MACHINE HEAD — Bloodstone & Diamonds (review)

MACHINE HEAD — Bloodstone & Diamonds album cover

Album · 2014 · Groove Metal

4.5/5 · 2015-01-30
UMUR

"Bloodstone & Diamonds" is the 8th full-length studio album by US thrash/groove/alternative metal act Machine Head. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Entertainment in November 2014. There´s been a lineup change since "Unto the Locust (2011)" as bassist Adam Duce was fired in 2013 and has been replaced by Jared MacEachern on "Bloodstone & Diamonds". Duce last release with Machine Head was the "Machine Fucking Head Live (2012)" album. There´s another important change since the last release, as Machine Head has changed labels from Roadrunner Records to Nuclear Blast Entertainment, which makes "Bloodstone & Diamonds" the first Machine Head not to be released by the former mentioned label.

Musically "Bloodstone & Diamonds" is what I´d characterize as a natural progression of the band´s sound since "The Blackening (2007)". While "The Blackening (2007)" was more or less thrash metal to the bone with some alternative metal ideas, "Unto the Locust (2011)" showcased a more diverse groove thrash/alternative sound, and "Bloodstone & Diamonds" features a sound which is a development of the sound on it´s predecessor. Machine Head still excels in raw shouting vocals and a decent number of groove oriented thrashy riffs, but Robb Flynn also delivers both melodic tinged vocals in the choruses and some clean singing too. He isn´t the most distinct sounding vocalist when he sings clean vocals, and he doesn´t have the strongest voice for that type of vocals either, but all in all it works alright, and even grows on you after a couple of spins. I´m especially impressed by his vocal performances on "Sail Into the Black" and "Beneath the Silt".

"Bloodstone & Diamonds" is a relatively varied release and especially the three more atmospheric type tracks "Sail Into the Black", "Damage Inside", and "Imaginal Cells" (which is an instrumental featuring audio samples from the audiobook "Spontaneous Evolution" by Dr. Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman), stand out as very different from the remaining thrash/groove metal oriented tracks on the album. They are important for the flow of the 12 track, 70:57 minutes long album though, as any album more than an hour long needs diversity to not lose the attention of the listener. The inclusion of strings on some tracks is another feature, which provides the album with variation. Some other standout tracks on the album are "Now We Die", "Killers & Kings", and the groovy almost stoner metal type track "Beneath the Silt", but the quality of the material is high throughout, with very few sub par moments, which is pretty impressive considering the length of the album.

The sound production, which is massive, detailed, and heavy, carries the tunes even when the autopilot is occasionally turned on. The moments when the melodies aren´t that memorable, and the riffs aren´t that catchy, are very few and far between though, and overall Machine Head have created yet another high quality release, featuring memorable and relatively adventurous tracks, high level musicianship, and a sound production which brings out the best in the material. "Bloodstone & Diamonds" deserves a 4.5 star (90%) rating.