Unto the Locust

Last updated

Unto the Locust
Machine Head - Unto the Locust.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2011
RecordedApril–July 2011
StudioJingletown Studios, Oakland, California
Genre
Length48:58
Label Roadrunner
Producer Robb Flynn
Machine Head chronology
The Black Procession
(2011)
Unto the Locust
(2011)
Machine Fucking Head Live
(2012)
Singles from Unto the Locust
  1. "Locust"
    Released: June 14, 2011 [1]
  2. "Darkness Within"
    Released: July 31, 2012

Unto the Locust is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head, released in Australia on September 23, in the UK on September 26 and worldwide on September 27, 2011. [2] The album was produced and mixed by Robb Flynn, and it was the band's highest charting album ever, charting at 22 on the Billboard 200, until their following release Bloodstone & Diamonds charted at 21. Unto the Locust was recorded in Green Day's Jingletown Studios. [3] On June 14, 2011, Machine Head released the advance mix of their album track Locust, which was included on the 2011 Mayhem Festival iTunes sampler. This would be Machine Head's last studio album with co-founder and bassist Adam Duce before he was fired due to "ongoing differences" [4] with the band on February 11, 2013. It has sold over 100,000 copies in the United States. [5] At just under 49 minutes long it is the band's shortest album released.

Contents

Release

The first single from Unto the Locust, simply titled "Locust", was released on June 10, 2011. Side A begins with the song "Locust" and Side B contains the two live tracks "Beautiful Mourning" from The Blackening and "Bite the Bullet" from Through the Ashes of Empires .

Sloat stated about the "Locust" clip: [6]

"The video is all based on the artwork from the album as well as the vision of the artist, Paul Gerrard. Together we hashed out some concepts for attack scenes as well as the band's performance. We shot the band on green screen in Philadelphia on August 1st, 2011. It was on a 'off' date from the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem Festival. There's well over 600 shots in the video, all of which have varying levels of CG effects, and ended up taking over two months to complete. [It is] easily the BIGGEST music video I've ever done. With so many CG shots, we had to divide the work among several CG FX people and editors. Once the shots came back, I would edit them in and start the color effects and any last minute tweaks I wanted to add."

Special edition

The UK version of Metal Hammer magazine have announced that a special edition fan-pack would be released by the magazine with a 132-page special issue with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the making of the album, extensive interviews with every member, historic shots from the band's personal collections, a guide to their custom rigs, and a diary of their massive Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour. [7] Metal Hammer also gave away a special edition vinyl with their November 2011 issue containing the song Locust with alternate lyrics on the A-Side as well as live recordings of Beautiful Mourning and Bite the Bullet on the B-Side.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 91/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [9]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Artistdirect Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]
BBC Music highly favourable [12]
Blabbermouth.net 9.0/10 [13]
Blistering 8/10 [14]
CraveOnline 8.5/10 [15]
Decibel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [17]
Metal Hammer 10/10 [18]
Pitchfork Media 7.7/10 [19]
Revolver 4.5/5 [20]

Unto the Locust received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns an aggregate rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 91, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "Universal acclaim". [8]

The songs "I Am Hell" and "This Is The End" received heavy rotation on college radio stations, most notably on WVYC's After-Hour Abomination. Unto The Locust sold over 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on the Billboard 200 chart — putting Machine Head in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 19-year history. This is also their third consecutive album to show at least a 20 percent increase in sales over its predecessor. This was accomplished in spite of the music market dropping by more than 45 percent [21] in the four and a half years since the release of the band's previous album, The Blackening .

In 2011, the album won a Metal Storm Award for Best Thrash Metal Album. [22]

Accolades

Year-end rankings

PublicationAccoladeRank
Decibel 40 Best Metal of 2011
31 [23]
Loudwire Top 10 Metal Albums of 2011
3 [24]
Metal Rules The Top 20 Heavy Metal Albums of 2011
14 [25]
Pitchfork Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011
36 [26]
Pop Matters Best Metal of 2011
17 [27]

Decade-end rankings

PublicationAccoladeRank
Kerrang! The 75 Best Albums of the 2010s
60 [28]
Louder Sound The 50 Best Metal Albums of the 2010s
28 [29]

Tour

The band toured the album under the name of The Eighth Plague beginning November 1, 2011. Support came from the bands Bring Me the Horizon, DevilDriver and Darkest Hour. Robb Flynn made a statement saying that "This will no doubt be the heaviest show you're going to see this year. A lot of the greatest shows of our last touring cycle were in Europe and the U.K., so the prospect of this lineup combined with these crowds has us extremely stoked to get out there and tear it up! New material, great venues, killer fans... we absolutely cannot wait!" [30]

The band also played two warm up shows, at Club Vegas in Salt Lake City, Utah and The Knitting Factory, Reno on July 5 and 7 respectively. [31] These dates were first time the band had taken the stage since March 2010 after the touring cycle for their last album The Blackening ended. The band performed on the 2011 edition of Rockstar Mayhem Festival, marking their 2nd time on the tour, as they were on the inaugural tour in 2008. They spent the first 9 dates on the tour from July 9–20 playing the Main Stage, after which they headlined on the Revolver Stage spanning July 22 – August 14.

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)"
  • I: Sangre Sani (Blood Saint)
  • II: I Am Hell
  • III: Ashes to the Sky"
Robb Flynn, Phil Demmel Flynn8:25
2."Be Still and Know"Flynn, DemmelFlynn, Demmel5:43
3."Locust"Flynn, DemmelFlynn, Demmel7:36
4."This Is the End"FlynnFlynn6:11
5."Darkness Within"FlynnFlynn, Demmel, Dave McClain 6:28
6."Pearls Before the Swine"Flynn, DemmelFlynn, Demmel, McClain7:19
7."Who We Are"FlynnFlynn7:07
Deluxe collector's edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
8."The Sentinel" (Judas Priest cover) Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, K.K. Downing Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, K.K. Downing 5:08
9."Witch Hunt" (Rush cover) Neil Peart Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson 4:46
10."Darkness Within" (Acoustic)FlynnFlynn, Demmel, McClain5:05
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Halo" (Live)FlynnFlynn, McClain, Adam Duce, Demmel9:09
Metal Hammer special fan pack bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
8."Locust" (Live)Flynn, DemmelFlynn, Demmel7:42
Bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Making of "Unto the Locust""22:43

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2011)Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart [32] 10
Austrian Albums Chart [33] 6
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) [34] 19
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) [35] 21
Canadian Albums Chart [36] 32
Danish Albums Chart [37] 10
Dutch Albums Chart [38] 20
Finnish Albums Chart [39] 8
French Albums Chart [40] 18
German Albums Chart [41] 5
Hungarian Albums Chart [42] 19
Japanese Albums Chart 18
New Zealand Albums Chart [43] 19
Norwegian Albums Chart [44] 15
Spanish Albums Chart [45] 28
Swedish Albums Chart [46] 14
Swiss Albums Chart [47] 10
UK Albums Chart [48] 43
U.S. Billboard 200 [36] 22

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disturbed (band)</span> American heavy metal band

Disturbed is an American heavy metal band from Chicago, formed in 1994. The band includes guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, lead vocalist David Draiman and bassist John Moyer. Donegan and Wengren have been involved in the band since its inception, with Draiman replacing original lead vocalist Erich Awalt in 1996 and Moyer replacing original bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behemoth (band)</span> Polish extreme metal band

Behemoth is a Polish extreme metal band from Gdańsk, formed in 1991. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machine Head (band)</span> American heavy metal band

Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Robb Flynn, who remains the only original member of the band. Machine Head's aggressive musicianship made it one of the pioneering bands in the new wave of American heavy metal. Its current lineup comprises Flynn, bassist Jared MacEachern, lead guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka and drummer Matt Alston. Bassist Adam Duce, lead guitarists Logan Mader, Ahrue Luster and Phil Demmel, and drummers Tony Costanza, Chris Kontos and Dave McClain are former members of the band; Mader and Kontos toured with the band in 2019 and 2020 as part of the 25th anniversary tour for its first album, Burn My Eyes (1994).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robb Flynn</span> American guitarist and vocalist (born 1967)

Robert ConradFlynn is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head. Flynn formed the band along with Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Tony Costanza after leaving Bay Area thrash band Vio-lence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3 Inches of Blood</span> Canadian heavy metal band

3 Inches of Blood is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. Their music was strongly influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machine Head discography</span> Band discography

Machine Head is an American heavy metal band formed in 1991 by vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn and bassist Adam Duce. They have released ten studio albums, two live albums, one extended play, one video album, and thirteen singles. Later that year, Logan Mader and Tony Costanza were hired as guitarist and drummer respectively. Costanza left the band shortly afterwards, being replaced by Chris Kontos. In 1993, they signed to Roadrunner Records and released their debut album, Burn My Eyes, in 1994. Their second album, The More Things Change..., was released in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watain</span> Swedish black metal band

Watain is a Swedish black metal band, formed in 1998. The band's name is taken from an early recording by the American black metal group Von. The band have become famous for their Theistic Satanist views and for their live shows which involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood. At a now-notorious live performance in Brooklyn in 2014, they doused audience members in animal blood, allegedly causing some members of the audience to vomit. This was picked up and publicised by TMZ, generating controversy around the incident. To date they have released seven full-length albums, as well as three live albums and a number of demos and EPs. Their most recent album The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain was released on 29 April 2022 through Nuclear Blast. The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson, though as of 2015 Jonsson no longer performs live, Emil Svensson of fellow Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.

