TIME really does fly. It has been a decade since Machine Head released this tour de force of an album. Bloodstone and Diamonds landed back then with an almighty thud of a paratropper’s boot and it still retains its vitaity after all these years.
Grand and ambitious in its scope, this eight studio album by the San Francisco outfit cemented their already stellar reputation within the genre, bolstered by previous exceptional releases. These included the incendiary debut Burn My Eyes in 1994 and The Blackening in 2007, both widely considered to be heavy metal classics.
Good albums generally stand the test of time. Great albums though can be genre defining.
Is this album worthy of the latter accolade? Similar to other genre-defining records such as Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast or Black Sabbath’s eponymous debut?
Probably not but it does make a very strong case, especially when it retains all of its raw vitality and visceral power in today’s ultra–competitive metal universe. Streaming services has made much extreme music, once the sole purview of the underground scene, much more accessible. The modern music consumer is much more exposed and dialled into fringe genres.
With this being the band’s highest charting album, reaching a lofty number 21 on the US Billboard 200 on its initial release, this will very likely pop up as a “random” recommendation on playlists of listeners who show an inclination of interest in the “noisier” selections.
Would a first-time listener be impressed?
When the albums is packed full of solid tunes that touch upon themes of social injustice and global meltdown on every level of society, it should resonate well with modern listeners.
While the album bears all the hallmarks of Machine Head’s traditional boot-in-your-face stomp, there are moments when Rob Flynn and co sound more like a classic power metal band, such as on tracks like Night of the Long Knives, which was inspired the Manson family murders.
The groove laden Beneath the Silt is a fine example of a band that has mastered the art of inducing violent mosh pits at live shows. Suffice to say, there is plenty to enjoy on this album that clocks in at an epic 70 minutes.
The vinyl edition splits the tunes onto two records and the rare picture disc edition does not seem to suffer from the normal audio shortcomings that bug such pressings. Tracks like the crushing opener Now We Die and the equally epic Killers and Kings jump out at listeners with all the ferocity of a pack of wild wolves, inviting all within earshot to indulge in some spontaneous headbanging.
This was the band’s first release on the Nuclear Blast label and produced by band leader FLynn with regular co-conspirators Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap manning the studio consoles. The latter two are legendary in metal circles for their production, engineering and mixing nous. Richardson has worked with the likes of Carcass and Bolt Thrower while Sneap was part of UK thrash pioneers Sabbat. With resumes like those, it was a given this record would be ultra-heavy but what sets this album apart from its contemporaries, indeed even against current releases, is its variety. There is a lightness of touch at just the right moments all over the record allowing it to rise above the competition.
It is most certainly a modern classic that demands the attention of music fans who appreciate the heavier end of the spectrum and also of tunes that that can provoke some intellectual thought.
Bloodstone and Diamonds can be enjoyed on all major streaming sites. The special edition picture disc vinyl edition can be found online.
