever sound they're playing this time round - in this case the band stopped being an imitator of Pantera with a penchant for half-ballads and down-tuning and instead started moving towards playing nu metal.

In truth the sound on this album isn't really nu metal, but the alternative rock influences present on Burn My Eyes are now consistently pushed to the forefront of the music. The grooves are simpler and muddier than before, and there is an increased reliance on two note drones and more percussive chugging. None of the riffs or guitar lines on this album are really memorable or interesting - at no point are any real hard-hitting, massive grooves or any kind of thrash-influenced riffing attempted at all and any grooves on the album amount to nothing more than rejected Chaos A.D. material. There is some usage of the alternative rock chord strum for more melodic material, particularly when clean vocals are used. Another feature of the music is the heavy usage of guitar squeals, which are supposed to create a tense atmosphere of sorts but simply grate on the ears and make songs like 'Ten Ton Hammer' truly painful to listen to. This mish-mash of techniques and confused sound makes for an uneven listen, because it's never clear what the band is going for in any one song - are they trying to be percussive or atmospheric? Melodic or atonal? Driving or droning? It's very confused music that has no clear objective or focus.

From the guitar tone lacking the same bite it had on Burn My Eyes to the the reduced presence of the riffs in favour of guitar noise, the bass or silence, the band are obviously trying to make their music more atmospheric in a nu metal sort of way, and then marry that to their heavier groove metal sound but it falls very flat, as the way the band go about it here makes for a dreadful compromise. They haven't fully taken the plunge into nu metal territory so the music is more guitar driven than you'd expect; the guitar tone is more percussive and has more impact than their later nu metal material, and yet the reduced presence of the riffs means the guitarists play very static, uninteresting material. As a result of this the band spends most of any given song trying to be heavy and aggressive but not having the riffs to do so, resulting in a lot of the album being very bland. Because the guitars are the focus of the music, any time they drop out of the music it completely breaks the flow of the song and any time they start squealing it becomes unbearable because the noise is too loud. This is the result of the indecisiveness on the band's part; a set of musically confused songs that fail at everything they attempt to do.

Complicating matters further is Robb's vocal performance, which serves to completely ruin any semi-decent moments the band might stumble into once in a while. His hardcore influenced shout lacks punch and impact much like the music behind him, and as a result he doesn't actually sound all that aggressive. This further robs any power from the album's heavier moments as he doesn't have the commanding, powerful voice needed for this kind of music; contrast this performance with Phil Anselmo on Far Beyond Driven and decide who does the better job of being aggressive. His clean vocals are even worse - used during the quiet and melodic moments of the music, they are particularly whiny and weak and ruin the mood. It doesn't help that they are far more exposed than the shouting, so they are the only focus of the music. His distorted whispering to the sound of guitar squealing is perhaps the worst though, as at these points the music stops being grating and actually becomes painful to listen to.

The songwriting makes matters even worse, as the band see fit to try and be 'progressive'. While they don't hover around the 7-10 minute mark for the entire album like they would later on, every song on the album is still too long and contains only a handful of ideas, each largely unrelated to one another. They tend to dwell on a given idea for most of the song while sticking to verse-hook structures with poorly placed 'atmospheric' sections and other assorted nonsense for good measure. None of the songs really flow, rather every track feels like a grab bag of assorted ideas as the band meander from one hook to the next. None of the songs are terribly catchy despite their attempts at accessible hooks, mostly due to bad singing and lacklustre vocal lines.

There's no real reason to listen to this album. Everything the band tries to do falls flat due to numerous deficiencies in performance, production and songwriting, every song manages to be grating and boring, nothing really sticks out for a positive reason and the whole thing just lacks focus. It's a mess, one which makes The Blackening look positively cohesive and properly written.

Every time I think of this album, I am completely averse to it. Yet every time I listen to it, I find it enjoyable for the most part. I think my problem is that the first time I heard it I just remembered the ugly intro to 'The Frontlines' and I was weirded out. The More Things Change... isn't as noticeably thrash-influenced as Burn My Eyes, but nor does it touch upon the nu metal tendencies that would follow on the next 2 albums: there are a few songs that sound like a concrete Exodus, notably 'Bay of Pigs' and 'Blistering', though my attention is drawn to the slower, creeping tempos on 'Violate' and 'Down to None' that are unusual for groove metal in having a guitar tone and air of menace that is actually doomy.