<i>The Blackening</i> 2007 studio album by Machine Head

The Blackening is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head. Released on March 27, 2007, in the United States, The Blackening sold 16,000 units in its first week, and became Machine Head's third 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 Blackening has been certified silver by the BPI for sales in the UK in excess of 60,000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All That Remains (band)</span> American metalcore band

All That Remains is an American metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1998. They have released nine studio albums, a live CD and DVD, and have sold over a million records worldwide. The group currently consists of vocalist Philip Labonte, rhythm guitarist Mike Martin, and lead guitarist Jason Richardson, with Labonte being the last remaining original member. In spite of this, the band's line-up had remained consistent from the release of 2008's Overcome until 2015's The Order of Things, spanning four albums. This line-up changed, however, in September 2015, when long-time bassist Jeanne Sagan left the band, with Patrick taking her place, and then again in February 2019, when the band confirmed that Jason Richardson would be joining the band to replace the deceased lead guitarist and original member, Oli Herbert. In 2021, Aaron Patrick parted ways with All That Remains to focus on his other band, Bury Your Dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Job for a Cowboy</span> American death metal band

Job for a Cowboy is an American death metal band from Glendale, Arizona. Formed in 2003, the band's debut album Genesis was released in 2007, peaking at No. 54 on the US Billboard 200 and selling 13,000 copies in its first week of release. The second album, 2009's Ruination, sold 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week to debut at position No. 42 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band comprises vocalist Jonny Davy, guitarists Tony Sannicandro and Al Glassman and bassist Nick Schendzielos. Davy is the only remaining founding member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellyeah</span> American heavy metal supergroup

Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. The band's last lineup consisted of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drummer Roy Mayorga. The idea to form a supergroup originated in 2000 on the Tattoo the Earth tour, although plans were constantly put on hold due to scheduling conflicts. The summer of 2006 allowed the band to take the project seriously and record its first album. Recorded at Chasin' Jason studio in Dimebag Darrell's backyard, their self-titled album entered the Billboard 200 at number 9, selling 45,000 copies. They went on to release five more studio albums between 2010 and 2019. As of 2021, the band is on hiatus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In This Moment</span> American rock band

In This Moment is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. They found drummer Jeff Fabb and started the band as Dying Star. Unhappy with their musical direction, they changed their name to In This Moment and gained two band members, guitarist Blake Bunzel and bassist Josh Newell. In 2005, bassist Newell left the band and was replaced by Jesse Landry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide Silence</span> American deathcore band

Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released seven studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the Revolver Golden God award for "Best New Talent" in 2009. The group currently consists of guitarists Chris Garza and Mark Heylmun, bassist Dan Kenny, vocalist Hernan "Eddie" Hermida and drummer Ernie Iniguez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayhem Festival</span> Touring heavy metal festival (2008–2015)

The Mayhem Festival was a touring heavy metal festival that took place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival later became an annual event across the United States. Most years also included a single date in either Montreal or Toronto, Canada. The tour had been sponsored by the Rockstar Energy Company since the time of its inception. It was assembled by Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and John Reese. On August 2, 2015, Reese confirmed that the 2015 staple of the festival would be the last one. On November 30, 2019, a post to the festival's Instagram account announced the festival's return in 2020. Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic the festival was postponed to 2021, then canceled. As of 2023 there has been social media silence concerning the next one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitechapel (band)</span> American deathcore band

Whitechapel is an American deathcore band from Knoxville, Tennessee. The band is named after the Whitechapel district in East London, England, where Jack the Ripper committed a series of murders. The group comprises vocalist Phil Bozeman, lead guitarist Ben Savage, rhythm guitarist Alex Wade, bassist Gabe Crisp and third guitarist Zach Householder. Founded in 2006 by Bozeman and Savage, the band has released eight studio albums and fourteen music videos, and are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. Whitechapel's 2010 album A New Era of Corruption, sold around 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at position No. 43 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band's self-titled fourth album was released in 2012 and debuted at No. 47 on the Billboard 200, selling roughly 9,200 copies in its first week. In 2014 the band released their fifth full-length album, Our Endless War to generally positive reviews. The album sold roughly 16,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. They released their sixth full-length album Mark of the Blade in 2016 to greater critical acclaim, selling roughly 8,000 copies in the first week of its release. In 2019, Whitechapel released their seventh album, The Valley, which debuted at No. 143 on the Billboard 200 also to critical acclaim. Their newest album, Kin, was released on October 29, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister Sin</span> Swedish heavy metal band

Sister Sin is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg. The band released four full-length albums, with the most recent, Black Lotus, released in 2014. Sister Sin toured in Europe and North America with bands such as Slayer, King Diamond, Lordi and In This Moment before splitting in November 2015. The band reunited in December 2019.

