Machine Head brought the Slaughter The Martour world tour to Brisbane last night (12 March).
Machine Head, who are known for gifting their loyal Head Cases with three-hour shows, are doing it differently this tour. MH have special guests, industrial metal masters Fear Factory (FF) plus local heavyweights, We The Hollow – chosen to spice up our heavy metal spoils.We The Hollow are chomping at the bit to show the crowd the heavy delight they have to unwrap for us. I last saw We The Hollow all dressed in their white band uniforms, with masks or painted faces at Nu Metal Mayhem festival, in late 2023.
If they are nervous, I cannot tell behind their masked faces as they hook in like nobody's business for their opener 'The Dark In Me'. Even with minimal room to strut their stuff at the front of the stage, with all the cloaked gear, their stage presence remained dynamic.
Once again I am smashed in the face with 'Lie To Me' and the aggression of 'Born To Hate' that had fans and new recruits hectic in the mosh cheering for more; and more they got with 'Vendetta' and 'Hypocrite' landing well in the ears of the crowd that is packing in tighter.
Cheers erupt for We The Hollow when lead singer Reece humbly states this is the biggest crowd they've played. Now that's a cool response for a band opening for two huge metal titans! Finishing with my favourite song 'Spineless' has the mosh even a little messier. We The Hollow got this spot for a reason – go get yourself some.
We The Hollow - image © Clea-marie Thorne
A breather is in order and allows for the stage to be set for the Los Angeles industrial leviathans, Fear Factory. Tonight's line-up includes the original member Dino Cazares (guitar), Tony Campos (bass), Pete Webber (drums) and Milo Silvestro (vocals) – I am keen to check out the Italian's live performance.
Burton C. Bell had one stack of pumping pipes back in the day and he was still the vocalist the last time I saw FF live. Needless to say, as a FF fan, I am going to be a harsh judge, without meaning to be.
Opening with 'Shock' from the album 'Obsolete' (1998) FF fans go bonkers with the vicious beat and blistering guitars as we are reminded just how good melody and aggression go hand in hand.
We are now reeling with glee when hearing the spoken intro: "Due to the graphic nature of this program, listener discretion is advised." Punters bounce on the balls of their feet, banging heads to the crushing live tones of 'Edgecrusher'. FF are successfully taking us to the brink of metal mania with song two.
Fear Factory - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'Dielectric' is backed by the meaty 'Power Shifter' from the album 'Mechanize' and is coming at us like a jackhammer; then when Silvestro lets loose a guttural roar halfway through you can almost see the ripple of energy moving towards the moshpit that is surely mighty enough to recharge the spent bodies thrashing against each other.
After Cazares tells us we are in for their Mad Max-inspired song he asks us to practice the response to Silvestro's "I hate" with our part "Everything!". We roar for 'Fuel Injected Suicide Machine' as yelling vocals join Silvestro – heads are banging, arms are flailing and crowd surfers are up and at 'em like real surfers at dawn.
'Linchpin' is taking me way, way back and I am growl-screaming "Can take me apart!" with a bunch of random fans around before the band even gets into it. Oops! But it does crush in and we find ourselves bouncing to the groove. Campos is having so much fun on his bass with this one – no wonder this legend has also laid the basslines and provided the pulse for Static-X and Brujeria. He is brilliant!
Fear Factory - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'What Will Become?' always possessed a whiff of Soulfy at its chorus and hearing it again live I still feel it. I close my eyes and stop to smell that momentary crossover and the sound tastes stronger with closed eyes – so yummy.
'Slave Labor' is paired with 'Archetype' from the album of the same name. I am witness to these live recitals having more depth and punch than the recordings. . . the band is rebirthing these tunes with extra lashings of tasty heavy chugs and chunks, while the melodic cleans rise above as Silvestro and the crowd are singing: "Look into my eyes and tell me what you see. Someone real, this is real. What you wish to be!"
In response to the revelry of the thrashing moshpit dwellers, or because it was next on the set list, FF unleash the hungry industrial demons through 'Demanufacture' and its sonic signature is set loose on a search and destroy mission – destroyed we are!
'Zero Signal', 'Replica' and 'Resurrection' show just how resilient these tracks are and how they stand the test of time. Campos and Cazares come forward, raising guitars to fans, screaming lyrics to them as Silvestro takes to the pit for a second time to get up close and personal with the crowd, holding hands while singing into the moshpit.
