The Blackening
Encyclopedia
The Blackening is the sixth album by American heavy metal
band Machine Head
. Released on March 27, 2007 in the U.S., The Blackening sold 16,000 units in its first week, and became Machine Head's second highest charting release at number 54 on the Billboard 200
, and charted in the Top 20 throughout many countries in the rest of the world. The album has been certified silver by the BPI for sales in the UK in excess of 60,000 copies.
The album's first single, "Aesthetics of Hate
", is a retaliation to an article written by William Grim for the website Iconoclast. Titled "Aesthetics Of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance", the article praised the murder of musician Dimebag Darrell
, while he was performing with the band Damageplan
on December 8, 2004. Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn said the song was written as a "fuck you" to Grim and tribute to Dimebag. The song received a Grammy Award
nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 50th Grammy Awards
. The text in the mirror of the album's cover reads "the mirror which flatters not." The song "Beautiful Mourning" has also been featured in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica
as a playable song.
was entitled "Godfather 4". This was in reference to a guitar riff in the song which vocalist Robert Flynn
felt had "a Godfather
type vibe". The song was shelved, although the riff resurfaced in a b-side. "Slanderous" was the first song finished that was in the final track listing. By February 2005, Machine Head had penned rough versions of "Beautiful Mourning" and "Aesthetics of Hate".
' rip off. I hated it every time we played it so I was glad to see that part go!" In mid August 2006, Machine Head announced that the title of their sixth studio effort would be The Blackening. Flynn and drummer Dave McClain spent August 18 and 19 jamming together, fine tuning songs chosen for the album and performing pre-production
. Phil Demmel resumed lead guitar
duties and Adam Duce returned as bassist
.
Machine Head entered Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California
on August 21 to begin recording The Blackening, with Flynn assuming production duties for the second time. From twenty six written songs, the selection was whittled down to eight. McClain completed the drum tracks to six of the eight tracks on August 25, followed by the remaining two the next day. Tracking concluded on November 16, 2006.
The band was surprised at the length of "A Farewell to Arms" and "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" running over ten minutes, and wondered if their fans would "be able to get their heads around" what the band was doing. Record company Roadrunner Records hesitated the band's decision to open the album with a ten and a half minute song ("Clenching the Fists of Dissent"), and asked the band questions similar to "Are you sure you don’t want to get into something a little more direct?" The band disregarded the comment and believed the song set the tone
musically for the remainder of the album.
Flynn said "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" and "Wolves" were the most difficult songs to construct. For "Clenching", he attributed the difficulty to the amount of tracks
; the introduction of the song has 90, including multiple three-part harmony
with two guitars, 20 tracks of snare drum
, four tracks of kick drum, and military marching cymbal
s. The song continues with five electric guitars, three acoustic guitars
and two bass guitars. Another song that Flynn described as difficult was "Wolves"; "it's all got to be super tight; there were so many riffs that had to be just locked on down picking". Mark Keaton provided audio engineering
, and Colin Richardson
mixed
the record in London.
Flynn believes the band was naive about the length of songs, and was unconcerned if they would be suitable for radio or MTV
, as the band purposely did not want to receive airplay. "Now I Lay Thee Down" has a chorus Flynn describes as "poppy
" and added "fucked up lyrics" about one person killing another, and then committing suicide. This was to make the song not suitable for airplay as the band wanted to make a "dark epic record".
", is a retaliation that captures the band's anger towards an article written by William Grim for the conservative web site Iconoclast. Titled "Aesthetics of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance", the article praised the murder of Dimebag Darrell by Nathan Gale
, while Darrell was performing with Damageplan
on December 8, 2004. Grim wrote Darrell was "an ignorant, barbaric, untalented possessor of a guitar" who looks "more simian
than human" and is "part of a generation that has confused sputum with art and involuntary reflex actions with emotion". After reading the article, Flynn was furious and wrote the song to send a message to Grim implying "fuck you", and pay tribute to Dimebag. He created a post on the band's message board soon after the event describing his friendship with Dimebag.