Maybe that's why I don't mind this album - it's the only Machine Head album that has atmosphere. It doesn't have atmosphere in the way that a Candlemass or Burzum album has atmosphere, but the production and attitude have a definable quality to them that I will call dirtiness. That snorting bass sounds like a pig rolling around in the mud and comes clear through the mix, having many moments in which it dominates. That takes the attention away from the drums, which don't do a lot to stand out despite a solid performance, mired in mediocre fills and standard patterns as they are. The guitars are odd even for this type of music, because they sound much better at a crushing pace, though Machine Head do play fast. This means that the riffs groove heavily and in a good way a lot of the time, since there are some of the slower riffs on 'Ten Ton Hammer' and 'Down to None' that ooze power and have no need to speed up. There are some more generic grooves thrown in, like the chorus of 'Bay of Pigs', but the solos totally surprise, sounding almost '70s in tone.

This reason why this groove metal album works is Robb Flynn's voice, which is not normally what I would say about Machine Head's output. There is something darker and less direct about the way he sings on The More Things Change... that makes the whole thing more complex and intriguing. There are a few less convincing moments, like the clean chorus of 'Take My Scars', but there is no predictability to be seen, nothing seems forced, and the songs' messages are less overt and more sensed through the atmosphere. This album seems to come rinsed of the positivity and fighting spirit that other MH releases (especially post-Supercharger) have been saturated with, while the "city in crisis" theme of Burn My Eyes is not pushed so relentlessly and allows the songs to breathe on their own. In addition to a soaring twist on his usually rough bark, Flynn sings softly and menacingly on 'Violate', which has an intro that - excessive length aside - really shouldn't work, yet is almost justified by the nuance in its delivery. Coupled with the oblique and melancholic guitar parts (the middle section of 'Spine', for example) that don't appear on any other MH album, these vocals give the album enough atmosphere to mark it out clearly - it sounds old and distant in the way that the cover image suggests.

All of the songs on The More Things Change... are discernible from one another, which is a good start from the band's point of view. There is character in each composition - which MH have occasionally neglected to include - and diversity in the mixture of styles and tempos that the band have combined into their signature style. There is pure heaviness and ability in 'Blistering', catchiness in 'Ten Ton Hammer', menace in 'Violate', and 'Blood of the Zodiac' almost has an ethereal quality that I would say is the defining trait of this album. There are weaker moments and poor choices, but no song is completely dispensable, making this one of Machine Head's best efforts and an enjoyable listen.

I love how people paint Machine Head's transition into the mallcore found on The Burning Red and Supercharger as an instantaneous thing, where they went from flawless groove metal to complete shit overnight. While Robb's vocals turned mallcore overnight, as did the band's sense of aesthetics, and the change of guitarist notwithstanding, it's pretty clear here what Machine Head were gunning for in their career future. While there are some more respectable songs on here, such as the surprisingly (given the context of the rest of the songs) energetic Bay of Pigs, or the ambitious offerings of Violate, the majority of this album seems to meander around with muddy riffs and snail's pace drumming, with the first few songs coming off as an obvious omen to where Machine Head were heading. We have more clean vocals, which I have no problem with, but they're often paired with soggy, lazy riffing playing nauseatingly contemporary (at the time) music. Flynn's gruff shout from Burn My Eyes is still here in full, and prevents one of the singles, Ten Ton Hammer, from being a complete waste of time, and we have a few faster sections in some songs, but I get a strong lazy vibe coming from this.

