I remember one-time reading Revolver magazine’s review for Through the Ashes of Empires and while it was a very positive piece the writer felt that despite being a great step forward it may have been too little, too late for Machine Head. Hard to believe now, but in those days some perceived Machine Head as being dead in the water following the more mainstream stylings of The Burning Red and the ill-timed Supercharger.
Machine Head’s classic album The Blackening (Roadrunner Records) has turned thirteen! The band shared a lengthy reminiscence of the album with fans that you can see below! Arguably the bands’ second-best album besides their debut Burn My Eyes (Roadrunner), the record saw them open for Metallica, headline festivals and more. Continue reading
Even though he gets mad at the press for reporting stuff like this, Machine Head’s Robb Flynn posted on social media today that the band was in the midst of holding auditions for new members. The auditions are being held at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California with engineer Zack Ohren, a frequent collaborator of the band. They are seeking to replace Phil Demmel and Dave McClain who quit the band last fall. The band is also continuing to work on recordings of at least two new songs the band has been tracking for a possible single or EP release. Flynn mentioned that bassist Jared MacEachern suggested they give the same list of songs to both the guitar players and drummers rather than different songs for each candidate. Flynn also said they could learn and bring in their own songs for “extra credit”. Among the songs people were asked to learn include ‘Locust’, ‘Old’, ‘Imperium’, ‘From This Day’, ‘Halo’, ‘Aesthetics Of Hate’, ‘Volatile’ and ‘This Is The End’. Flynn calls this a good mix from all of their eras. Machine’Head’s last album Catharsis came out in January 2018 via Nuclear Blast Records to mixed reactions. Continue reading
Machine Head has shared video clips on Instagram of the band recording new music in the studio. Frontman and founder Robb Flynn called the tracks in a video “new heaviness” and the little bit that can be heard sounds like a return to the thrashy songs the band laid down on 2007’s The Blackening (Roadrunner). Flynn is joined by bassist/vocalist Jared MacEachern as the sole remaining members of the band after Phil Demmel and Dave McClain stepped down from the band following a final tour of 2018. The new music would be the first new songs from the band since last year’s divisive Catharsis album, released via their label Nuclear Blast. Check out the video, the screengrabs from Instagram Stories and check out a snippet of some new music.
Machine Head could get no lower by the end of 2002. Fourteen months after the release of Supercharger (Roadrunner) the band was at their wit’s end seemed to be on a slide. Having the misfortune of releasing that album just three weeks after 9/11, touring well, but at a tough time in the business for a touring band, and undergoing a transition, they were definitely standing on a ledge, looking over an abyss at their futures. After delivering their Hellalive album in early 2003, they were without a label for the first time since they were signed in the early 1990s. As detailed in the Elegies DVD from 2005, the band hunkered wrote as a three-piece, later on getting some contributions from Robb Flynn’s Vio-Lence shredder pal Phil Demmel. Finally getting a release ready for Roadrunner in Europe and still without a US label, the band released Through The Ashes Of Empires on December 16th 2003 with little fanfare outside the fanbase. Continue reading
Veteran modern metallers Machine Head have shared an update from the studio, where they are working on what will become their ninth studio album in their career, expected in 2018. They also played a snippet or a new song. You can watch it below.Continue reading
In the heart of Allston, MA (ok most visitors would just call it Boston) on one of the coldest nights of winter in January, Machine Head warmed up the Brighton Music Hall with an “Evening with” set. Now seeing a couple of “Evening with” shows, the show is always just the one band (no openers) and the band typically plays a greatest hit set. Of course, if you are Amon Amarth, then you would have played your brand new album from front to back, took a beer break, then played your greatest hits. Having said that, Machine Head did a great job of playing 17 of their greatest tracks across all of their albums in their 20 year history, all in a small window of time with a tight curfew. The small venue at BMH also allowed for a very intimate night, something most fans are not capable of getting from a Machine Head tour nowadays.
As I mentioned, the set list had a great variety of tracks across all of their albums in their discography. Not surprisingly, the most visited albums were the brand new Bloodstone & Diamonds (Nuclear Blast) as well as their masterpiece, The Blackening (Roadrunner). Both of these albums saw 4 tracks a piece such as ‘Game Over’, ‘Sail Into the Black’, and ‘Now We Die’ from the former and ‘Now I Lay Thee Down’, ‘Aesthetics of Hate’, and set closer ‘Halo’, from the latter. Burn My Eyes, Through the Ashes of Empires, and Unto the Locust only had 2 songs each including ‘Davidian’, ‘Imperium’, and ‘Locust’. I personally liked the choice to limit the tracks on Unto the Locust as I feel like Machine Head needed to ensure Blood & Diamonds was showcased as well as The Blackening. Regardless, the few songs selected from these albums I felt were well selected as they truly show any newer fan of Machine Head what these guys are all about. Rounding out the discography with one track from each is Supercharger, The Burning Red, and The More Things Change. Before you ask, yes, they played ‘From This Day’ and I felt like elementary school/middle school had just got out and I was on the bus listening to my beloved nu metal music. ‘Bulldozer’ and ‘Ten Ton Hammer’ were the other selections from the remaining albums as well. Overall, I really could not find a song to pick over any of the actual played songs (mainly because I do not see ‘Imaginal Cells’ being played live as it is an instrumental with samples over them).
So “An Evening with Machine Head” truly lived up to the hype and I am glad that I was able to go even with a nasty head cold and tired from the endless shoveling this winter has brought us here in New England. The crowd was great which was totally into the show from start to end with at least 10 separate “Machine Fucking Head” chants. Age varied greatly too as I saw some fans as young as maybe 17 or 18 and old as maybe late 50s! A show is almost always guaranteed to be a hit when there is an age range of about 40 years. As great as the set was, the live performance, and the fans in the crowd, nothing beat the absolute hilarity in watching fan after fan fall on their ass during circle pits. There were so many dropped beverages that people were slipping and sliding and falling all over the place! Fortunately no one received any real injuries and spent more time just laughing off the falls, hugging, and enjoying what was truly an amazing evening with Machine Head.
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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN
PHOTOS BY MEG LOYAL PHOTOGRAPHY