The songs "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", "A Farewell To Arms", and "Halo" deal with politics, the war in Iraq and organized religion, respectively. The band wrote the lyrics about the Iraq war after conducting research and found that "a lot of stuff does not add up", according to Flynn, which angered the band. Machine Head's debut album, Burn My Eyes
, featured a similar song titled "A Thousand Lies" which dealt with the Gulf War
. "Slanderous" deals with hate that still exists throughout society and "Wolves" addresses the band's competitive "winner takes all" spirit. "Now I Lay Thee Down" features a Romeo and Juliet
-esque love story about one person killing another person, and then killing themself. The song relates to the William Shakespeare play, Romeo & Juliet, where at the end of the story, two lovers kill themselves because they assume that their lover is dead. The original lyrics to the chorus of the song were considered "poppy" by Flynn and his band-mates so they intentionally changed them into the lyrics they are now so they wouldn't get radio play.
reviewer Don Kaye awarded the album an almost perfect score of 9.5 out of 10, saying: "one of the purest, finest, most powerful expressions of modern heavy metal released". Kaye praised the guitar work of Flynn and Demmel on the tracks "Beautiful Mourning" and "Aesthetics of Hate", and thought the band members surpassed their musical ability in an "intense and dynamic way".
Thom Jurek of Allmusic described the album as "an over the top rage and pummelfest with all the qualities that earned the group its enormous fan base by touring and recording" and that the thrash metal element "rivals Slayer
at their best". Rock Sound
magazine reviewer Eleanor Goodman awarded the album 9 out of 10, praising the first two minutes of the opening song, "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", as "a full-on old-skool thrash attack".
Not all reviews were positive. J.D. Considine of Blender
felt the lyrics were "cribbed from comic books". Rolling Stone
reviewer Andy Greene and James Jam of NME
responded to the album negatively. Greene was displeased with the length of songs running over nine minutes comparing them to "three Load
-era Metallica outtakes strung together". Jam described the album as "no return to form" and that it made you want to "dig out their 1994 debut album, Burn My Eyes
".
"Aesthetics of Hate" received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 50th Grammy Awards
, which took place on February 12, 2008, though heavily favored, they controversially lost to eventual winners Slayer
who had won the previous year for the same album. Other nominees in the category were King Diamond
, Shadows Fall
, and As I Lay Dying
. At the fifth annual Metal Hammer
Golden Gods awards and at the Kerrang!
Awards in 2007, The Blackening won best album over albums by Slayer and Lamb of God
.
3 years after the release of The Blackening, Machine Head wrapped their touring cycle for the album, finishing in Sydney, Australia on the 28th March. In February 2010, The Blackening was awarded the Album of the Decade award from Metal Hammer Magazine.
On October 8th 2011 the abum was named Roadrunner Records
"Album of the Century".
The Blackening was leaked on to the Internet two weeks before its release by an American journalist who received an advanced copy. Demmel thought it unfortunate, but that it created a "pre-buzz", as did Flynn who thought the buzz was nothing like the band had before; "There’s internet street buzz vs. record company hype
and if the hype matches up to the street buzz, then you’re seeing a lot of bands selling a lot of records in the first week". The Blackening became Machine Head's highest charting release in the United States, where it entered the Top Rock albums at No. 9, and the Billboard 200
at No. 54, (their highest charting and first week ever), with sales of almost 16,000 copies. This improved on the band's 2004 release, Through the Ashes of Empires, which sold 12,000 units in its first week, and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 88.
The album did exceptionally well overseas where it entered the Mainstream Top 20 in the German and Belgium charts at No. 12, No. 14 in Australia, No. 16 in the United Kingdom and No. 19 in Sweden. Charting positions below the Top 20 consisted of Ireland at No. 23, No. 29 in the Netherlands, No. 34 in France and No. 55 in Italy. The Blackening sold more copies in two weeks than Through the Ashes of Empires sold in three years.
and for propaganda
purposes. It features a skeleton on a throne that is standing on top of the world, and the words "The mirror which flatters not." Flynn thought "this whole record is like holding up a mirror to ourselves. It's talking about things that are going on now, but it's not necessarily specific to this time."
Three special editions of The Blackening were released: a two-LP gatefold
vinyl
, a two-disc special edition packaged in a silver foil-enhanced slipcase, with a bonus Metallica
cover added to the end of the album. The second disc was a DVD
featuring a video entitled The Making of The Blackening, and a 2006 tour diary of the Sounds of the Underground Tour. Both of these versions were released in 2007.
The third version, released in 2008, was a 3-disc set which came with the original album, a CD featuring various covers the band had recorded in the past, demos and other unreleased material and a DVD which featured various live performances of the band at festivals, the Burn My Eyes 10th anniversary show and music videos from The Blackening accompanied by their "making's of".