Part of the blame must go to the riff sewage we hear a lot of. I'm talking about stupid 0-1-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-1-0-0- riffing with sloth-like drumming behind it. I hear a few glimmers of McClain's talent here, but this whole thing sounds restrained as fuck, a huge waste in every sense of the word. I also don't know how Logan Mader, as well, managed to lose his ability to move a song forward with the guitars. The guitars drag everything down with their sluggish pace, and then cut out occasionally to expose the repetitive bass grooves, and then come back in with an unrelated idea. While Burn My Eyes had its share of riffs here and there, we are riff starved here, with aural excrement passing off as guitar riffage, and even when those aforementioned faster sections come, by then the songs are starved of momentum for the most part, and this makes the more uptempo parts seem even more out-of-place, often due to their randomness and brevity, much like the little dingleberries that turn a fart into a shart. You may notice all the references I've been making to poop and waste, and that's because the production literally sounds like shit. Not shit-ty, but literally like a trip to the waste water treatment facility. It sounds like amorphous brown gunk with few riffs rising above the (brown) water.

This album suffers not because its inherently shitty, but rather because it doesn't know what it wants to do, and ends up wandering around aimlessly like the driver is asleep at the wheel. The Burning Red, as horribly trend-whoring as it was, knew what it wanted to do. The More Things Change... does not. This album can't decide if it wants to be aggressive groove metal or limp-wristed mallcore, so it comes off sounding like limp-wristed groove metal. It's not mallcore, and gets a lot of points for simply not being a huge amalgam of cliche's, but it's not much better. Like I said, there are moments of genius scattered around this mess, and Robb's reliable workmanlike vocals get the aggression across when the guitars and drums can (don't even get me started on that murky rumbling disguising as bass guitar) but overall this album is a mess from beginning to end. This is not Machine Head's best moment, nor its worst, but it is a clear omen of bad times to come.

And it also reeks of the 90's in the same way "Nothin' For A Good Time" by Poison reeks of the 80's. Any negative connotations the reader would infer from that statement are probably correct.

First of all, the defining factor of how much I like the songs on this album is defined in the intro, because they're all absolute trash. The intro to almost every single song is either droning, high-pitched and/or incredibly boring, though the music that comes after the intro is spectacular.

The bass work in this album is intense and groovy and gives the music on this album an edge over their two latest studio albums, which lack that important component. All of the instrumentation is tied down together with the bass to create a very headbangable and entertaining musical ride. The entire album is full of memorable tracks that, when boosted with an amazing sound system, will blast a crater into your neighborhood. One track that has an extremely crushing main riff is Ten Ton Hammer; the track gives us listeners a taste of the whole album.

Rob's vocals are the good old thrash shout they've always been and in this album you see the improvement from the first, and with a close listen you can really hear the influence of early-mid '90s vocalists like Jonathan Davis (Korn) and Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour). Speaking of Korn, there's a riff that has come straight out of the nu metal king's repertoire, but I'll leave that for you to find.

The overall sound of the album is a nice 50/50 mix of groove and thrash. Some tracks are cataclysmic in the amount of aggression in the instrumentation and vocals, whereas some songs/passages show just how well Machine Head can compose music with an extreme emphasis on groove. Like I said earlier, the intros are complete and utterly terrible, and almost every track has a ridiculously boring and stretched out intro that is painful to the ears, but the music you find after the intro is definitely worth the wait.

I would and have recommended this album to a lot of friends and I recommend giving it a listen and sharing it with your mates.

The second album by Machine Head, The More Things Change... was when the band decided to make their sound much more streamlined and accessible. This led to a simplifying and reorganization of Machine Head's sound to make an album that relied more on consistency and more complex instrumentation instead of just raw emotion and rage. The More Things Change... is not as angry as Burn My Eyes and actually shows some other emotions from time to time. The More Things Change... also showed both sings of maturity, yet also foreshadowed Machine Head's fall into nu metal mediocrity. The More Things Change..., while a decent release, was also a troubling sign of things to come.

The More Things Change... shows more addition of modern and alternative elements to their music. The increase in melodic singing is a welcome addition and breaks up the monotony of the usual shouting. The bass is also more prominent in this album, allowing for heavier riffage and more engaging rests, breaks, and intros in the songs. The signature drilling guitars are still here and work decently to bring out the ideas of the songs. The lyrics, are unfortunately dumber than the ones on Burn My Eyes. Some good examples of dumb lyrics on this album include the "COME ON, COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!" at the end of Struck a Nerve and the hilariously idiotic "I DON'T CARE 'CUZ I DON'T GIVE A FUCK" on Blistering. Nearly everything except the lyrics have improved and all in all.

