Catharsis

While on some level Catharsis pretended to continue the increased level of musical proficiency and effectiveness Machine Head had begun to achieve with a few of the albums before it, on almost every other level it's a dumpster fire. When I first put this record in, I got the impression that it was some group of 14 year old metalcore kids who had picked up a copy of The Blackening and decided to pay it tribute along with with a little Killswitch Engage and maybe a handful of their favorite melodeath bands. The cover art looks exactly like something they would think of. The lyrics are beyond dumb, puerile translations of whatever Robb could look up on the news to become outraged that morning, and the music, while fast and often fairly adept in technicality alone, rings hollow on almost all fronts and is immediately forgettable. Whatever steps towards maturity and memorability the Californians had taken with their material starting the previous decade seemed to have now been sidelined for what is worth little more than soulless dreck. I bet Nuclear Blast was pretty thrilled when their lucrative new contract shat this one on their second outing.

For whatever reason, Machine Head seemed to bring back a little too much of the pure nu metal nonsense on cuts like the titular "Catharsis"? No matter how much you try to dress it up with that emotional soft pop side, once that groove comes out I feel like I'm stuck in a room full of dead air and ideas that were never that interesting the first time this band failed at them. The Pantera influence is also here in full force once again, and it's even funnier when they mix in their rap metal stuff as with the track "California Bleeding", one of the dumbest fucking songs I've heard while writing this blog, which no dirty rock & roll chorus is going to save. Other songs like "Triple Beam" are just dumb pandering grooves with bad hip hoppy verses and then tasteless early 00s alt rock chorus parts which the band must think is going to help them sell records. And maybe that's what happened, and I'm a grumpy old dude who is out of the loop, but personally I've never met anyone with a single positive thing to say about Catharsis. One other irritant here is that the band clearly had a hard on for the pop-infused hardcore & metalcore we were hearing out of both the US & UK 5-10 years ago, and you can tell by the light synth touches they throw into cuts like "Catharsis" and "Kaleidoscope". Say what you will about those bands, they pulled it off better than this one can.

Of course, Robb had to spread his bleeding & beaten wings a little further here with "Behind a Mask" or "Bastards", which sound like some dopey acoustic track Aaron Lewis of Staind would right...but what the latter grows into, some weird anthemic fusion of The Dropkick Murphys and the Beatles, in which Robb tries to embrace minorities into the Machine Head fanbase while dropping sarcastic slurs at them, is the sappiest 'what the fuck' moment I've probably heard from any of these high profile nu metal bands. 'NO NO NO, NO NO FUCK NO, NO NO NO!' Do you want a Machine F**king Head High Five for your pedestrian protest anthem? 'GET YOUR MIDDLE FINGERS IN THE AIR AND SING, THEY CAN'T IGNORE US ANYMORE.' Reading these lyrics makes me feel like I'm in the midst of the rave scene in that Matrix sequel, only with worse music and surrounded by a bunch of edgy caricatures of cartoon PSAs with their capes flapping around in Robb's posterior wind. I'm all for people expressing social and political opinions that they feel strongly about, don't get me wrong, but try to do it with a little tact and nuance rather than overt cliches, condescension and reductionist stereotypes that do nobody any good.

To be fair there are other themes here being tackled with more personal, less obnoxious lyrics, but even then you're guaranteed to have some extremely weak musical idea fouling up whatever rare catchy bit they might have accidentally stumbled upon. There is approximately one song here, "Heavy Lies the Crown", which would actually be a half-decent mid-paced Swedish melodeath tune if it didn't have Robb's vocals or lyrics anywhere near it. The production is fine, the boys can still play, but ultimately, Catharsis is just one goofy, convoluted mess that feels half Midlife Crisis and half I Wrote These Songs in My Garage While Inhaling Fumes Because I'm Too High to Realize That I Left the Engine Running. It is, for my wallet, the worst Machine Head studio album, and I'd rather have all my body hair peeled off with masking tape while being forced to endure The Burning Red and Supercharger before ever listening to it again.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I will admit Machine Head was the jam during my high school years. I loved "The Blackening," and "Unto the Locust" and were one of the bands that fueled my love for metal. However, Machine Head noticeably dipped in quality and that became noticeable in the single "Is There Anybody Out There?" A single written after Robby Flynn witnessed the controversy of Phillip Anselmo shouting "White Power" on stage with a nazi salute. That's right! Rather than talk to Anselmo like a mature adult, he went for a petty way of dealing with the situation. This is where "Catharsis" comes in. A perfect example of what not to do with your music and how turning a band with mutual contributions to the music can switch to a dictatorship attitude. Seriously, how do you fuck up an album with the purpose of revolution? I use "Catharsis" as an example of what not to do with your band, and what not do with your lyrics, but more on that later. This album is so insulting and terrible that I'm surprised that it wasn't banned for indecent exposure.

