Review by Ben for Machine Head - Burn My Eyes (1994)
Entertaining groove metal album that should please all those Pantera fans.
Before I discuss the merits of Burn My Eyes, I'd like to state that Machine Head are not necessarily my type of band. This very American styled groove metal generally grates on my nerves, with the exception of two very good Pantera albums in the early 90s, and so I'm probably not the best person in the world to review a Machine Head album. Despite this statement, I can most definitely say that Burn My Eyes is a good album that I thoroughly enjoy despite my initial hesitance.
The band seem to get a fair amount of flak (just read some of the reviews on this site) for a lot of their work, and perhaps some of that is justified for their later releases. But Burn My Eyes has enough great riffs and grooves to keep just about any metalhead happy, so I think a lot of the negativity directed at this release is a little harsh. Apart from the great chunky guitar work, the drumming is also awesome, and Rob Flynn's angry vocals suit the music perfectly. On that note, it does make me wonder why Rob didn't offer his vocal services to Vio-Lence while he was part of that band, as their otherwise decent thrash metal was all but destroyed by a truly horrendous singer (if you can call him that).
It is true that some of these tracks overstay their welcome just a little, with many of them running close to six minutes in length. It's also true that after the incredible one two punch of Davidian and Old, the album struggles to reach those heights again. But I can't say any of the remaining tracks are bad and in most cases they're damn entertaining. The band change things up throughout the album and don't thrash all that hard for much of the running time, but every time things are starting to feel a little stale, they'll crank things up with a monstrous riff.
All up I'd say Burn My Eyes is one of the better thrash metal debuts to come out since the golden era (ie. 1980s) and anyone that enjoys Pantera will get a large kick out Machine Head. I can't speak for any of their later albums as I haven't spent any time with them, but this debut is well worth your while. Highlights for me are Davidian, Old, A Thousand Lies, The Rage to Overcome, Death Church and the thrashing Blood for Blood.