Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Deep Purple formed the holy trinity that would ultimately induce heavy metal. Yet while the band has always pinned the meters in terms of popularity, sales, and volume, critical acclaim has been less than royal – especially when viewed in the context of Zeppelin and Sabbath.

Consider Roger Glover's snarling bass guitar on Purple's 1972 classic, Machine Head – a record that would set the tone for decades of ensuing music – and it's clear his contribution to the canon of rock bass has been largely overlooked.

The Machine Head sessions were cut with what was effectively Deep Purple Mark II, the classic lineup of Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Ian Gillan vocals, Roger Glover bass, Jon Lord keyboards and a thundering lan Paice on drums.

Glover's thunderously clanky Rickenbacker/P-Bass tones were formidable, though Glover himself admitted to being very unsettled by his sound at the time: “Too much clank and not enough thump”, he told Bass Player in 2013.

“By the time I got to Purple, I felt my tone was too distorted, with not enough bottom. I used a Rick on Machine Head and I wasn't happy with the sound.

“When we did the 25th Anniversary remix, my engineer (Peter Denenberg) isolated it and said, ‘People would kill for a sound like that’, but I always felt my tone was too distorted, especially with the Rickenbacker. Having had a P-Bass and a Fender Mustang previously, I guess I didn't realize what I had.”

Born November 30, 1945, in Brecon, Wales, and raised in London, Glover began his musical journey with piano lessons at age seven. Gravitating toward rock & roll, he picked up guitar at 13. Bass entered the picture soon after, when Glover saw his first live band, the Lightnings, rehearsing in a local gym.

“Upon seeing them, my two friends and I decided to start a band; they were both better guitarists than I was, so I said, I'll be the bass player, and I removed the top two strings on my Spanish guitar.”

Glover moved to North London in 1961 and formed the Madisons. A year later, the Madisons merged with the Lightnings to become Episode Six. Six released over a dozen singles, never quite breaking through, but that would all change for Glover when Deep Purple came calling in the summer of ’69.

How did you come to join Deep Purple?

Ian Gillan and I were in a band called Episode Six, where we were writing together. Purple was looking for a singer, and Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore came to see us and offered Ian the gig, which he took.

Soon after, Ian called me and said, ‘The band is looking for songs – come in and play them our songs.’ So I met Lord and he listened and passed on what we had, but he played me Hallelujah and asked me to record it with them that night.

After the session he offered me the gig and I turned him down. I said, ‘You already took our singer, if I leave Episode Six it kills everyone else's hopes and dreams, and I can't live with that.’ So he said, ‘Well, think about it.’

I went home and thought about it all night and called him the next morning to take the gig. It still amazes me how close I came to not following this path.

What about original bassist Nick Simper?

Well, the band politics were horrible. Nick didn't know he'd been replaced until someone told him, and on the Hallelujah session I used his bass and amp. I felt bad; both (original vocalist) Rod Evans and Nick were let go without notice, which must have hurt terribly.

I've never met Nick, but his bass playing definitely had an impact on me because I had to play his parts. I thought he had a great plucking sound; you can really hear it on Hush – I could never get that sound.

People have noted that the bass is louder on Machine Head than other early Purple albums. Was there a reason?

I really don't know why that was, but it surprises me, as well. I very rarely listen to our own stuff, and so you forget what the recordings actually sound like; but every time I hear the original on the radio I go, ‘Jesus, the bass is loud!’

How did you come up with those bass parts?

Do you know the theory of the zen archer? The zen archer draws his bow back and as soon as he eyes the target he lets his arrow go. The reason is, the longer he hesitates and tries to make sure he hits the target, the more off he's going to be because his hands will start to shake. In other words, your first instinct is always your best bet.

But at the basic level, the bass has to anchor and groove at all costs. I mean, you can get a little complicated on the bass, but it doesn't really help the song.

What’s your role as a songwriter?

There's no formula for it, other than we're aware we're a hard rock band, and that's what the music is going to be. So it's within those confines, except hard rock is unconfined in that it has elements of blues, folk, classical, and jazz.

Someone might come in with a riff or a chord sequence, something fairly basic that everyone can chew on for a while, and the song kind of evolves. It's always been the same with Purple. We don't write Purple songs; we just write songs that become Purple songs because we're playing them.

Who were your key bass influences?

The first bass player I heard who was totally different from everyone else was Jack Bruce. Then I got into John Entwistle – My Generation blew me away – and Tim Bogert with Vanilla Fudge. But they were all virtuoso players.

I think the bassist who had the most impact on me was Paul McCartney, because he was both a great songwriter and a great player. He had the lyrical sensibility to say something profound on bass that didn't get in the way of anything else.

Even though I don't want to emulate them, I admire technical players. Two of my heroes are Jaco Pastorius and Victor Wooten. They're just brilliant musicians. Occasionally I'll go on YouTube and check out Victor or Abraham Laboriel.

What advice would you offer to young bassists?

If you want to be a bass player, study and borrow from the best and learn how to really enjoy playing the instrument. You can have just as much fun gigging in a little band at your local pub every Saturday evening as you'll ever get from being a celebrity bass player.

A big reason Purple made it is that we didn't follow any trends; hard rock wasn't in vogue at the time, and we had no hope in hell of getting on the radio. We just did what we wanted to do, and it happened to become successful. That's really the truest kind of success you can achieve.

Phil Demmel and Jackson have partnered for a new Polka Dot V that pays homage to Randy Rhoads – and serves as a full-circle reminder of the Machine Head guitarist’s first-ever Jackson guitar, which has a wild backstory.

After exploring the Fury body shape for his previous Jackson signature guitar, Demmel has now opted for a signature King V design inspired by Rhoads' legendary Sandoval Polka Dot V electric guitar.

It's a fitting tribute from Demmel, whose first-ever Jackson guitar was an early Randy Rhoads signature. As he explains in a new launch video, though, he acquired it under some rather shady circumstances.

“My first Jackson, I got it by some sketchy means,” he explains. “It was the Randy model, the first Randy Rhoads model, the white one, and there was one available. We did a trade, but evidently he owed some money or something.

“So I ended up [playing a] sold out show in Oakland [with] Vio-lence. I get called off the stage, and the guy whose guitar it was had the cops pull me off and get his guitar back.

“My dad, who was a cop back in the day, came up to see what had happened. The kid got his guitar back, they let me go, the band is already playing without me, they don’t care. I stage dive, get back on, grab a guitar and finish the set.

“I got a new one right after that. It was a RR1, black, still got it to this day. I’ll never forget my first Jackson.”

For his new signature, Demmel has opted for a mahogany body, three-piece through-body maple neck with graphite reinforcement, a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard, 24 jumbo frets, and a set of EMG 81 and EMG 60 humbuckers.

It also boasts a Floyd Rose double-locking bridge, pearloid sharkfin inlays and that Polka Dot design, which wraps its way around the entire surface area of the guitar – neck and headstock included.

“I’ve always been a King V guy,” he adds. “The departure into the Fury was something super cool. Creating the tribute to Randy Rhoads with the polka dots back in 2009 was something special, so it’s nice to be able to pay homage with this limited series to share that with everybody.”

The Pro Series Limited Edition signature Phil Demmel KV King V was available for $2,0999. We say was – it has already sold out.

Visit Jackson to find out more.

In related Randy Rhaods tribute news, MXR recently launched a new special edition version of the Quiet Riot and Ozzy guitarist's Distortion+ signature pedal.

Bands with 30-plus years of recording and touring behind them are usually in tune with who they are and what they do well.

At that point, the goal is often to give the fans what they want, whether that means releasing albums that tap into the sounds and subjects that’ve benefited them in the past or playing live shows chock-full of hits. Some of these groups don’t feature any original members; others include one or two.

Robb Flynn may be the only founding member in Machine Head, but 10 albums since the band’s scorching 1994 debut Burn My Eyes, he continues to embrace the band’s trademarks: lunging rhythms, speedy thrash riffs in drop-B on his custom baritone guitar, and a tried-and-true blend of squealing pinch harmonics and undulating bends.

On Machine Head’s new album, Unatoned, Flynn defies convention and remains relevant by applying these time-tested elements in new ways, retaining the band’s core sound while experimenting with a range of musical and vocal approaches.

It’s this dedication to constantly evolving that has kept Machine Head at the top of their game musically and commercially.

“I think it really comes down to loving what you do and working hard not to become stagnant,” Flynn says from a desk chair at home in front of one of many authentic pieces of Viking art he and his wife collect. “We don’t come from the typical arc of bands who have been around since the ’90s and have already peaked.

“Our last headline dates were the biggest we've ever done. It’s amazing to me that people still love to hear new music from us and I feel incredibly grateful to the fans that I don’t have to be a jukebox and play for a crowd that’s waiting to hear Davidian and other old songs. Those are great, but I can play songs off our newer records and people lose their minds and sing every word.”

Heading into Unatoned, Flynn was in the fortunate, yet difficult position of following up one of the band’s most successful records, 2022’s Of Kingdom and Crown. For many fans disappointed by the polarizing alt/nu-metal sounds of 2018’s Catharsis, Of Kingdom... was a welcome comeback.

The songs featured unconventional techniques that inspired fans in the same way as similarly experimental albums, including the epic 2007 album The Blackening and 2011’s even more technically complex Unto the Locust. At the same time, Flynn wasn’t trying to reinvent the past.

“I never considered it a return to form,” he says. “To me, it was just another album of us moving forward and trying new things. We took a lot of big musical risks on that record. Opening the album with a 10-minute-long song, [Slaughter the Martyr], and using a three-minute a cappella vocal intro on [First Blood].

“When I did those, I was thinking to myself, ‘Man, I hope people get this,’ but they did, and that left me in the fortunate position of being able to follow up a record that meant a lot to people.”

Instead of revisiting the angular riffs and expansive arrangements that drove Of Kingdom and Crown, Flynn went into Unatoned determined to write a different kind of album.

“It’s always a challenge to follow up a record that is so beloved by your fanbase because everybody wants you to do the same thing again with new songs,” he says. “So, you just wind up with a shittier version of what you just did. In my experience, you gotta go to a different place, so I put some structures on the songs that would force me to work differently.”

As a songwriter, Flynn followed three strict rules: every track had to be under four minutes long. They all required at least one key change, and the final chorus in every song had to be different than the ones before it.

“Maybe that’s where the key change came in, maybe the drums or guitars drop out during that part,” Flynn says. “It could be anything, but whatever it was, the vocals had to be the same and the music underneath had to feature something different.”

At first, Flynn found it difficult to stick to the new self-imposed mandates – especially the one about keeping the songs under four minutes. But by shortening intros, cutting mid-sections, and keeping the leads tight and concise, he was able to follow the plan. And the more he committed himself to the formula, the more natural it became.

“Eventually, it was just a matter of trimming the fat,” he says. “We wound up with 10 songs plus two instrumentals on a 41-minute-long album. It’s Machine Head’s shortest record – a lean, mean killing machine.”

Many of the heaviest songs, including the rapid-fire Atomic Revelations, the surging, tribal Outsider, the scorching These Scars Won’t Define Us, and Unbound (with its slow, queasy string bends) should be instantly familiar to Machine Head.

Then, there are moments when Flynn dips into less metallic waters. Not Long For This World is mid-paced, richly textured, and catchy as hell, Dustmaker is a hazy interstitial driven by spare, simple guitar lines, dizzying keyboards, and a trip-hop beat, and Bleeding Me Dry is a numbing, schizophrenic showcase of squalling harmonics clawing through a bed of electronic drums and sonar samples.

The most unconventional song is Scorn, a gloomy, keyboard-driven elegy that downplays guitar fury in favor of atmospherics and soaring vocals (though the monochromatic riffs provide a bit of kick).

“For the last 15 years, I've been trying to do a Coldplay/Elton John type of piano ballad because Tiny Dancer is a desert island classic,” Flynn says. “I wanted to do something like that, but with a Machine Head twist and heaviness to it. I tried and failed on the last four albums, but this time I collaborated with this [record producer] Joel Wanasek.

“I sent him the chords on guitar because I could hear how I wanted it to sound, but I don’t know how to play that on piano, and he came back to me with this beautiful reimagining of what I wrote. When I heard it back, I was overwhelmed with emotion, because I was like, yes, we nailed it!”

In addition to taking a different approach to songwriting, Flynn strayed further from his comfort zone by shaking up his normal work regimen. For 35 years, he has rarely written riffs on tour. During the tour cycle for Of Kingdom and Crown, however, Flynn carried a guitar everywhere he went and wound up writing parts for Unatoned in various hotels, some of which were in small towns.

“It brought out this very Americana element for me because I wasn’t writing in big city America,” he says. “I grew up in the small town of San Lorenzo, California, which was really worn down and working class. I drove through there recently and it was like time stood still.

“I remembered so many of the houses and they’re exactly the same, except now all the paint is peeling off of them. And the rusted car that was in the front of this one house is now super-rusted and there are tattered American flags on poles in every yard and bars all over the doors and windows. It really brought me back and spoke to me.”

At his current big city house, Flynn also flipped the script, entering his home studio in the wee hours instead of following any type of conventional schedule.

“I have kids so there’s no time during the day when I can get an hour to myself,” he explains, then laughs. “I would get up in the middle of the night, and by 3 a.m. I was wide awake and ready to work.”

Most of the guitar parts for the last two Machine Head albums have been written and tracked at chez Flynn. Not only has it saved the band money, it has maximized the guitarist’s efficiency. Whereas, years ago, when he brought finished demos to the studio to track the final versions of the songs, now he records as he writes and then hands the tracks to Colin Richardson to be mixed.

As long as his co-producer Zach Ohren is awake and available, the recording room is open.

“I’m a big believer in first-take magic,” Flynn says. “You always hear about bands who make a demo that’s amazing, and then they re-record it and it doesn’t capture the same energy. I certainly experienced that with Machine Head back in the day. So now, I just go in and record almost any time I want. By doing that, you end up with a demo which is basically the album.”

That’s not to say Unatoned was done and dusted in a matter of weeks. Flynn worked on some of the songs for up to four months, creating and discarding part after part until the completed cuts spoke to him. Others came much faster. “For Unbound, I wrote one riff after another and a day later, it was finished,” Flynn says. “A few songs that came together really quickly like that.”

Unatoned marks the recording debut for Virginia-based guitarist Reece Scruggs (ex-Havok), who replaced Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtykaon tour in 2022. The Polish guitarist had been with Machine Head since 2019 but left to return to his longtime death metal band Decapitated, whose last album, Anticult, came out in 2017.

“I love Vogg, and I love the songs we collaborated on. We're good friends and we wish him nothing but the best,” Flynn says, adding that he no longer stresses out when bandmates decide to leave or take a hiatus.

“When Machine Head first started, we were a gang,” he explains. “We did everything together and stuck it out through thick and thin. I’m at the stage now where I’m 57 and I’ve learned that, okay, we’re a band that tours hard for a minimum of 20 months.

“That’s a long time, so when people start to fall apart on the road now, I'm not going to make them stay. I'm going to be like, ‘Dude, go home. Take a mental health break. Take care of yourself.’ And if they get to a point where doing this is no longer for them, we’ll figure that out as well.”

Towards the end of the writing session for Unatoned, Flynn flew in Reece to record his leads. While the two guitarists have a similar approach to rhythms, Reece’s solos are flashier and more complex that Flynn’s, providing a striking contrast.

“His right hand is devastating and his choice of notes is incredible,” Flynn says. “He can do all that crazy arpeggio with the finger tap style that’s a whole level above what I can do. I’m not even going to try it. I’ve got my own thing. I'm doing me, but it's really cool to have Reece in the band and he’s one of the best players I've ever jammed with.”

Having persevered for more than 30 years with various lineups, Flynn is grateful that he still has the creative vision to record diverse, but complimentary albums.

Equally significant is his determination to provide a therapeutic release for those who need it. Sure, he wants to remain a blazing beacon for metal. He also wants to be a life preserver for the drowning.

“I’ll always remember what it was like when I was 18 years old.” he states. “I’m strung out on meth and I'm drinking every day. My dad kicks me out of my house and I'm sleeping on friends’ couches. I’m in a band, but I’m mostly playing warehouses and backyard parties -- just trying to get into clubs and feeling miserable a lot of the time.

“But I’d hear a song I loved by Slayer, Exodus or another band, and it would save my life and give me the strength to go on another day. I'd listen to that song 20 times in a row and it would provide oxygen for my lungs.

“So, when I write songs now, all these years later, I'm not writing for YouTube. I'm not writing for the Spotify Top 10. I'm not writing for my record company or a radio station. I'm writing for that lost 18-year-old kid who needs to hear that song so bad just so he can go on and put one foot in front of the other.”

Flynn understands dark nights of the soul all too well. Even when Machine Head started making traction nationwide, he was desperate, depressed, and living dangerously. He wasn’t anxious to be another rock and roll casualty, he just didn’t see any way around it and had given up any notion of having a lengthy career.

“It’s funny,” he recalls. “I remember there was a bigwig in the music scene, and someone asked him how long he thought I would last. The guy said, ‘Oh, I’d give him five years,’ and he didn’t mean it as a compliment. But when he said that, in my mind I was like, Five years? That’s three more albums. I can’t even fathom lasting that long. And somehow I'm still here.”

• Unatoned is out now via Nuclear Blast.

It might have been a coincidence, or maybe an evil act of fate. But a major volatile career move put Phil Demmel in the front of the line to be the second guitarist for Kerry King, a gig Demmel now proudly holds.

In September 2018, following a 15-year tenure with Machine Head, Demmel quit the band – and lost the paycheck it provided – due to personal differences with frontman Robb Flynn.

Two days later, he got a call from Kerry King, who told him that guitarist Gary Holt had to drop off the Slayer tour due to a family emergency and asked Demmel if he could fly to Europe on short notice to play some shows.

“The timing happened to be good, and I think me stepping into the Slayer situation and learning 19 songs on the flight over to Europe made a good impression on Kerry and helped me when it came time for him to bring on a second guitarist in his new band,” Demmel says.

Demmel didn’t track any of the rhythm parts with King for From Hell I Rise, but he worked hard on leads; when it was time for him to record, he popped into the studio with King and producer Josh Wilbur and recorded around 10 solos and transition licks in three hours.

That’s not much of a time expenditure, for sure, but he was so well prepared that he didn’t need any longer. Demmel wrote all of his leads at home and ensured they complimented King’s songs before entering the studio.

“I wanted to make the string bends sound good with the rhythms, so I’ve been working a lot on my left-hand technique to make sure the bends and tremolo parts are in key,” Demmel says.

“With this record, I wanted to make my signature sound a part of the songs and have that go hand-in-hand with the vibe of the music. I wanted my playing to stand out but also blend in well with what Kerry did.”

Kerry said you were persistent about playing in his new band.

“Let’s just say I made myself available. In 2018, I was poking around – ‘Hey, what are you doing next? What’ve you got going on after this?’ And he told me that he and Paul were gonna continue, probably with Gary [Holt], but he hadn’t made much of it. So, when I announced that I quit Machine Head, he texted me that day or the next day and said, ‘Ah, that’s why you were asking.’ And I told him, ‘Yeah, I’m available and would be up for whatever you want to do next.’”

Did he get back to you right away with an offer?

“No. I filled in [live] for Gary in September for a few dates. Kerry got back to me in December and still kind of thought he was going to go forward with Gary. But then things changed. I don’t think he and Gary had any sort of fight or anything, I just think that Exodus is Gary’s baby and this would be Kerry’s thing.”

When did Kerry ask you to join him for the album and tour?

“I was in limbo for a good eight months after we talked. Then, on the opening night of football for the Raiders, we were at the Monday-night game. We went to celebrate afterwards, and that’s when he said, ‘So, this is what I’m thinking.’ He let me know that night.”

Are you looking forward to playing Slayer songs on tour?

“Fuck, yeah. I love Slayer. I went to the last show at the Forum in California. By then, I knew I was gonna be playing in his band. I had this crazy, surreal moment of watching Slayer from the front of house with [actor] Jason Momoa and Scott Ian and his family, and all these other celebrities.

“I was talking with Scott, and Slayer were going into Angel of Death. And I said, ‘Oh, my God. This is my last chance to pit for Slayer!’ Scotty says, ‘You gotta do it!’ So I went in and made some rounds in the pit with my reading glasses on my head the whole time. Such an old man thing to do!”

What were the first new songs you heard from Kerry?

“I heard some of the demos. Crucifixation was one of them – and I also heard “From Hell I Rise.” This was before [Death Angel singer] Mark [Osegueda] did vocals, so it was Kerry singing on the songs. And I could really tell from his vocal inflections that he was really instrumental in the vocal approach for a lot of the Slayer stuff and even with Tom’s vocals.

“For obvious reasons, Kerry didn’t want to send any of the songs out and was pretty tight-lipped about sharing stuff. So he played a lot of the songs to me over his phone. By the time I got the music to record on, the rhythms were all done.”

How did you approach your leads for From Hell I Rise?

“I recorded stuff at my home studio and sent it back to him. My solo style is obviously different from Jeff Hanneman and from what Gary had been doing. So I wanted to make sure he was gonna be okay with that.

“What I’m doing is a little more melodic than what you’re used to hearing from Kerry’s music, but he was totally on board with it. I was glad about that because I wanted to stray away from all the brutal music and add a little dynamic to it with these more melodic lines.”

Did you pre-write your leads or improvise them in the studio and then string them together?

“My leads were all planned out. I played through them and pieced them together at home. A lot of my stuff in Machine Head was thrown together in the studio. I wanted this to be a lot more structured.

“I wanted to get to the point where I could play my leads in one pass to make all the feelings and all the transitions natural. So I played my leads for months. We tried a couple things spontaneously, but for the most part, they were ready to go.”

Did you cater your playing style to fit into the Kerry King mold?

“No, but I wasn’t confident about it right away because in Machine Head, I couldn’t write riffs that sounded like Machine Head until I was in the band. But I quickly found that with Kerry, I can write in my style and it works with the songs.”

You finished the album a year ago. Was it frustrating to wait this long for it to finally come out? And have you contributed to any of the songs for the next Kerry King album?

“It’s funny because the album is almost out and we did a photo shoot for it a little while ago, and that was only the second time all five of us had been in the same room together. We haven’t jammed as a five-piece yet. But I have new material. When I was writing for Vio-Lence, Kerry said, 'Well, save some of your good stuff for me,' so he’s open to hearing material from me.”

Do you think you’ll be more involved in the songwriting process for the next Kerry King album?

“I’d like to be, but he’s pretty prolific and he gets his stuff done fast. So we’ll see what happens. We’ve yet to play a show together, and the second album will probably already be done by the time we do so, which is fine. I have outlets for my music to go. We’ll see how much I can be involved when the next record comes around.”

What’s the hardest thing about learning the rhythm guitar parts for Kerry King?

“There’s a lot of triplet picking, and some gallops that I want to make sure I’m playing exactly like Kerry does. I’ve had to dissect a couple little tricky things. Tension is in 6/8, so there’s a lot of counting going on, but it’s really a matter of learning to speak that language again. When I was learning those 19 Slayer songs on the plane to Germany, I had to do the same thing.

“It’s kind of the Rosetta Stone language-learning immersion that I’ve adapted to learn all this stuff. That’s how it’s been with a lot of the bands I’ve played with. They have their language, and once you start to understand where they go with certain things – I call them conjunctions, how they put them together and how the transition segues work – then you’re that much closer to getting it down.”

• From Hell I Rise is out now via Raging Phoenix Music America.

Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G has revealed he was once approached to audition for Megadeth and Machine Head – but despite being a “huge” fan of the thrash icons, he turned them both down.

In a recent interview on the Chuck Shute Podcast, he opened up on how his time with Osbourne refocused his priorities, and explained why he ultimately decided against auditioning for the big-name metal groups.

The Greek guitarist – who rose to prominence with power metal band Firewind before featuring on Osbourne’s 2010 album Scream – said the Megadeth offer came in 2015, while he was still a part of the Ozzy camp. 

The band were looking for someone to fill Chris Broderick's shoes, who has since gone on to join In Flames. 

Speaking to Shute, Gus G said his decision to turn down an audition was made out of respect for his then-current bandmates. Two weeks later, Kiko Loureiro joined the band instead.

“I've had offers to audition for other bands and stuff – not to join, but to audition – but I didn't do it,” he said. “During my time with Ozzy, Megadeth reached out. I said, 'Well, I can't really leave Ozzy for that,' even though I'm a huge Megadeth fan.

“Two weeks later, Kiko [Loureiro] was in the band. And Kiko was a buddy of mine; we've known each other. His old band Angra and Firewind have toured together, so I knew him and I thought he was a great fit.”

It certainly strikes up a case of ‘what could have been’. Loureiro went on to find great success in Megadeth, with the 2016 album Dystopia winning the ‘Best Metal Performance’ Grammy at the 2017 ceremony. That accounted for one of many “pinch-me” moments the guitarist experienced during his near-decade-long tenure in the band.

By comparison, not long after the release of Scream, Osbourne rekindled the Black Sabbath flame with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. That dramatically impacted the role Gus G played in Ozzy’s group, and in 2017, he officially left the band. 

Then, in 2019, Machine Head approached him regarding another audition, after Phil Demmel’s time in the band had come to an end the year prior. This invitation was also turned down.  

“I'm not sure if I'm really made for being a hired-gun kind of guy,” Gus G went on. “I'm enjoying calling my own shots. It's two different worlds doing those things.

“Doing your own thing, of course, involves a lot of risks – financial, of course, because you don't know if things will work out…if people are gonna like it.

“Then, of course, being a hired gun for a band, you don't have to worry about any of that. But you're also disposable.”

Machine Head would ultimately go on to recruit Decapitated guitarist Wacław ‘Vogg’ Kiełtyka, who played a key role in the 2022 album Of Kingdom and Crown. 

Since the release of Scream, Gus G has put out four albums with Firewind, and four lead-littered solo releases as he continues to work on his own terms.

However, his love for Megadeth hasn’t gone away. Talking on the podcast, he reflected on his cover of Marty Friedman’s masterful Tornado of Souls solo on his YouTube channel late last year.

“We all know Marty Friedman is an out-of-this-world level player,” he observed. “The rest of us can keep trying! Megadeth always had insane lead guitarists in their ranks. For me, it's an inspiration.”    

Speaking to Guitar World in support of his 2021, and latest, solo album Quantum Leap, he also admitted the allure of playing with Ozzy has never gone away.

“I loved my time with him, of course, I would do it again,” he said. “I don’t think there is a guitar player on earth that would turn that down!”

For now, his attentions are honed in on Firewind. They will release their 10th album, Stand United, March 1 via AFM.  

It’s a good thing Machine Head founder Robb Flynn has the gift of the gab. When Guitar World catches the Bay Area metal veteran over Zoom, he’s sitting in his home studio, seven hours deep into a hefty day of promo surrounding his band’s 10th full-length, Of Kingdom and Crown. 

As it stands, he’s supremely amped to get into the details of the album – which further expands Machine Head’s propensity for ground-fracking grooves, harmonic-accented madness and darkly melodic hooks – but he also admits up front that he’s more than ready to shift the focus off himself, at least for a bit. 

You see, on top of playing with Machine Head, Flynn hosts a podcast called No F’n Regrets, with which he gets into long-form, career-arcing, occasionally gut-busting conversations with friends like Meshuggah’s Mårten Hagström and Biohazard’s Billy Graziadei. In this particular case, he’s readying himself to speak with Oceano vocalist Adam Warren once our time is up.

Since founding Machine Head in 1991, Flynn has commanded crowds with a rich and oak-y baritone speaking voice, which nevertheless rises toward an aggressively vein-popping, in-song bellow. 

It was Hatebreed vocalist and podcaster Jamey Jasta who egged him on to start No F’n Regrets, suggesting Flynn’s low-end register would be ASMR-style ear candy for listeners. More than 130 episodes later, though, Flynn’s realized that self-restraint leads to increasingly stellar episodes.

“If you let people talk, they’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know,” he suggests. “One of the things I learned early on is that there’s a natural tendency to want to talk about [yourself], like, ‘This is what I’m doing!’ But if you can push that down and continually go, ‘No, what are you doing? Tell me about that,’ you can get some great shit.”

In a sense, Of Kingdom and Crown is another way for Flynn to let someone else do the talking. The album is sung and screamed from the perspectives of two characters living within a dystopian wasteland “where the sky is always crimson red." 

The first, Ares, loses the love of his life and goes on a vengeful killing spree; the second, Eros, becomes radicalized following the overdose death of his mother, and likewise goes on a murderous rampage. 

Though its themes of fascism, racism and violence have cropped up in politically potent Machine Head releases in the past, there’s also a morally ambiguous bent to Of Kingdom and Crown, where its traumatized protagonists feel they’re the good guys, but also commit “acts of pure atrocity and evil.” 

“I’m a guy who’s written nine albums through how I view society,” Flynn notes. “Just like most artists, they write about things that have happened to them. Now I’m writing through these characters. 

“It’s set in this fantasy place where I can get as violent or brutal as I want – or as sad as I want. The story can be about a million things. Once I started getting into it creatively, it tripped me out. It totally opened up the way that the record went, too, as a result.”

Just like the motives of Of Kingdom and Crown’s focal figures, Machine Head’s latest release isn’t a cut-and-dry affair. There are high-velocity thrash attacks (Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate); anthemic, Black Album-leaning stomp-a-thons (Unhallowed); and discordantly djent-infused ballads (Arrows in Words from the Sky). 

You could even argue that, at least contextually, the chilling sound design of Overdose – made up of the sound of a failing heart monitor and consoling words from a doctor – makes for the heaviest track on the entire album. 

As for Machine Head, their lineup has also taken some wild swings these past few years. Since unleashing Catharsis in 2018, longtime lead guitarist Phil Demmel split to concentrate on his reformed Vio-Lence (in which Flynn had also played guitar, pre-Machine Head). 

By 2019, former drummer Chris Kontos and lead guitarist Logan Mader rejoined the fold for a round of Burn My Eyes 25th anniversary dates, though that was a temporary reunion. Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern are now joined by a new co-guitarist, Decapitated’s Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka, and drummer Matt Alston.

Recording through the pandemic led to remote work, but Flynn and MacEachern also grew closer via the band’s run of Happy Hour livestreams from Flynn’s personal studio.

What began as a pressure-reliever during the pandemic has turned into an integral part of the Machine Head experience – a place to re-envision Machine Head tunes, or put fun-as-hell spins on songs by Bob Marley, Fleetwood Mac and System of a Down. The vibe is something Flynn is excited to bring on tour, meshing some of Machine Head’s heaviest tunes yet with a loose, living-for-the-moment, jam-band attitude. Another of Of Kingdom and Crown’s many juxtapositions. 

Coming off of Catharsis – a record you’d said incorporated more pop elements than prior Machine Head releases – do you feel that experiment brought you deeper toward melody on Of Kingdom and Crown, or does this stand as an extra-pissed-off reaction to that record?

“I mean, it’s a ferocious record, hands down, [but] we just write, you know? I’m not trying to be heavy, or trying to be pop-y. I feel like [one thing] that played the biggest influence on this record [was] getting together with Chris and Logan for the Burn My Eyes 25th anniversary tour. 

“Getting to reconnect and jam again was awesome on so many levels, and [the tour] was wildly successful – sold out, everywhere. Granted, all those songs had been in rotation at some point, but to play it all in one [set] took me back to where I was at the time – not that I really feel like I could write from that same headspace, of a 24-year-old dude running around the streets, out of his mind and fighting, drinking and fucking every weekend. 

“I think that would be really phony to write from that, because that was 28 years ago – I’m a father with two teenage boys, now – but it made me remember my mindset when I was writing that record, and the things I wanted to accomplish. I knew that our music was going to be really busy, fast, thrashy and technical, so I wanted to have these very simple vocal lines. Simple cadences, not even a lot of notes; I just wanted to be brutal. That’s one of the big things I brought back to this [album]. 

“I think the other thing is that when the pandemic hit, we had been touring for five fucking months and then our US tour ended when I got Covid. Two weeks later, the world shut down. I was like, ‘I gotta play,’ so I started coming down to my studio here and doing acoustic Happy Hours. 

“I was the only one allowed [in here], because everything was locked down, so I [went], ‘I’m coming down on Friday. I’m going to drink beer, play acoustic songs, and if you want to come hang, I’m going to be here for two hours.’ 

“I started doing it on Facebook Live through my phone, with a little microphone. It was totally spontaneous. I would just jam any song I wanted to – re-envisioned Machine Head songs; I took requests for cover songs. Sometimes it was amazing; sometimes it was a total trainwreck, but it was fun. And people started tuning in.”

Had you considered bringing Logan and Chris back into the band full time and writing new Machine Head material with most of the Burn My Eyes lineup in place?

“We definitely tried. Logan and I actually did write [together] for the first time in 27 years for this album. But, you know, everybody was hustling [with different projects and schedules]. It ended up not happening, so Jared and I really buckled down here and focused on Of Kingdom and Crown.”

What can you say about starting a new chapter with Vogg [Wacław Kiełtyka], then, and creating a new guitar tandem? Was there anything in particular about his style that you felt would work perfectly within Machine Head?