If there's one thing I can give credit to with "Catharsis" is that at least the music is trying to sound good. A lot of that is from Phil Demmel's performance in the album. Whatever remotely good happens in the music is through Phil Demmel's guitar performance and it's groovy and aggressive, but alas that is not enough to save the sinking ship that is "Catharsis." Even from here, you can tell that this sounds similar to Slipknot and other nu-metal bands which honestly sound much better than this.

Of course, the biggest black mark to ever happen to "Catharsis" is Robb Flynn himself. Phil Demmel had said in an interview that a lot of the music he wrote was great to him, but Robb Flynn managed to make things worse for them by turning those riffs and music into musical revolution. Demmel then said in a later interview that some of his music was rejected during the production of "Catharsis." Not only is this showing Robb Flynn's Egotistical, selfish attitude, but quickly turned Machine Head into a solo project. This is understandable why Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain left the band shortly after the "Catharsis" tour. So Robb Flynn made this album incredibly bad after being clouded by his own ego. This is a lesson for people who are starting their own band, don't let your ego cloud your judgment and remember that a band is a team effort.

The biggest insult that "Catharsis" brought is in the lyrics. These are by far the worst lyrics I've ever heard in my life. These lyrics are so god awful that it makes Korn's lyrics sound sophisticated. You be the judge on how bad these lyrics really are based on the song "Triple Beam."

"My dealer trusted nobody,
make you take a test.
See if you would rat him out,
or stab him in the chest.

He'd make you suck the Glass-Dick,
called it "dragon's breath".
Smoke a giant hit of speed,
prove you weren't the feds."

Apart from that barn burner, and the shitty tribute to Lemmy - "I'm eatin' pussy by a dumpster,
beard stinking like snatch" - a lot of the album is politically driven. However, it's incredibly hamfisted, poorly paced, and too blatantly obvious. He attacks Donald Trump, Kim Jong-Un, Racists, and pretty much the entire world with incoherent structure and lack of catchiness within the lyrics that are written. This album is also hypocritical because Robb Flynn (who writes this music against racism) uses racist insensitive stereotypical words like the N-Word in "Bastards," Spics in "Razorblade Smile" and insulted California with "California Bleeding." To sum it all up, this album's lyrics are insensitive, incredibly idiotic, poorly executed, and incredibly plagued with cliched, overused lines. The only positive thing to say about the lyrics is that its a perfect example of how not to write lyrics. Its quite obvious that Flynn wrote these lyrics out of rage, but the lesson here is that rage can cloud your thinking and can speed up your writing process fast. Slow and steady wins the race is half the success of writing lyrics, and unfortunately "Catharsis" looks like it was rushed and not well thought out.

Robb Flynn's performance on this "Catharsis" is incredibly abysmal. He's whining in this music and sounds decrepit, and a lot of that is made worse in "Bastards" where he tries to sound hopeful and revolutionary, but he just sounds like he just doesn't give a shit. Whenever he uses the spoken word it's noticeable that he doesn't give a shit and comes off as laid back as opposed to proving a point. Robby Flynn sounds like he used the majority of his energy on his lyrics rather than put any effort to sound politically charged. Whenever he does use his typical aggressive sound just sounds again decrepit which also shows Flynn's age.

Another really terrible thing about "Catharsis" is how long it is. This clocks in at 74 minutes, making for an endurance test of who will go insane first. A lot of the political, drug-related dumbass songs are crammed together and are unnecessary for this album. In this case, less is more, and you can only fit so much into one album that isn't related to what you're talking about in an album. Especially when we live in an age where the kid's attention span is abysmal. The least Robb Flynn could have done is make it into a political concept album that way the album could have been 50 minutes long at best. Whoever listens to this album to the very end is a brave soul, because this is indeed too long then it needed to be.

