Machine Head: "Unto the Locust"

"Unto the Locust" is possibly Machine Head's greatest opus. It holds it's own against their gargantuan release 2007, entitled "The Blackening." I had to take a break after each song because in typical Machine Head fashion, it was all out heaviness. Combining a sound of Slayer, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Pantera, these guys make possibly the best album of their career. Songs like "I Am Hell" and "Pearls Before the Swine," for example, are amazing pieces. However, "Darkness Within", "This Is The End, and "Who We Are" are flawless. The latter having frontman Robb Flynn and mixer Juan Urteaca's children singing the beginning: "This is who we are/ This is what I am/ We have nowhere else to go/ Divided we will stand...," and then Robb joins, and all hell breaks loose. "Darkness Within" lyrically explains how music can save your soul, when nothing else will, it will be your savior. Robb sings: "...Because God is in these clef and tone/ Salvation is found alone/ Haunted by it's melody/Music, it will set you free/ Let it set you free..." Robb Flynn and lead guitarist Phil Demmel, trade off on some crazy guitar solos. You can feel each and every note on this album, you can feel the emotion of the lyrics, and you can tell it comes from their hearts. In the words of Mr. Robb Flynn: "HEADBANG MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" 10/10

My current thoughts on the Metallica/Lou Reed collaboration "Lulu":

The metal community has been abuzz lately about the recent project that Metallica has decided to collaborate on with Lou Reed. Most of the response has been pretty negative, the usual "Anti-Metallica" Brigade has been out in full force. The average 17 year old Slayer fan just KNEW that this was going to suck. I was skeptical too as well, Im a huge Metallica fan I even think "Load" is a great "bluesy hard rock" album. I just never could get into Lou Reed or Velvet Underground. "What is this going to sound like?" I thought to myself. According to a lot of fans "Death Magnetic" was a step in the right direction for this band, especially after the release of "St Anger." After a few weeks of wondering if they could pull this strange mashing of musical styles, "Loutallica" (as they have dubbed themselves) released the first single from the album "The View" which can be listened to here.

. "The View" is a tough song to listen to. It's Metallica playing a nice, mid tempo, doomy riff, while Lou Reed delivers his spoken word style poetry over it. "I want you on the floor, and in a coffin your soul shaking" Lou Reed speaks, as if he is the preacher in the church of Metallica. That right there is enough to make an elitist metal nerd run 30 feet down to his basement to complain on the internet. To my delight, James Hetfield gets some vocal duties as well "I am the root, I am the progress, I'm the aggressor, I'm the tablet" he sings. Under the guitars, Lars Ulrich plods along with a simple drum beat that occasionally goes into one of his infamous random fills. The song kind of drags along while Lou Reed delivers his vocals. It's obvious that the focus is intended to be on the lyrics as opposed to the guitars and drums. The end of the song is a small instrumental passage where Kirk Hammett gets to do a little Kerry King style solo lick and the tempo picks up slightly. James Hetfield barks his vocals "I am the Table!, I am, I am, I ammmmmmmmmm!" Which has evolved into a sort of meme on the internet.

It's hard for me to say if I really like it or not. Part of me wants to judge it as a typical song with a chorus,verse, and solo. If I judge it like that, it falls short. That's how most people seem to be judging it. They hear Lou Reed and get scared off, which is okay. Lou Reed is an acquired taste for sure. Releasing it as a "single" was a big mistake on "LouTallica's" part. This is just the second track from a 10 song "concept" album based on the plays "Earth Spirit" and "Pandora's Box" The album is meant for somebody to listen to as a whole, alone, with headphones on, away from distractions. Just hearing one song on the radio when im driving to work will not provide the right perspective. At first listen, I didnt care for the song too much. After I read up on the plays "Earth Spirit"and "Pandora's Box" and started to focus on the story Lou Reed is telling, and how he delivers his vocals. The song started to grow on me, The riffs and drums start tofade into the background where you don't mind them dragging along so much. In conclusion, I Can't tell if i will like the album yet since we have heard one song. (One of the shortest on the album) but I do not think this is the worst thing that has ever been put out like some people say. Go ahead, take my metal card away from me, but I like it for what it is, and have grown to appreciate Lou Reed a little bit more. Ill write a review once this comes out and i get to spend more time with it. Until then, visit http://www.loureedmetallica.com and check out some of the other song lyrics that have been posted up They are very interesting and perverted.

-Whiplashed