BLIND GUARDIAN The God Machine | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on September 2nd, 2022

Quick Background

After taking a detour in 2019 with the orchestra and vocal album, Legacy of the Dark Lands under the name Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra, the German power metal icons are back with new music. In case you don't know, Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. The band's line-up has consisted of singer Hansi Kürsch, guitarists André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen, then drummer Frederik Ehmke since 2005. They are currently using bassists as session musicians. They released their first album, Battalions of Fear, in 1988. Most of Blind Guardian's albums were well received by fans and critics alike: Somewhere Far Beyond (1992), Imaginations from the Other Side (1995), and Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998), are especially seen as influential works and also my favorites.  They have released eight other studio albums.

The God Machine

This makes The God Machine their twelfth studio album. It is the band's first 'regular' studio album in seven years, following Beyond the Red Mirror, marking the longest gap between two Blind Guardian studio albums (although the Orchestral album was released three years earlier). The new effort clocks in at 51 minutes and features 9 songs. All between 4 and 7 minutes. 

This is a heavy, direct and back to the roots kind of album. After releasing the most orchestral metal album in history, they hit the limit and there was nowhere else to go. Even Beyond the Red Mirror was already a complex album (albeit not as much as A Night at the Opera (2002)). So The God Machine is on the same veins as Tales from the Twilight World (1990) and Somewhere Far Beyond (1992), but still sounding fresh and modern. 

“Deliver Us from Evil” is the opening-single released back in December 2021. The song is inspired by Aurther Miller’s play The Crucible (a dramatic and partially fictionalized take on the Salem witch trials). It's a fantastic album opener with a big chorus, full of hooks and backing vocals, variations, and 190 bpm speed metal instant classic. Most of the album follow the same template. "Violent Shadows" is the 4th and last single and it's about Kaladin Stormblessedfrom the fantasy novel series The Stormlight Archives. The shortest song on the album is heavy and straightforward, if it would be on  Follow the Blind, we would not be surprised. "Architects of Doom"

Released in March 2022 as second single, "Secrets of the American Gods" references Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel American Gods. It's the longest song on the album with 7:30. It slows down a little bit compared to the opening track and "Damnation". I's clear from the moody intro that we have some orchestration and choir in this one. But it's still a heavy song, as the song builds amazingly from there, to a trademark mid-tempo Blind Guardian song with some great hooks. And I love the song outro, kind of Stargazer's ending. "Life Beyond the Spheres" is about the creation of the universe and as such it's an epic tune with more groove and also slower tempo. Talking about slower tempo, we also get a sort of ballad, "Let It Be No More", a very personal song to Hansi Kürsch as it deals with the death of the frontman's mother. 

The third single "Blood of the Elves" references the video game The Witcher and to me sounds a lot like a song out of the Nightfall in Middle-Earth album. So needless to say it's a very good song, straightforward and heavy. With almost 7 minutes, "Destiny" closes the album dialing down a bit the heaviness of the album but remaining faithful to their very early work.

The Picky Guy

While I praise the band for going back to a raw and early sound, I also miss something. It all sound very familiar so while most songs are good, they also don't stand out compared to the classic albums. It's still a very fun album, don't get me wrong. Again, just being picky. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Blind Guardian revisits their early heavy and raw sound with The God Machine. A straightforward, mostly fast tempo and heavy album with minimal orchestrations but as expected great hooks, melodies and big choruses. If you know the early work of the band, there's nothing new here, it's a natural reaction to previous albums and sets the scene for maybe taking some more risks in the next album. For now, this is a good album, 81/100 and a certain success among long time fans.

SCORE: 83/100

Genre: Power Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on September 2nd, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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MACHINE HEAD Of Kingdom And Crown | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on August 26th, 2022

Quick Background

Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn, who remains the only original member of the band. Machine Head's aggressive musicianship made it one of the pioneering bands in the new wave of American heavy metal.

Having experimented with elements of groove metal and nu metal in its early releases, the band changed to a more traditional thrash metal sound and longer songs with its sixth album, The Blackening (2007), which drew critical acclaim. They also achieved success with its following two albums, Unto the Locust (2011) and Bloodstone & Diamonds (2014), but Catharsis (2018) was an experiment that to me and many, did not work. Let's see with their follow-up.