The worst part about "Catharsis" is that it actually sold well internationally. It ended up being #3 in the Germany Charts, #4 in the Swiss Charts, #3 in the Austrian Charts, and #12 in the UK charts. This is another example of selling out your quality of music and dignity for the purpose to sell a lot of records. That seems to be the tragedy of the music industry where artistic statements and authenticity are being left out for money. Machine Head did not purposely think about their bank accounts, but this album shows how poor quality this sounds.

So what can we learn from the "Catharsis" fiasco? This is an album to be shown to aspiring musicians on what not to do with their music, their band, and they're lyrics and not even in a decent way. Take writing music slowly, and don't let your ego get the better of you, otherwise, you'll end up like Robby Flynn turning Machine Head into his own personal project. I have never seen a bigger fall from grace than Robby Flynn. I do give him credit to be politically driven, and revolutionary, but he screwed up Machine Head big time with this. If it wasn't for his effort to have the slightest ounce of concept, and for the rest of the band's effort trying to make it sound plausible, then I would have rated this album a 0. Half of the members left him behind which was the smart thing to do because ol' Robby Flynn might have pulled a career suicide. A man who is buried by his own ego, power, and immaturity led "Catharsis" to disaster and humiliation. He should have asked Bob Dylan for advice...

Machine Head is a tragedy of an act. Birthed from the ashes of Vio-Lence, and armed with the potential to be a force in their selected path, they must have seemed like a major player in the new wave of no-bullshit, teeth grinding, shit kicker metal in the 90's, and moving forward.

But let's call a spade a spade. Machine Head has always been the undisputed kings of trend-hopping, riding the coattails of far more talented artists, and buying into whatever fads and ideas are prevailing in society at any given time. Take one look at their discography at-large (at your own discretion) and the writing is on the walls. And you won't witness this more clearly than on their so-called record, "Catharsis".

The ringleader of this circus, Robb Flynn, has outdone himself on this (lack of) effort. From attacking the "bigoted" metal scene, and world at large, with unabashed finger-pointing, to once more steering his merry band of miscreants in the musical direction of a Dropkick Murphy's cover band in a local dive bar, this collection of glorified slam poetry can only be characterized as a grown man's futile attempt to relate to the growing movement of social justice and pseudo-political discord among the college youth of the age.

Pseudo-symbolic racial slurs (that he swore he'd never say), contrived song structure from the ground level on up, and an atmosphere caked thick with delusion, you've got a real piece of work here. You know you've reached a creative black hole when your goal is to be edgy to sell records. Apparently, their nu-metal mentality never left after "Supercharger". I won't go into any song specifics, because there is nothing of merit to report. Multiple attempts at digging for a proverbial light in the dark have fallen flat time and time again. If Machine Head ever "had it", they lost it, and lost it hard. It's a shame, too. This record ended up being Phil Demmel and Dave McClain's swansong with the band, the two members who actually have talent. Overall, it's probably for the best. You've got to abandon ship when you have the chance, especially when it's sinking this fast.

If there is anything remotely redeemable about this record, it's that "Catharsis" will stand as an example of what NOT to do with your band. The concept of revolution for the sake of revolution is laughable, especially coming from an aging man who is suffocated by his own hypocrisy at every turn. This is the memoir of Robb Flynn, a man who wishes he was his more successful peers, and attempts to christen himself as divine to compensate. In his own eyes, he can do no wrong, and he's out to call the world out on it's bullshit that he swears he has never perpetuated. Forget your gods or countries, put your faith in him. This act works on high school kids who don't know any better, and it's mildly depressing to imagine anyone over the age of eighteen taking a second of this, or him, seriously.

"Catharsis". A front-runner for one of the worst albums of all-time, from a front-runner for one of the most laughable bands of all-time. Avoid at all costs. Donate the money you would buy this album with to your local charities instead.

The old adage of separating the art from the artist seems a tired cliche in need of retirement at times, especially when dealing with those creative individuals who love controversy like a spider monkey on Viagra does the first thing it can mount. Nevertheless, it is a fairly good rule to follow, in spite of how rarely it is followed consistently by most, as a lot of pretentious men have crafted some works that are at least worthy of their egos. In keeping with this, all of the peripheral issues surrounding the likes of Robb Flynn, from his ongoing feud with arguably his only metallic muse Phil Anselmo (KoRn and Limp Bizkit naturally don't qualify) to his lesser known tit for tat with former Machine Head bassist Adam Duce (who can't seem to get a life and is the only musician associated with the band to have not produced anything else in the metal style), are not under consideration regarding the sad, sordid, sonic mess of slop that is this band's ninth LP Catharsis.

