It’s been a rocky few years for Bay Area metal titans Machine Head, but recent tasters for their returning album ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN and a triumphant (not-so) secret set at Bloodstock Open Air earlier this month under their belts, Machine Head c.2022 look like an altogether more dominant beast. Kickstarting this new chapter of their career, they open with a ten-minute epic in “SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR,” a track with everything you could want from a Machine Head single. An sublime slice of Machine Head metal, “SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR” packs so much punch into those ten minutes that the band is careering into “CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE” before you know it. As a tone-setter for the rest of ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN, it’s a massive statement of intent. A bold move at ten and a half minutes long, th...
