Machine Head
The Burning Red (Roadrunner)
by Tim Den
Not surprisingly, the new album from Machine Head isn’t surprising. Like all the metal bands that just discovered it’s much cool to write about “the streets” and have “phat breakdowns,” Machine Head is (and has been since their last effort, The More Things Change…) a band who only knows how to bore the listener to death with a repetition of riffs and beats that sound exactly alike. No attempt at discovering music beyond the realms of D-tuned guitars and cheesy lyrics (“Desire to Fire?” “Nothing Left?” “The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears?” My little nephew must have made a fortune writing lyrics for these guys), The Burning Red (the title itself screams “9th grader who just discovered Snapcase”) is a lame excuse for heavy music. Just because you grooved a little slower or rapped a little more than usual doesn’t mean you’ve redefined the genre (as the bio would have us believe).
(536 Broadway 4th Fl. New York, NY 10012)