Long time bay area thrashers Machine Head are back after a three year hiatus with what is proving to be their most promising work to date. Changing gears a bit the guys have opted to take the band’s sound in a slightly different direction by reclaiming their bay area roots and instilling a new level of melodic prowess the likes of which has been absent in American based Metal for far too long. Garnering critical acclaim from around the globe this latest masterpiece is poised to set a new standard for the way artists write and record their albums. After finishing up a successful tour with Virginia based Metaler’s Lamb Of God, the boys of Machine Head are currently readying themselves for a string of dates with Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath Dio-era) and Megadeth, a tour which is sure to increase their fan base exponentially. I managed to score some time with frontman Robert Flynn recently to get the inside story of the band’s crowning achievement and how exactly they came to travel this road to Metal utopia. While I did manage to push a few buttons with Robb, provoking some emotionally charged responses, I enjoyed the overall conversation and believe it presents a decent job of stating the band’s case-in-point to where they fit in to the giant scheme of all things Metal. I have no doubt that they will be one of the most talked about and sought after bands of 2007 and I’m pleased that I was able to speak first-hand to the legacy that has become Machine Head. After years of dedicated service to the Metal world this highly underrated quartet may have only tread in the shadows before, but with the dawning of this latest release that’s all about to change. The Blackening has been unleashed! Take a look.

OT: Hey Robb, how’s it going?

Robb: Hey, it’s all cool.

OT: So you have a new CD out which built a lot of anticipation up to its release. Based on the success of your last album, Through The Ashes Of Empires, which was really just something that hit everybody dead on in the face, there have been a lot of fans waiting patiently for this new record. How do you think this new album compares to Ashes? What can people who haven’t heard it yet expect?

Robb: I think it’s different. Like with Through The Ashes we had a lot of success…, it was a very successful record, for us and Roadrunner worldwide across the board. So when we went in to this one we really felt that we just couldn’t play it safe and couldn’t try and repeat that formula. I mean in that time since we released Through The Ashes - the two years or whatever until we started writing – a lot of bands have come and started emulating that sound and if we did it again it just wouldn’t be as fresh, so we just kind of took a different approach. I think, in a lot of ways, we kind of dug back into our Bay area roots with the kind of thrash movement sound that we grew up on. Like Exodus and early Metallica and especially paying homages to Judas Priest, classic metal and stuff, like really trying to focus on the guitar team and bringin’ out lots of harmonies and stuff like that. But also like the classic Bay area stuff, like we grew up listening to a lot of punk rock too - the hardcore punk - like: Poison Idea, Dead Kennedys, Attitude Adjustment, bands like that that were a big influence on us. Y’know, the thing that’s popular to do now is the Swedish thrash sound. We’re cool with that but the Swedish thrash thing is too happy sometimes, it’s like too many happy notes - we like to hear the evil notes. There’s a lot of that and we just tried to do something that was…, just somethin’ extraordinary. When we set out to do it we didn’t know what that was gonna be, ‘cause we ended up writin’ about twenty six songs, but then we narrowed it down to eight that seemed to go best together. And, in the end, it’s the least amount of songs we’ve ever had on a record, but it’s the longest record we’ve ever put out ‘cause we ended up with two ten minute songs and two nine minute songs.

OT: Wow. Now you mentioned that everybody was doing the same type of sound that you did with Ashes. Do you find it hard – I mean you guys have been around for a long time now – is it somewhat of a struggle to stay on top of the changing genre? I mean it’s always evolving, do you find it difficult to compete with that?

Robb: Not really because we’re fans of music. We’re not like those…. Like, I’ve got some friends from when I was in high school and I’ll call ‘em up and say, ‘Hey dude, how are you doing? What kind of music are you listening to now?’ ‘Oh I still listen to Misfits and And Justice For All.’ And I’m like, ‘What?!’ I can’t believe it. I’m like, ‘Man there have been so many f*cking killer bands that have come out since then. Just listen to that, like we’re fans of music, we like to listen to new music or the old music. To be honest, I probably refer to us as almost like ‘music nerds’, I mean we’ll get bootlegs of our favorite bands. Dave and I have been listening to Rush bootlegs from ‘79, right before the Moving Pictures tour, y’know, Permanent Waves, just sh*t like that. It’s not like we’re not tryin’ to be cool or something like that, it’s just the way it ends up because we love it. And so when we hear new bands, when we hear new shit, we’ve always got our ear to the streets because that’s what we f*ckin’ like to do; experience new shit. When you hear a band that f*cking completely turns you on your ear its like, f*ck, this is so cool, man!

OT: I totally feel that way too. Although for awhile I was kinda lost with all of the nu-metal stuff that came out. Some of it I liked and some of it I just didn’t get.

Robb: Yeah. Crazy Town sold two million records and I don’t know how that managed to happen. (Laughter) There’s a lot of mother f*ckers lyin’ because everybody denies liking them but they sold two million records.

OT: And then they disappeared, so that’s even more baffling.

Robb: Thank God.

OT: (Laughing) So you made mention of the new album having more harmonies. I did notice a lot more of the melodic vocal aspect on this new album and I’m pretty sure that there will be some who will accuse you of trying to be more modernized in doing that. I mean it’s definitely got its roots in 80’s type metal, being melodic, but a lot of the vocals I think tend to come across as not quite up to par with the range of some of the influences you mentioned, and maybe a little more modern sounding.

Robb: I’m, like, shocked. You’re the first person I’ve actually heard say that. I was just so f*ckin’ blown away by how brutal the vocals are.

OT: Well don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great and it does stand out, but it’s not something that’s being heard a lot today.

Robb: Yeah, I mean and that’s cool to us. I mean we started writing and Adam and I have been doing vocal harmonies since the first album, Burn My Eyes. Songs like, “I’m Your God Now”, doin’ like the soft, trippy harmonies and doin’ a lot of trade-offs. And even songs like, “Rage To Overcome” and “Nation On Fire”, we were doin’ two-part harmonies there. Granted it was like a hard vocal and a harmony with a hard vocal, but it was the same thing. And we’re just tryin’ to take it even farther now with this. The thing with the harmonies is when you’re writing a ten-minute song, at least for us, we have incredibly short attention spans and if you just hear the same hard vocal through an entire song, it…. we felt it needed to be broken up. And so our goal with adding the melodic vocals was if we’re gonna add a melody in there it’s gotta be the f*cking fattest melody every written. We used to joke about it, but it was really only half-joking. Like our goal was, when you f*cking hear these harmonies, we want mother f*ckers cryin’!

OT: Right, yeah absolutely, I hear you.

Robb: Adam and I used to drive around in his Firebird singin’ like Alice In Chains songs. He’d do the high harmony, I’d do the low harmony and we definitely owe some of it to that. We really started bringin’ it out on Through The Ashes and we’re just bringin’ it out even farther in this record. We decided to add another texture, another thing. We do a vocal harmony and then underneath that vocal harmony is a three-part guitar harmony and then you’ve got a hard vocal on top of that; just building things into this epic ‘beast’ of a song.

OT: I definitely think it’s important to change it up a bit and add different textures to it - it definitely keeps the music alive and memorable. Obviously, when I threw it on, that stuck out to me as one of the first things. I’m like, ‘Wow, there are some really heavy melodic vocals on this album.’ As opposed to Ashes, it’s not as subdued in the mix, and it’s a lot more out front now.

Robb: I’m f*ckin’ proud of ‘em, I just think they’re amazing. I think Adam’s f*ckin’ vocals…, I think the harmonies together…., it’s different. Everybody’s doin’ the f*ckin’, the regular f*ckin’, singy singy, scream, scream scream on the verse, singy, singy singy, and we’re takin’ it in a totally different direction now. With all the high harmonies, his f*ckin’ high voice is killer, it’s crystal clear and his range is definitely higher than mine in that area because some of those notes are, like, f*ckin’ ball-squeezing! And we just said we wanted to exploit it; it’s a great weapon in our arsenal and we wanted to exploit it.

OT: Cool. So let’s talk for a minute about when you’re touring…., support vs. headlining. What are the perks as far as being on a support bill versus headlining? Most of the time bands definitely want to play the headlining slot but if they can get on a decent package they’re sometimes equally happy with being support. What are the pros and cons to that?

Robb: Well the cons are: you don’t get the production that you’d like, you obviously have limited stage room and you’re definitely at the mercy of the headliner’s whim. In our case we’re very fortunate that someone like Lamb Of God who we recently supported are cool as f*ck, like super-great guys, their whole crew is great and they treated us great. And you also have limited time so you don’t get to play… in our case, especially with the length of songs that we have, we’re only playin’ like four or five songs, even though it’s a forty-minute set. It’s just that we can only squeeze so many songs in. The benefits are: you’re playin’ to someone else’s audience and you’re gettin’ to win new fans over and put you out in front of a different crowd. And, to me, that’s the business we’re in - we’re in the business of makin’ fans. Just about every night I was askin’, ‘Hey, how many people are seein’ us for the first time tonight?’ And some shows on the tour, literally ninety percent of the crowd were seeing us for the first time.

OT: Wow, that’s cool.

Robb: I was like, it’s f*ckin’ amazing. We’re goin’ out there and we’re getting this chance, they know the trip, they know the Machine-f*ckin’ Head and we’re sellin’ sh*t-loads ‘o merch. It’s just that there’s a whole new generation out there that’s just got into us with Through The Ashes and now they’re comin’ out – this is their first opportunity to see us. So in that respect, it’s awesome. I mean we couldn’t be on a better tour, that’s obviously the best part of it. Then of course, you get off the stage at 8:30 and have the rest of the night to get wasted.

OT: That’s a good thing.

Robb: Everybody’s still there, everybody’s still there so you can hang out and party with everybody!

OT: (Laughing) Right on.

Robb: ‘Cause when you’re headlining, you go over and you’re like, ‘Alright! Let’s party!’ and the whole venue’s empty and everybody’s gettin’ ready to go to bed.

OT: No sh*t! So you guys…, obviously you and Adam are still hangin’ in there, but you’ve definitely had your share of member changes over the years, not as many as some but more than others. How do you guys cope with people that come and go? You seem to have a solid line-up right now, but who knows what might be around the corner?

Robb: Dave, Adam and I have been this unit for the last, comin’ up on twelve years now, so it’s a pretty stable nucleus right there. Phil Demmel has actually been in the band longer now than our first drummer was even in the band, he’s been in the band for four years. I mean this seems pretty stable. When I look at bands like Iron Maiden who had, like, seventy-five member changes after the second record I consider us pretty good. We’re in a stable place.

OT: That’s good to hear.

Robb: We’re all happily married, in our sexless marriage!

OT: (Laughing) That’s a good way of puttin’ it!

Robb: That’s what it is, that’s what bein’ in a band is, it’s a ‘sexless marriage’.

OT: That’s funny. So before you put out Through The Ashes - it took awhile for the record to get out here in the States - you guys ended up going back with Roadrunner Records. Obviously this was a good move and it’s been working out well for you. Are they still treatin’ you guys well over there?

Robb: F*ck yeah. I’ve never even seen Roadrunner behind any album we’ve ever done like they are with this one. They’re doin’ sh*t they’ve never done, it’s amazing, like we’re pretty shocked!

OT: That’s cool man.

Robb: We’d actually be like, ‘Alright, let’s go ask ‘em for this one thing.’ and we’ll have all these pow-wows for debating all these things for a way we can get ‘em to do this marketing trip or whatever. Then, after days of debate, we’ll go ask ‘em and they’ll be like, ‘Ok.’ And we’re like, ‘What?!’ ‘Ok, cool.’ ‘Awesome.’

OT: That was easy huh?

Robb: We actually spend more time debating on how we’re gonna ask ‘em than actually asking ‘em and getting an answer. I mean it’s cool, they’re really behind the record, they know that they’ve got a great album on their hands and they all fully believe it. The reviews have just started comin’ in; we’ve got a ten-out-of-ten in Metal Hammer U.K. and Maximum Metal just declared it the ‘greatest heavy metal album of all time’

OT: Oh wow, right on, man.

Robb: It’s pretty amazing. By the end of the Maximum Metal review my brain was actually imploding. Were stoked man!

OT: You guys are gonna get another really big push coming up and obviously appeal to a totally different audience as well when you’re are on the Heaven And Hell bill with Megadeth.

Robb: Yeah, mhmm, yeah.

OT: They’ve booked some pretty big venues for that one. What are your thoughts on this tour?

Robb: I’m super-excited man, I mean all of us are just f*ckin’ through the roof about it. All of us love that Heaven And Hell/Mob Rules era, it’s one of the classic eras of metal and we’re super-stoked to be opening for it. It’s the type of thing where to us, even goin’ out on this tour, this isn’t about tryin’ to blow the other band off the stage or competing with them, this is about paying homage to the masters, y’know? It’s as simple as that. This is about… they laid the foundation for bands like Machine Head to even exist. We’re gonna be total fan-boy geeks on the side of the stage singin’ all the words.

OT: Cool. Now there are a lot of bands out there that obviously would have loved to get on this bill. How did you guys manage to achieve this great feat?

Robb: Y’know, they had heard the buzz about Through The Ashes and then they had really started to hear the buzz about The Blackening and I just think they wanted a young, cool band, or a band that like draws a very young audience and that’s what we draw. The majority of our audience is fourteen to twenty year-olds and I think they wanted to have a band that could bring that market in. We got asked and we thought it was just incredible. We’d been following it and we’d go online and say, ‘Oh dude, the Heaven And Hell dates are gonna be f*ckin’ incredible. We were just excited about whether it was comin’ around the Bay Area or hopin’ we were gonna be home to go catch the show and then all of a sudden our management says, ‘Oh, by the way, they want you on the bill.’ We were like, ‘Oh, killer.’ I guess we’ll get to see the show after all. (Laughter)

OT: Wow, that’s great, yeah. I’m so lookin’ forward to it, you have no idea, I mean it’s just the perfect line-up, it really is. I’ll be seein’ you when you get out here; I’ll probably be hitting a couple of the West Coast dates, San Diego and L.A.

Robb: Is that where you are? Cool.

OT: Yeah, yeah.

Robb: Right on.

OT: Well I thank you so much for your time Robert and we’ll definitely see you out there on the road.

Robb: Alright, thank you for the interview, man

OT: Ok, dude, thanks. ‘Bye.

Robb: ‘Bye.