The More Things Change... has more of the songs sounding rather similar with definite beginnings, middles, and ends for all of them. The very best songs are the crushing intro song Ten Ton Hammer plus the five songs afterwards. All the songs move at about mid-pace with blistering thrashing to build tension and more melodic parts to release tension. This allows for them to feel driving without being monotonous. The More Things Change... has consistency and complexity on it's side to let the songs flow well and dispense their rage.

The More Things Change is a good, but not extraordinary album. It has great songs across the board, but fewer standout songs than Burn My Eyes. Where I can see myself going back to many tracks off of Burn My Eyes, There are only a few songs on The More Things Change... that are truly interesting when it comes to remembering and replaying them. It starts off great and then just goes back to okay instead of Burn My Eyes' mixture of crushing songs. All in all, it's a more accessible release that works to deliver the goods and keep things mostly interesting.

When one listens to the lines "The more things change, the more they stay the same" on the song "Struck a Nerve", a feeling of irony comes to mind. After all, Machine Head kept changing and changing through all of their career while still retaining their identity, and this album in no exception at all.

The More Things Change... is the only album between their glorious masterpiece Burn My Eyes and the highly nü-metallish The Burning Red. As such, opinions are expectantly polarized in two groups: the ones who say that this album was their last album as the enraged groove thrash band that gave us "Davidian" and the ones who say that this was the beginning of their nü-metallish era that would tragically culminate with 2001's full-fledged disaster Supercharger. From my personal point of view, however, nothing like that happens. This album is positively unrelated to the one that preceded it and to the one that succeeded it. Truth is, the material in question sounds like it was made by a band younger than the Machine Head of 1994. While I would never classify it as nü-metal, there's a sense of youth close to many alternative metal and grunge bands of the same era. And yes, this album stands below Burn My Eyes. Fault? The fact that Chris Kontos left the band, replaced by Dave McClain (ex-Sacred Reich). While I admire McClain's talent as a drummer, he is undeniably slower and less technical than Kontos.

As a direct consequence of McClain's entry, much of the technicality that marked Burn My Eyes is lost, replaced by fast hardcore-like moments of speed and angry grooves. While this album is almost as brutal as its predecessor, a major difference can be felt; if 1994's Burn My Eyes is an expression of rage against social disorder, then 1997's The More Things Change... is still an expression of rage, but a different one that's less social and more political. The lyrical themes now center around inner rage and struggle, devoid of any sociopolitical concerns, and the music becomes somehow more accessible...without, however, becoming weaker by any terms.

Musicianship is, as I said before, less technical than in 1994, starting with the drums. The opening track "Ten Ton Hammer" shows such changes from the beginning; the sense of precision is somewhat lost. Even in the über-fast "Struck a Nerve" or in the slow anger of "The Frontlines", the listener gets the feeling that the drums are lower in standard than what Kontos used to do.

The very same feeling continues to an extent in terms of guitar to the point in which the precise grooves of past are replaced by a (successful) attempt at sludge metal ("Blood of the Zodiac"). The good point here is that the less technical style actually works to a great extent because Mader and Flynn did not waste the aggression of old ("The Frontlines" at 0:40), combining it wisely with the new, grunge-inspired sludges. It's a formula that pretty much works, in fact. Here I admit that some link between their older style and their later style can be felt, however I would not call it important enough. Adam Duce's peculiar (and brutal) bass lines continue to be nearly the same as they were in Burn My Eyes, helping to bring up the decibels (e.g. "Take My Scars") when and where they are needed.

