BLABBERMOUTH.NET
MACHINE HEAD frontman
Robb Flynn spoke to
Metal Hammer magazine about the band's new full-length album, due this summer via
Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2018's
"Catharsis" will include the three songs that were featured on last year's
"Arrows In Words From The Sky" single:
"Become The Firestorm",
"Rotten" and
"Arrows In Words From The Sky". Much of the new
MACHINE HEAD album was recorded at
Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with producer
Zack Ohren.
Regarding the musical direction of the new
MACHINE HEAD material,
Robb said: "It's similar to [2003's
'Through The Ashes Of Empires' and 2007's
'The Blackening'] in that we're moving forward into something fresh and new but it's got that classic
MACHINE HEAD vibe. We have a lot to deliver and expectations are very high, so I'm lucky to have great people surrounding me.
Jared [
MacEachern, bassist] really stepped up and wrote some great riffs and great vocals.
Vogg [guitarist
Wacław Kiełtyka] contributed a few ideas and brought some really great songs."
He continued: "It's fucking heavy, probably the heaviest we've been in a few albums. I've been playing so much guitar recently; I do Electric Happy Hours every Friday and sometimes you play a song you haven't played in 10, 20 years, or go through a whole album from top to bottom. When we toured
'Burn My Eyes', it took me back to where I was writing that music. I don't think I can ever be in that place again lyrically, but riff-wise, I think that all spilled into this album."
This past February,
MacEachern told
Primordial Radio about his contributions to
MACHINE HEAD's new album: "I think that I was very aware from day one that
Robb [
Flynn, guitar/vocals] is the leader, he's the creative leader, the musical leader… We all have our inputs but I think it's always understood that ultimately the decision is up to him for how things go. But, yeah, I definitely made contributions and I feel great about those contributions and I'm asked about my opinion on certain things. But, like I said, I'm following his lead."
As for the musical direction of the new
MACHINE HEAD material,
Jared said: "It's a pretty — to use
Robb's word… I believe he used the word 'colossal' the other day. It's a pretty big-, epic-sounding album. We've been toying around with the order, but I've been listening, sitting down, taking the time to listen to it all the way through, and the way it goes, it's a ride — a really great, heavy, beautiful, melodic, raging, thrashing ride."
In November 2020,
MACHINE HEAD released a single,
"My Hands Are Empty", via
Nuclear Blast. The song marked the first musical collaboration between
Flynn and original
"Burn My Eyes" guitarist
Logan Mader in 24 years.
"My Hands Are Empty" was just one in a line of singles to be released by
MACHINE HEAD, which issued
"Do Or Die" in October 2019,
"Circle The Drain" in February 2020, and the two-song digital single
"Civil Unrest", consisting of
"Stop The Bleeding" and
"Bulletproof", in June 2020.
"Stop The Bleeding" featured guest vocals from
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman
Jesse Leach, and was written and recorded just days after the murders of
George Floyd and
Ahmaud Arbery.
MACHINE HEAD will team up with Sweden's Viking metal overlords
AMON AMARTH for a co-headline
"Vikings And Lionhearts" European arena tour in September and October. Support on the trek will come from
THE HALO EFFECT, the new band featuring five former members of
IN FLAMES:
Peter Iwers,
Daniel Svensson,
Jesper Strömblad,
Niclas Engelin and
Mikael Stanne.
"Catharsis" was the final album to feature guitarist
Phil Demmel and drummer
Dave McClain, who both left
MACHINE HEAD in October 2018.
Demmel, who was in
MACHINE HEAD for nearly 16 years, during which time he played on five of the group's studio albums, told the
"In The Pitts Of Metal And Motor Chaos" podcast that
MACHINE HEAD ended up becoming a
Robb Flynn solo project toward the end of his time with the group.
Flynn dismissed
Demmel's comments during the
Metal Hammer interview, saying: "I don't know what he's talking about. Everybody's always contributed to all the records. I write, like, 80% of every record, but I love being in a band and I welcome everyone's contributions."