The San Francisco Bay Area’s finest Machine Head have garnered the first Grammy nomination of their imperishable career for “Aesthetics Of Hate,” a monstrous track from the critically hailed The Blackening, released in March 2007. The song is nominated for “Best Metal Performance.”
“Aesthetics Of Hate,” an anthemic song built around a firestorm of riffs, was inspired by an article of the same name that appeared on a popular neo-conservative website that addressed the on-stage shooting of legendary Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, by attacking him as an “untalented possessor of a guitar,” and his fans as “pathetic and ugly.” While “Aesthetics Of Hate” isn’t about Dimebag per say, it is a mighty metallic reaction to the author’s skewed perception of the metal scene.
The Grammy nomination proves that Machine Head – who since the mid-90’s have been one of the most credible and influential metal bands of all time – continue to make relevant music deep into their career. Blender described The Blackening as “a head-banging epic of the type unseen since Metallica’s …And Justice for All, and The Blackening was in the #1, or top #5 Album of the Year spot in nearly every metal magazine throughout the world. It was the #1 Most Spun album of 2007 on the FMQB Metal Detector year-end radio chart and was voted “Album Of The Year” by the radio stations themselves. The record also cleaned up at both the U.K. based Metal Hammer Awards and the highly influential 2007 Kerrang! Awards ceremonies, where The Blackening was named “Album Of The Year” over such artists as My Chemical Romance and Lamb Of God.
Band frontman/guitarist Robb Flynn added, “We are completely blown away, and honored by this. It’s incredible that the anger of this song has connected with so many people. It proves to Dimebag’s detractors, the positive impact he had on his fans and fellow bands alike.”
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