2007 special edition DVD
2008 special edition DVD
Production
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Machine Head
Machine Head (band)
Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. Formed on October 12, 1991, the group was founded by Robb Flynn and Adam Duce. There have been 4 member changes since their inception. The current lineup of the band comprises Flynn , Duce , ex-Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel ,...
. Released on March 27, 2007 in the U.S., The Blackening sold 16,000 units in its first week, and became Machine Head's second highest charting release at number 54 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, and charted in the Top 20 throughout many countries in the rest of the world. The album has been certified silver by the BPI for sales in the UK in excess of 60,000 copies.
The album's first single, "Aesthetics of Hate
Aesthetics of Hate
"Aesthetics of Hate" is a song by heavy metal band Machine Head from their sixth studio album The Blackening. Written by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robert Flynn, the song is a retaliation to an article written by William Grim. Grim wrote that late guitarist Dimebag Darrell was "an...
", is a retaliation to an article written by William Grim for the website Iconoclast. Titled "Aesthetics Of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance", the article praised the murder of musician Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
, while he was performing with the band Damageplan
Damageplan
Damageplan was an American heavy metal supergroup from Dallas, Texas that formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and later...
on December 8, 2004. Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn said the song was written as a "fuck you" to Grim and tribute to Dimebag. The song received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 50th Grammy Awards
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
. The text in the mirror of the album's cover reads "the mirror which flatters not." The song "Beautiful Mourning" has also been featured in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Metallica is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009 and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, 2009, with a European release in May 2009...
as a playable song.
Background
The inaugural song written for Machine Head's follow up to their 2004 release Through the Ashes of EmpiresThrough the Ashes of Empires
-US edition bonus track:*This song did not appear on the original worldwide release, but was added on the US release to make up for the wait for the album...
was entitled "Godfather 4". This was in reference to a guitar riff in the song which vocalist Robert Flynn
Robert Flynn
Robb Flynn is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the heavy metal band Machine Head...
felt had "a Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
type vibe". The song was shelved, although the riff resurfaced in a b-side. "Slanderous" was the first song finished that was in the final track listing. By February 2005, Machine Head had penned rough versions of "Beautiful Mourning" and "Aesthetics of Hate".
Recording
A November 2005 demo contained thirteen songs, which included rough versions of "Aesthetics of Hate" and "Halo". "Aesthetics of Hate" contained what Flynn described as a "totally fucking lame 'Angel of DeathAngel of Death (song)
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi ″physician″ Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during...
' rip off. I hated it every time we played it so I was glad to see that part go!" In mid August 2006, Machine Head announced that the title of their sixth studio effort would be The Blackening. Flynn and drummer Dave McClain spent August 18 and 19 jamming together, fine tuning songs chosen for the album and performing pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
. Phil Demmel resumed lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
duties and Adam Duce returned as bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
.
Machine Head entered Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
on August 21 to begin recording The Blackening, with Flynn assuming production duties for the second time. From twenty six written songs, the selection was whittled down to eight. McClain completed the drum tracks to six of the eight tracks on August 25, followed by the remaining two the next day. Tracking concluded on November 16, 2006.
The band was surprised at the length of "A Farewell to Arms" and "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" running over ten minutes, and wondered if their fans would "be able to get their heads around" what the band was doing. Record company Roadrunner Records hesitated the band's decision to open the album with a ten and a half minute song ("Clenching the Fists of Dissent"), and asked the band questions similar to "Are you sure you don’t want to get into something a little more direct?" The band disregarded the comment and believed the song set the tone
Tone (literature)
Tone is a literary technique that is a part of composition, which encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work. Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, guilty, condescending, or many other possible attitudes...
musically for the remainder of the album.
Flynn said "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" and "Wolves" were the most difficult songs to construct. For "Clenching", he attributed the difficulty to the amount of tracks
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
; the introduction of the song has 90, including multiple three-part harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
with two guitars, 20 tracks of snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, four tracks of kick drum, and military marching cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s. The song continues with five electric guitars, three acoustic guitars
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
and two bass guitars. Another song that Flynn described as difficult was "Wolves"; "it's all got to be super tight; there were so many riffs that had to be just locked on down picking". Mark Keaton provided audio engineering
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, and Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums, and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres such as:*Anathema*As I Lay Dying*Behemoth*Bullet for My Valentine...
mixed
Production sound mixer
A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production using professional audio equipment, for later...
the record in London.