Robb Flynn's vocals give the final touch to this album. Ironically, his voice sounds younger in 1997 than it was in 1994, probably because now he uses a more melodic vocal style ("Ten Ton Hammer", "Take My Scars"), which is still combined with his 1994-ish aggressive thrash metallish yelling as well as his more moderate vocals such as in the verses of "Spine". If I had to pick up one of his vocal passages throughout the whole album and elect it as his triumph, I'd definitely pick "Blood of the Zodiac", more specifically his last minute of incredible melodious shouting. It may as well be one of his best performances ever.

A lot of controversy will always surround Machine Head, especially since 1999. The constant evolution of their musical style is the main reason, and many of their fans will argue that their first 2 albums were their finest hour, including me to be honest. Other people will say that this album was the beginning of their failure. I must disagree. All they did was pick their groove thrash style and make it more accessible and not necessarily worse. In fact, it features a lot more variety than Burn My Eyes. Machine Head would only fail after this, especially four years after, under the period in which they had Ahrue Luster on guitar. I highly recommend this album to fans of '90s metal/groove thrash and especially to people who are starting to get into metal. It's no Burn My Eyes, but it is still an excellent album.

I remember catching Escape From L.A., the rather lackluster sequel to one of my favorite John Carpenter flicks, a couple weeks ago and that famous cliché line Kurt Russell keeps repeating about how “The More Things Change”, and I couldn’t help but notice a huge parallel between that film and this rather unfortunate album. Unlike “Escape From New York”, “Burn My Eyes” was not a terribly enjoyable experience, but otherwise the analogy fits quite well. Regardless to whether or not Robb Flynn lifted the title for this off of that quote, essentially you’ve got the same story, but without the power of a few generally good ideas. This sounds like a watered down, dumbed down, less metallic version of the overt mishmash of Pantera grooves and “Sound Of White Noise” atmosphere, with more of the flaws and less of the charms to boot.

Some are pretty quick to start pointing out the KoRn influences, but objectively speaking, this isn’t a whole lot more mallcore sounding than the previous release, which will become the case upon the advent of future releases. There is a tiny bit more reliance on poorly placed harmonic notes to give that irritating, nails on a chalkboard sound associated with the various enemies of metal. We also have a really obvious rip-off of the aforementioned mallcore pioneers first radio hit “Blind” in “Struck A Nerve”, which copies the general riffing concept of the former, but superimposes it on a groove based format where the guitars have slightly, and I emphasize slightly, more gusto to them. But the principle offender here for all those wanting something metal-based is still that grungy goodness that all of the sweaty lawnmower men get off to, particularly the cases of Flynn’s really cheap John Bush imitation clean vocals and on those slow atmospheric sections where the groove shifts completely to the drums and the bass, while the guitars all but fade into an ether of limp-wristed chord outlines.

The primary thing that really sinks this album is the lack of distinction between songs, as the band keeps going back to the same well of 2 or 3 ideas over and over. A couple songs like “Ten Ton Hammer”, which falls short of what its name implies by about 9.5 tons, make vain attempts at incorporating elements of what gave the first couple of songs on “Burn My Eyes” a little bit of punch, but they tend to fall into the same trap of morphing into softball grunge rock at key points, and put a lot more emphasis on banal, 2 note rhythmic drones, rather than finding a signature riff like the one that kicks off “Davidian” and really ramming the point home. “Violate” and “Blood Of The Zodiac” are served slightly better by being longer in length and managing to find a few good ideas in their epic meandering. What emerges from these ventures a tiny bit closer to sludge territory ala Crowbar, which is a step up, but still well below where it could be. Ultimately, listening to this entire album is an exercise in differentiating between the weak and the utterly atrocious moments, though generally things tend more towards the former.

This can still be categorized as groove metal, though it sometimes has trouble maintaining the second half of that label. There’s a few good guitar solos here and there that avoid the wretched, effects smothered drivel put out by Sepultura at around this juncture, but they become fewer and farther between than were the case 3 years prior to this. If nothing else, it indicates that Flynn seems to have the desire to fully jump on board with the rest of the Fred Durst crowd, but just can’t quite make the plunge at this point. As the Escape From L.A. quote goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, and here the resulting sameness is another mediocre offering from a band that is changing in its levels of bringing on the boredom. There’s nothing more to see here, so please move along.