“He’s a phenomenal guitar player, just insane. I had met him a decade back when Decapitated came though San Francisco on the Summer Slaughter tour, and we hit it off. Then he would come out to our shows when we would roll through Poland. I wouldn’t say we were friends, but we had an email relationship. 

“I think we come from the same place in metal. Definitely a thrash influence. When we construct leads, it’s always borrowing from Gary Holt or Kirk Hammett, something from that realm. The very first guitar solo I ever learned all the way through was Gary Holt’s on [Exodus’] Bonded by Blood. That was a big deal.

“[Kiełtyka] suggested it: ‘Hey, would you ever consider having a guy like me in Machine Head?’ I was like, ‘Dude, let’s try it!’ We were doing auditions, and he sent in a video of himself playing Imperium [off 2003’s Through the Ashes of Empires], and he could play it better than I could at that point – holy fuck, the dude just shredded it. We’d talk on the phone or over FaceTime, and I felt a kindred spirit. And I knew he was a road-dog; he wasn’t green. 

“We got together about two weeks before a European tour started. We were just at a hotel. We both had those little Roland Cubes, which I think are the best thing ever; those little battery-powered amps sound killer. We ran through a couple of songs… and I just remember thinking, ‘I feel like I’ve jammed with this dude for 10 years.’ 

“We were so fucking locked in; it was so tight. No click tracks; no drums; we’re just jamming freestyle. It was a wild connection, man. Awesome to have him, and great contributions to the record. He wrote the main verse riff in Unhallowed.” 

Can you touch on how natural harmonics remain a huge factor in the Machine Head sound? Popping off harmonics seems to have always been a part of your style.

“Absolutely. It’s our trademark. Whenever you hear a band doing harmonics, they took that from Machine Head. [Laughs] It’s kind of funny how the whole harmonic thing came together for me.  When I first started playing guitar, I was crazy about Celtic Frost’s Morbid Tales and D.R.I.’s Dealing with It!, the punk-rock crossover classic. 

“My parents didn’t have a lot of money. I was bugging my dad about getting a guitar, and he was like, ‘I don’t think you’re going to stick with it. We’re going to rent a guitar, you’re going to try it, and if after three months I don’t see any improvement, we’re not going to do that again.’ We went and rented a guitar for $50, the cheapest guitar the store in Fremont would loan us. 

“I’m sitting there just trying to learn every D.R.I., Slayer, Metallica or Celtic Frost song. Especially with Celtic Frost and D.R.I., they had all this feedback, but I didn’t know what feedback was. I was like, ‘What’s that sound?’ I’ve got no distortion box, I’m playing out of an amp as big as my phone, so I just mistakenly hit a harmonic and was like, ‘Oh… that must be what that is.’

“I got good at doing really quick little harmonic hits, because I think I’m playing feedback. Later on, of course, some friend of mine was like, ‘No, you idiot, that comes from the amp.’ But it became part of my style. It sounds cool to me.”

Can we get into some of the intensity on this album? I’m thinking pieces like Become the Firestorm, which starts off with this particularly ruthless trill section, overtop those blast beats…

“I woke up with that melody in my head one day and was like, that would be sick on guitar. I just came down here with Zack [Ohren], my engineer, and I was like, ‘Dude, hit the fastest click track you got and I’m going to track this riff.’ Once it was together – the little hesitations and stops here and there – I got such a killer vibe off it. It was just this burst of creativity. I was lucky enough to have Zack here to track it with me, and then it was done.”

Can we get into gear? Are you still primarily playing baritone guitars? 

“All I have are baritones.”

What’s the backbone of your rig on this record?

“Well, my main guitar is a custom that this luthier Dragan made – he did all the custom shop work for Gibson Europe. It’s still my main stage guitar. I’ve had it forever; the thing’s beat to shit. It’s got this giant groove dug into the wood from down-picking. 

“It’s flawless because it’s so fucked up, you know what I mean? I love this guitar; it sounds and plays great. That was far and away my main guitar, and then I had another guitar for my barre stuff, another Flying V he made that has a Floyd Rose. 

“Rig-wise, we tracked DI. We re-amped all the leads through a Bradshaw unit [Custom Audio Electronics], and for the guitar tones we re-amped with a Kemper and a Quad Cortex – that thing is savage. Our main clean tone was through a plug-in by the guy who made the Satan amp [Ola Englund].”

How about effects?

“I’ve got the Electro-Harmonix Small Stone; the [Warm Audio] Jet Phaser; the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress – the big fucker that if you leave it on, and you turn your volume off, you can hear the ‘conk’ sound every three seconds because there’s something’s spinning in there. I love that flanger. And I’ve still got my Jimi Hendrix fuzz pedal. I’m big on those old '70s analog effects. 

“[Sometimes] I would track through my rig, and we would just fly that in for those really heavily effected parts, because it sounded like it needed the breakup of the amp to sound fucked up. That’s what’s killer to me: when it’s oversaturated and overly distorted. There’s a lot of that.”

Did the Roland Cube make it onto the record?

“No, it didn’t unfortunately. It’ll be on the road, though. We fuckin’ love that thing. That’s what we jam through before every show.”

Years ago, you did this roundtable interview for Guitar World with Kerry King and Billy from Biohazard. It’s kind of a funny piece, hinging around the idea of “metal is dead, what do you think about that?” 

“I remember.”

Somewhat on that idea, where do you feel metal culture is all these years later, and how does Machine Head fit into it? For instance – and this is taking it out of context within the storyline – but there’s this line of dialog on the album between Rotten and Arrows in Words from the Sky: “You’ve created the world in which you live.” How does that line speak to a life lived with Machine Head?

“That’s a deep, philosophical question, but I feel like we’ve had a hell of a career arc, you know? We just celebrated 30 years, and we’ve had some of our biggest albums and songs in the last five to 10 years of our career, which makes no sense! I like what you’re saying there about ‘you make your own world,’ or whatever. For me, I’ve been lucky enough to have great players, no matter what. We haven’t had a lot of lineup changes, but the chain that we’ve had has been all great players. 

“I remember hearing a quote from Michael Jordan years ago: ‘You don’t have to love the NBA; you just have to love the game of basketball.’ That’s how you’ll flourish. I got it at the time, but I really get it now. Like, you don’t have to love the music business; you just have to love the music. You’re not competing against other bands, you’re competing against yourself; you’re competing against your guitar-playing skills from a year ago, or 10 years ago. 

“You’re constantly trying to better yourself as a player, a lyricist or a vocalist. It’s very easy to get caught up in the bullshit of the music industry – the drugs, the free booze… other famous people trying to ride your jock – [but] you’ve got to tune that shit out. It sounds very hippy-dippy, but I remember when we were first starting out, I used to say, ‘I want us to be the Grateful Dead of metal.’ 

“I wanted us to have a fan base and a culture that revolves around this band that is so outside of the regular bullshit. Grateful Dead didn’t need radio; they didn’t need MTV. They could fuckin’ pack out everywhere and have this crazy, loyal fanbase. And we’ve done that! We built this fanbase around what we did. 

“A lot of people don’t seem to be aware of this, but we’ve done over 120 Electric Happy Hour shows, which is the weekly Friday livestream. It’s for the hardcore fans. We’ve done full album playthroughs; we try to learn two to three new [cover] songs every week. 

“We don’t make a setlist; it’s totally spontaneous. We’ll play deep cuts. I mean, Jared and I know every Machine Head song ever written at this point. I really feel like once we get back out there and start touring again, it’s going to be a lot like a Happy Hour. It’s going to be these very spontaneous, loose sets. It’ll have the hits from the Machine Head canon – for lack of a better word – [but] it’s [also] going to be cover songs and deep cuts; mixing it up a lot. I love that.”

• Of Kingdom and Crown is out now via Nuclear Blast.

Robb Flynn was recently interviewed by YouTuber Ola Englund and took the opportunity to recall his time on the road with Dimebag Darrell in the late 1990s. 

In particular, Flynn shared a story about a Dimebag misadventure on an Ozzfest tour that led to the loss of one the Machine Head electric guitar player's ESPs. 

Flynn says Dimebag had been on a 24-hour bender at the time. He then recalls standing stage-side as mutual tour mates Coal Chamber performed and Dimebag drunkenly wandered on and off-stage – in the middle of their set. 

“He kind of looks over,” Flynn tells Englund (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “I see him looking at my guitar boat... And I'm like, ‘Hmmm...’ And he walks over, grabs my backup guitar – it’s just like a piece of shit ESP – and he's just fuckin’ jammin’, and he looks at me again, and then he walks out on stage again!

“Everybody goes crazy... And you know, he's not plugged in. He's just out there, playing my guitar. I don't even think he's playing their song; he's probably playing Eruption or something. And it's their last song... and he picks up my guitar, and he goes – headstock first – right into the fucking ground. And I was like, ‘Dude!’ I was fucking pissed. And he just walks off the other side of the stage! And I'm like, ‘Motherfucker!’”

Hilariously, Flynn notes that despite all expectations that Pantera’s set would be “a fucking disaster," Dimebag nonetheless delivered. 

“We go out front – partially to just go, ‘Hope it's okay,’ and partially just to see the trainwreck we're probably about to witness – and that dude gets out there – and literally plays a fucking flawless show. Just every fucking note, every lead... Dude doesn't miss a note. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed that someone that fucking shit[faced] – he had been drinking for 24 hours straight at this point, and he fucking killed it. And I'm like, ‘You're a fucker.’”

Fortunately, there’s a happy end to the tale. Flynn relates how a sober and remorseful Dimebag approached him the next day to not just apologize but also ensure he was reimbursed for twice what the guitar was worth. But there was more to come...

“We play a few more shows, and then we're playing The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago,” recalls Flynn. “And it's our last song… And I hear – [Dime] always called me Carjacker – and he whispers, ‘Carjacker!’ And I'm like, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he says, ‘Let me get on the mic! I've got something to say!’

“And he’s like, ‘[Dime addresses audience] My boy Robb here – I was kinda drunk the other night, and I blew up his guitar! I want to give him’ – he'd just launched his Washburn; it was still in the prototype phase. He's like, ‘I’m givin’ him one of my Washburn guitars here,’ and he handed me [the guitar] on stage at the Aragon Ballroom. And I was like, ‘Wow, dude.’ He'd already paid me back... It was just the type of guy he was. Such a fuckin’ huge heart, larger than life.”

To listen to Flynn’s full conversation with Englund, check out the video above, or head to Ola Englund’s YouTube channel. 

Another guitar that passed through Dimebag’s hands resurfaced recently, in the form of his final Dime Razorback Stealth USA Custom Shop model, nicknamed “The Clubhouse”.

Anyone familiar with Machine Head knows natural harmonics are integral to their guitar approach. From the opening riff of Davidian, first track of their 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes, to the final seconds of Arrøws in Wørds Frøm the Sky, the closer from their new album Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn, natural harmonics pervade the Oakland outfit’s entire discography.

And while they became an intentional part of the band’s musical fabric, frontman Robb Flynn discovered natural harmonics by accident as a young guitarist.

As he explains in the new issue of Guitar World, his first guitar was a rental from a local Fremont music store. His father insisted on the temporary purchase to see if Flynn would actually stick with playing guitar.

