Unatoned – Clear

Listen, I’ve been spinning vinyl since before it was cool the first time around, and let me tell you something about Machine Head’s “UNATONED” on clear vinyl – this isn’t just another record to file between your dad’s Zeppelin collection and that limited pressing you bought to impress your last Tinder date.

This is Machine Head eleven albums deep, still drawing blood from stone. The clear vinyl edition isn’t just pretty (though watching that platter spin like liquid glass under your stylus has its own hypnotic charm) – it’s the perfect physical manifestation of an album that balances transparency with weight.

The grooves cut into this clear slab contain music that feels like a confession whispered directly into your ear one moment, then a sledgehammer to your chest the next. The melancholy that drips through tracks like bitter honey isn’t the performative sadness of bands half their age – it’s earned, it is lived in, it’s real.

What strikes me most about “UNATONED” is how Machine Head manages to sound hungry after all these years. While their contemporaries settled into comfortable patterns or disappeared altogether, Robb Flynn and company have sharpened their edges rather than smoothing them out. The riffs here don’t just crush – they lacerate with precision.

The 12-page booklet that comes with this edition isn’t just liner notes – it’s a portal into their creative process, a tangible connection to the band that streaming will never provide. Hold it in your hands while the needle drops, and you are not just a listener – you are a witness.

This clear vinyl pressing from Nuclear Blast gives these songs room to breathe in ways digital compression never could. The anthemic choruses soar higher, the bottom end hits deeper, and those moments where the band pulls back before the storm feel like the air being sucked from your lungs.

I’ve watched vinyl trends come and go, but “UNATONED” isn’t about nostalgia or collectibility – it is about experiencing music as a physical force. This isn’t background music. This is a record that demands your full attention, that asks you to sit with it, to flip it, to return to it.

Machine Head has created something that feels both timeless and urgently of this moment. Amid increasing focus on of endless content and diminishing attention spans, “UNATONED” on clear vinyl stands as a monument to what happens when artists refuse to compromise, refuse to fade, refuse to atone for their musical sins.

Trust me on this one – this clear vinyl edition isn’t just another release. It’s a statement piece for a band that, eleven albums in, still has plenty to say. And they’re saying it louder and clearer than ever.

I’ve always had a soft spot for those bands that refuse to lie down and die. Machine Head, now deep into their third decade, have produced something rather special with ‘Unatoned.’ This clear vinyl pressing is the sort of thing that makes me wish I was still behind the microphone at Radio 1, introducing it with that slight quiver of excitement in my voice.

If you’ve followed Robb Flynn and company through their evolution – from the thrash-tinged debut through the nu-metal experiments and back to their heavier roots – ‘Unatoned’ feels like a culmination of sorts. It’s an album that doesn’t so much ask for your attention as demand it with a series of sharp, calculated blows.

The melancholy that seeps through the record reminds me of those late-night sessions in the Peel Acres studio, where I’d often find myself lost in the darker corners of music while the rest of the country slumbered. Flynn’s vocals swing between vulnerability and rage with remarkable precision, creating moments of genuine emotional weight.

I remember meeting Robb backstage at Donnington in ’94, shortly after their ‘Burn My Eyes’ release. Even then, amidst the chaos of early success, he spoke with remarkable clarity about creating music that would outlast trends. Eleven albums later, that determination remains undimmed on ‘Unatoned.’

This clear vinyl edition, complete with a substantial 12-page booklet, is perfect for those who appreciate physical media as an extension of the artistic statement. The transparency of the vinyl itself seems almost symbolic of the album’s unflinching honesty.

You’ll want this record if you’ve ever found yourself drawn to music that balances technical prowess with emotional directness. If you’ve ever driven down empty motorways at 2 AM with only your thoughts and the perfect soundtrack for company. If you understand that heaviness isn’t just about volume and speed, but about weight of feeling.

Machine Head have crafted something that feels both contemporary and timeless – no small feat in a genre that sometimes values novelty over substance. ‘Unatoned’ suggests that even after all these years, they remain gloriously, defiantly unbowed.

As I would have said on the show: “That was Machine Head, and if that doesn’t start your week with suitable intensity, I’m not sure what will.”