The Blackening

The Blackening is a work on which MACHINE HEAD brought together massive riffs, complex development and Robb Flynn’s earnest singing into a single flow. Even long, the songs do not lose density, and anger and melody alternately raise the tension. With a construction of eight tracks each an epic, it is a record on which the band’s ambition reached its peak. On “Clenching the Fists of Dissent,” “Aesthetics of Hate” and “Halo,” from fierceness to a large lingering, the album treats heaviness as drama. In particular, “Aesthetics of Hate” was even nominated for a Grammy. Songs like “Beautiful Mourning” and “A Farewell to Arms” breathe the band’s full playing too. The band’s aggression and constructive power bind on the largest screen. Acclaimed by many critics, it is a record renowned as the band’s masterpiece.