Nothing says "I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks, I'm gonna be me" like pissing away the redemptive stylistic evolution that was going on for the past 10 years and revisiting the nu-metal craze of the late 90s that most of your fans utterly hate. Unfortunately for Flynn and company, good music doesn't necessarily follow when one bucks a trend, and this album not sounding like most of what is going on these days in metal is the only thing it has going for it. There is scarcely a trace of thrash metal riffing to be found on this bloated, overlong collection of misses and even wider misses, save a few trace smatterings here and there, usually giving way to awkward "melodic" sections that muffle whatever thunder has been achieved. Truth be told, about the only thing that was really held over from the admirably decent fury of Unto The Locust and Bloodstone & Diamonds is some fairly fancy guitar soloing courtesy of Phil Demmel, though it serves little purpose other than pouring sugar onto a massive excrement sandwich.

The first impression that this album gives, even when at its most ludicrous, is one of professionalism given the mixing job this thing received is about as polished and modern as they come. Its a double-edged sword though, as the clarity and balance given to Flynn's clean vocal work makes him come off as a gelded pop vocalist, particularly on the heavily orchestrated nu-metal meets pop/rock romp and title song "Catharsis", one of the most bizarrely grotesque yet flawlessly presented abominations to role out of Machine Head's rectum. The cringe factor does increase even further with the rapping/slam poetry meets Limp Bizkit rot of "Triple Beam", while the hypnotic acoustic droning of "Behind A Mask" and the pop-infused attempt at aping John Mellencamp with the occasional metal twist in "Bastards" kicks it into full overdrive, causing one to cease in asking what these guys were thinking and start asking what kind of phallus screwed their brains into oatmeal.

There are a handful of attempts at metallic bluster that fall far short in totality, yet outshine the rest all the same. The opening semi-cruiser "Volatile" is peppered with some really lousy shouted vocals out of Flynn that are way too reminiscent of Jonathan Davis, but it manages to cook for the majority of its duration at an upper mid-pace and features a moderately animated set of down-tuned groove riffs. "California Bleeding" takes a similarly up tempo approach to lesser success as the vocals are even more gimpy and nu-metal infused, and they go a bit too heavy on the guitar squeals. On the groovier side of things is "Screaming At The Sun", which shifts between being an Alice In Chains emulation with thinner clean vocal harmonies that sound less menacing and more childish, but the guitar work and grinding heaviness of the rhythm section does manage to grab the ears every now and again. None of these songs really come off as solid, but rather schizophrenic with some traces of effective craziness, and apart from the somewhat more consistent thrasher "Razorblade Smile" (which still comes with the cringe-infused vocal baggage), stand as the least terrible of what is a horrendous retread of a past best forgotten.

If there is any objective way to sum up precisely what this album is, it could be seen as a missing link between the almost nu-metal leaning The More Things Change... and the overt nu-metal rubbish of The Burning Red, but packaged in a way conducive to the sonic character of their most recent work. It sits pretty snugly between both albums in terms of overall quality, being more guitar oriented and technical than the early exploits of KoRn and Limp Bizkit, but almost equally as unbearable to the metal-obsessed ear. Though it's a foregone conclusion that Flynn himself will attest to this musical abortion as being a grand statement regarding current events, but lyrics aside, the more obvious answer is a baffling attempt to cash out by combining said subject matter with a musical fad that would be best left in the septic tank of history. Given the initial sales of this barely managed to hit the halfway mark of what Bloodstone & Diamonds managed to move, it'll likely be remembered as one of the dumbest stylistic pivots in metal history.

I should probably put in a disclaimer that I have never liked Machine Head. I remember the hype that surrounded The Blackening when I was in high school and not understanding what the fuss was about despite my best efforts. Listening to their other albums has also failed to endear me to them, as even staples like Burn My Eyes and Through the Ashes of Empires are just average to my ears. That said, I suppose I should be thankful for Machine Head; there are few others that so efficiently illustrate the different degrees of how much a band can suck.

