ALBUM OF THE DAY: BLOODJINN, THIS MACHINE RUNS ON EMPTY

Some of the members of Bloodjinn are in Vanisher now, and Vanisher is an excellent band, so I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or nuthin’, but — I am so fucking ready for Bloodjinn to get back together. I feel like I hear rumblings that it’s gonna happen at least twice a year, but so far, zip, zilch, zero. And our world is still in some dire need of Bloodjinning*.

‘Cause 2007’s This Machine Runs on Empty is still criminally underrated, a near-perfect example of the NWOAHM doing what it does (well, did, I guess) best: writing epic, heavy, catchy anthems that were true aesthetic amalgamations of metal’s history thus far. Right now we’re so lost in a sea of shitty bands that are trying, and failing, to combine thrash with Swedish melodeath and American hardcore that it’s easy to forget that the entire reason so many groups try that formula is because when you stick the landing, the results ROCK. An album like This Machine Runs on Empty is a more-than-potent reminder.

My most favorite songs from this album aren’t on MySpace and I don’t wanna be disrespectful and post mp3s, so I’m just gonna direct you to Bloodjinn’s MySpace page and instruct you to check out “A Moment of Clairty” and “Break the Silence.” But don’t do it ’til you’re someplace you can really CRANK that shit, ’cause it sounds best at scaring-the-neighbors levels.

And maybe if we’re all really lucky, we’ll get Bloodjinned** again in 2011.

-AR

*Sorry, couldn’t resist.
**It’s just too easy!