Metal veterans Machine Head smash Nashville like a wrecking ball

The 90s have never been considered the most fertile time for metal, but I don't agree that the decade was some sort of wasteland for the genre as many experts like to assert. Machine Head is one of the many reasons why.

Their first statement was perhaps their loudest, dropping their debut album Burn My Eyes in in 1994. Combining the frenzied edge of thrash metal with a straight ahead riffing style and an aggressive, take no prisoners attitude, the album is still considered a classic to this day.

Oakland based heavy metal act Machine Head graced Nashville's Exit/In.

It had been far too long since we'd seen the Bay Area heathens properly tear Music City apart, as frontman Rob Flynn declared it had been 19 years since the last headlining tour from Machine Head hit Nashville. The occasion? Dubbed The Killers & Kings tour, the band had booked a small number of dates in support of their latest single of the same name. It seems like more of an excuse to get back out on the road more than anything else, but anything that gets Machine Head to venue near me won't have me complaining.

The setlist pulled almost evenly from the band's seven studio albums, but focused most heavily on their 2007 effort The Blackening. Now, it isn't too often a band releases their best album 13 years into their career, but Machine Head does not concern themselves with the operations of lesser mortals. If the spitfire riffing of "Aesthetics of Hate" or the lighters held high anthem "Halo" doesn't get you going, then buddy you've come to the wrong place.

Their latest album, Unto the Locust, is no slouch either. The technical complexity of the riffing in "Locust" demonstrates heady progress the band has made over the years. The real jaw dropper moment, however, came during "Darkness Within" as the crowd took over and sang the outro all by themselves, even after the band went silent. Chills.

Rob Flynn and Phil Demmel go back to back during a scintillating solo.

Their older material shined, too. The punishing riffs of "Ten Ton Hammer" were impossible, while "Old" and "Davidian" gave us ringing reminders as to why we fell in love with this band in the first place.

I've read several blog posts from frontman Rob Flynn, and he seems like a great guy full of personality. He was a relentless motivator, constantly urging the crowd on and demanding their all. Guitarist Phil Demmel also deployed some great showmanship. He sliced through solos with the greatest of ease while making faces toward the crowd and exuding showmanship that reminds me of the guys from Iron Maiden.

The crowd, for their part, heralded the band's arrival by taking up hearty cries of Machine Fucking Head  Other than that, though, they mostly just stood at respectful attention without really getting too into it.