A supercharger is an air compressor that increases the pressure or density of air supplied to an internal combustion engine. This gives each intake cycle of the engine more oxygen, letting it burn more fuel and do more work, thus increasing power.
Power for the supercharger can be provided mechanically by means of a belt, gear, shaft, or chain connected to the engine's crankshaft. When power is provided by a turbine powered by exhaust gas, a supercharger is known as a turbosupercharger – typically referred to simply as a turbocharger or just turbo. Common usage restricts the term supercharger to mechanically driven units.
In 1860, brothers Philander and Francis Marion Roots, founders of Roots Blower Company of Connersville, Indiana, patented the design for an air mover for use in blast furnaces and other industrial applications.
The world's first functional, actually tested engine supercharger was made by Dugald Clerk, who used it for the firsttwo-stroke engine in 1878. Gottlieb Daimler received a German patent for supercharging an internal combustion engine in 1885. Louis Renault patented a centrifugal supercharger in France in 1902. An early supercharged race car was built by Lee Chadwick of Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1908 which reportedly reached a speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).
The first Sabre was a former knife thrower named Paul Richarde until he was selected by Modred to oppose Black Knight. Paul Richarde was given an armor, an animated gargoyle. and Mordred's Ebony Dagger (the weapon with which Mordred had killed the first Black Knight). He was defeated by Black Knight after his horse Aragorn kicked the dagger from Le Sabre's hand.
The second Sabre is a mutant super villain. His first appearance was in X-Men #106. Young and reckless, Sabre was chosen by Mystique to join her new Brotherhood of Mutants, though never actually participated in any missions. He had the mutant ability of super speed, and took the name of the deceased Super Sabre. It is unknown if he continues to serve Mystique behind the scenes, or if he even retains his powers after Decimation. Hyper-accelerated metabolism augments his natural speed, reflexes, coordination, endurance, and the healing properties of his body.
Supercharger is the fourth album by the heavy metal band Machine Head. The release was ill-timed, and, as a result of little promotion, fell far short of the success of The Burning Red, which has sold about 134,000 copies in the US to date. Supercharger has sold about 45,000 copies in the US to date, making it a commercial failure.
Supercharger was released in October, 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The lead (and only) single "Crashing Around You", was pulled from MTV and rock radio just as soon as it was added despite being the "most added" track in the United States. The pull was a result of the metaphorical "crashing" lyric in the song and the burning San Francisco skyline in the video.
Machine Head's support tour for the album was done without help from their label Roadrunner Records, and after the release of Hellalive to fulfill their contract, led the band to a two-year hiatus from the label's American branch.
With The Burning Red, the band changed their sound to nu metal. Supercharger was darker and heavier than The Burning Red, but lacked as much groove metal sound as Burn My Eyes and The More Things Change.... Two years later, the band would release Through the Ashes of Empires and return to their groove metal roots.