Flynn believes the band was naive about the length of songs, and was unconcerned if they would be suitable for radio or MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, as the band purposely did not want to receive airplay. "Now I Lay Thee Down" has a chorus Flynn describes as "poppy
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
" and added "fucked up lyrics" about one person killing another, and then committing suicide. This was to make the song not suitable for airplay as the band wanted to make a "dark epic record".
Lyrical themes
Lyrical themes explored on The Blackening include love, war, organized religion, anger in society and Machine Head's "winner take all" spirit. The album's first single, "Aesthetics of HateAesthetics of Hate
"Aesthetics of Hate" is a song by heavy metal band Machine Head from their sixth studio album The Blackening. Written by Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robert Flynn, the song is a retaliation to an article written by William Grim. Grim wrote that late guitarist Dimebag Darrell was "an...
", is a retaliation that captures the band's anger towards an article written by William Grim for the conservative web site Iconoclast. Titled "Aesthetics of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance", the article praised the murder of Dimebag Darrell by Nathan Gale
Nathan Gale
Nathan M. Gale was a former American Marine who is known for having murdered former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others during a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa Villa club in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004.-Life:Nathan M. Gale was born in Calumet City, Illinois, and raised...
, while Darrell was performing with Damageplan
Damageplan
Damageplan was an American heavy metal supergroup from Dallas, Texas that formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and later...
on December 8, 2004. Grim wrote Darrell was "an ignorant, barbaric, untalented possessor of a guitar" who looks "more simian
Simian
The simians are the "higher primates" familiar to most people: the Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, , and the New World monkeys or platyrrhines. Simians tend to be larger than the "lower primates" or prosimians.- Classification and evolution :The simians are split into three groups...
than human" and is "part of a generation that has confused sputum with art and involuntary reflex actions with emotion". After reading the article, Flynn was furious and wrote the song to send a message to Grim implying "fuck you", and pay tribute to Dimebag. He created a post on the band's message board soon after the event describing his friendship with Dimebag.
The songs "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", "A Farewell To Arms", and "Halo" deal with politics, the war in Iraq and organized religion, respectively. The band wrote the lyrics about the Iraq war after conducting research and found that "a lot of stuff does not add up", according to Flynn, which angered the band. Machine Head's debut album, Burn My Eyes
Burn My Eyes
-Australian tour edition:The following songs consisted entirely of the Burn My Eyes Demo.-Re-release:On October 31st 2006, Roadrunner Records announced that as part of their 25th Anniversary, they will be re-releasing Burn My Eyes with a bonus CD, which includes previously unreleased tracks and...
, featured a similar song titled "A Thousand Lies" which dealt with the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. "Slanderous" deals with hate that still exists throughout society and "Wolves" addresses the band's competitive "winner takes all" spirit. "Now I Lay Thee Down" features a Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
-esque love story about one person killing another person, and then killing themself. The song relates to the William Shakespeare play, Romeo & Juliet, where at the end of the story, two lovers kill themselves because they assume that their lover is dead. The original lyrics to the chorus of the song were considered "poppy" by Flynn and his band-mates so they intentionally changed them into the lyrics they are now so they wouldn't get radio play.
Reception
The Blackening was met with positive critical reviews in the metal community. Blabbermouth.netBlabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
reviewer Don Kaye awarded the album an almost perfect score of 9.5 out of 10, saying: "one of the purest, finest, most powerful expressions of modern heavy metal released". Kaye praised the guitar work of Flynn and Demmel on the tracks "Beautiful Mourning" and "Aesthetics of Hate", and thought the band members surpassed their musical ability in an "intense and dynamic way".
Thom Jurek of Allmusic described the album as "an over the top rage and pummelfest with all the qualities that earned the group its enormous fan base by touring and recording" and that the thrash metal element "rivals Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
at their best". Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine reviewer Eleanor Goodman awarded the album 9 out of 10, praising the first two minutes of the opening song, "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", as "a full-on old-skool thrash attack".
Not all reviews were positive. J.D. Considine of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
felt the lyrics were "cribbed from comic books". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reviewer Andy Greene and James Jam of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
responded to the album negatively. Greene was displeased with the length of songs running over nine minutes comparing them to "three Load
Load (album)
Load is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on June 4, 1996 through Elektra Records, it sold 680,000 units in its first week and debuted at #1 on Billboard 200. The album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is certified 5x platinum by the RIAA...
-era Metallica outtakes strung together". Jam described the album as "no return to form" and that it made you want to "dig out their 1994 debut album, Burn My Eyes
Burn My Eyes
-Australian tour edition:The following songs consisted entirely of the Burn My Eyes Demo.-Re-release:On October 31st 2006, Roadrunner Records announced that as part of their 25th Anniversary, they will be re-releasing Burn My Eyes with a bonus CD, which includes previously unreleased tracks and...
".
"Aesthetics of Hate" received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 50th Grammy Awards
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
, which took place on February 12, 2008, though heavily favored, they controversially lost to eventual winners Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
who had won the previous year for the same album. Other nominees in the category were King Diamond
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...
, Shadows Fall
Shadows Fall
Shadows Fall is an American heavy metal band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. They are one of the few contemporary metal bands who take their lyrical influence from Eastern philosophy and some references to the Rastafari culture...
, and As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying (band)
As I Lay Dying is an American metalcore band from San Diego, California. Founded in 2000 by Tim Lambesis and having completed their first Line-up in 2001, the band consists of vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, lead guitarist Nick Hipa, rhythm guitarist Phil Sgrosso, and bassist Josh...
. At the fifth annual Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
Golden Gods awards and at the Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
Awards in 2007, The Blackening won best album over albums by Slayer and Lamb of God
Lamb of God (band)
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994, the group consists of vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, bassist John Campbell, and drummer Chris Adler...
.
3 years after the release of The Blackening, Machine Head wrapped their touring cycle for the album, finishing in Sydney, Australia on the 28th March. In February 2010, The Blackening was awarded the Album of the Decade award from Metal Hammer Magazine.
On October 8th 2011 the abum was named Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
"Album of the Century".
Chart performance
Promotion (marketing)
Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision....
and if the hype matches up to the street buzz, then you’re seeing a lot of bands selling a lot of records in the first week". The Blackening became Machine Head's highest charting release in the United States, where it entered the Top Rock albums at No. 9, and the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
at No. 54, (their highest charting and first week ever), with sales of almost 16,000 copies. This improved on the band's 2004 release, Through the Ashes of Empires, which sold 12,000 units in its first week, and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 88.
The album did exceptionally well overseas where it entered the Mainstream Top 20 in the German and Belgium charts at No. 12, No. 14 in Australia, No. 16 in the United Kingdom and No. 19 in Sweden. Charting positions below the Top 20 consisted of Ireland at No. 23, No. 29 in the Netherlands, No. 34 in France and No. 55 in Italy. The Blackening sold more copies in two weeks than Through the Ashes of Empires sold in three years.
Cover art and special edition
The artwork for The Blackening was designed by Robb Flynn, longtime Machine Head collaborator Paul Brown, and Deanna Alcorn. Based on a metal carving in the 16th century, these carvings were used to scare people about going to HellHell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
and for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
purposes. It features a skeleton on a throne that is standing on top of the world, and the words "The mirror which flatters not." Flynn thought "this whole record is like holding up a mirror to ourselves. It's talking about things that are going on now, but it's not necessarily specific to this time."
Three special editions of The Blackening were released: a two-LP gatefold
Gatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, a two-disc special edition packaged in a silver foil-enhanced slipcase, with a bonus Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
cover added to the end of the album. The second disc was a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
featuring a video entitled The Making of The Blackening, and a 2006 tour diary of the Sounds of the Underground Tour. Both of these versions were released in 2007.
The third version, released in 2008, was a 3-disc set which came with the original album, a CD featuring various covers the band had recorded in the past, demos and other unreleased material and a DVD which featured various live performances of the band at festivals, the Burn My Eyes 10th anniversary show and music videos from The Blackening accompanied by their "making's of".
Track listing
2008 bonus disc2007 special edition DVD
2008 special edition DVD
Personnel
Machine Head- Robb FlynnRobert FlynnRobb Flynn is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the heavy metal band Machine Head...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Dave McClain – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Adam Duce – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Phil Demmel – guitar
Production
- Mark Keaton – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Colin RichardsonColin RichardsonColin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums, and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres such as:*Anathema*As I Lay Dying*Behemoth*Bullet for My Valentine...
– mixingRe-recording mixerA re-recording mixer, formerly known as a dubbing mixer, is a person who is part of a post-production sound team and works specifically with dialog, music and sound effects to create the final soundtrack for a production... - Matt Hyde – mixing
- Robb Flynn – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Chart positions
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
14 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
19 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... ) |
52 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 74 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
22 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 33 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
36 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
12 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
23 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
36 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 79 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
19 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
29 |
| UK Album Chart | 16 |
| The Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
54 |
| Rock Albums Chart | 15 |
| Tastemakers Albums Chart | 9 |