Bloodstone & Diamonds

Bloodstone & Diamonds
Studio album by Machine Head
Released November 7, 2014[1]
Recorded Jingletown Studios, CA, 2014
Genre Thrash metal, groove metal
Length 70:59
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Robb Flynn & Juan Urteaga
Machine Head chronology

Machine Fucking Head Live
(2012)		 Bloodstone & Diamonds
(2014)
Singles from Bloodstone & Diamonds
  1. "Killers & Kings"
    Released: April 29, 2014[2][3]
  2. "Now We Die"
    Released: September 26, 2014[4]

Bloodstone & Diamonds is the eighth full-length studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head, released by Nuclear Blast on 7 November 2014.[5] This is the first album to feature new bassist Jared MacEachern who replaced founding bassist Adam Duce in 2013. Although the album doesn't feature a title track, the album gets its name from a lyric from the opening track and second single 'Now We Die'. The album was once again mixed by Colin Richardson with additional tracking, editing, and mixing by Andy Sneap and Steve Lagudi. All album art was done by Travis Shinn. Bloodstone & Diamonds is the band's first album not to be released on Roadrunner Records.[6]

Lyrics and themes

Like with previous Machine Head releases, the album's lyrics detail political and social themes, particularly civil unrest, dissatisfaction and injustice, often with violent conclusions. “Night of Long Knives” is not about the Röhm-Putsch, but instead the equally violent Manson Family murders in Hollywood in 1969.

"Imaginal Cells" is an instrumental featuring samples from the audiobook Spontaneous Evolution by Dr. Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman.[7]

Track listing

All lyrics and music were written or co-written by Robb Flynn. Additional credits shown below.

No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Now We Die"   Phil Demmel 7:10
2. "Killers & Kings"   Demmel 4:32
3. "Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones"  Demmel, Jared MacEachernDemmel, MacEachern, Dave McClain 6:06
4. "Night of Long Knives"     6:48
5. "Sail into the Black"  DemmelDemmel, McClain 8:29
6. "Eyes of the Dead"     6:25
7. "Beneath the Silt"     4:43
8. "In Comes the Flood"  MacEachern  7:22
9. "Damage Inside"   McClain 3:24
10. "Game Over"   Demmel 6:36
11. "Imaginal Cells" (Instrumental) Demmel 3:36
12. "Take Me Through the Fire"  DemmelDemmel 5:48

Personnel

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [8]
Blabbermouth.net 9/10[9]
The Guardian [10]
Kerrang

The album was critically acclaimed, with Dom Lawson of The Guardian writing "Striking an exquisite balance between brute force, insistent melody and bold experimentation, this is the finest mainstream metal album of 2014 by a huge margin."[10] In the first week of release, the album debuted at #21 in The Billboard 200 chart,[11] becoming the band's highest charting album ever.

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 6
Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 35
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[16] 39
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[17] 38
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 18
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 35
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 6
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] 81
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 38
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[23] 31
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[24] 63
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 7

References

  1. ↑ http://oi62.tinypic.com/2url3lj.jpg
  2. ↑ "MACHINE HEAD - Details for >>Killers & Kings... - Nuclear Blast". Nuclear Blast. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Killers & Kings - Single by Machine Head". iTunes. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ "MACHINE HEAD - brand new e-single 'Now We Die' out NOW!!!". Nuclear Blast Website. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ MACHINE HEAD To Release 'Bloodstone & Diamonds' Album In November
  6. ↑ http://loudwire.com/machine-head-new-album-2014-sign-with-nuclear-blast-entertainment/
  7. ↑ http://machinehead.tumblr.com/post/94641501848/machine-head-bloodstone-diamonds
  8. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Bloodstone & Diamonds - Machine Head". AllMusic. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ Van Horn, Jr., Ray. "Machine Head - "Bloodstone & Diamonds"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Machine Head: Bloodstone & Diamonds review – visceral and emotional". theguardian.com.
  11. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/machine-heads-bloodstone-diamonds-cracks-u-s-top-25/
  12. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien.
  13. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  14. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien.
  15. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien.
  16. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Danishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "Machine Head: Bloodstone & Diamonds" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  19. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien.
  20. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  21. ↑ "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 46 (dal 10-11-2014 al 16-11-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien.
  23. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien.
  24. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
  25. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien.