It has been a rough road from the controversial (and massively underrated) Catharsis. Released in 2018, the album’s bold direction resulted, at least in part, in both Phil Demmell and Dave McClain leaving the band, although they did complete the tour for the record. Following a stint with Logan Mader and Chris Kontos, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Burn My Eyes, Robb Flynn recruited Waclaw Kieltyka (Decapitated) and Matt Alston (Devilment) as full-time Machine Head members, releasing several stand-alone singles during the difficult months of the pandemic.
While some may have felt uncomfortable at the social stance Robb Flynn adopted on Catharsis, Robb’s strong moral compass has always lain at the heart of the band’s focused rage, while his love of both punk and hip-hop has meant that his lyrics are frequently direct. Yet, such honesty comes at a price and, although each record documents exactly where Flynn’s head and heart was at that time, adopting a radically different lyrical approach offered its own sense of catharsis.
And so, a year (more or less) after the Arrows in Words from The Sky single dropped, the band’s tenth album arrives. Stepping away from direct commentary, Of Kingdom and Crown is a concept album (the band’s first), loosely based on the anime series Attack on Titan. According to Robb “The concept is set in a futuristic wasteland where the sky is always crimson red, and it’s based around two characters. Character number one is named Ares [pronounced Aries], and he loses the love of his life, Amethyst, and goes on a murderous rampage against the people who killed her. Character number two is Eros [pronounced Arrows], who loses his mother to a drug overdose and, in his downward spiral, depression, becomes radicalized by this charismatic leader and goes on his own killing spree and is one of the people who killed Amethyst. And so the lyrics detail how their lives intertwine.” With the concept not only providing a coherent flow to the record, by assuming the guise of not one, but two, very different characters, Robb was able to tap into previously unexplored emotional avenues, resulting in an album that feels surprisingly fresh and exciting.
Not that Machine Head have stepped too far from their template. Never a band to do anything by halves, they open with the remarkable epic Slaughter the Martyr. A ten-minute-plus exercise in tension-inducing dynamics, it recalls the subtle, slow-burning beauty of Descend the Shades of Night, and it makes for a powerful opening statement. With Robb once again reminding us of his strengths as a clean vocalist, it takes some three-minutes for a classic Machine Head thrash riff to blaze across the track’s calm surface and we’re pulled into a veritable typhoon of swirling riffs, sledgehammer percussion (handled by session drummer Navene Koperweis) and guttural vocals, although a hook-driven chorus remains to keep things memorable. The shorter Choke on The Ashes of Your Hate is ferocious in delivery and execution, the band raging with frantic precision as Robb spits venom into the mic. The track also gives Waclaw a chance to demonstrate his remarkable skill as lead guitarist, and the track is sure to become a mosh-pit killer when the band tour. Similarly potent, Become the Firestorm offers some seriously bruising riffs, although the chorus is rather more melodic, an approach that may divide fans, although there’s no doubting the skilful arrangement.The short, unsettling segue, Overdose sees the band slip into Operation Mindcrime Territory, the approach as theatrical as it is musical. It then flows directly into the slow burning intro of My Hands Are Empty, a track that moves between funeral dirge and untrammelled rage to powerful effect. Although rooted in fantasy, Robb channels the emotion of his character’s perfectly, as witnessed on the similarly charged Unhallowed. Likely to alienate those who prefer Machine Head at full tilt first, last and always, Unhallowed is a mature piece with a strong melodic core (the vocal harmonies reminiscent in places of Katatonia), although it’s still packed with chunky riffs.
Another segue, the sub-one-minute Assimilate has a dirty industrial vibe to it, before the band come crashing in with the mid-tempo monstrosity that is Kill Thy Enemies. Gleaming, high-tech metal, it stutters and rages, although a melodic oasis lies waiting at its heart. The melodies are firmly to the fore on No Gods, No Masters, a track with a mildly prog-metal vibe and some great harmonies. For those seeking something a little more aggressive, however, the rampaging Bloodshot gets the adrenaline flowing, with Robb displaying hardcore levels of rage on a chorus that sees the title spat into the microphone over and over. The similarly vitriolic Rotten harks back to the band’s auspicious debut, with a bruising vocal performance, multi-faceted riffs and dizzying lead work all serving to offer an immensely satisfying burst of pure neck snapping metal. A final segue, the noirish Terminus, leads into slow-burning album closer Arrows in Words from The Sky. Another piece that opts, at least initially, for emotional heft over bludgeoning weight, it provides a charged conclusion that perfectly rounds up both the narrative and the album.
Of Kingdom and Crown offers much that is familiar to Machine Head fans, with tracks like Rotten and Choke on The Ashes of Your Hate in particular casting an eye back to the band’s earliest days. However, with a compelling concept allowing Robb to explore emotions and mindsets other than his own, there is a strong focus on melody flowing through the record and a freshness of delivery that is not entirely down to the personnel changes the band have endured. Not everyone will love the album – those who remain steadfastly of the opinion that the band should simply re-record Burn My Eyes every couple of yearswill surely find cause to moan – but for those who enjoy the band’s continued evolution (while still finding time to deliver some killer cuts along the way), Of Kingdom and Crown has much to recommend it. 8.5/10
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