“When I first started playing guitar, I was crazy about Celtic Frost’s Morbid Tales and D.R.I.’s [Dirty Rotten imbeciles] Dealing With It!, the punk-rock crossover classic,” Flynn recalls.

“My parents didn’t have a lot of money. I was bugging my dad about getting a guitar, and he was like, ‘I don’t think you’re going to stick with it. We’re going to rent a guitar, you’re going to try it, and if after three months I don’t see any improvement, we’re not going to do that again.’”

He continues: “We went and rented a guitar for $50, the cheapest guitar the store in Fremont would loan us. I’m sitting there just trying to learn every D.R.I., Slayer, Metallica or Celtic Frost song. Especially with Celtic Frost and D.R.I., they had all this feedback, but I didn’t know what feedback was.

“I was like, ‘What’s that sound?’ I’ve got no distortion box, I’m playing out of an amp as big as my phone, so I just mistakenly hit a harmonic and was like, ‘Oh… that must be what that is.’ I got good at doing really quick little harmonic hits, because I think I’m playing feedback.

“Later on, of course, some friend of mine was like, ‘No, you idiot, that comes from the amp.’ But it became part of my style. It sounds cool to me.”

Machine Head released their 10th studio album, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn – and first with guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka – last month.

Elsewhere in the interview, Flynn details his approach to continually improving as a musician and guitarist now decades into his career.

“I remember hearing a quote from [basketball player] Michael Jordan years ago: ‘You don’t have to love the NBA; you just have to love the game of basketball,’” he recalls. “That’s how you’ll flourish! I got it at the time, but I really get it now. Like, you don’t have to love the music business; you just have to love the music.

“You’re not competing against other bands; you’re competing against yourself – you’re competing against your guitar-playing skills from a year ago, or 10 years ago. You’re constantly trying to better yourself as a player, a lyricist or a vocalist.”

Read the full Robb Flynn interview in the new issue of Guitar World, available now via Magazines Direct.

Machine Head have launched NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS, the latest single from their just-released 10th studio album, ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN.

One of the more melodic cuts on the album, NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS finds Robb Flynn and company in searing songwriting form, as they combine frenetic alternate picking riffs and leads with gloriously anthemic singalong sections. Watch its moody and ambitious accompanying music video below.

“We’re really proud of the video for NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS,” says Flynn. “It was an incredible collaboration between three different creative teams working across two different continents. Our director/editor Mike Sloat teamed up with the amazing Grupa 13 [a production house based in Wrocław, Poland] and then the stunning 3D CGI came from Phil Radford [VFX artist at animation studio Strangebox].”

Out today (August 26), ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN is a 13-track concept album which details the stories of two characters: Ares and Eros, and “how their lives intertwine”.

As the band explained prior to its release, Ares is a character “who loses the love of his life and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder”. 

Eros, meanwhile, is “the perpetrator, who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree”.

“The album’s concept was loosely inspired by [anime series Attack on Titan] in the sense that in the storyline, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guy. Both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil.”

ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN also marks the first time guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka – who joined in 2019 – has appeared on a full Machine Head album.

NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS is the fifth single released from the record, after MY HANDS ARE EMPTY, ARRØWS IN WØRDS FRØM THE SKY, CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE and UNHALLØWED. 

Take a look at the album’s full track list and artwork below.

1. SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR
2. CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE
3. BECØME THE FIRESTØRM
4. ØVERDØSE
5. MY HANDS ARE EMPTY
6. UNHALLØWED
7. ASSIMILATE
8. KILL THY ENEMIES
9. NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS
10. BLØØDSHØT
11. RØTTEN
12. TERMINUS
13. ARRØWS IN WØRDS FRØM THE SKY

Machine Head have dropped a thumping new single, Unhallowed. It's the latest track to be released from the band's upcoming 10th studio album, Of Kingdom and Crown.

The track is markedly more down-tempo than the previously released Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate in its first few minutes, before shifting into sixth gear with a brutally thrashy arrangement packed with thunderous palm-muted riffs and über-melodic dual-lead guitar lines. 

Watch the band play Unhallowed live from their online Electric Happy Hour series below.

“Drowning in the deepest depression of his life, Eros is at a breaking point,” Flynn explains. “Collecting heartaches, loss, and near psychotic isolation, Unhallowed is the beginning of a powerful shift of our story. 

“An introspective narrative starts the song lyrically, which is a collaborative effort written by myself, guitarist Wacław 'Vogg' Kiełtyka and bassist/backing vocalist Jared MacEachern and encapsulates the collective strength of this writing team.

"Anchored by an absolutely monstrous groove, the vocals melodically mirror the state of mind of Eros as he reels from the loss of his mother to a drug overdose and begins a slow downward spiral into madness. However, the culmination of the track infuses some much-needed light, but will it be enough?”

Due August 26, Of Kingdom and Crown is a 13-track concept album that follows the stories of two main characters: Ares and Eros. Throughout the album, the band will “detail how their lives intertwine”

Specifically, Ares is the focus of the story “who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder”. Eros, on the other hand, is “the perpetrator, who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree.”

The album, Flynn explains, is actually inspired by Japanese anime. “Thanks to my two teenage boys my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called Attack On Titan,” he says. 

“The album’s concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guy. Both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track is basically our character number one’s [Ares] origin story.”

Of Kingdom and Crown is available to pre-order now and will be released via Nuclear Blast on August 26. Take a look at its tracklist below.

• Slaughter the Martyr
• Chøke øn the Ashes øf Yøur Hate 
• Becøme the Firestørm
• Overdøse
• My Hands Are Empty
• Unhalløwed
• Assimilate
• Kill Thy Enemies
• Nø Gøds, Nø Masters
• Bløødshøt
• Røtten
• Terminus
• Arrøws in Wørds Frøm the Sky

Machine Head have announced their first album in four years, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, and ushered in the news by dropping the effort’s crushing lead single, Chøke øn the Ashes øf Yøur Hate.

Due August 26, the upcoming anime-inspired record is a 13-track concept album, which will chart the stories of two main characters: Ares and Eros. Throughout Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, Machine Head will “detail how their lives intertwine” via story-telling lyrics and, of course, punishing electric guitar riffs.

Specifically, Ares is the focus of the story “who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder”. Eros, meanwhile, is “the perpetrator, who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree.”

Such violence and angst is certainly discernible from Chøke øn the Ashes øf Yøur Hate – a four-minute metal throwdown defined by its relentless, cataclysmic riffs, punishing drum lines and guttural vocals.

Owing to their sheer brute force, the guitar parts punch their way through the track, traversing bruising low-end riffs and moody rhythmic jabs, before arriving at a wailing, siren-esque solo at the 2:30 mark, which conjures up an array of dizzying soundbites and techniques.

When it arrives, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn will be Machine Head’s first album since 2018’s Catharsis.

Of the sprawling effort, Machine Head’s Robb Flynn remarked, “Thanks to my two teenage boys my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called Attack On Titan. 

“The album’s concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline, there is no 'good' or 'bad' guy. Both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track is basically our character number one’s [Ares] origin story.”

Speaking to Metal Hammer recently, Flynn also teased that the record will be “probably the heaviest we’ve been in a few albums”.

Flynn features alongside the latest iteration of Machine Head’s lineup, which currently comprises bassist Jared MacEachern, guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka – who joined the band in 2019 – and former Devilment drummer Matt Alston. 

The tracklist for Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, which also contains three songs released in 2021 – Becøme the Firestørm, Røtten and Arrøws in Wørds Frøm the Sky – can be found below.

1. Slaughter the Martyr
2. Chøke øn the Ashes øf Yøur Hate 
3. Becøme the Firestørm
4. Overdøse
5. My Hands Are Empty
6. Unhalløwed
7. Assimilate
8. Kill Thy Enemies
9. Nø Gøds, Nø Masters
10. Bløødshøt
11. Røtten
12. Terminus
13. Arrøws in Wørds Frøm the Sky

The album itself will be sold in a variety of physical and digital offerings, including 16 different vinyl formats, multi-color cassettes and CDs. Bonus tracks are also available in the deluxe vinyl box sets and limited-edition Digipak.

• Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn is available to preorder now ahead of its release on August 26.

Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn recently took to the stage to perform Black Sabbath covers with tribute band Back Stabbath – and fan footage of the night has now emerged.

Flynn made the appearance – accompanied by former Forbidden bandmate, guitarist Craig Locicero – as part of his friend ‘Crummy’ Joe Cabral’s 60th birthday celebration, on March 19. 

The Machine Head man joined Back Stabbath, a tribute act from Boulder, Colorado, for performances of a number of ‘Sabbath classics, including Into The Void, Electric Funeral, Wicked World and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

Flynn is a longterm ‘Sabbath fan and has said the band were the reason he first learned to play the guitar. In 2000, Machine Head contributed a cover of ‘Sabbath track Hole In The Sky (from 1975’s Sabotage) to the Nativity In Black II tribute album.

In another sign that Flynn has been considering his musical roots, the frontman recently teamed-up with Machine Head’s founding lead guitarist, Logan Mader, to perform a 25th anniversary playthrough of the band’s second album, The More Things Change... 

Meanwhile, Machine Head have a new studio album on the way, which they have previously said should be due for release this summer. Back in November last year they reported on social media that they’d been “Making great progress on at least 6 different new songs including a 10 minute plus epic.”

Keep an eye on Machine Head’s official site for more information on the forthcoming album.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their sophomore album, The More Things Change..., Machine Head reunited with founding lead guitarist Logan Mader on Friday (March 18) for a full livestreamed playthrough of the album.

Appearing at Machine Head's practice space as part of their Electric Happy Hour Facebook series, Mader joined frontman Robb Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern to play live set staples Ten Ton Hammer and Take My Scars, before tackling Struck a Nerve, Bay of Pigs, Blistering and more.

After concluding the playthrough of The More Things Change..., the band moved on to perform six tracks from their 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes, wrapping up with a savage rendition of album opener and Machine Head classic, Davidian.

The More Things Change... – released in 1997 – was Machine Head's last album to feature Logan Mader. He quit the band following substance abuse-related struggles in 1998.

“I was self-destructive – that was part of my DNA,” he told Guitar World last month. “I'm sober now and have been for a while. I learned that I don't know how to do moderation – it's all or nothing. It took me time to realize that and accept it after going through waves of sobriety followed by more self-destruction.

“I can't do things by halves; if I do, I end up in the gutter or in the depths of hell. So I started putting that energy into positive things that are better for me, like producing. But I used to get pretty fucked up back then. We all did, especially when we were touring with Pantera. That's when I really started drinking. 

“I was with Dimebag drinking Crown every day and every night, getting into all kinds of trouble with those guys. Looking back now, it was a pretty special time in my life. I was definitely living fully. I’m lucky to be alive!”

Last year, Mader reunited with his former bandmate Robb Flynn for a new Once Human single, Deadlock, which appears on the band's latest album, Scar Weaver.

“We all ended up loving the way it came out,” Mader told Guitar World. “It had been a while since we’d worked together, other than a couple of riffs I wrote for a new Machine Head track called My Hands Are Empty, which came out in 2020. I was in the video… it was my first time working with Robb in 20 years.”

