{"id":373,"date":"2018-01-25T19:02:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T19:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-machine-head-catharsis\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:10:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:10:56","slug":"review-machine-head-catharsis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-machine-head-catharsis\/","title":{"rendered":"Review:\u00a0Machine Head &#8211; Catharsis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"tmblr-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/tumblr_inline_p34kvl5aqB1qztcot_1280.jpg\" width=\"250em\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><i>\u2018Catharsis\u2019<\/i> is a ridiculous release, okay?. <b>Machine Head<\/b> have gone to kitchen sink levels of absurdity with the volume of different ideas on their ninth studio album. How they\u2019ve conjured works of nu-metal, folk-punk and <i>Game of Thrones<\/i>-esque symphonic backdrops for the same record is beyond comprehension.<\/p>\n<p>The real question is, is this expansive range of songwriting actually worth listening to? There\u2019s no doubt that whether they\u2019re performing revisionist-hair metal on <i>\u2018California Bleeding\u2019<\/i> or rapping about selling meth on <i>\u2018Triple Beam\u2019<\/i>, <b>Machine Head<\/b> are focusing all their passion and energy into these tracks, and a level of intensity is constantly sustained. And <i>\u2018Catharsis\u2019<\/i> provides a depth of emotional release for its creators. Both through steel-plated ragers, such as the thrashing condemnation of <i>\u2018racists\u2019<\/i>, <i>\u2018phoneys\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018the NRA\u2019<\/i> on opener <i>\u2018Volatile\u2019<\/i> and the cinematic title track, which continues the gripping melodrama of 2014\u2019s <i>\u2018Bloodstone and Diamonds\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>Of course, emotional release is a delicate matter, and <i>\u2018Catharsis\u2019<\/i> does require patience from it\u2019s listeners before it\u2019s tracks come out of their shells. Uplifting banjo-clanger <i>\u2018Bastards\u2019<\/i> will have listeners question the band\u2019s sanity upon first play. It\u2019s terrible, but with more listens, something endearing emerges about Robb Flynn\u2019s sheer heart-on-sleeve message of optimism for a desperate USA. Think of it as modern metal\u2019s answer to <i>\u2018The Room.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Arguably, it\u2019s these weird moments like the psychedelic keyboards on <i>\u2018Kaleidoscope\u2019<\/i> and latin guitar leads on <i>\u2018Behind a Mask\u2019<\/i> that make a greater impact here than more classic-MH tailored songs. The groove metal triptych of <i>\u2018Psychotic\u2019<\/i>, <i>\u2018Grind You Down\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018Razorblade Smile\u2019<\/i> fail to impress in the wake of medieval-tinged epic <i>\u2018Heavy Lies the Crown\u2019<\/i>, particularly considering one could hear <b>Machine Head<\/b> craft better balls-to-the-wall metal on <i>\u2018The Blackening\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Catharsis\u2019<\/i> is far from perfect, but shows the start of a creative rebirth for <b>Machine Head<\/b>. While they still want to appease old school fans looking for another <i>\u2018Davidian\u2019<\/i>, when they let their minds travel across new worlds of multicultural instrumentation, that\u2019s when it gets interesting. And if ridiculousness is the new <b>MH<\/b> lifeblood, they may as well embrace it.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Catharsis\u2019<\/i> by <b>Machine Head<\/b> is released on 26th January on <b>Nuclear Blast Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Machine Head<\/b> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.machinehead1.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MachineHead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MfnH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Andy Davidson (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyrfDavidson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AndyrfDavidson<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Catharsis\u2019 is a ridiculous release, okay?. Machine Head have gone to kitchen sink levels of absurdity with the volume of different ideas on their ninth studio album. How they\u2019ve conjured works of nu-metal, folk-punk and Game of Thrones-esque symphonic backdrops for the same record is beyond comprehension. The real question is, is this expansive range [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":16849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15033,15021,271,257,209],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-andrew-davidson","tag-andy-davidson","tag-catharsis","tag-machine-head","tag-nuclear-blast-records"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review:\u00a0Machine Head - Catharsis - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018Catharsis\u2019 is a ridiculous release, okay?. 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