The Eighth Plague Tour was a concert tour by American heavy metal band Machine Head.
Supports in the first leg of Europe was come from the bands Bring Me the Horizon, Devildriver and Darkest Hour. Robb Flynn made a statement saying that: "This will no doubt be the heaviest show you're going to see this year. A lot of the greatest shows of our last touring cycle were in Europe and the UK, so the prospect of this lineup combined with these crowds has us extremely stoked to get out there and tear it up! New material, great venues, killer fans... we absolutely cannot wait!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battlecross</span> American heavy metal band

Battlecross was an American extreme metal band from Canton, Michigan. The band has described their sound as "Blue Collar Thrash Metal". To date, they have released three albums through their label, Metal Blade Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Hippie Coalition</span> American heavy metal band

Texas Hippie Coalition is an American heavy metal band from Denison, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butcher Babies</span> American metal band

Butcher Babies is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, consisting of dual frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, guitarist Henry Flury (Amen), bassist Ricky Bonazza, and drummer Blake Bailey. Their debut album, Goliath, was released on July 9, 2013, via Century Media Records. It sold 3,300 copies in the US during its first week of release and charted at No. 3 on the Billboard Heatseeker chart and No. 112 on the Billboard 200.

References

  1. "iTunes - Music - Locust (Advance Mix) - Single by Machine Head". iTunes . Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  2. Machine Head News Release Date Unto The Locust. Archived January 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Machine Head Record At Jingletown Unto The Locust.
  4. "Machine Head - The General Journals: Diary Of A..." Facebook. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  5. "MACHINE HEAD: 'Inside The Machine' Book Cover Unveiled". BlabberMouth. July 23, 2012. MACHINE HEAD has consistently averaged more than 100,000 copies sold in the U.S. for each of its seven albums and has shifted double that overseas (accruing several silver records in the U.K.), resulting in cumulative worldwide sales of more than 2.4 million.
  6. "Locust video". Blabbermouth.net . October 24, 2011.
  7. "Machine Head's 'Unto The Locust' To Be Released In U.K. With Special-Edition Fan Pack". Blabbermouth.net. June 29, 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Unto the Locust Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  9. "Review: Unto the Locust - Machine Head". About.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  10. "Unto the Locust - Machine Head". AllMusic.
  11. Florino, Rick (June 20, 2011). "Unto the Locust-Machine Head". Artistdirect . Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  12. "Unto the Locust - Machine Head". BBC Music.
  13. "CD Reviews". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  14. "Review: Machine Head - Unto the Locust". Blistering. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
  15. "Machine Head: Unto The Locust". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  16. Decibel. November 2011 edition.
  17. Lawson, Dom (October 20, 2011). "CD Review: Unto the Locust - Machine Head". The Guardian. London.
  18. "Machine Head World Exclusive: 'Unto The Locust' - The First Review". Metal Hammer. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  19. "Machine Head: Unto the Locust | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. October 26, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  20. "Review: Machine Head – Unto the Locust - Heavy Metal News | Music Videos |Golden Gods Awards". revolvermag.com. September 27, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  21. "Machine Head cracks U.S. TOP25". Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  22. "Metal Storm Awards 2011".
  23. Breihan, Tom (November 30, 2011). "Decibel's 40 Best Metal of 2011". Stereogum . Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  24. "Top 10 Metal Albums of 2011". Loudwire . November 28, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  25. "The Top 20 Heavy Metal Albums of 2011". Metal Rules . January 8, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  26. Stosuy, Brandon (November 28, 2011). "Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011". Pitfchfork . Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  27. "Best Metal of 2011". PopMatters . December 25, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  28. "The 75 Best Albums Of The 2010s". Kerrang! . December 31, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  29. "The 50 best metal albums of the 2010s". Louder Sound . December 18, 2019. p. 4. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  30. "Machine Head Announce "The Eighth Plague" Tour!". machinehead1.com. June 22, 2011. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  31. MH To Play Two Warm-Up Shows.
  32. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". australian-charts.com. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  33. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". austriancharts.at.
  34. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". ultratop.be.
  35. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". ultratop.be.
  36. 1 2 "Machine Head". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  37. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". danishcharts.dk.
  38. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". dutchcharts.nl.
  39. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". finnishcharts.com.
  40. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". lescharts.com.
  41. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  42. "MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége". mahasz.hu. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  43. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". charts.nz.
  44. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". norwegiancharts.com.
  45. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". spanishcharts.com.
  46. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". swedishcharts.com.
  47. "Machine Head - Unto The Locust". hitparade.ch.
  48. "Machine Head UK Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved July 30, 2013.