Photos

Machine Head, Suicide Silence, Darkest Hour Photo Gallery and Show Review

By Blow The Scene Staff

Posted on February 9, 2012

Oakland, CA’s Machine Head ripped through the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia last week with support from Suicide Silence and Darkest Hour for a near capacity crowd that almost immediately began chanting “Machine-fucking-Head” incessantly, before even the opening acts took the stage. Machine Head are riding high as we kick off 2012 with the ongoing success from their most recent full-length, Unto The Locust, which was released via Roadrunner Records last September and debuted at a whopping #22 on the Billboard Top 200. Unto The Locust showed up on a number of times our Top Lists of 2011, submitted by musicians from all corners of the metal and hardcore scenes.

This latest recorded effort took in rave reviews from fans and critics alike, as Machine Head celebrates two decades active in the metal world with guitarist/vocalist and founding member, Robb Flynn steady at the helm. Metalhammer.co.uk had this to say about the record; “Truly iconic metal bands come along only once or twice in each generation, and if Metallica and Slayer are the groups who stand tallest from the 1980s, then surely Machine Head are their 1990s equivalents. Unto The Locust is a storm of complex arrangements and riffs, compiled by musicians who have gained absolute command of their vision. It’s a breathtaking work.”

This tour once again found Darkest Hour touring alongside Machine Head, as the bands tore through Europe together for six weeks last November and December. Darkest Hour continues to support their seventh full-length record The Human Romance, which was released in early 2011 and also saw favorable critical and fan reviews. The Human Romance marks Darkest Hour‘s eighteenth year as band, as they showed no signs of slowing down and were quickly able to garner the attention of a very mixed bag of metal fans early in the night.

Suicide Silence rounded out the bill and drew a much younger crowd than their touring companions, as was evident by the massive shift on the floor as they took the stage. The band is currently supporting their third full-length release The Black Crown, which was released via Century Media last summer and has been supported with numerous high-end tours by the band. The album was produced by renowned engineer and producer Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die) and was the source of many song selections this night. Front-man Mitch Lucker attempted tirelessly to energize the crowd and at one point, incited a “wall-of-death” where fans split the crowd and ran full steam at one another before breaking into a mosh pit. No doubt the young-bloods ate this up, as the seasoned metal heads looked none too amused by the display.

Machine Head closed the evening with a gargantuan light show and ripped through a nearly two-hour set that spanned the corpus of their musical history, firmly putting to rest any doubts that band has lost it’s edge. The magnificently talented Bora Chung or Bora Chung Photography was on hand to capture the show in photos for your viewing pleasure.

All pictures by Bora Chung Photography
Words by Joshua T. Cohen

Darkest Hour