In the same interview, Mader described his time in Machine Head as a “one-in-a-million chance, like winning the lottery”, adding that he got to live “this amazing life and experience”.

Though he’s the founding guitarist of Once Human, Logan Mader is more than happy to admit he’s taken a backseat from writing songs and recording guitars in the band. Something which, let’s face it, us guitar players rarely ever do. 

The man who rose to fame as a member of Machine Head on classic albums such as Burn My Eyes and The More Things Change... now cites Max Karon, who started working with Once Human just before 2017 sophomore effort Evolution, as the main individual in charge of all things seven-string in the group.

“My role has gone more into producing and mixing the music,” Mader tells Guitar World. “When I came back off the [original lineup reunion] tour with Machine Head a few years ago, Max had written 10 amazing songs for the next album. I was like, ‘These are fucking done, this is amazing, hell yes!’ He was killing it! 

“Those tracks didn’t change much – they just didn’t need to – which made my job easier. I’m the founder, producer, babysitter, tour manager and sometimes the merch guy in this band. You could say I wear a lot of hats, but not so much in terms of guitar stuff these days!”

Originally Karon was brought in as a co-writer, but the chemistry worked so well he was eventually given official status within the group. Though he “wasn’t formally in the band at that point”, both Mader and singer Lauren Hart felt his contributions were necessary ones thanks to his “unique and special style of riffing” and inspiring musicality. 

This ultimately led to Karon almost singlehandedly writing the guitar parts for Once Human’s new album Scar Weaver, which comes out this month. When GW points out that’s quite the jump from background co-writer, Mader laughs before explaining it would never have happened if the new recruit’s ideas were lacking in substance.

“Seriously, his riffs are some next-level shit!” grins Mader. “On this new record, Lauren and I just let him go be Max. He works with other bands too – he’s done a lot with Bad Wolves, writing a lot of their riffs and guitar parts. He enjoys that, but in Once Human, we just let him be himself. There are no other cooks in the kitchen, asking him to change this or do that. I’m really proud of what all of us have achieved on this album.”

One of the early singles, Only in Death, has some really moody and atmospheric guitar leads at the beginning. Where did that come from?

“It’s a little bit old-school Opeth-sounding I think, and you’re right, it’s really atmospheric. I’m friends with Mikael Åkerfeldt – he’s an amazing musician and writer. Max is really good at countermelodies that are really thematic and super-memorable. They speak very loudly with emotional content and are able to create these extra moods within each song.” 

That track also has some pretty extreme, almost Meshuggah-like usage of bends near the end...

“I’m a big Meshuggah fan. Machine Head actually took them on their first European tour back in the day, so I’ve known those guys for a long time. I think Destroy Erase Improve came out during that tour – they only had one album and EP prior to that. Nobody knew who they were…

“Our agent was like, ‘Who the fuck are these guys – why are you taking them on tour?’ And we explained that we loved their sound and that they were going to be fuckin’ huge. Max is younger than me and grew up with the latter Meshuggah stuff. They are a huge influence on him, as well as Korn.”

Deadlock has really intense moments of chromatic heaviness, as well as some guest vocals from an old friend of yours by the name of Robb Flynn…

“What happens quite a lot in that song is me playing with the automation in the Axe-Fx with MIDI-controlled pitch bending. It’s like the little red DigiTech [Ricochet] pedal that goes up and down in pitch that isn’t the Whammy. It kicks in and out during the riff, and then during the verse it descends down almost an entire octave… We’re just playing one open C note – that’s it! The Axe-Fx does the rest. That song had different vocals and a different chorus hook originally.”

Was that Robb putting his own stamp on the track or you guys accommodating for where his vocals would sit?

“The whole song got rearranged quite a bit by Robb. I asked if he wanted to help on that track and didn’t know if he’d be into it. He really liked it and said he was up for it, and had a lot of ideas about the general arrangement of the song. It ended up being quite different in the end. Lauren had her chorus done, so Robb asked for the stems so he could have a play with it.

“He took Lauren’s lead vocal off the chorus and added his own one in, and then they ended up doing this call-and-answer thing. It was a bit like ‘Woah!’ when we first heard it, but we knew immediately that it was an upgrade – a better hook to make it sound even bigger.

“We all ended up loving the way it came out. It had been a while since we’d worked together, other than a couple of riffs I wrote for a new Machine Head track called My Hands Are Empty, which came out in 2020. I was in the video… it was my first time working with Robb in 20 years.”

That must have been intense. What was life like for you when you left Machine Head – we read somewhere that methamphetamines may have been involved…

“I used to party like a rock star, but I only did meth a couple of times. I don’t know why that stuck out and made the headlines [laughs]. I was more of a whiskey and vodka drinker, but that would lead me into other things like an eight-ball of cocaine or a big handful of pills. I was self-destructive – that was part of my DNA.

“I’m sober now and have been for a while. I learned that I don’t know how to do moderation – it’s all or nothing. It took me time to realize that and accept it after going through waves of sobriety followed by more self-destruction.

“I can’t do things by halves; if I do, I end up in the gutter or in the depths of hell. So I started putting that energy into positive things that are better for me, like producing. But I used to get pretty fucked up back then. We all did, especially when we were touring with Pantera. That’s when I really started drinking. 

“I was with Dimebag drinking Crown every day and every night, getting into all kinds of trouble with those guys. Looking back now, it was a pretty special time in my life. I was definitely living fully. I’m lucky to be alive!”

And on those early Machine Head albums, it looks like you were mainly using Flying Vs through Peavey heads and Mesa/Boogie cabs?

“Yeah! I was using the old Peavey block letter head with oversized Boogie cabs. That was the Machine Head meat-and-potatoes sound, with maybe a couple of Boss pedals to kick on for effects here and there. I played Gibson Flying Vs at first, then I had ESP make me some custom ones as well.

“That was my jam back in the day: pretty simple and straightforward. Machine Head are still using 5150s on stage for the bulk of the tone, but there’s a much more elaborate chain of pedals getting controlled by a Bradshaw system.

“My guitar tech was switching everything for me – I didn’t even have to know what was what or think about dancing on pedals. He would do it all for me, which was super-luxurious. There were a lot of cool things about that Machine Head tour. It was great fun and I was very fortunate to experience it with a big and epic production.

“In Machine Head, we also had an Axe-Fx for clean tones, so it would be a digital sound going into the front of house and into people’s ears. But the main tone was a mic on the cab, with that 5150 sitting as the main distorted guitar sound.”

What an amazing way to celebrate Burn My Eyes… though it would have been great to see Adam Duce returning on bass!

“I know! I agree with you but whatever… it was a really special experience, from my point of view and [drummer] Chris [Kontos]’s point of view. For the fans, it looked like the biggest birthday party ever. I was grateful to get to relive that because it was a special moment of my life back in the '90s. I was super-lucky – it was a one-in-a-million chance, like winning the lottery...

“I joined my first band called Machine Head and we blew up worldwide. I got to live this amazing life and experience. Then I parted ways… to come back and relive it after 25 years was insane. And not even relive it, because Machine Head are bigger now than they were back then. It was awesome and very emotional. Everyone had high spirits and it was all about good vibes on that tour.”

The tunings in Once Human are much lower – are you using extended-range guitars now?

“It’s a seven-string but the lowest note is a G. The tuning we use is pretty cool: G-C-G-C-F-A-D. So the top six are basically in drop C and below that you have a G, which is relatively standard against the C.

“You can do two-fingered powerchords on the two lower strings, and then on the fifth and sixth strings, you can use one-finger powerchords. I have a bunch of baritone long-scale six-strings that I was using in Machine Head, but in Once Human both Max and I play multi-scale Ibanez guitars.”

And how about the amp tones – what are we hearing?

“We went through a crazy chain of events… it gets pretty tweaky with us. It’s quite a detailed chain – there’s a lot of stuff touching our tones very subtly. It’s a profile we use on the Axe-Fx that originally came from the tube amp I grew up with. We’ve captured the soul of the tone and profiled it digitally.”

Since leaving Machine Head, you’ve been mainly focusing on your production work. Given that heavy metal is your area of expertise over, say, country rock – what tips can you offer all the metalheads out there trying to mix their own music?

“Did you just say there are no country records with my name on them [laughs]?! I guess so. Heavy metal is my shit. I did the first Five Finger Death Punch record, The Way of All Flesh by Gojira, as well as stuff with DevilDriver, Butcher Babies, Asking Alexandria and many more. 

“Heavy metal is my passion. It’s what I love. The funny thing about country music is that I am actually working on a new project that is totally different to anything I’ve ever done... and it’s a hybrid of country and rap-rock. It’s pretty vibey and cool. I’ve been working on it as a writer, producer and guitar player. So that’s another thing to add to the list.”

Aren’t you busy enough?!

“I know! I have seven or eight jobs, playing in a whole bunch of bands. I got into the cannabis industry recently. I’m the brand manager for 22Red, which was founded by Shavo [Odadjian] from System of a Down. He’s a good friend of mine and created that brand – it’s doing really well in California, Arizona and now in Nevada. It’s really ramping up! I’m really excited about that. 

“I also have some equity in a company called Cali Care Group, which has been around for 11 years doing cultivation, manufacturing and retail home delivery. 

“All of these cannabis relationships that I’ve ‘cultivated’ [laughs] over the last few years overlap with music – from Shavo and SOAD, or Cali Care Group whose founder is very music-oriented. Over the pandemic, I really started kicking these other projects into high gear because it felt like music stopped and we all suffered from being shut down. 

“My survival instincts drove me towards other things in order to sustain my reality and help me thrive and be more successful. That’s what motivated me to get into cannabis. 22Red is a really cool lifestyle brand that overlaps with music, culture and skateboarding. It’s all interconnected and fun stuff.”

Back to the recording tips, though, what are your go-to pedals to help get the best tones out of your amp?

“If you want to turn a Marshall into a Diezel, just turn the Marshall off and get a Kemper or Axe-Fx [laughs]. Honestly, I haven’t touched a pedal in a long time. I’ve been using Kemper profiles of an EVH or 5150 and others that I share in my community of peers, and the same with Axe-Fx. So these days, that’s my go-to. There’s a huge library of all these amazing combinations of heads, pedals and mics.

“Ultimately, it just comes down to scrolling and hearing which ones sound best. I really don’t care too much about how I get there; it just has to sound good for the project and the mix.

“There are so many boutique pedals out there – I don’t even know which ones to recommend. It used to be the Metal Zone... if you use one in the right way, it can do something nice to a tone that’s already nice. Or it would be the Ibanez Tube Screamer or the yellow Boss SD-1. The main thing to remember with pedals is you can’t fix a totally broken tone – you always need something good to work from!”

• Once Human's new album Scar Weaver is out now via earMUSIC.

Ex-Machine Head man and all-round metal guitar legend Phil Demmel recently opened a basketball game at Dublin High School, in East San Francisco, providing attendees with a hair-raising, metal’d up take on The Star-Spangled Banner.

Fans have since shared clips of the February 11 performance and you can see Demmel positioned centre court with nothing but a guitar and a wah pedal at his disposal. 

Initially greeted by a smattering of bemused applause, the guitarist gives the national anthem the full Demmel-ition treatment, complete with a filthy divebomb, shreddy trills and some ear-popping pinch harmonics.