Ok so the jury is in, Cazares said Silvestro was filling some big boots when he was introducing the band and gawd-damn, he is wearing them well. He is a younger, energetic and emotive singer who channels early Bell like he was raised on FF for breakfast.
Fear Factory - image © Clea-marie Thorne
FF ruled industrial metal from the early '90s onwards and have proven to new fans this music does not sound out of place today. I look around the room and it's still responsible for collecting more avid FF fans.
My heart is beating faster as the lights dim low and an emblazoned red MH logo becomes the backdrop as the raucous crowd gives it up and I hear chants of "Machine f...ing Head!". Fans cheer as the band members take to the stage; Flynn drenched in blue hazy light elicits more yells from the crowd as he slowly approaches the front of the stage.
The music starts and fans bang their heads and bounce along to the pounding intro to 'Imperium'. Flynn, set to raise the roof from the get-go, bellows the first line "Hear me now!" that doubles as a command to the packed-out room of Head Cases!
The intensity is maintained with 'Ten Ton Hammer' and its addictive groove. The title of the song is exactly what it feels like crashing around our ears.
Machine Head - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Matt Alton (drums) is an upright beast bashing the skins like they are a deadly pest in need of eradication with Jared MacEachern (bass) adding to the bottom end as heavy as lead. The fast and aggressive fretwork and cannon-firing kick, get the moshers cranking a circle pit during 'Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate'.
Already wound up like a 10-day clock the moshpit springs into a merry chaos with another fast-thrashing tempo (usually dedicated to Dimebag Darrell) – 'Aesthetics Of Hate' from 'The Blackening' album (2007).
The old-school thrash metal lovers are having a ball with this one, there is hair flying everywhere, an occasional hair windmill cranking and short-haired and bald heads snapping necks to the beats. Flynn's pipes are potent and his screams are rich with a timbre as heavy as the instrumentation.
The first from my favourite MH album is cranking in and I am in a heaven on earth. 'Old' has OG Head Cases beating chests while lapping this one up. The Head Case choir is strong screaming the paint off the walls.
Machine Head - image © Clea-marie Thorne
The heavy riff starting off 'Locust' keeps us salivating over the set list; it's followed by the anthemic banger 'The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears' from an album that I love, but was not embraced by all MH OG fans when it was released.
'No Gods, No Masters' – the second instalment from 'Of Kingdom And Crown' – has auditory vibrations that I swear lets fans see beyond the physical world into the creative realm where MH songs are birthed.
Finally! The tour namesake 'Slaughter The Martyr' is up. The crowd shares my enthusiasm for one of the best, if not THE best track on the album. 'Bulldozer' brings oodles more tasty riffs for us to feed on. Thank you! Another from the 'The Burning Red' album, 'From This Day' tips its nu-metal hat at us. By Jove, Flynn can still rap it without getting tongue-tied!
Machine Head - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Alton rolls those sticks across the skins and with it 'Davidian' kicks like a powerful river rushing through the wild landscape of punters. The riffage charges in behind the drums followed by Flynn's guttural roar. The whole package is adding a new layer to my experience tonight.
Flynn announces there is more to come and it's a call to arms – 'Halo'! After the introductory riffage, we hear that unmistakable harmonic 'beep' and it immediately activates a final frenzy among the Head Cases. We fully immerse ourselves in the instrumentation and there is no discriminating between the slower and quicker parts of the song.
Fans got a baker's dozen songs from eight MH albums, which I think gave everyone in the crowd a minimum of one gem to behold from the set list.
Flynn continues to be one of the staunchest frontmen with his incendiary stage presence, vocal cords made for metal and searing guitar solos. Tonight, he incited circle pits, impelled us to answer calls and responses, provoked a female and male vocal contest, and even encouraged us to aid him to win a promise for anal sex but who for, I didn't quite catch!
Machine Head - image © Clea-marie Thorne
MacEachern and Reece Alan Scruggs not only played their asses off with a fierce fastidiousness while making hair windmills, hair flicks and guitar hero poses, but they gave as much crowd interaction from the stage as Flynn did.
Alton may not have come to the front until the end to distribute fan spoils, but he consistently obliterated our ears and bodies with the vibrations from his heavy hitting, and paired with MacEachern you can say the bottom may have been as heavy as lead, but it didn't fall out!
Musically, MH played tight. I was in awe when there was a millisecond drop out of sound, yet not a beat or note was missed by these precision players. Rest assured MH remain prominent and passionate metal masters, they are the gift that keeps on giving and do it like a ten-tonne hammer! Too cliché? I don't care.
More photos from the concert.
