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Surveying The Kingdom With MACHINE HEAD

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Words by Simon Russell-White

Calling all heavy metal fans, may I have your attention please!

Oakland, California’s Machine Head are about to drop their tenth, ten ton hammer on us all, and trust me you are not prepared! In short (for now) Of Kingdom and Crown is without doubt one of the most punishing heavy metal releases the band, who is now in its fourth decade, has ever released. Now that may be a stretch/ a sweeping statement given the band’s insane back catalogue of classic metal thickenings but given first singles UNHALLØWED and CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE are only a taste of what’s to come then be settled in the fact that this album will soothe your brutal tunes pallet!

The course of time has seen some personnel changes and even classic line-ups re-entering the MH world to simply celebrate heavy metal history, most recently being the Burn My Eyes – Live-In-Studio-2019 which saw original members Logan Mader (Guitars) and Chris Kontos (Drums) join up with Robb Flynn (Vocals/ Guitars) and now long time bassist Jared MacEachern (Bass) for a raw and engaging live (in studio) recording of the classic 94′ debut release.

Fast-forward a few years and with the addition of a pandemic to throw everything into utter chaos, Machine Head have (yet again) come out the other side of hard times with another belter in their collective hands. Joining Robb and Jared on the latest release is the almighty Waclaw Keiltyka (Lead Guitars) of Decapitated fame and Matt Alston on drums, and with the help, due to lockdowns etc. of Navene Koperweis (Studio Drums), former Animal as Leaders drummer who has also worked with the likes of Job For A Cowboy and Whitechapel to name a couple…..talk about a star studded line-up sheeeesh! This I will elaborate more on in the full album review, coming soon…

I sat down with Robb to talk about what the last few years have been like in the Machine Head camp and how Of Kingdom and Crown came to be. We talk studio times, vocal harmonies, YouTube live sessions, cover songs, Waclaw’s Right hand (if you know, you know) and even enter into the guitar “gear head” world and as always we end with a classic story from the one and only Robb Flynn which, of course/ thankfully, included our man Mr. Dimebag Darrell (Pantera/ Damage Plan), what a cracker of a tale it was!

So strap yourself in and enjoy some fine wine and words from one of the heavy metal greats, Mr. Robb Flynn.

Pre-Order MACHINE HEAD’S New Album ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN HERE

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