Track Listing

1. Imperium
2. Bite The Bullet
3. Left Unfinished
4. Elegy
5. In The Presence Of My Enemies
6. Days Turn Blue To Gray
7. Vim
8. All Fall Down
9. Wipe The Tears
10. Descend The Shades Of Night

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4503 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
With Through the Ashes of Empires, Machine Head appear to be taking stock, looking backwards and forwards. Before this, using scratching, samplers and bewildering distortion, Machine Head strove to rise above the ferociously rocking pack inspired by their 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes. Yet in much of the first half of this album they return to the churning, multi-faceted metal of their early years, as if attempting to rediscover their former flaming spirit. It's not that it's not aggressive--"Bite the Bullet" and "Left Unfinished" are really quite fearsome--just that it's lacking the furious innovation we've come to expect.

Thankfully, this situation changes. "Days Turn Blue to Gray" features what ought to be a crushing riff that's instead hushed and made to back a pastoral interlude. "All Falls Down" veers from crunching metal to melancholy folk, singer Rob Flynn weirdly employing all the seductive softness of INXS's "Need You Tonight" while threatening strangulation and worse. The tough talkover of "Wipe the Tears" and the sub-classical guitar-fest of "Descend the Shades of Night" bring the album to a glorious conclusion. Machine Head still burn brightly, and Flynn, in discussing the birth-parents who discarded him, takes his rage to new levels. You'd think he'd be over it by now. Be glad he isn't. --Dominic Wills

CD Description
On THROUGH THE ASHES OF EMPIRES, Machine Head delivers another potent dose of the group's signature blend of late-1980sthrash and Pantera-inspired alt-metal. This time around, though, the band takes frequent musical interludes from the sonic onslaught--a tinkling toy piano provides "Left Unfinished" with a nicely eerie, horror-film intro, while "Wipe Away the Tears" features a Black Flag-style spoken rant. In a fewplaces, the ordinarily pummeling juggernaut that is MachineHead even gets downright melodic--"Shades of Night", for example, features vocal harmonies would fit right in on an Incubus disc. Longtime fans need not worry, though--THROUGH THEASHES OF EMPIRES provides enough angst-laden growls and six-string shredding to keep heads banging, machine or otherwise.

Customer Reviews

Heavy as hell
The two words i would use to describe this album are heavy and melodic. Every song is heavy and melodic and usually well paced. Some songs have fast as hell parts on them. If you liked the older machine head because of intensity and you like the new machine head because of melodic-eness then you should buy this because its great. 10/10!

Without a doubt, the album of 2003
Simply stunning, a metalheads dream come true.

Imperium, one of the finest songs to ever grace a metal lovers CD player. My friend let me listen to this one song, and it simply blew me away and I went out to buy the album the next day. The build up in this song is simply incredible and then the roar from Rob Flynn signalling the return of brutal Machine Head. I would give the album 5 stars even if Imperium was the only good track on it and the rest of it sucked. However the rest of teh album is far from crap. It is simply stunning. From the incredible choruses, brutal guitar riffs and astounding drumming this album is metal perfection. The final track on this album, the semi acoutic, Descend the Shades of Night is remarkable. From slow acoustic chords being played a unbelievable outpouring of emotion near the end of the song from Rob Flynn takes place.

Trust me, you like metal, buy this, you will not be disappointed. Machine Head seem to be the only band in 2003 that returned to their 'old' roots and succeeded with flying colours. Metallica and St. Anger by far the most disappointing album I ahve ever heard, don't get me wrong I like it, but even after 8 months I can't compare it to any of their old albums, even Load. Korn, yes Take A Look In the Mirror was a triumphant return and was simply the heaviest beats to come out of them in a while, it lacked....... the directiona and emotion of their first attempt. Both these classic bands should take a page out of Machine Head's book for their next records.

Machine Head, they rule, yes they do, they are truly the Kings of Metal.

Machine head e.g Gods of Metal
Machine Head have done it again. Through the ashes of empires has got to be their best work since Burn my eyes if not better. This band are pioneers of the way metal should be and are constantly pushing the bench mark in the music industry. They give you a blend of all out heavy riffing and crazy double bass like Vim or Imperium to melodic master pieces like Descend the shades of night. I feel that people can easily relate to this album and this band as there songs are so meaningfull and honest, i personally deeply relate to Wipe the tears because of what i have been through and im sure other people respond the same to this or any of the other songs on the album. This album is the best investment i have every made and once you buy this i garranty you'll feel the same.