Album review: Machine Head – UNATØNED

Machine Head have taken a lot of shit over the years. Counterpointing genre-defining classics Burn My Eyes and The Blackening with far more divisive offerings like Catharsis and The Burning Red, critics and fickle fans alike have been as quick to criticise their more experimental urges as they have to praise their self-evident triumphs. Over the decades, though mainman Robb Flynn has learned not to let it stick, and having proven his band’s ability to overcome the departure of half their line-up with 2022’s excellent ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN he’s back on defiantly unfettered form with 11th album UNATØNED.

Aesthetically, this seems to be a sort-of sequel to ØK&C boasting similar artwork revolving around horned skulls, and the same bewildering obsession with replacing the letter ‘O’ with the Nordic ‘Ø’. Musically, it’s more audacious and fleet-footed. Of the 12 tracks on offer, only two exceed the four-minute mark. None reach six.

After ambient intro LANDSCAPE ØF THØRNS, the explosive ATØMIC REVELATIØNS abbreviates the epic latter-day MH formula with tinkling keys, groovy hooks, surging thrash and grandstanding choruses crammed into a thrilling 221 seconds. ØUTSIDER combines pit-stirring rhythms, enormous melodies and fast-spat verses to variably compelling effect.

NØT LØNG FØR THIS WØRLD is the closest they’ve come to a song featuring only clean vocals, Robb stretching his range over unbowed lyrics that feel definitive: ‘Sing now for lonely bastards / Blue rain upon my plastic soul / Demons that cause disaster / Some sins I never will atone.’ THESE SCARS WØN’T DEFINE US continue the theme of recalcitrance: ‘Remember before you forget / One Life is all that you get!’ Then they put that attitude into practice, as atmospheric interlude DUSTMAKER bleeds into a grandstanding BØNESCRAPER, combining cheesy hooks (‘Love is just a loaded gun!’), unabashed woah-ohs and arena-rattling riffs for a single that would do Parkway Drive or plenty of other current heavyweights proud.

Written on the road – between hotels and practice rooms across continents – the sense of freewheeling momentum is undoubtedly UNATØNED’s greatest strength, capturing the roadworn charisma and runaway force of the Machine Head 2025 live show. But with it comes a jettisoning of the tonal consistency and sprawling songcraft that defines their finest recorded work. Having already given so much, and being so far into the game, only a cynic would begrudge a little self-indulgence at this point. And, closing out with a swell of heartfelt high drama, superb final track SCØRN is a poignant reminder of what exactly Machine Head are capable of when not just crushing brown eyes and banging heads. No apologies required.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: DevilDriver, Parkway Drive, Bleed From Within

UNATØNED is released on April 25 via Nuclear Blast