Rating: 9/10

Track Amount: 13

Running Time: 1 hour and 4 minutes

Genre: Metal

Personnel: Robb Flynn (lead vocals and guitar), Logan Mader (backing vocals and guitar), Adam Duce (backing vocals and bass guitar) and Tony Constanza (drums).

Producer: N/A

Recording Location: N/A

Record Label: Roadrunner Records

Art Direction: Karmazine

Best Tracks: The Rage to Overcome – ’93 Demo, Fuck It All – ’93 Demo

Quick Verdict: A great slice of music history that satanists will adore

This is a great starting place for the successful Metal group Machine Head. Although this is a bit of an additional release as opposed to a major commercial success by the group, it is essential to observe this release. After all, it was a demo tape of recordings by Machine Head that led the group to be signed to Roadrunner Records, which really began their music career. Machine Head has survived to this very day, even though they have had a large number of personnel changes over the years. In any case, for those of you who believe in Metal and not some sort of religion, then you will find your music place here. Let’s go back in time and take a listen to this release, and we shall hear where it is at.

1. Fuck It All – ’92 Rehearsal begins with some drumsticks clacking, and launches into a rough and ready Metal tune. Nonetheless, the riff work on the guitar and the musicianship are fantastic and incredibly wonderful to hear, despite that this is a rough demo at hand. The singing is fabulous as well. Even though this is Machine Head in their infancy, this sounds really powerful and fantastic to listen to. One can hear the band performing and playing to full effect on this song. Absolutely magically awesome to listen to, these guys luckily got signed at the right time and place. Towards the midsection, this launches into furious drumming and guitar feedback used nicely. Growled vocals and a great section of music follow, distorted guitars and all. This does sound fantastic for a very aged-sounding and rough Metal demo. The music, playing and performances are all winners to listen to. A really anthemic and catchy listen throughout, with some aggressive and passionate music that sounds awesome. There is not a dull moment here; the music is so good that one can hear the real potential of Machine Head. A great listening experience to hear. Wonderful for what this is. The ending is Thrash Metal punchiness, before quickly ending.

2. The Rage To Overcome – ’92 Rehearsal begins with some nice drumming, down-tuned guitars and sounds really fantastically wonderful overall. Machine Head, even on this collection of rough demos, had definitely got their act together in a musical sense by this point. Sounding very much in the spirit of Black Sabbath and other Metal legends, this is absolutely uplifting and powerfully sweet to hear. The music is indeed fantastic on this compilation of demos. This is a great listen that sounds energetically furious and interesting. The vocals by Robb Flynn are really unique in the history of Metal, and this sounds like a monster in the cupboard or under the bed, set to music. This is a really lively and fantastic tune that has power and interesting melodies to match it all. If you are a believer in Christ, then you will deem these guys satanic in music terms. A really driven tune with music magic to it all, this does sound brutal but awesome simultaneously. It definitely has its own music flavour and appeal throughout it all. The guitar solo section in the second half is very, very good. If you need to express aggression in a music setting, Machine Head is for you. A really fantastic demo piece. Nice work from start to finish. Top music.

3. A Nation On Fire – ’92 Rehearsal begins with some very discordant guitars, which sound satanic. Bass guitar and drums kick in, and this tune sounds different. This is a weird and warped listen. Vocals kick in, and this very dark song sounds like an anthem of the apocalypse. In any case, the music is really fantastic, with screaming, distorted guitars and powerful drumming. It really does sound monumentally great to listen to. The sounds from Machine Head make just as much sense today in the world of music as they did back in 1992. Today, the Metal world is more relevant than ever. If you are easily scared, be warned, this is not music for you. This pays tribute to the emerging trend of Alternative Metal. The throaty vocals likely inspired Silverchair’s Daniel Johns in some ways as well. This anthem for the end times sounds truly magnificent and awesome. Even for a demo take, this is a fantastically mindblowing listen from start to finish. Some sustained guitar chords lead into a furious Thrash Metal styled conclusion, which is interesting, quick and mind-numbingly brutal. A great, great listen. Worth it for every moment. A great song.

4. Death Church – ’92 Rehearsal begins with some cymbals being played, and launches into a seriously interesting song with guitar harmonics and some weird melodies. This sounds like a tune that satan himself would have created to spook religious people. Regardless, it leads into a very anthemic song that is memorably catchy to listen to. This music is really nicely driven. The throaty singing by Robb Flynn is extremely cool to hear, and no doubt that Metal vocalists such as Rob Zombie would have paid attention to this. A really fantastic and interesting song to listen to, which sounds insanely good. Yes, this may be a music anthem for those who hate all religions, but in this day and age, this is a more common occurrence globally. In any case, Machine Head distils some of the best music from the past and leading into the future, making for some great and loud music for music fans to enjoy. A really awesome and punchy tune to hear with powerful guitars and drumming. The second half has an interesting and detailed guitar solo section that utilises some unique melodic phrasing to boot. Borderline shred in its intent, this music changes structure and tempo very nicely throughout. The sounds and playing are insanely good to listen to, bridging downtempo and shred into a multisectioned, unique tune at hand. This finishes up with loud guitars and interesting drumming to conclude with. Another solid gold tune by Machine Head.