Outside of high school athletics, the thrash legend has been spending his time with his pre-Machine Head band Vio-lence, who are currently revving up to release new EP, Let The World Burn, on March 4, via Metal Blade.

The new EP will mark the first new original material from the group since 1993’s Nothing To Gain album and the band have already released a monstrous first single, Flesh From Bone.

Head to the Vio-lence Bandcamp page to pre-order the Let The World Burn EP.

LA metal outfit Once Human have returned with new single Deadlock, bringing along guitarist Logan Mader’s former Machine Head bandmate Robb Flynn to guest on vocal duties.

The track finds Mader and co-guitarist – and chief riff-writer – Max Karon delivering a barrage of brutal drop-tuned riffs, while Flynn trades vocals with singer Lauren Hart.

Deadlock is the first release from the band's upcoming album Scar Weaver, which promises to be their heaviest record yet and is set for release in February 2022. It will be their first full-length effort since 2017's Evolution.

Describing the experience of having Flynn on the track, Hart says: “It was absolutely amazing, are you kidding? I didn’t believe it was happening until he sent something back and I heard his voice on our song. I was like, ‘Holy crap! This is real!’ He came back with a new chorus, and it was so much better than mine, so my chorus was gone.

“But then performing with him in the video, that was insane. The energy he brings onstage, he brings in person, too. It was a great experience, and his energy is so powerful. The video came out amazing!”

Mader played alongside Flynn in Machine Head for eight years, appearing on debut outing Burn My Eyes in 1994 and its follow-up The More Things Change… in 1997. The guitarist left the band in 1998 to pursue other musical projects, although he temporarily rejoined in 2019 for a 25th anniversary tour of Burn My Eyes.

That same year, Flynn announced that Wacław Kiełtyka, of Swedish death-metallers Decapitated, would be filling the full-time Machine Head guitar vacancy.

It’s Thursday again, and you know what that means. Scroll further, dear reader, to immerse yourself in new music of the guitar-heavy persuasion.

Whether you’re in the mood for eyebrow-singeing shred from Gus G, a moving piece of country-blues from Eric Bibb, a radical, guitar-heavy reimagining of a Steven Wilson tune by Biffy Clyro, yet another pop-punk gem with Travis Barker on drums, or something else entirely, there’s probably a tune here that’s to your liking.

So dip your toes in. The water’s fine!

Machine Head – Become the Firestorm

Honestly, we challenge you to find a more impressive track – at least from a lead guitar perspective – from the past seven days. Arriving as part of a three-track single – with the other two cuts being Arrow in Words from the Sky and Rotten – Become the Firestorm is a quintessential Machine Head tour de force, complete with unmistakably Robb Flynn natural harmonics and a plentiful supply of alternate picking.

Some truly splendid six-string interplay between Flynn and co-guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka enters the fray at around the 2:49 mark, before a solo – that can be regarded as nothing short of an exercise in bravado – reinforces Machine Head’s six-stringery as some of the best in the metal game. (SR)

Eric Bibb – Born of a Woman (feat. Shaneeka Simon)

The second single from blues veteran Eric Bibb’s upcoming album, Dear America, Born of a Woman is a veritable cornucopia of blues guitar excellence.

A powerful lament on the horrors of domestic violence, the song gets its drive from Bibb’s determined, dynamic acoustic fingerpicking, its emotional punctuation marks from his stinging slide work (both acoustic and electric, no less), and even some atmospheric ambiance with Bibb’s subtly beautiful harmonics. 

Sharing the spotlight with Shaneeka Simon, who puts in a moving vocal performance, Bibb tackles the heaviest of subjects with a grace, understatement and composer’s instinct that showcases his ample skills as both a songwriter and guitarist. (JM)

Steven Wilson – Personal Shopper (Biffy Clyro remix)

The British prog torchbearer made headlines earlier this year after dubbing guitar’s musical vocabulary “exhausted” – and, unsurprisingly, his latest release, The Future Bites, wasn’t especially six-string-focused.

His collaboration with Biffy Clyro, then, will come as a breath of fresh air for anyone missing his guitar-led Porcupine Tree days – and, indeed, Biffy’s heavier moments, as this reimagining ditches the frenetic electronica of Personal Shopper in favor of a positively crushing single-string riff and discordant lead line.

The one-two gut punch of Simon Neil’s fragile Stratocaster chords and emotive octave melody serve as a reminder of the band’s knack for stadium-sized instrumentals – we would most definitely be up for a new Biffy album along these lines, although we could probably do without Elton John’s spoken-word shopping list over the top. (MAB)

KK’s Priest – Sermons of the Sinner

Described as an “all-encompassing tribute to the history of our beloved genre of music”, Sermons of the Sinner sees KK’s Priest – the new group featuring former Judas Priest members KK Downing and Tim “Ripper” Owens – unleash a truly scorching arrangement, with the guitar work of Downing and fellow guitarist AJ Mills serving up a volley of jaw-dropping classic metal-inspired lines.

And because both Downing and Mills possess immeasurable talent on the fingerboard, they’ve divvied up lead responsibilities equally, each putting forth a uniquely dazzling display of shred.

Says Downing: “We are very hopeful that Sermons of the Sinner will inspire young and older musicians alike to pick up their instruments and keep alive the rock music that so many of us have become a part of.” (SR)

KennyHoopla – Smoke Break (feat. Travis Barker)

There will come a week when Travis Barker doesn’t feature on a track in Guitar World’s weekly roundup. However, it’s not going to be this week, as the Blink-182 rhythm king-turned-session man has cropped up once again, this time on a recent release from pop-punk phenom KennyHoopla.

The collaborative album, titled Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape, is an oversized ode to music genre, taking KennyHoopla’s more subtle indie-rock reflections of his previous outings and injecting them with Barker’s Blink-182 style of supercharged punk.

Take Smoke Break, for example. A quick hammer-on and pull-off passage punctuated by some harmonic chimes and the track explodes, thick with Barker’s steady open hi-hats and punctuated kicks, which form the track’s super-tight foundations. 

The main riff continues throughout, save the stripped-back verse sections that give KennyHoopla’s vocals center stage, with some epic vocal harmony interplay hitting all the right notes and tugging at all the right heart strings during the finale.

Come for that super-sweet high-gain riff, stay for KennyHoopla and Travis Barker’s immense musical chemistry. In fact, stay for the whole album while you’re at it. (MO)

TORRES – Hug From a Dinosaur

The best songwriters always have a knack for taking something that may seem innocuous on the surface – something they see while out and about, an encounter, or a gesture – and using it as a seed for something far greater and more meaningful.

On Hug From a Dinosaur, Mackenzie Scott – who records under the TORRES moniker – uses the premise of bringing her girlfriend (a painter) lunch so she doesn’t have to stop working as the means to show her devotion to someone who, in her words, embodies “the best of all possible worlds”.

The touching narrative is punctuated by the sort of crunchy, grungy riff that’ll immediately make you wanna plug in and play yourself. The intermittent, shotgun powerchord blasts in the second verse are a nice, spunky touch as well.

If you’ve slept on TORRES, keep an eye out for her upcoming record, Thirstier. If its singles are any indication, it’s shaping up to be one of the best rock records of the summer. (JM)

Big Wreck – Middle of Nowhere (feat Chad Kroeger)

If you believe everything the internet tells you, Nickelback are one of Canada’s most overrated exports. Yet here, photograph-waving frontman Chad Kroeger partners with perhaps one of the country’s most underrated bands for a hard-blues stomper of a single.

Big Wreck frontman Ian Thornley, of course, can be relied upon to deliver god-tier vocals, and Kroeger – whatever you make of his music – has always had a serious set of pipes himself.

That alone makes for a mainstream rock collaboration par excellence, but it’s Thornley’s unquestionable taste and enviable technique that elevates the track above common-or-garden radio rock, with some astonishing wah-heavy legato runs and pitch-perfect bends. No matter who he’s playing with, Thornley truly can do no wrong. (MAB)

Gus G – Fierce

Gus G this week offered the second single from his upcoming, as-yet-untitled new solo record. In what he describes as “a fast song” with “lots of shredding” – and he's not at all wrong – Fierce features a bountiful array of pummeling palm-muted rhythm lines and dizzying leads, and is true to form for the Ozzy Osbourne/Firewind guitarist.

“If you guys like my past instrumentals or stuff that Firewind has done – the fast stuff – you're gonna like this,” Gus explains.

“This is going to be my first all-instrumental album,” he continues, “so there’s a lot of guitar on it. [There’s] different things on it – not just metal stuff. There’s some more mellow, bluesier things, but then, of course, there’s a lot of shredding, too.”

And if you're keen to hear more, you're in luck: Gus confirmed that there will be “more singles coming out” in the coming months. (SR)

Amythyst Kiah – Fancy Drones (Fracture Me)

Apologies for being ever-so-slightly late on this one, but sleep on Amythyst Kiah’s contemporary take on rootsy blues at your peril.

Fancy Drones (Fracture Me) is taken from upcoming album Wary + Strange and weaves classic soul influences with a sharp, savvy production. Its main riff can be traced back to blues guitar's earliest proponents, but a wealth of distorted textures and muted chugs lend a contemporary edge that serves to amplify Kiah’s impassioned vocal.

On evidence like this, it’s easy to see why she’s landed herself a trio of Americana Music Award nominations, with Tele-toting great Jason Isbell the only artist equalling that achievement this year. (MAB)

Smoothboi Ezra – Without Me

Rising Irish indie-rock artist Smoothboi Ezra has made a name for themselves through a string of well-received singles that serve up an eclectic mixture of melodic guitar licks, catchy chord progressions and insanely well-written vocal lines. 

With their latest release, Ezra has delivered the goods once again. Taken from EP Stuck, Without Me is a whistle-stop tour of what makes Smoothboi Ezra such a force to be reckoned with. Chime-y electric guitars ring throughout, with Ezra cleverly playing with the production to pit open-string bursts alongside more muted, angsty strums.

A recurring thematic lick crops up, with the simple-but-effective motif managing to break up each of Ezra’s verse sections with a nonchalant guitar-driven interlude. It’s ever so slightly off the beat, but Ezra’s deliberately downbeat execution is what makes this track so tasty.

Smoothboi Ezra has yet to release a full-length album, but we’d wager that, when it finally arrives, it will be worth the wait. (MO)

Parcels – Free

Parcel’s latest track, Free, is a reminder of the versatility of everyone’s favorite stringed instrument. You won’t find any fretboard acrobatics here, nor will you find any show-stopping lead runs. What you will find, however, is a bounty of subtle, yet deliciously perfect, guitar contributions placed alongside a bounty of funk-fueled bliss.

Beginning as one-note single-coil stabs hidden deep within the mix beneath a layer of building keys, strings, vocals and the odd cowbell, the guitars soon emerge from their backline-bound shackles for some eloquent chordal constructions, executed with just the right amount of right-hand flair.

With the guitar, it’s one helluva funky romp, and a demonstration of how, even when used sparingly, the guitar can turn a track into an anthem. Without it? Well, thankfully we won’t have to find that out. (MO)

Here in the States, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Though it's been a year for the history books in a number of ways both good and terrible, one thing we at Guitar World HQ are certainly thankful for is that there's still plenty of amazing innovation on the guitar front for us to tell you about every week.