It’s also rare for a band to make an album this simultaneously eclectic and shallow. As tempting as it is to think of Catharsis as a Burning Red/Supercharger throwback, there’s thankfully a bit more going on than that stylistically. There are plenty of rap metal moments on the horrid “Triple Beam” and “Psychotic” among others, but you’ll also find elements of the thrash-tinged groovecore riffing associated with the band’s comeback era on “Heavy Lies the Crown,” while “Behind a Mask” and “Eulogy” provide more melodic odds and ends.

Unfortunately, the band lacks both the songwriting skill and confidence to make any of these ideas work. I’ll admit that the singles are easy to get in one’s head, but even on the slim chance that you’d like what these tracks are going for, the lazy structures make them hard sells. This is best demonstrated by “Bastards,” the album’s controversial centerpiece. Even if you’re one of the few people who intrigued by the idea of Machine Head pulling out a folk punk anthem, the execution is far too plodding for what should be a bouncy, defiant call to arms. The fact that there are fifteen songs on here just adds insult to injury.

Even sadder is the fact that the musicianship is still incredibly tight. The production puts all the instruments in perfect balance; the guitars, bass, and drums shine throughout and even the most awful songs are sustained by powerful tones and a good grip on tempo shifts. The musicians clearly put a lot of effort in making sure these structures were at least well-maintained, which only highlights how horrible the original blueprints are. I can only imagine how it must’ve felt to lay down such intricate patterns just to see them lose all credibility as soon as their fearless leader stepped up to the mic…

As everyone has already pointed out, the worst of Catharsis lies in guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn’s vocals and lyrics. But here’s the thing: his vocals and lyrics have always been the worst thing about Machine Head. His yells are toothless, his cleans are ungodly whiny, and his raps are cringeworthy, but they’ve been that way for nearly twenty-five years now. I suppose his flaws are accentuated by lyrics, which I find obnoxious even though I’m one of the SJW libtards he’s pandering to, but it really shouldn’t be that surprising. It also doesn’t help that he frequently contradicts his political attitudes with tales of drug abuse, violence, and other frat bro-isms.

Much like the alt-right surge that got Trump elected, Catharsis is merely the exposure of a seedy underbelly that’s always been there. As much as the excellent musicianship tries to save these wretched tunes, the album is a seventy-minute distillation of everything that has been wrong with Machine Head from their inception. It doesn’t share Supercharger’s rock bottom position, but any good intentions are marred by poor writing and worse deliveries. If the band survives this, they’ll likely end up back in good graces once they find a new trend to hop on. I will remain unconvinced. I admire what you told your sons, Mr. Flynn, but the bastards are still grinding you down and this is the soundtrack.

Highlights:
“Behind A Mask”
“Heavy Lies the Crown”

Originally published at http://indymetalvault.com

It was hard not to notice the absolutely terrible reception this album received from the outset. In fact, the backlash was so fervent and unanimously shared that it all made me a little skeptical. I just didn't think it was possible that a proven heavyweight like Machine Head could release such an unmitigated stinker at this point in their career.

So, for better or worse, I listened to it with an open, receptive attitude. Actively ready to highlight the things I liked about the record, rather than just immediately jumping aboard the slate train that has thus far absolutely destroyed this album. And the result is... I do not particularly like it.

And it's not the "anger" that so many people cite. After all, hearing Robb Flynn scream "fuck the world" to open the record really didn't feel so different from hearing him scream "fuck you all" at the start of track two of The Blackening, an album people incessantly whacked off over when it was released. Even with Aesthetics of Hate, as much as I agreed with the sentiment, I felt as though Robb was giving the target of the song too much acknowledgement. But that is who Robb Flynn is: he is an angry, honest dude. Even if it seems a little irrational at times. It's not something anyone can hold against him by now, as it's really fostered some great music over the years.

But it isn't really the anger that puts the listener off. It's the frontal assault of daft machismo. It's served up abundance here, but perhaps the worst examples are California Bleeding and Triple Beam. I actually really like the sentiment behind Triple Beam; for a socially conscious guy like Robb Flynn, a rugged anti-drug anthem is something we really should expect and as a concept it has quite a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the song itself is a sadly ham-fisted offering, completely lacking in nuance, that culminates in a knife fight between rival gangs told by way of drab, simplistic raps that could have been written by the Beastie Boys in 1989.

