San Francisco metal kings Machine Head are probably the biggest band to emerge in the post-Metallica era, delivering albums powered by Adam Duce’s razor-sharp bass parts throughout the early 2000s. "Being in a successful band is a matter of having a lot of different components come together and the stars and the planets aligning," he tells us. "There's a lot of hard work too, but for most bands that hard work goes completely unrewarded. There's a lot of luck involved in remaining a heavy metal band for 20 years or whatever."
The essence of Duce's bass sound is the same as that which underpins all his heroes: energy, and its release into a headbanging crowd. "My heroes were Geezer Butler, Steve Harris and Cliff Burton," he says. "Seeing those old videos of Cliff when Metallica were opening for Ozzy in 1996, you think 'Look at that dude attack that bass!' and that's what it's all about to me. Some of the stuff that he did on those early Metallica albums was incredible."
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49
“It was just full of guitars, and there was no air in it. No spaces, no gaps”: Bill Wyman reunited with his old Rolling Stones bandmates on their Hackney Diamonds album, but didn't like the track he played on
“I played a 5-string with Lauryn Hill, but it didn’t feel like a real bass”: Raised on R&B, schooled by fusion, and empowered by punk rock, Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer remains a 4-string purist
