Black Slayer Head

It seems that more and more legendary bands are kicking their members out, one by one. From Black Sabbath to Machine Head and most recently Slayer, with the replacement of Dave Lombardo by Paul Bostaph, it seems that the original members, or most established members, of a band are becoming too expensive. Looking back at most of these stories, it seems that it all comes down to a salary issue. Is this the result of downloading and reduced sales of music, or is it just musicians getting greedier day by day. Roger Waters once said that once you start making money, there is this dilemma that gets created on whether you become a capitalist, or stay a socialist. In the cases of Slayer, Sabbath and all the others, it seems that this question probably wasn’t asked enough. Let’s just hope that the music won’t suffer from it too much.

Posted by Nick

R.I.P. Roadrunner Records?

So after Devildriver quitting Roadrunner, now Machine Head are also on the way out! Or at least it seems so. Thing which is not surprising after the recent events that happened in the labels grounds, where all the international offices were closed down by the Big Cheese, Warner Music! With some info that some other bands might be quitting Roadrunner and notably Hatebreed, just a rumour at the moment, is this the end of the greatest metal label up to date? Is it time for the coyote to finally catch that damn bird? Whatever it may be, thanks for giving the world some of the best metal bands in the world. Somewhere, at some point, you went wrong and it’s a shame, but we’ll always respect you for the music you shared!

Machine Head - 18 Feb 2010 (Brixton Academy)

I have to be honest on this one. Five days after the Lamb of God concert I was still kind of buzzy when I entered Brixton Academy for the second time in a week and to be honest I didn't really know what to expect. I had previously seen all the bands on the bill individually but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be the same this time. I arrived in the middle of the Bleeding Through set and the room was packed so I decided to stand at the back of the venue and watch the entire gig from there. Bleeding Through delivered a good set with no big surprises. Marta was as always charming on her keys but the set didn't really delivered the whole potential of the band. Then came on the ones who were bound to destroy me: Hatebreed. The band came up on stage with a very powerful set and a great live sound. I will be Heard was the opening song from the hardcore metal heads and it was definitely heard. I actually managed to move all my bruised muscles from the previous gig five days ago. A very nicely prepared set from Hatebreed with songs as Destroy Everything and In Ashes They Shall Reap. Get the full Hatebreed set-list here. By the time Hatebreed finished I had moved to the middle of the venue and the echo of MACHINE FUCKING HEAD was going around the whole academy. Machine Head came on and they just blasted the place up. It only took one song to get me all over the place and fortunately that was the second one on the list. Imperium kicked off and that was the beginning of an amazing gig. Flynn(Vocals, Guitar) gave 101% and Demmel was ripping the guitar strings . Flynn even gave away their newly acquired Silver Record for “The Blackening” to a lucky member of the audience. The gig was loud, fast and heavy, exactly what you can expect from MACHINE FUCKING HEAD !!! I found myself literally floating across the venue: From the far-left side to the far-right side in about 2 seconds.( Guinness Record?) The set ended with a mind-blazzing Halo and the riffelicious Davidian. It is a shame because in my head this gig kind of cast a shadow over the Lamb of God gig. Nevertheless this week had been amazing with two incredible gigs, good memories and buzzing ears. LET FREEDOM RING!!

Machine Head: 20/20

Hatebreed: 18/20

Bleeding Through: 15/20

Posted by Nick