Through the Ashes of Empires

When they first emerged in 1994, San Francisco metalheads Machine Head appeared poised (along with the then-unstoppable Pantera) to lead the cause of American metal, proudly and purposefully, through the second half of that grim, grim, alternative rock-dominated decade.

MACHINE HEAD's fifth studio album, "Through The Ashes Of Empires", is the band's most brutally heavy effort since the one-two punch of their 1994 debut, "Burn My Eyes", and its '97 follow-up, "The More Things Change…". Parts of this album rank right up there as classic MACHINE HEAD moments in terms...