And California Bleeding just seems to be a first person account of a day in the life of a complete asshole. I don't know if it's meant to come off as gritty and confronting, but it seems to do nothing more than wallow in the protagonist's morally devoid behaviors for the sake of it.

Another notable misstep is Bastards. I recall reading something about a Dropkick Murphy's shout-out in regards to this album, which could have only been referring to this song, although with its repetitive and spirited strumming of a major chord progression it more reminds me of something Mumford and Sons might cough up.

So yes, most of aspects of this record that stand out do so for the wrong reasons. But, if I scored this album too low it would imply that it has absolutely no redeeming/appealing qualities whatsoever. This is not the case.

Behind a Mask is a decent ballad that actually succeeds in coming across as a sincere study of human regret. And Heavy Lies the Crown opens with a striking orchestral synth arrangement that slowly builds in mood and intensity, the first two verses delivered in a foreboding rasp. The lyrics paint a dark, ominous picture of the "Spider King" (Louis XI of France, apparently. Thanks, google), known as such due to his use of manipulation and deception as his stepping-stones to power.

Not only is the subject matter of this one properly interesting, but Robb and co actually demonstrate quite a bit of welcome restraint here, as they allow the song to build up towards its heavy, frenetic climax, before ending as it begun, on a quiet note. It clocks in at 9 minutes but it does not feel bloated or overlong. The buildup feels organic, and while Robb Flynn's rage shows up as sure as dandelions in springtime, it actually comes across as channeled and fierce as opposed to cheesy and forced. It is an absolute belter of a tune.

Given that these two come consecutively, you might be forgiven for getting your hopes up and thinking that Catharsis is on its way to a good, strong finish. Unfortunately, the song that follows, Psychotic, is everything the critics and pundits panned it for; as banal a nu-metal tune as you'll ever hear, complete with uninspired lyrics and a vocal delivery that tries way too hard to sound "demented".

Throughout the rest of the album expect to find a somewhat sparse smattering of genuinely catchy, head-knocking riffs, some political chest beating, a few silly pornographic lyrics and the odd poignant moment. Just don't expect it to be arranged in a way that sustains your interest. I'm not convinced that Machine Head have released the unmitigated stinker that everyone is saying it is, but it is by no means a strong album, especially compared to what we know they're capable of. That's why, at least as I see it, the criticism of this album is so dire. We all know they can do a lot better.

Machine Head is one of those bands I have followed throughout its ups and downs and it's never been a rock-steady relationship between me as a fan and them as a band. I became a fan around the time when The Blackening was happening and everybody was going apeshit over how good it was. From that point on I have been a faithful follower of their music ever since, even though I probably prefered the early stuff like Burn My Eyes from day one. The one thing about Machine Head that bothered me was their nu-metal phase (which I mostly despise) and even though this was long gone by the time I got into them, I couldn't help but feel like they were slowly going back towards that sound and style with every consecutive release post-2007. I explained this in greater detail in my reviews for Unto The Locust and Bloodstone & Diamonds respectively.

So where is Machine Head at now with Catharsis? Before I get to my personal opinion on this, I'd like to take a quick trip back to 2016 when the band released their controversial stand-alone single; Is Anybody Out There?. As most of you probably know by now, that single was aimed at the actions made by Phil Anselmo (a drunken nazi salute at some concert). Robb Flynn was at said concert and allegedly saw Anselmo's distasteful gesture in person. Instead of going face-to-face with Anselmo and berate him on the spot, Flynn instead opted to go home and aim this particular song indirectly towards Anselmo and the incident. So, to answer you on where Machine Head is at now, the answer is rather simple: at war with nazism and seemingly everything closely affiliated with it. That includes right-wing political sympathsizers (notably rednecks and the likes of it) as well as the current president of the USA; Donald Trump.

Now, I'm not the kind of person who judges a person by differing opinions towards my own, no less what you think of a president that isn't mine either. I've seen people starting to call out Machine Head for being "libtards" and whatever else but in all honesty, is anyone surprised by Flynn's political stance as of late? The guy was in a Bay-Area thrash band, a genre notorious for its left-wing ideologies. That's not a problem if you ask me, seeing as we all have opinions and rights to voice them. The only problem about Flynn's political stance is how he expresses it, which also happens to be this album's great flaw and ultimate dealbreaker, namely the lyrical content.

Many of us still remember the early-to-mid 2000's as being ruled by shitty, whiney and crying nu-metal and emo bands. At least I do. I'd like to think it all died out for obvious reasons but listening to Catharsis, I suddenly feel thrown back to 2002. The lyrics all over this record are the worst I have heard in a long time. I never thought a 50-year-old experienced man could be so convincing at seemingly being 15 again, but Flynn does a really good job at it. The lyrics are just filled with an overkilled dose of vulgarity which I suppose is to make the songs "really pissed off and a bit edgy". When putting on the record and the first thing you hear Flynn yell out is "fuck the world!", you can only start to brace yourself for the impending cringefest that lies ahead. Unfortunately, it carries on throughout the entire album. One way or another, whether it's the teen-angsty vulgarity or not, the lyrics leave you cringing at some point in basically every song. Flynn's ways of messaging the listeners just fall plain flat and it's extremely hard to take anything he says seriously. The worst example is probably found in the song "Razorblade Smile", where Flynn literally busts out the line "I'm eating pussy by a dumpster". That more or less sums of the lyrical quality of the entire album right there.

Musically speaking Catharsis isn't much of a high point for the band either. It's mostly a very bland and schizophrenic collection of tunes where most of them just sound uninspired or forced. When listening to this album you can tell that the music was put in second place in favor of the lyrical content, which is a damn shame considering how horrid the lyrical content is. Very few songs feel connected and as being part of the same album. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad trait if it's done in a smart way (Faith No More for instance), but as you can probably guess by now, such is not the case here. Most of the songs are either groovy like you'd expect or back to the band's old down-tuned nu-metal sound, much to my personal distaste. Some of the groovy songs do show some promise, however, but always fall flat when the shitty lyrics and/or Flynn's cringe-worthy rapping kicks in. A few tracks take a different route where "Bastards", for instance, is a Machine Head-esque take on a folk song. It's a bold move but I can't say that it works very well. "Grind You Down" is another example, and possibly also the worst, of how the band literally grinds several styles (nu-metal, growl and emo-whining) down into a musical mess. What little of worth there is to be found on Catharsis is basically butchered by other things.

Despite how I've felt towards the past two albums and the band seemingly going downhill musically, Catharsis has taken the band to an unimaginable low level since the last record. I didn't exactly have any higher hopes but I at least expected Machine Head to embrace the negative feedback they got on Is There Anybody Out There?, which ultimately proved to be a foreshadowing of this album's style and direction. On the other hand I applaude them for defying that bad reception and go their own way, even if it seems somewhat trend-hopping yet once again. After all, few bands have been as successful at jumping trends as Machine Head has. With this in mind, however, I know that many fans including myself aren't exactly happy about this. It's sad that a band of the musical capabilities that Machine Head possesses is wasting an opportunity by putting out such a half-assed effort, which basically serves no other purpose than to (unsuccessfully) fuel a cringeful manifest of bad lyrics. Especially considering how overambitious this album is with its 15 tracks and 75 minute run time. I believe they could've pulled this off so much better than they did, but it is what it is.

As I conclude this review only one question remains: has Machine Head finally committed a more imminent and unforgivable career suicide this time around? I for one know that I'm gonna have a hard time ever anticipating any new material from these guys ever again.

Okay, this thing just makes me sad. After all of the building Machine Head has done over the past decade and a half, they decide to smash most of that down with an album nobody was asking for. This is a mixture of the big, semi-orchestral sounds of Unto the Locust and Bloodstone and Diamonds mashed together with the horrific and awkward nu metal of The Burning Red and Supercharger. Catharsis tries to hold onto the past grand sound but also, mix in the style of some of their simplest and most unfortunate material ever devised which just feels wrong. After hearing the preceding single "Is There Anybody Out There" I got a bad feeling that Robb Flynn and company would be returning to the dreaded style of hybrid rap metal that ruined their credibility once in the past. I guess if anything, this is a sign that these guys probably aren't aware of how actively repellent the music they're making actually is.

The story behind the politics and style of this music is an interesting one. Anybody remember Dimebash 2016? When Phil Anselmo shouted a racist slogan and threw a Hitler salute? Robb Flynn took that as a betrayal and has apparently been moving back to nu metal as a way of sticking it to his former friend's racist views. I can only imagine the sudden rise of the radical right in the years leading up to this has only made him even more freaked out and as such, the album contains a lot of heavy handed politics as a reaction to the reactionaries. Now, protest music against corrupt conservatives is something that I welcome, but there is a difference between being "in your face" and just sounding preachy, and this is incredibly preachy. He talks about how many evil people and racists there are, but sounds scared and sensitive rather than in a raging resistance mood. Machine Head made fiery protest music in the past on The Blackening and Burn My Eyes. The music on those albums had so much more confidence and fury behind them without resorting to corny rap verses and sappy ballads. This ties into the music which is definitely a step down from before.

While this doesn't get to Supercharger levels of simplicity, the music on hold definitely suffers from Flynn's weaknesses being laid bare. His vocals are the biggest problem on here with a lot of his shouting sounding strained like he gave one take, got tired, and said "that's good enough". He sounds so weak to the point that he even occasionally returns to the cry-singing that plagued Supercharger. It never gets to that album's particularly piercing levels of excessive annoyance, but it's unwelcome, unnecessary, and just plain grating, as is his goofy-ass rapping. Probably the only thing saving this album is that there is a tiny bit of that Locust-level richness to the guitar-play and composition even if it is dumbed down. It feels like a severe regression and that is never good.

There are a few decent riffs on "Catharsis" and "Heavy Lies the Crown" but even those get sullied due to clean vocals that sound too clean and melodic to the point of sounding poppy. The guitar play hasn't totally regressed, but it is certainly a much simpler beast than before. The songs either feel like they're trying too hard to be catchy and hook-laden, or just end up weird and disjointed. This album also goes in a bunch of weird directions with the groove metal being less pounding, some songs are full on nu metal with Flynn telling you to "GET YOUR MIDDLE FINGERS IN THE AIR" and playing nothing but jump-up chords on "Triple Beam", There's also the acoustic element of the music that just feels embarrassing and features some of the most sensitive lyrics on here. He talks about how "There is love, our words can stop their guns" on the sappy Irish-folk-tinged ballad "Bastards" which easily ranks as the worst song on the album with how he cries his eyes out about the radical right. I hate the everything the radical right stands for, and it infuriates me to see them empowered by a weak opposition like this. The Burn My Eyes-era Robb Flynn wouldn't talk about how love can stop guns. He'd threaten to turn their guns on them and fuck them up, He'd expose their evil deeds instead of talking about how they just happen to be dicks. What happened to you man? Where is your courage? Your gusto? it all seems to be gone, or at least weakened severely.

There's also some quirks on this album that just feel obnoxious and out-of-place. The base music varies from blase Locust D-cuts to wack out-of-date nu metal that's as simple and immature as possible, and the quirks are also similarly varied. They range from stupid Supremes-style background vocals on "California Bleeding", to some death metal guy belching out part of the chorus to "Grind You Down" with no warning only to be followed by some poppy melodic chorus. The song "Eulogy" is basically just "Bastards" re-done in a darker style. Did you really have to put the wimpiest song on the album twice? Are you guys really that proud of that song? Like I said before, I like protest music, but this is too damn soft and sensitive with vocals that sound whiny. This is not rousing, heroic, or rebellious, it just feels like your weeping and defeated. Where is the fire? It's strange turns like this that take this album from simply bad, to infuriating.

Seeing a band I used to like so much do this, just feels painful. Catharsis is anything but cathartic. It feels like witnessing somebody throw their life away over a vendetta that's just not worth it. I get that the world is full of problems and maybe there needs to be someone to shout about them in rhythm, but Machine Head are just not doing that well at all. These juvenile lyrics, jangly songs, wimpy outpourings of emotion, and vast regression and simplification of their sound are just painful to listen to and Catharsis is not something I ever plan on listening to again. This thing is completely and utterly useless with some of the most obnoxious songs ever released by this band. I cannot fathom how this was a good idea in the head of anyone involved, even Robb Flynn who's let his ego and his "mission" get in the way of him making crushing metal that isn't whingy and awkward. If it's any consolation, "Behind The Mask" is actually decent for an emotional acoustic ballad, but we came here for metal and all of that is marred by strained vocals, preachy lyrics, and the regressive return of nu metal. I still think Supercharger is worse than this due to a bit of leftover pomp from Locust elevating this a bit, but only slightly. In just about any musical sense, this is still worthless. Machine Head, guys? never do this again.