Bay Area metal band Machine Head came onto the scene pretty strong in 1994 with their debut Burn My Eyes. It became a success in Europe and America, and the band even recieved praise from Kerry King (something he would rescind a few years later.) It only seems natural that Machine Head would seek to duplicate this sound, as if it worked once, and it will work again.

The problem with The More Things Change is that it is caught between two worlds. On one side, we have Burn My Eyes, which was a solid post-thrash offering. On the other side, we have a gravitational pull towards mallcore, which drags down the album considerably though this is not to be confused with nu-metal. Some stylistic commonalities are there, such as more bass prominence in the mix, though the bass itself is never degraded to that slap bass technique nu-metal is known. Another problem is the guitar tone of the album, which is horribly muddy. This was a common thing in the 90's, as a number of bands did this, including Ronnie James Dio on "Institutional Man" a year before. It creates an interesting sound, albeit one that grows tiring after about seven minutes into the album.

Concerning the music offered, we have three categories of songs. Each of these categories contain roughly the same number of songs, although the last one I'll discuss has four. Since that one in particular is the lesser of the three, you can imagine the end score isn't going to be spectacular.

The first category are those songs that scale back ambitions and long winded song lengths. These songs work the best, exactly the same way Burn My Eyes played out. "Ten Ton Hammer" is the first, and the lesser of these three and showcases the added melody in the band's music. "Take My Scars" begins with that awful introduction but otherwise plays out in good fashion. "Blistering" is the last of these, and again, establishes itself as one of the better songs here. Even with these three, its apparent Rob Flynn's baritone singing voice is both forced and strained, as it does not come off as fresh as it did before.

The next category are those songs that are longer and/or have obvious flaws in them. "Spine" comes to mind here, as its a good song with more energetic moments but it comes off sounding like a medley of two unrelated songs. This is bridged only by a mid-section that meanders a bit much. "Violate" is different and slightly better, as it slowly builds over seven minutes to a thrashy end section. This plays out very similarly to how "A Nation on Fire" did on the debut, albeit it takes too long to get there. "Bay of Pigs" is a thrashier number and shorter, but it sounds rushed and fails to grab me in the way "Blood for Blood" did.

The final category is the least of these and unfortunately holds the most songs. "Struck A Nerve" belongs here, as it is the most disappointing track. It begins well, starts to manifest itself into something worthwhile then simply ends. To boot, Flynn's "come on, come on, come on" is hovering awfully close to mallcore tough guy posturing. "Down to None" is a complete throwaway, it meanders and never becomes anything worthwhile. "The Frontlines" is slightly better, but again, nothing worthwhile. The closer in "Blood of the Zodiac" also fits here, and while its better than the other three in this particular category, it too suffers from structural meandering. I generally like it when closers add a final sense of climactic energy in a song, or better yet when it compiles previous songs' ideas into something of a well written mixture of the album itself. "Blood of the Zodiac" does this to some extent, but given that this album is marked by a decline in songwriting and stagnation, its no wonder the song ended up like this.

I can't throw this album under the bus as it has some redeeming moments. I tend to enjoy some of these songs still, although as a whole I don't listen to it much. The problem is simply that Machine Head was torn in two different directions here, looking for something new while wanting to remain in a comfort zone. Such outings rarely manifest into anything incredible, unless well written and executed, which this is obviously not. For fans of Machine Head and/or post-thrash, this is something to look into just be wary of the flaws I mentioned earlier in this review. Its still a good album, but its far from anything excellent.

Tops: "Ten Ton Hammer," "Take My Scars," "Blistering"

Out of every Machine Head's albums, this one is the least talked about. Even its two follow ups get more attention though not always favorably. This album had it rough since its predecessor Burn My Eyes was so loved and breath taking to many, the follow up had a lot of expectations to meet. I think it actually met those expectations.

