In a brand new interview with “The Garza Podcast”, hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn spoke about his band’s upcoming eleventh studio album, “Unatoned”, which can be launched on April 25 through Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings. Concerning his songwriting strategy for the follow-up to “Of Kingdom And Crown”, which got here out in August 2022, Robb stated (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “My final album was like an enormous renaissance for the band. It simply was fucking loopy. We headlined Hellfest [in France]. It was our tenth document. It was an idea document. It was the primary time we ever did an idea document. Opening observe was a 10-minute-long tune. It is nuts.
“I am lucky sufficient to have been on this place a handful of occasions the place I now need to observe up this document that’s so beloved by followers, by folks,” he continued. “It is extremely profitable — elevates the band to a different degree. And all people needs us to write down one other idea document. Everyone is simply, like, ‘It’s best to simply make one other document like that one.’ And I am, like, ‘You may’t, as a result of it is by no means gonna stay up.’ Nothing’s ever gonna stay up, ecause that second for therefore many individuals. Lars [Ulrich of METALLICA] all the time talked about this — the rationale so many individuals love [METALLICA‘s] Black Album, it is, like, they misplaced the virginity to the Black Album. Nothing is ever gonna high that. Folks misplaced their virginity to [MACHINE HEAD‘s] ‘[Unto] The Locust’ or ‘The Blackening’ or no matter. Nothing’s ever gonna high that. That is simply life and stuff.
“So with this document, I set some fairly strict parameters round what I might do,” Flynn defined. “And I am not an enormous believer in speaking concerning the course of a document. I all the time really feel like even when we have finished it prior to now, it by no means panned out. ‘Oh, it is gonna be the heaviest or the beating’ or the no matter, and you’ve got simply gotta observe it to wherever it goes… However I did need to put some construction round it. The final document had a bunch of lengthy songs, so I used to be, like, ‘I do not need any tune longer than 4 minutes on this document.’ In order that was one construction. The opposite construction is — [I’m a] enormous SLAYER fan to the dying; [they’re] certainly one of my favourite bands, life-changing bands of all occasions. And one of the underrated issues about SLAYER is their genius use of chord adjustments — chord adjustments fucking galore throughout each tune. [They’d] have, like, three completely different chord adjustments within the lead part, and it the best way it units up the refrain or no matter. So I used to be, like, ‘Each tune has to have a chord change outdoors of the standard construction that you’d count on.’ … In some unspecified time in the future it is gotta go to a key change that absolutely would not go along with the place the remainder of the tune went. Very last thing is that the music within the final refrain needed to be completely different from the music within the first refrain —perhaps the drums drop out, perhaps the guitars drop out, perhaps that is the place the important thing change occurs, however one thing needed to be [different]. The lyrics would all the time be the identical. And at first it type of took me a minute to type of get into that mindset, like, ‘Wow, it is a actually difficult option to write,’ however it all the time simply turned about trimming the fats, trimming the fats, trimming the fats. And ultimately what we got here up with was 10 songs plus two instrumentals. It is 41 minutes — the shortest album in MACHINE HEAD historical past. And I am actually happy with this factor. I actually really feel like we have got a fucking monster on our palms. It is simply actually distinctive.”
Elaborating on the musical course of “Unatoned”, Robb stated: “It isn’t our heaviest document; I’d by no means say that it is our heaviest document. It is received numerous melody. The final tune on the document is a… I am a complete sucker for the Elton John piano ballad. I like Chris Stapleton… And that final tune ‘Scorn’ is… It is, like, I have been attempting to write down a piano ballad for 4 albums in a row now, and I failed 4 albums in a row. And I lastly nailed it with this album. I collaborated with this man Joel Wanasek. I collaborated with Jordan [Fish], ex-BRING ME THE HORIZON, on the entire album. He really received a bit on the document, which was actually cool — added a very wonderful component. I’ve received a couple of collaborators, like 4 guys that I work with, however me and this man, Joel Wanasek, lastly nailed down this piano factor… It was the final tune I wrote on the document. And I do know lots of people assume I am tremendous Mr. Libtard, social justice warrior man and that is simply not me, however that is type of simply what folks assume and the haters assume. And I simply began writing about — not that — however I simply began writing about, I do not consider in Trump, however I feel the fucking Democrats are a bunch of spineless fucking pussies. And I do not consider in something anymore. I consider in myself. And I simply wrote all of those lyrics type of in that mindset. And the final line is, ‘The wings of an angel, the center of a king, the power of a lion, the ability I convey. I’ve misplaced religion in everybody, observe no extra, my heroes have failed me, they give the impression of being down on me with their scorn.’ And so I took all of that. I used to be, like, ‘I haven’t got any music, however I actually like these lyrics.’ So I got here in with Zack [Ohren] — Zack‘s my engineer; he is my producer. He’s fucking superior; he is wonderful… And I simply picked up a guitar and I simply stated, ‘I am gonna play 4 chords right here and I am simply gonna make this up as I am going. I do not even know what I am doing. I simply wanna sing over this to one thing.’ And I did, and I sang it, and I sang it in two takes. I laid out all of the lyrics that I had written that morning. I pulled up some shit on my pc. I received two binders of lyrics. I wrote three and a half binders of lyrics from this document alone — simply three and a half binders… And I actually sang the tune in two takes, and after I was finished, I used to be, like, ‘That tune’s fucking finished.’ And it is the final tune on the document. And I despatched the chords to Joel and I used to be, like, ‘Hey, like, are you able to make this into unhappy piano chords and put it collectively and type of reverse engineer the remainder of the tune?’ And I’ve gotta say, I am so happy with this tune. It is undoubtedly type of the outlier of the document, however I actually simply really feel prefer it’s a particular tune. And it is type of one thing we have by no means finished. And while you’ve been attempting to do one thing for a very long time — 15 years, I have been attempting to write down a fucking piano tune — and it all the time simply sounded too dorky… And it [finally] occurred [on this album].”
Flynn additionally talked about his common strategy to creating artwork with MACHINE HEAD, saying: “I do not know what I am doing. I am simply attempting to write down music. Alls I ever wished to do was simply play guitar and write songs and sing and make motherfuckers circle pit and make motherfuckers leap and sing and fucking headbang and go loopy. That is all I’ve ever wished to do.
“I am not a businessman. I do not know what the fucking proper choice is,” he continued. “I simply know the music that I do and the place it comes from, and I do know that I am actually, actually, actually good at that. I do know that. I am not certainly one of these guys who’s good at 1,000,000 fucking issues — I am not — however I do know that I am actually, actually good at that. And I simply try to concentrate on that. And I’ve received an excellent staff of those who assist me make selections now and I really feel like we have all received an excellent head on our shoulders and what MACHINE HEAD must be.
“We’re not the heaviest band on the earth,” he added. “We’re heavy, however we have been round for 32 years, and motherfuckers such as you guys [SUICIDE SILENCE] got here alongside and LORNA SHORE and SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, and also you’re fucking 10 occasions heavier than we are going to ever, ever, ever be. I am unable to sing like that. I do not even wanna attempt to; it would be fucking ridiculous to. It might sound silly for my fucking heavy metallic Gandalf ass to be fucking attempting to sing like that. We discovered our lane and we’re tremendous fortunate that we discovered our lane and we fucking made that lane a bit bit wider and a bit bit wider so we will type of go over right here and do that and go over right here and do that. However on the finish of the day, it is simply MACHINE HEAD music. That is what it’s to me. It is metallic, for certain — one hundred percent.”
“Unatoned” was recorded at Flynn‘s Jam Room, Sharkbite Studios and Drop Of Solar Recording between July 2023 and December 2024. The album was produced by Flynn, in addition to Zack Ohren, who was additionally liable for the engineering. The blending and mastering was dealt with by Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy at Audioworks UK, and the mastering of the document was dealt with by Ted Jensen and his assistant Justin Shturtz. The one exception was the observe “Panorama Of Thorns” which was produced by Flynn and Joel Wanasek who was additionally in control of mixing the one alongside Zack Ohren. MACHINE HEAD as soon as once more tapped Seth Siro Anton to create the album paintings.
“Unatoned” observe itemizing:
01. Panorama Of Thorns
02. Atomic Revelations
03. Unbound
04. Outsider
05. Not Lengthy For This World
06. These Scars Will not Outline Us
07. Dustmaker
08. Bonescraper
09. Addicted To Ache
10. Bleeding Me Dry
11. Shards Of Shattered Desires
12. Scorn
Final November, MACHINE HEAD launched “These Scars Will not Outline Us” as the primary single from “Unatoned”. The official lyric video for the observe, which options visitor appearances by the opposite three bands which can accompany MACHINE HEAD on the Flynn-fronted outfit’s spring 2025 North American tour — Swedish metallic icons IN FLAMES, Italian alt-metallers LACUNA COIL and American metalcore maestros UNEARTH — will be seen under.
The five-week jaunt will start on April 5, 2025 in Oakland, California on the legendary Fox Theater, then heads south for a cease at Sick New World pageant, then east, and again throughout Canada, earlier than concluding on Could 10 in Kelowna, British Columbia.
MACHINE HEAD‘s present lineup contains former HAVOK guitarist Reece Alan Scruggs. Scruggs stepped in for MACHINE HEAD‘s earlier guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka, who had been unable to make a few of the group’s dates as a consequence of his touring commitments together with his longtime band DECAPITATED.
Reece made his stay debut with MACHINE HEAD in November 2022 at Strummer’s in Fresno, California on the opening present of the “Electrical Completely satisfied Hour (Dwell)” tour.
Vogg joined MACHINE HEAD‘s touring lineup previous to the launch of the band’s “Burn My Eyes” Twenty fifth-anniversary tour in late 2019.
The remainder of MACHINE HEAD‘s lineup consists of guitarist/vocalist Flynn, bassist Jared MacEachern and British drummer Matt Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT).
Earlier final 12 months, MACHINE HEAD accomplished the “Slaughter The Martour” North American tour with help from L.A.’s FEAR FACTORY, Sweden’s ORBIT CULTURE and Louisville, Kentucky’s GATES TO HELL.
