Machine Head (band)

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Machine Head <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:MH Band Photo.jpg </td></tr>
Background information <tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Image:Flag of the United States.svg Oakland, California, USA</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Groove metal Heavy Metal Metalcore Nu Metal (mid-career)</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1992 - present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Roadrunner Records</td></tr><tr><td>Website</td><td colspan="2">www.machinehead1.com</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Robert Flynn Adam Duce Dave McClain Phil Demmel</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Former members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Tony Costanza Chris Kontos Logan Mader Ahrue Luster</td></tr>

Machine Head is a Heavy Metal/Groove Metal band, formed in 1992 in Oakland, California.

1 Band history
2 Subgenre Debate
3 Current line-up
- 3.1 Former members
4 Machine Head Discography and Videography
5 External links

[edit] Band history

Machine Head was founded in 1992 by former Vio-lence guitarist Robert Flynn. They released their first album, Burn My Eyes, in 1994. The first song on the album, "Davidian", features the lyric "Let freedom ring / with a shotgun blast". Subsequently the video was banned from MTV due to its release date being very soon after the Waco Siege which it was apparently describing.

After Chris Kontos left to work with Testament, the drumming services of Dave McClain were acquired. They then released the followup album, The More Things Change in 1997, after which guitarist Logan Mader unexpectedly left in the spring of 1998. He was then replaced by Ahrue Luster (Now of Ill Niño) who worked with the band on the third album The Burning Red (1999). This album was a sign of a change for Machine Head, the band deciding to experiment more rather than release another album that would be seen as just a shadow in the footsteps of Burn My Eyes. Robb uses his rapping techniques in this album in addition to the growl he used on earlier releases. The song "Devil With The Kings Card" is based on Logan Mader's leaving of the band. The album did, however, receive some backlash from fans who weren't pleased with their change in style - some even accused the band of "selling out" and following musical trends (nu-metal and rap metal were becoming increasingly popular in 1999).

Although Burn My Eyes was more influential as an album to the metal scene in general, according to a Blabbermouth.net Report, The Burning Red moved almost as many units in 3 years (1999-2002) as Burn My Eyes did in 8 years (1994-2002). In 2000, bands like Machine Head and Slipknot were involved in product placement for the HBO show The Sopranos. A.J. Soprano, played by Robert Iler, often wore Roadrunner Records apparel like Machine Head's Year of the Dragon T-Shirt.

Machine Head released Supercharger in 2001, though the album failed to do well, mostly due to it being released shortly after 9/11. The video for the song "Crashing Around You" was banned by MTV due to its images of collapsing buildings. The album received more of the same criticism that met The Burning Red. Once the tour had been completed, Machine Head and Roadrunner Records mutually decided to sever ties with regards to distribution in North America; the band kept their affiliation with Roadrunner Records International. In 2002 Ahrue Luster left the band because of musical differences. Ahrue Luster was replaced by Phil Demmel, who played in thrash band Vio-lence alongside Flynn.

Since then, 2003 and 2004 have been somewhat of a revival for Machine Head, firstly releasing their live album Hellalive in 2003 which was a recording of a Brixton Academy, London set.

In fall 2003, Machine Head released their fifth studio album, Through the Ashes of Empires, in Europe. In early 2004 they re-signed to Roadrunner Records in America and then released Through the Ashes of Empires in North America, featuring an additional then-new song ("Seasons Wither") which had not appeared on the European release. Through the Ashes of Empires returned to a style closer to that of Burn My Eyes, and received significant publicity due to the success of the song "Imperium" and what was seen by fans as a massive return to form - both musically and lyrically. As part of this revival, Machine Head headlined the "True Metal" stage at 2005's Wacken Open Air festival in front of 40,000 fans - their biggest show to date (they made an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air festival in their early years but didn't headline). Through the Ashes of Empires debuted on the Billboard Charts in US at #88 -- an excellent showing for a band that was considered at one point dead-in-the-water.

On October 11, 2005, Machine Head released their first ever DVD: Elegies. The DVD contained concert footage from the Brixton Academy show in December of 2004. Elegies also contains 3 music videos: "The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears" from Hellalive, and "Imperium" and "Days Turn Blue to Gray" from Through The Ashes Of Empires. The DVD also contains a rather self-scathing documentary about the almost-demise of the band and how they survived the great burden posed upon them by the record labels, the exiting of Ahrue Luster and the public's lack of faith in the band's musical direction. In the DVD's first week of release, "Elegies" reached the #13 spot in US and the #6 spot in UK music-related DVD sales.

As well on October 11, 2005, Roadrunner Records released an album to commemorate the 25 years of the label's storied history. Four of the songs on the album, Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions, were written by Robert Flynn of Machine Head. Both Phil Demmel and Dave McClain of Machine Head contributed to the album. Roadrunner United was a project conceived by the label to showcase the talent of the dozens of bands signed to Roadrunner Records. There were 4 "Captains" assigned to write songs for the album: Robb Flynn of Machine Head, Dino Cazares ex-Fear Factory, Matt Heafy of Trivium, and Joey Jordison of Slipknot. Each "Captain" had to choose which artists were to participate in the recording of their songs, and they were to be primary producers. The album saw an all-star cast of artists from such bands as: The Misfits, Killswitch Engage, 36 Crazyfists, Sepultura, Soulfly, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth, Type O Negative, Fear Factory, Coal Chamber, Ill Niño, Vision of Disorder, Trivium, Opeth, Stone Sour, King Diamond and Deicide, among others.

The band are currently working on their sixth studio album, entitled "The Blackening"[1]. On April 18, Robb Flynn reported on the band's website that some of the current tentative song titles are 'Halo', 'Aesthetics of Hate', 'The Beautiful Mourning', and 'Now I Lay Thee Down'. They have also contributed a studio recorded and produced cover of Metallica's "Battery" for Kerrang! Magazine's 'Remastered', a tribute to Metallica's seminal album Master of Puppets.

On October 31st 2006, Roadrunner Records announced that as part of their 15th Anniversary, they will be re-releasing Burn My Eyes with a bonus CD, which includes previously unreleased tracks and rarities. It was said to be due out on January the 8th, 2007 but has been pushed back to September 2007 so it does not interfere with the release of 'The Blackening'.

For information on all Machine Head releases, please view the Machine Head discography and Machine Head videography articles.

[edit] Subgenre Debate

There have been a few debates on what particular subgenre of heavy metal Machine Head can be classified as. Some call them a thrash metal, Groove-metal and even neo-thrash metal band, thanks to their thrash influences, their roots in the Bay Area thrash scene (most notably Flynn and Demmel's time in Vio-lence), their occasionally fast riffing style and shouted vocals. Robb Flynn has stated that Machine Head were never a thrash band and that they are more influenced by bands like Biohazard and hardcore bands rather than thrash - he once claimed, in fact, that their original intent was to be the West Coast's answer to Biohazard [2].

Whether it's continuing to add little segues to parts, harmony shredding, or just making things more difficult to play, the bottom line is we're having a good time writing a 100% metal album. Not, “this or that metal” or whatever kinds of metal are out there, this is just "Fucking Metal!!!!"

- Dave McClain [3]

Some consider early Machine Head to be groove metal and may be one of the original bands in that sub-genre. Others have called them nu metal, mostly due to their style at the time of their The Burning Red and Supercharger albums but say they went back to a sound comparable to their early years on Through the Ashes of Empires. Others use the term Post-Thrash to describe the band's style, grouping them with other early 90s bands such as Pantera or Sepultura who have an approach based in Thrash metal but with more mid-tempo riffing and a stronger groove.