Machine Head - Halo

No, no, you’re not seeing double – there really are links for two different videos in the Rock Song of the Week pick for this week. To what are you owed this unusual pleasure, you ask? Let me give you the lowdown.

Formed in Oakland, California in 1991 by well-known metal stalwart Robb Flynn, Machine Head have been smashing their way through our collective brain pans in a mission to rock us ever since. A heady blend of thrash and more traditional leaning heavy metal, the band have had phases and cycles that took on more different takes on the genre than you could shake two sticks at, including sludge, melodic and even nu-metal.

The Blackening, the 2007 titan that our pick is taken from this week catapulted the band into new spotlights, being nominated for a Grammy award and also pushing the band to their highest position in the charts at that time (2012’s Unto the Locust would give them a higher berth). It’s a stone-cold face smasher of an album, and we’ve selected possibly one of the smash-iest in Halo, the third single. Or is it the most smash-iest depending on where you hear it?

Here's the reason for the two links – the video cut of the song is actually on a much shorter runtime, knocking nearly four minutes of melodic interweaving and guitar out of it and, in the process, making it a much heavier experience all round. However, the original album track, at just over nine minutes, keeps all that good stuff in and makes it a much more complete song overall. So far be it for us to deprive you of either, we’ve only gone and posted both versions (which I’m sure my boss is thrilled about having to do the editing for. Well, rock is rebellious after all!)

So here’s Halo, and whichever version you listen to (or if you’ve got a spare quarter of an hour, for both versions) pump those rookie volume numbers up and have a blast.