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Machine Head are one of the biggest metal bands around right now and it’s easy to see why. While the band may have stumbled with their nu-metal influenced work on The Burning Red and Supercharger, ever since 2003’s Through the Ashes of Empires, they’ve worked hard to deliver some of the biggest anthems in metal and win over old fan’s and former haters. Since that album they’ve only improved with 2007’s The Blackening and 2011’s Unto the Locust receiving critical acclaim. But can they keep up this trend with their new album Bloodstone & Diamonds.

The album opens with the single, “Now We Die” and it sum up the overall feel of the album pretty well. The track contains the band’s signature mix of groove and thrash, while being infectiously catchy. It’s no doubt a great song, but it also does absolutely nothing new. In fact, it would be hard to find a song more atypical of Machine Head.

And that’s true of the album as a whole. With Through the Ashes of Empires, Machine Head returned to their early sound to the joy of their fans. With The Blackening, they upped the complexity, making longer songs that were harder to digest but more rewarding. And with Unto the Locust they improved their musicianship greatly, establishing on what they’d done previously. Comparatively, this album feels something like a step back. The songs are shorter, easier to digest and come with chorus that are catchy as hell.

After one-upping themselves with their last three albums I can’t blame the band for wanting to dial it back a bit. And it’s actually not that bad a thing. For one, Machine Head have learnt to write shorter songs again, something which I greatly appreciate. While their longer works on the past two albums were great, they occasionally came close to being a bit too self-indulgent. Second, by not focusing on one-upping themselves again, the band instead focus on simply writing twelve great metal songs. And I for one would say they succeed.

However, I still would have liked a bit more diversity on this album. Machine Head are certainly in their element here, but to a fault. Anybody who is familiar enough with the band would probably even be able to predict just where each and every track is going to go. It all sounds a bit too much like the band’s previous work. In fact, the songs even sound a bit too much like each other. Because of this there are no real stand-out tracks on the album, although the Charles Manson inspired “Night of Long Knives” has stuck with me, and “Game Over” may contain the band’s catchiest chorus yet.

Overall, Bloodstone & Diamonds is a damn good album, even if it is far from Machine Head’s best. Both its successes and its failures come from the decision to make a more simplistic album. If you’re looking for Machine Head to top themselves once again, prepare to be disappointed. But if you simply want to hear a band doing what they do best, then Bloodstone & Diamonds is a rousing success.