5. Blood for Blood – Instrumental ’92 begins with some cymbal and hi-hats crashes, along with discordant feedback and guitar riffs, launching into a fantastically powerful and interesting tune at hand. All in all, this is another seriously devilish and cool tune to listen to. Sure, these may seem merely like instrumental demos, but the truth is that these are really fantastic to listen to. The music and sounds are fantastic and interesting to listen to, although this is not a finished product, by any chance. The second half has some thunderous, synchronised drums and guitars, and sounds a lot like Slayer. In any case, this music definitely has purpose and power, which is much better than most postmodern Pop Music today. The guitar riffing is sensationally great to listen to. Some squealing guitar solos, again like Slayer, are near the end, followed by a dramatic conclusion.

6. I’m Your God Now – ’92 Rehearsal begins with some weird guitar-based melodies, with a ton of flanger on it. This has some wacky and discordant melodies throughout. Eventually, this launches into a moody and melodic tune that is unique and powerful. Some soft vocals are present, but are mixed too low on this recording to begin with. No big deal, they gradually become more prominent as time goes on with this track. Surely, this tune is designed to appeal to those who are anti-religious? No big deal, this music sounds fantastically great to enjoy in any case. Singing about going through hell in life’s ills, this is dramatic Metal that blows away all the Hair Metal bands of the 1980s. All in all, a really great listen. This would not appeal to monotheistic religious individuals who believe in Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Despite this fact, this is definitely a magnificent song that is powerful and euphoric throughout. A really dynamic and excellent song that Metalheads will enjoy and relate to. In the second half is a breakdown, followed by screamed vocals that sound really cool. A really great listening experience that is interesting, intelligent in its own way and forceful. Also, there is not a dull moment on this release, and this song is in that category as well. The Thrash Metal outro with shredded guitars is mindblowingly fantastic. Great to hear. There is a nice, sustained guitar outro that sounds scary. Awesome. It finishes up with some loose guitar riffing and cymbals.

7. A Thousand Lies – Instrumental ’92 begins with some deep and dark guitar riffing, and launches quickly into a doom and gloom sounding tune that is the dark side of life springing into action. This will definitely make you wonder if, indeed, there is a God upon listening to this. Welcome to the abyss. This tune launches into a Thrash Metal styled tune that sounds awesome and eclectic. This is followed by awesome palm-muted riffing and drums that sound pounding and energetic throughout. This is a loud mixture of stop/start and fast/slow division that sounds really very cool. No doubt Kurt Cobain and Nirvana had such a wide influence on the Punk, Metal and Grunge scenes of the time. This still sounds absolutely awesome for what it is. The music and playing are really awesomely fine and fantastic to hear. Sure, they weren’t signed to a label at this point, and this is a collection of rough demos, but this is seriously impressive music to listen to in any case. The second half has a low-end and percussive rhythmic section that sounds cool. This is followed by a shredworthy guitar solo that sounds very nice. This leads back to the riffs at hand, sounding monumental throughout. Machine Head were on a music mission at this stage, and they do sound really awesome. A fantastic tune, through and through, even for a rough demo tape instrumental. The outro is super cool and heavy.

8. Death Church – ’93 Demo begins with some distorted vocals and sampled talk about preachers stating that music is a devilish choice for the youth. In any case, this quickly launches into a clearer and finer-sounding demo that is better sounding and higher quality audio. A fine guitar riff leads this one into the unknown. This continues on for some time and has some heavy and interesting guitar riffing. This is really powerfully cool and awesome. The singing is more prominent on this tune, and even for a demo, this has a unique classiness about it. The music and performances are awesome to listen to. The vocals in particular are growling, heavy and aggressive to listen to. In the midsection is an awesome riff section that sounds dark, heavy and wonderful in the process of it all. The musicianship and sounds are really awesome and fantastic to hear. With references to Christian preachers on the TV and the like, this is a forceful and monumentally top listen overall. The music and playing are seriously good to hear. Soon enough, in the second half are some neat drums, followed by some demonic wah-wah guitar solos that sound amazing. Not for the faint-hearted at all. This continues on nicely and sounds like a chaotic take on the end of time. Some people will interpret this music as satanic and from the depths of hell. Which it is. Still, one can be open-minded enough to hear this music. Great in its own way. The super-heavy outro is ridiculously cool. Well done.

9. Old – ’93 Demo begins with deep bass guitar and drums galore. This has some distorted vocal samples and guitars that sound like sirens. Soon enough, this launches into a powerfully fantastic tune that has some impressive playing on it all. A loud, interesting and punchy tune throughout. A great listen that can inspire the typical teenage Metalhead to buy an Ibanez guitar and a Marshall stack to start their own music journey. This is phenomenally great. The references to Jesus and the loud guitars to match it make for a dark and devilish tune to listen to. Indeed, even the Illuminati (if you so believe that they exist) were formed out of the ashes of a secret society to combat religious influence. Same with most Metal. In any case, the second half of this recorded song has some interesting guitar harmonics and a performance that is really cool. All in all, a tune that sounds really supercharged and interesting to listen to. This song is aimed at those who want to live a life free of religious influence. There is a false ending near the end, before this song reaches its gradual conclusion. Awesome stuff.

10. The Rage To Overcome – ’93 Demo begins with a fade-in of tom-tom styled drumming, before guitars and other drum hits enter. This is seriously an awesome listening experience, once again. It sounds really cool. A super dark and again, demonic-sounding tune to listen to is present. This quickly launches into the main song section at hand, which sounds super sweet to listen to. The guitar and bass guitar playing is absolutely spot on here, as is the James Hetfield-style growling. Soon enough, the song section gets going, and it sounds apocalyptically marvellous and fantastic to hear. This song is definitely a great one, and these demos definitely show why. If you have fled a persecuting religious environment by your own means, particularly Christianity, this music makes perfect sense to you. This is a powerful and angry song with interesting guitars and playing throughout that really sounds cool and groovy, especially in the second half. The guitar solo that is present screams like anything mad in the world of Metal. Another good demo by Machine Head, which certainly delivers. Great tune. The outro is super awesome.

11. A Nation On Fire – ’93 Demo begins with dark and melodic guitar and bass guitar riffing. This progresses along nicely, with some squealing, delayed guitars. This definitely sounds musically unique. Some smooth vocals enter, which sound really cool. These turn into aggressive growling, and this tune sounds fantastic. Soon enough, palm-muted guitars enter, and this powerful and prophetic tune comes alive. This music is seriously cool, and it proves that you don’t need to believe in a religious faith to do so. A breakdown near the midsection occurs, with minimalist-style playing and singing, which is also really cool. This song seems to be a stab at political leaders who have no clue and who provide no justice to people in society, which, sadly, is more often than not the case. A really dramatic and powerful listen, all in all. This music is decent and interesting enough to hear on this collection of demos. There is a dramatic change near the end, where the band goes full Thrash Metal in furious and frenetic energy. Absolutely awesome to listen to. It finishes up nicely in a hyperactive and aggressive fashion. Great.

12. Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies – ’93 Demo may be a Syd Barrett Pink Floyd reference. All the same, this is far and away from that sort of music. Some recorded samples of the uprising of the LA Riots in the USA around this time are present as well. Many samples of discussion about this, along with some discussion of racism and revolution in response to that, are present. Very deep overall. A short but interesting recording.

13. Fuck It All – ’93 Demo is the final tune here, beginning with deep bass guitar, pummelling drums and subdued electric guitar. This launches into actual after a growl, sounding really cool and great. Hearing these demos of the final product sounds really cool. This supercharged, youthful and fantastic music has some impressive profanities and energetic musicianship that would give the Red Hot Chili Peppers a run for their money. This is a pure Metal tune that is extremely cool to listen to. There is a drastic change near the middle with some guitar feedback and powerful bass guitar riffing, before launching into a seriously cool and awesomely powerful music section at hand. A bit like Thrash Metal here, not a million miles away from 1980s Metallica, in a sense. Soon enough, some digitally edited vocals enter, which follow into manic screams. A very solid top listen that has power, finesse and devilish glory. An absolutely cool tune to listen to, this sounds really dramatic and energetic. The outro is absolutely wonderful to listen to. It ends with glorious screaming and sustained guitars, with a pounding drum finish.

Although this is merely a set of demo tapes, this is a band that has succeeded in creating some great-sounding music, even before they released their own debut album. Machine Head has likely had better and more consistent moments than this compilation release. Still, the music sounds absolutely awesome from start to finish. Just keep the kids away from this one, and you will be okay. Should you listen to this release? Yes, if you want to hear the beginnings of a great Metal group, but no if you are religiously inclined, particularly if you are a Christian.

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