Review by Jack on October 3, 2001.

Machine Head were probably always noted for their fuel and energy injected music and Robert Flynn’s rusty clean vocal attack, amidst a heavy bass laden, drum onslaught and down-tuned guitar riffs. They burst onto the scene with their acclaimed debut “Burn My Eyes” and followed up with a perhaps, slightly shaky "The More Things Change", however they managed to redeem themselves with the rap/hardcore “The Burning Red” and now the newbie is finally out, we now have “Supercharger”.

Much hype and drama surrounded the release of “Supercharger”, promising to be anything from another “The Burning Red” with a harder sound and a few more bells and whistles thrown in for more jolly Machine Head mayhem, to going back to the roots of “Burn My Eyes”.

Well, (I think for the good incidentally) “Supercharger” is neither what various members of the music world have claimed it to be. Machine Head with “Supercharger” follow a sort of concept album of urbanization, electricity and working class themed music, song titles ‘Bulldozer’ and ‘Brown Acid’ being indicative of this.

Flynn’s voice has certainly gone through more refining on “Supercharger”, with his clean vocals sounding stronger and more ‘charged’ than ever. “Supercharger” had additionally held the existing lineup of Flynn/Duce/Luster/McClain together from the “The Burning Red” days, which has helped cement a patented Machine Head sound this time around.

Machine Head’s main worry with “Supercharger” is that they seem to be split into two minds on many of their songs. By that I mean the tracks are usually all a combo of insanely fast tempos with Flynn’s heavier vocals and then the track will subside into a slow brooding ballad halfway through the chorus, only to pick up the tempo five seconds later (see ‘Blank Generation’ and ‘Crashing Around You’). Whilst this may work with the majority of tracks on the album, some really do not work, which is quite disappointing.

Overall Machine Head have posted a solid follow up to the “The Burning Red” and they will continue to remain one of my favourite American bands (my favourite being Iced Earth). Best track: ‘Deafening Silence’.

Bottom Line: Machine Head return with an urban industrial tempo album, which is difficult to pigeonhole with the rest of their albums. The real bottom line is that this album is solid but not overly outstanding.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Adam M on May 30, 2025.

This was a revoluntionary album for the music business and introduced heavy metal to the world.  It is a very interesting doom album and influencial to the likes of Candlemass, Trouble and other bands.  The sound is fuzzy and appropriate and makes for an early heavy metal album  It is a classic of the genre and one to be remembered forever.

The musicianship was good at introducing a new type of of doom metal to the worl.  It was eally effective in its distrtorted riff patterns.  Tony Iommi’s guitar  licks are memorable and make for a good introduction the genre.  The singing of Ozzy Osbourne is something fresh, but would oerpaes be bettered by Ronnie James Dio in the future. 

In terms of flaws, this is not their most interesting souding recording, buyt simply a great showcase of a new band to the world.  The manner of freshness and the revolutionary aspect makes this a wonder to the world, even though it is not their most interesting sounding recording overall.  Despite this flaw, the album manages to be an iconic one.

Overall, this is a very cool album and onme that is quite new and brings cool riffs to the table.  It is one of the important pieces of a genre that has laster for a long time and is very imporant.  It is a notable album and one every doom fan should hear multiple times over.

Rating: 8.1/10