Of Kingdom And Crown

Of Kingdom And Crow is their tenth studio album featuring 13 tracks in one hour with 3 of them being short intros and/or instrumentals. MH's first concept album is set in a decimated futuristic wasteland where the sky is stained crimson red. The crux of the story is based on two main characters: Ares (pronounced Aries) and Eros (pronounced Arrows). It is the band's first album to feature guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka (Decapitated), who joined the band in late 2019. Matt Alston, who joined the band at the same time, does not play on the album; instead, drum duties are handled by Navene Koperweis, who acted as a session drummer for the album. 

While the album sound like a riff driven thrash metal album, it still carries some nu-metal and metalcore influences. But for the most part it's very thrash and groove metal oriented. All in all, it's on the same veins of the 2007's The Blackening. The epic opening "Slaughter the Martyr" stands out as by far the longest song of the album, it's cinematic and certainly the best. It could easily be part of  The Blackening. It features a 3-min build up before going into this sick guitar riff which include some harmonics, classic MH. Then we get brutal verses and big melodic choruses, double-bass groove, and sick fucking breakdown.

In contrast, all other songs are between 4 and 6 minutes, and they are all also heavy. Take track number two and third single "Choke on the ashes of your hate" for example: It starts with more sick riffs, rolling fast speed, neck breaking breakdown and overall an homage to Exodus' Bounded by Blood with a modern Slipknot flavor. "Become the firestorm" completes the punch in the face opening trio. MH  meets black metal influences in their fastest song on the album, well except for the sick Hatebreed-like breakdown. A great choice for a single and currently being already on their setlist.  

Then the album calms down with the intro to "My hands are empty". According to  Flynn this song which was released back in Nov/2020, became a wild turning point for them in writing the storyline. So lyrically it is an important song, but musically I am not a big fan of the gang vocals and the mellow chorus, but overall it's OK. "No Gods, No Masters" was the single released on the same day as the album. I'm on the fence on this one. It's a different song, super melodic and influenced by hard rock. While I like the song, I'm not a big fan of the chorus. Another single "Unhallowed" is pure groove and more mid-tempo and melodic song filled with sick riffs. This reflects the character's depression.

The album closes with the epic "Arrows in words from the sky". A very melodic song with harmonies and nearly all clean singing. It's a different way to end such an aggressive and sometimes dark album on a high and positive note.

 Other than this slightly softer side of the album, all the other songs are super aggressive and heavy. Vogg's influence is clear on this album, he brought some aggressiveness to some songs that make them close to Decapitated. "Bloodshot" is the best example, there’s no clean singing, and it’s just a killer uptempo groove featuring sick guitar riffs and modern metal sound overall. "Kill thy enemies" is another 90's groovy song where the pounding tribal drums are the highlight. and "Rotten" is another banger, it's where Burn My Eyes meet Exodus, I hope gets you the idea.

I like the album production the guitar tones, nice album cover and a story to follow along.

The Picky Guy

I don't have a lot to complain here. So it's maybe a wish list. I'd prefer the album to be a bit shorter, but I will contradict myself as I not only don't know how to cut it but also I'd actually prefer more songs like the opening track. Meaning long epics with lots of dynamics and yet heavy. So this is just me splitting hairs. Now the only thing I dislike on the album are the gang Oh Oh vocals in a couple of songs. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Specially compared to Catharsis, Of Kingdom And Crown is a heavier and more technical album. It builds from their roots, specially Burn my Eyes and The Blackening (2007) while paying homage bay area thrash metal, specially Exodus. To me it's a return to form and their best album since Unto the Locust which I like a lot. We get sick riffs and harmonics (it's nice that Flynn leveraged the writing music skills of new members), nice melodies, a good balance between clean and harsh vocals and a lot of aggressiveness. A very good album, 84/100 and probably will be in my 2022 list. Enjoy it!

SCORE: 84/100

Genre: Thrash Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast Records on August 26th, 2022

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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