Album
The Blackening
The Blackening is Machine Head's sixth studio album, following 2003's Through the Ashes of Empires and arriving on Roadrunner Records in March 2007. It sits in the groove, thrash and heavy metal camp, and it gave the band its third highest chart placing in the US, reaching number 54 on the Billboard 200. It also reached the Top 20 in many countries elsewhere, and the BPI certified it gold in the UK for sales above 100,000 copies.
The first single, "Aesthetics of Hate", was Robb Flynn's answer to a website article that praised the murder of guitarist Dimebag Darrell. He framed the song as both a furious rebuttal and a tribute to Dimebag, and it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. "Beautiful Mourning" turned up in Guitar Hero: Metallica, while "Aesthetics of Hate" became downloadable content for Rock Band. The cover's mirror carries the inscription "the mirror which flatters not."
The Blackening: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 1:01:02Tracklist
- 1Clenching the Fists of DissentDemmel, Flynn, McClain10:37
- 2Beautiful MourningPhil Demmel and Robert Flynn4:46
- 3Aesthetics of HateRobert Flynn and Adam Duce6:30
- 4Now I Lay Thee DownPhil Demmel and Robert Flynn5:35
- 5SlanderousPhil Demmel and Robert Flynn5:17
- 6HaloDemmel, Duce, Flynn, McClain9:03
- 7WolvesDemmel, Duce, Flynn9:01
- 8A Farewell to ArmsDemmel, Flynn, Duce10:13
- Produced by
- Robert Flynn, Robb Flynn
- Recorded at
- Sharkbite Studios (Oakland, California)
- Recorded
- 21 August – 16 November 2006
- Mixed by
- Colin Richardson
- Mixed at
- Metropolis, Strongroom
- Engineered by
- Matt Hyde, Mark Keaton, Vincent Wojno
- Mastered by
- Eddy Schreyer
- Artwork
- Deanna Alcorn, Bau‐Da Design Lab, Robert Flynn
- Photography
- Alex Solca
- Labels
- Roadrunner Records, Roadrunner
- Length
- 1:01:02
Line-up
- Phil Demmel · electric guitar
- Adam Duce · electric bass guitar, background vocals
- Robert Flynn · electric guitar, lead vocals
- Dave McClain · drums (drum set)
Singles
- “Aesthetics of Hate” · 3 April 2007
- “Now I Lay Thee Down” · 2 October 2007
- “Halo” · 13 May 2008
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 16 |
| US Billboard 200 | 54 |
| German Albums | 12 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 14 |
| Scottish Albums | 18 |
| Austrian Albums | 19 |
| Swedish Albums | 19 |
| Irish Albums | 23 |
| Dutch Albums | 29 |
| Swiss Albums | 29 |
All 18 charts
| Finnish Albums | 33 |
| French Albums | 36 |
| Norwegian Albums | 36 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) | 52 |
| Italian Albums | 55 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 59 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) | 74 |
| Spanish Albums | 79 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom · 2025 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
67.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.9k
ListenBrainz listeners
40k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
23k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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1997
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1997
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1999
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2000
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2007-03-27 vs 2007-03-23 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 23 March 2007 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 27 March 2007 | |
| Wikidata | 2007 | |
| US release | 27 March 2007 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 23 March 2007 | earliest UK or European date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861801625 | other |
| 2007 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801625 | other |
| March 2007 | NL | Roadrunner Records | 016861801625 | other |
| 23 March 2007 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801687 | original |
| 23 March 2007 | JP | Roadrunner Records | 4527583006640 | original |
| 24 March 2007 | AU | Roadrunner Records | 016861801625 | other |
| 27 March 2007 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861801625 | other |
| 27 April 2007 | DE | Roadrunner Records | 4024572308841 | other |
| 26 August 2008 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861801618 | other |
| 27 October 2008 | AU | Roadrunner Records | 016861801656 | deluxe |
| 27 October 2008 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801656 | deluxe |
| 28 October 2008 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861801663 | deluxe |
| 12 November 2008 | JP | Roadrunner Records | 4527583008644 | other |
| — | — | Imperium Recordings | 0727361568368 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| coverartarchive | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |