Machine Head
December 13, 2003
Helsinki, Finland
Review and photos by Luxi Lahtinen
Letīs get some facts straight. First: Machine Head has always been a very popular band
here in the European territory amongst metalheads. Thousands of albums sold, good
positions in the several album charts in many different European countries, and rave album
reviews in some of the most known and respected metal magazines. That should tell
something about
the huge popularity of these fellows here in Europe, and there seems to be no stop in
sight for that. Following the very same rule, Machine Headīs gigs have been packed by
nearly or completely sold-out venues and their on-going tour called “Through the
Ashes of Europe”. This firmly hacks this hard fact into stone. For my
loss, I have to confess that I hadnīt heard the bandīs latest album, THROUGH THE ASHES
OF EMPIRES before the bandīs gig at Nosturi, so I honestly didnīt know in advance what
was to be expected from their gig this particular evening. Luckily I had already managed
to see them earlier last year, headlining the Tuska Metal Festival and their energetic
live performance left a positive impression on me. Phil Demmel (ex-Vio-lence) was
hired to the tour back then as a second guitarist and undoubtedly he brought an extra dose
of more heaviness and tightness into Machine Headīs live sound. Having managed to keep
all these positive memories about their strong and convincing performance at Tuska in
2002, I started believing little by little that Machine Head wouldnīt let their audience
down this time either.
When I arrived to the Nosturi, Machine Headīs support band named Bendover, (a
īsuckyīname for a band if you ask from me) a heavy sounding Finnish īThrashī band was
finishing their own set. I think itīs better that I wonīt leave a comment about them
as I wasnīt there to see their set from the very beginning. Sorry guys, maybe next time
if the Gods ever let me...
Before it was Machine Headīs turn to conquer the stage, I had time to enjoy
some beers
with a familiar 6-string torturer of Machine Head, Phil Demmel who was enjoying all the
attention amongst the Finnish Machine Head fans that mostly seemed to be relatively young
in comparison to some other gigs I have attended this year, and just particularly at
Nosturi. Most of these īkidsī more or less wanted to look like Rob Flynn, (well, you all
know how he looks like, donīt ya?) so it became a very evident for me relatively soon
that I hadnīt exactly the right īdress codeī for that gig. Ha!
The show time... A choice for the starting intro of their set was a pretty damn
īunusualī for Machine Headīs gig, at least in my opinion. “Ave Satani”,
that familiar sound clip from the “Omen” movie, made me kind of
īautomaticallyī thinking if we were about to witness heavier, more wicked and more
aggressive Machine Head during the evening that was already loaded by huge tensions and
expectations that were raging through amongst the crowd, from one Machine Head fan to
another.
Right after the first notes from “Imperium,” the opening song from the
bandīs brand-new opus THROUGH THE ASHES OF EMPIRES, started to blow out from the massive
PA equipment. I was 100% certain that this night would be both sort of a fulfillment of
Machine Headīs utterly heavy, mean and brutal live sound both for the band and their
devoted fans, as well those who dragged their asses to the gig to witness them live
tonight. Holy shit... did this song fuckinī rule!!? Shit, it damn surely did!! That song
was like a heavy, 100%-hardened-steel bulldozer that ran over me ruthlessly and
mercilessly with its extremely powerful wall of guitar sounds, making me literally beg for
more. I almost was in awe after hearing something that reminded me of the bandīs
excellent debut album, at least in my books.
Up next, “Take My Scars” followed kind of īlogicallyī, making me feel even
more thrilled about their strong set that obviously was already full of relatively high
expectations set by the hungry audience. “The Blood, the Sweet, the Tears” off
the BURNING RED album came next which Rob funnily wanted to dedicate exclusively to the
īall beer drinkersī in the audience. The song sounded just much heavier and simply more
intense than on their disappointing THE BURNING RED album, causing a little chaos in the
packed crowd and more sweating and extra breath-taking were expected from the Machine Head
fans.
“None but My Own” (from BURN MY EYES) and “Left Unfinished,” also
another new song from the new album THROUGH THE ASHES OF EMPIRES, were
the next songs on the set list - and the crowd got whipped even more by the bandīs
surprisingly heavy delivery the chosen songs. It was great to notice that as
much as the bandīs fans enjoyed seeing their favorite band Machine Head performing for
them at that evening, it was clear that Rob Flynn and co. really enjoyed playing for their
devoted Finnish fans. At times Rob Flynn seemed to be all smiles, like he couldnīt help
it while performing songs for their great Finnish crowd. But hey, a combination of a
sold-out concert and a totally insane and crazy crowd that kept on yelling Machine Headīs
name nearly constantly, could even melt ice from the most mean and rude heart of a metal
musician. I remember Rob Flynn saying at some point with a great yet wide grin in his face
when he took a look at all those people in the audience: “Beautiful... just damn
beautiful...!!” so that polite comment didnīt leave any room for any kind of
speculation about his deepest feelings at that specific night.
Song after song (from “Ten Ton Hammer” to “Trephination,” to
“The Burning Red” and so on...) Machine Head made both wild crowd and even īa
bit skepticalī me convinced that Machine Head is definitely a live band; and yeah, feel
free to make that īLIVEī with big screaming letters if you want to. Thereīs just an
immense amount of energy involved in the bandīs live performance which makes them indeed
a very entertaining band to follow onstage. The bandīs live sound was absolutely an extra
plus on my īrespected & noteworthy things of a live bandī list as I have rarely
witnessed such a clear and sharp, but at the same time, very HEAVY, live sound of a metal
band at an environment like īNosturiī (which has a capacity for approx. 1000 people).
As for encores, after the band had played the great Machine Head live number,
“Davidian,” Rob asked from the already pleased audience to yell for the name of
either for Iron Maiden or Sepultura. In this battle of the two great ones people
eventually yelled their lungs out for Sepultura, and “Territory” got a new
treatment in the hands of the men in Machine Head. And as the audience both sounded and
looked like they obviously wanted to hear more familiar cover songs, “Creeping
Death” by īthat-band-who-once-played-great-metalī, was next on the list of
the encore numbers. It was lots of fun to follow how easily Rob Flynn with his troops were
able to control īthese kidsī in the crowd as during the chorus part of “Creeping
Death” everyone seemed to shout from the top of their tired lungs: “Die...!
Die...! Die...!!” - just like the original father of this particular song has done
several times in the past in the very same situation. The final part of the encores,
“Block” sealed the evening for the Machine Head fans, even if Iīd personally
have liked to hear them playing such classic Machine Head tunes as “Old” or
“A Thousand Lies” or “The Rage to Overcome” off from the bandīs
strong debut album BURN MY EYES.
They did a very good set after all and I bet the crowd got what they pretty much wanted
and expected to hear from them in the first place, so I guess I should have been as happy
as well as others did. Well, to be completely honest here, I was īquite happyī indeed.
What I saw and what I heard as Machine Headīs gig in Helsinki 13th of December was
actually one of the better and most convincing ones I have managed to see for quite some
time. Extra credit admittedly had to be given to their sound technicians on this tour for
doing absolutely a fantastic work with the live sound, thatīs for sure.
No wonder why they have been so liked and so popular metal band especially here in the
European soil. A fuckinī awesome live band they truly are...
Set list
Ave Satani (Intro from the, “Omen” movie)
Imperium
Take My Scars
The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears
None But My Own
Left Unfinished
Ten Ton Hammer
Trephination
The Burning Red
In the Presence of my Enemies
Blood for Blood
Encores
Descend the Shadows of Night
Davidian
Territory
Back in Black (riff)
Creeping Death
Block