Following the global acclaim of 2003’s Through the Ashes of Empires, Robb Flynn and Machine Head set out to create a follow-up that would cement their place at the forefront of modern metal.

The album took many shapes before the band ultimately shed all external expectations and wrote purely for themselves.

This resulted in politically-charged epics like “Clenching the Fist of Dissent” and “A Farewell to Arms,” along with deeply personal explorations of mental health and grief in “Beautiful Mourning” and “Aesthetics of Hate.”

Machine Head also showcase some of the most intricate arrangements and technical performances of their career, especially on standout tracks like “Wolves” and the now-iconic “Halo.”

Please join us this week as we celebrate Machine Head’s 2007 masterpiece, The Blackening

Recommendations:

Innumerable Forms - Pain Effulgence

Defacement - Doomed

Mizmor - Mnemonic: Ambient Mosaic

Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services

Deliquesce - Saviour / Enslaver

Sanguisugabogg - Hideous Aftermath

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Check out our Official Playlists:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Riffs on Repeat (Spotify)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hits from the Crypt (Apple)