This week we’ve a band that has seen so many ups and downs in their long career. Releasing an absolute masterpiece one year, leading them to  be at one time the leading edge metal band in the 2000’s whilst in the same decade also releasing some of their worst material, Machine Head have had a career that was all over the place. It began with Burn My Eyes an album that all metal heads seem to love, then came the not so great era of Machine Head, with the abomination that was Supercharger most thought they were done for, but then came Through The Ashes Of Empires and after that one of the top albums in modern metal full stop, The Blackening. Alas this is where as with Machine Head’s trend, things went a little downhill.

Unto The Locust was overall an album that was indifferent, moulded around hype that was generated from the band there were some high expectations that sadly we’rent quite a reality. Trying to ride off The Blackening‘s coat tails and bring that extraordinary sound that was carved in their previous effort, instead we got fairly stock, rehashings of songs that Machine Head had already written. The almost pretentious opener “I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)” was a misguided endeavour as well as the stock ballad tracks like the monotonous “Darkness Within“. Not to mention the fact that all songs seem to be over the five minute mark just to be “epic” and that artwork looks like something from a budget b movie that doesn’t scream sophistication but instead bedroom guitarists… Unto The Locust, isn’t a terrible album really, its just tired. With a band that have the potential that was exhibited with their previous effort it just fell short.

Having said all of this though, it  does contain one sole fantastic final track “Who We Are” which hopefully will be a sign of things to come with Bloodstones And Diamonds. With a new line up change after the firing of previous bassist Adam Duce and the bringing in of (shockingly underrated)  Sanctity rhythm guitarist and singer Jared MacEachern  come November we will see!