This album does live up to the change bit in its name but it isn't that drastic of a change. Machine Head slowed the tempo down a bit but still kept the powerful heaviness that existed on the previous album. Robb Flynn also experimented with his vocals more, such as more singing and this is the first album we hear his trademark "YOW!" screams. This album is hardly mallcore. There are more riffs here than what any mallcore guitarist could ever write and more than any mallcore album combined. There are plenty of guitar solos and the song structures are more inspired and worked into. I don't care if a band is "groovy" or what not. Black Sabbath didn't play at a million miles an hour and Tony Iommi played far more power chords than noted riffs. Doom metal is loved a lot by metal heads, even when the tempo is pretty slow and Blind Guardian's Imaginations From the Otherside had songs that weren't all just speedy guitaring and drumming. Even in Metallica's Thrash-era, their songs like "The Thing That Should Not Be" and "Seek and Destroy" had mid-tempo rhythms. Testament's "Souls of Black" on the title track was pretty mid-tempo and so was "The Legacy" on that album. Sepultura wasn't the first to start going a bit groovy and I've heard plenty of Sodom songs that weren't break neck fast. I also care about a good guitar tone instead of worrying how fast or complex I'm playing. But make no mistake, I'm not dissing thrash (nor doom metal and power metal). My favorite band is Testament and they have awesome guitar tones. I just don't think liking groove metal makes you un-metal and that speed should not matter when it comes to metal. Just as long as you have the passion for playing it and your heart is in it, that is all that should matter.

Riffing highlights would be found on "The Frontlines" with that monstrous riff that stomps in after the long screeching wah-wah lines. The opener, "Ten Ton Hammer", has a pounding intro and a great shout along chorus. The following track, "Take my Scars", has a mean groove and a crazy solo. The vocal harmony in the chorus is undeniably good as well. "Down to None" has a unique dark and melodic intro. The best track, "Spine", allows each band member to shine. It begins with Adam Duce playing a creepy and dark bass solo which is followed by Robb and Logan Mader churning out surging and heavy riffs. Dave McClain, who was new at the time, beats the skins like a mad man in that section and during the melodic verses, plays a Sepulturian tribal beat. Robb sings low and emotionally but shouts wildly in the chorus with my favorite lyrics on the album (I see right through your soul! Can't help but feel this cold! But this city made me so!). The bridge is massive and features many chameleon-esque passages that you would never find in any mallcore album. It starts doomy, churns up a bit, and births out an atmospheric and melodic solo above a groovy rhythm. After the solo, it calms down though after a long while, the doomy riffs kick back in and a wicked solo ends it.

The shorter songs on this album make up in punch for what they lack in length. "Struck a Nerve" has fast stop-go riffs with the bass being used a fill in the manner a drum fill would do. "Bay of Pigs" is the most intense in terms of speed. Unrelentless riffs, guitar squals, double bass, and growls come at you non-stop during the verses. The chorus is a bit anthem-ish and the bridge has a great whirling groove. "Blistering" has some awkard lyrics (I don't care because I don't give a fuck!) but the freakin heavy riffing and drumming saves it.

"Violate" is the darkest, most progressive, and personal song on the album. It is Robb reflecting on someone who abused him and how he desires revenge for it.
It goes from a grueling riff to a melodic chorus, repeat, and than flat out chaos for the rest of the song. The final track, "Blood of the Zodiac", shows Machine Head's melodic side very well and ending the album in a different way. It started heavy but ended with the beast finally founding peace.

This album is a treasure for metal heads who don't mind having groove here and there and see that sound is more important than speed.

This album loses even more of the riffs and turns into a dangerously groove-filled environment. Lots of Korn influence on here. The last album couldn't be called thrash, this one barely struggles to be called metal. A lot of the features central to mallcore can be found here, and I don't just mean rapped vocals - the general idea where the guitar is de-emphasised and "atmosphere" is attempted through the use of slowing down the song and inserting some whiney vocals.

The drumwork is actually the saving grace of the album, and what keeps it barely metal. There is some decent double-bass to be found here, and if it weren't so damn emphasised in the mix at the expense of the guitars, it would be a nice backdrop.

A highly questionable album. This band just gets shittier and shittier. Insert here the obligatory note of how Vio-lence is so much fucking better.