These past few days have certainly been no exception, with the long-awaited first solo single from Wolfgang Van Halen's solo project – Mammoth WVH – a fascinating slice of grunge revival from Suspect208, and a powerful, emotionally (and musically) heavy new tune from Machine Head all arriving in recent days.

That's just the tip of the iceberg however, so if you're looking to heat up your playlist with awesome new guitar music as the weather grows colder, read on! 

Mammoth WVH – Distance

Wolfgang Van Halen said recently that he never intended for Distance to be the first track the world heard from his (very) long-awaited solo debut, but the loss of his father, Eddie Van Halen, last month inspired him to change course. 

Credited to Mammoth WVH (though Wolfgang handles every instrument, in addition to the vocals) Distance is a deeply moving ballad that reduces an impossibly larger-than-life man – who changed the way the guitar was played and perceived – to who he was to Wolfgang, a caring and loving father with whom he shared an unbreakable bond.

Unsurprisingly, Wolfgang shines on every instrument. His drumming is thunderous, with his bass playing displaying that same muscle, but also a perfect sense of how to hold the song down.

Of course, people will focus on the climactic, cathartic solo (it’s a brilliant display of chops, mind you) but equally impressive is Wolfgang’s dynamic rhythm playing, which’ll undoubtedly remind you of a certain other guitarist whose jaw-dropping guitar acrobatics tended to outshine his equally groundbreaking rhythm work… (JM)

Suspect208 – Long Awaited

The name might not mean much to you yet, but boy, does this band have some pedigree, with a line-up made up of the offspring of some of rock’s biggest stars. Namely, singer Noah Weiland (son of Stone Temple Pilots’ Scott Weiland), 18-year-old drummer London Hudson (son of Guns N’ Roses’ Slash) and bassist Tye Trujillo (son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo).

Yet despite the star power of its frontman and rhythm section, it’s guitarist Niko Tsangaris who really shines on this debut single, with a touch and feel way beyond his years, displayed in both his wailing solos and grunge-indebted powerchord riffs. (MAB)

The Pretty Reckless – 25

This ominous new number comes ahead of the Taylor Momsen-led quartet’s upcoming fourth studio album, Death By Rock And Roll. Deviating somewhat from the record’s first single and title track, 25 trades attitude-driven hard-rock riffs for a far more atmospheric arrangement.

Guitar-wise, the verses feature a satisfyingly brooding gain-tinged arpeggio line, which is built upon throughout the chorus by a rising octave passage. The line climaxes when the instrumental section drops out, leaving Momsen to deliver a vocal line that takes the track seamlessly back into the verse.

The guitar work here is simple, but exactly what the track requires, and it’s executed brilliantly. (SR)

Machine Head – My Hands Are Empty

Robb Flynn has never been one to shy away tough lyrical themes when writing for Machine Head. This year alone has seen the band release Circle the Drain – which deals with a friend’s failing relationship after returning from Afghanistan – as well as two tracks about the Black Lives Matter protests, Stop the Bleeding (Feat. Jesse Leach) and Bulletproof.

Latest track – and the first to feature Burn My Eyes-era guitarist Logan Mader in 24 years – My Hands Are Empty is no less thematically heavy, dealing with the issues of depression and opioid addiction. 

Its lyrical themes are effectively mirrored in its instrumentation, too; the track’s unpredictable – both heavy and melodic in equal measure, and it navigates between the two with seamless ease. (SR)

Chris Kelly – Silver Linings

You might not recognize Chris Kelly’s face, but you’ll have certainly heard his virtuosic skills as 'Dark Vader', one-third of prog-metal Star Wars tribute Galactic Empire’s triple-guitar attack. But where much of that band’s material leans on the dark side, Kelly’s debut single is far more optimistic in tone.

Silver Linings is an elegantly layered slice of pop-punk-tinged progressive rock, which allows Kelly’s impressive array of melodic chops to shine through, climaxing with a flurry of alternate and sweep picking at the track’s zenith. An exciting new voice in instrumental rock. (MAB)

Palberta – Corner Store 

One of the more idiosyncratic rock bands to emerge from New York in recent years, Palberta seem bound to reach even greater audiences with their new album, Palberta5000.

Corner Store, the album’s second single, shows you why you should have your eyes on this trio if you don’t already. A ping-ponging vocal arrangement, an infectious bassline and punky riffing make for a delightfully off-beat piece of guitar-pop perfection that truly sounds like nothing else out there. (JM)

Black Veil Brides – Scarlet Cross

If re-recording their entire debut album this year wasn’t enough, Andy Biersack and co earlier this week announced a brand-new concept record, The Phantom Tomorrow. It’s set to follow an antihero named The Blackbird, and a group of outcasts known as The Phantom Tomorrow.

More importantly, the album’s first single, Scarlet Cross, sees guitar duo Jake Pitts and Jinxx return to deliver that trademark BVB blend of chunky riffs, melodic phrasing and tasty harmonized leads. We’re excited to hear what the rest of the album has to offer. (SR)

For the past 24 hours or so, the guitar world has been in mourning for Eddie Van Halen, who passed away on October 6 at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer.

Now Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn has added his voice – and electric guitar – to the outpouring of tributes to the guitar legend with a down-tuned cover of EVH’s immortal Eruption. 

“I was just playing Eruption two days ago at the request of a fan, thinking, goddamn this song is still so fucking hard to play over 40 years later,” Flynn wrote on Facebook. “And that fucking guitar tone… Seriously… that fucking guitar tone even in this day and age is complete savagery.

“Dude was a ROCK STAR. Larger than life personality, so much style, so much class. They broke the mold with Eddie Van Halen. Rest in peace legend.”

Phil Demmel's departure from Machine Head in 2018 left the guitarist unsure of his standing within the metal community and questioning his value as a player. 

Luckily, a quick stint filling in for Gary Holt on a few of Slayer’s last European dates gave Demmel a much-needed jolt of confidence. Joining up with a few old friends for his new BPMD covers project was just as priceless an experience. 

“I really owe a lot to those three guys for getting me over a hump [with] a lot of self-esteem issues I might’ve been having at the time,” he says. “Just thinking, ‘Hey, these guys believe in you.’ It really helped.” 

With its former and current members of Overkill, Dream Theater, Vio-Lence and more, BPMD’s pedigree is pure metal royalty, but Demmel is hard-pressed to call it a proper supergroup.

“It’s four dudes jamming covers,” he says humbly of hooking up with vocalist Bobby Blitz, bassist Mark Menghi and drummer Mike Portnoy for American Made, BPMD’s metal-finish salute to hard rock classics from Grand Funk Railroad, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ted Nugent. “I was a '70s kid, so these are all bands I [that] loved and really got me into heavy music.”

The four vets converged upon Portnoy’s home studio in Pennsylvania last year to bash through the tracks in just 10 hours - Demmel sparingly added some rhythm work at California’s Trident Studios afterwards.

Of the quick-and-dirty nature of the sessions, the guitarist explains: “They’re not going to be frog’s-ass tight, you know? No quadruple tracks. Let’s just go in for vibe - warts and all.”

Demmel adds that American Made is also the first album in more than a dozen years where he’s played rhythm guitar; during his 16-year tenure with Machine Head, he’d mostly recorded leads. Now he’s flexing deft, triplet-judding heaviness into razorwire takes on the likes of Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic.

“I’ve got a metal wrist on my right hand,” he admits of revamping the bluesier approaches of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. “You’re hearing a lot of chunky down-picking and palm-muting.”

Demmel mostly used his Jackson Demmelition Fury on American Made, citing its fixed bridge as the secret to coaxing tasty bends out of ZZ Top’s Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers. That said, he broke out a custom Demmelition V with a Floyd Rose to quake through Van Halen’s D.O.A., which gets reworked with a speedy, double-time thrash finale.

Though American Made is full of songs Demmel has lived with for decades, he’s quick to point out that he wasn’t mastering two-handed tapping techniques and Floyd Rose dives on his $42 department store starter guitar circa 1979.

“Back in the late '70s you weren’t just picking up Eddie Van Halen songs,” he says with a laugh. “[D.O.A.] was an easy enough riff, but I think I was more into [Van Halen’s cover of the Kinks’] You Really Got Me; that was the extent of my Van Halen [expertise back then].”

BPMD's American Made is out now via Napalm Records.

We’ve seen a lot of quarantine video collaborations over the past few months, but former Machine Head electric guitar player Phil Demmel may have just won the collabo-prize with his Collab-A-Jam #1.

The new video sees the former Machine Head guitarist take on Thin Lizzy’s Bad Reputation with a lineup consisting of Judas Priest shredder Richie Faulkner, Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, Sacred Reich drummer Dave McClain and, on vocals, “Thin” Lzzy Hale.

In addition to turning in a killer performance, the rendition features a good two-and-a-half minutes or so of Faulkner and Demmel trading off positively ripping licks on their respective Epiphone and Jackson signature guitars.

It’s a more-than-satisfying performance, though it also raises as many questions as it answers. In particular, is Faulkner’s home actually outfitted with a full wall of Marshalls? We can only hope so.

You can check out the Collab-A-Jam #1 above, and Demmel promises there are more to come.

In today's digital age, it's seemingly easier than ever for artists to put out material with greater regularity. The biggest names in the world of guitar seem to be releasing albums and singles left, right and center - and we've never been happier.

In the past week alone, we've been treated to plenty of fantastic new music. From Code Orange's industrial, synth-infused Swallowing the Rabbit Whole to Stone Temple Pilots' shift from amps to nylon strings, there's been an abundance of both electric and acoustic guitar mastery to admire.

We've put together what we think are the most essential tracks from the last week. If there's any you feel we've missed, rest assured: they were considered.

Loathe - Screaming

While we lie in wait for the new Deftones album, Liverpool’s brightest metal upstarts are here to fill the void with one I Let It In And It Took Everything, one of 2020’s best albums thus far.

But while the band’s cannonballing baritone riffs and dream-like vocals recall Sacramento's finest, their breakdowns owe more to djent and metalcore, lending a sharper edge to their already well-honed craft. Ignore this band at your peril. (MAB)

Green Day - Meet Me on the Roof

Pop-rock's most arguably influential trio returned last week with Father of All Motherfuckers, an upbeat, infectiously feel-good 10-track record which clocks in at a mere 26 minutes and 16 seconds.

Steering away from the politically charged themes of albums past (think American Idiot), the album brings a welcome dose of escapist positivity to our increasingly uncertain political climate.

Still, the opening guitar riff of Meet Me on the Roof, while simple, harks back to the Green Day of the 2000s, beautifully utilizing nostalgia to drive home those evocative pop-punk hooks. (SR)

Sylosis - Empty Prophets

The modern-age disciples of thrash metal are back with their first album in five years, Cycle of Suffering. Having taken time out to tour and record with British metalcore frontrunners Architects, guitarist and frontman Josh Middleton returns to Sylosis with renewed vigor.

The album opens with Empty Prophets, which hits like a freight train, setting the stage for the rest of the album with a rapid-fire opening riff that locks in tightly with the machine gun-esque drum work. The section is followed by a pounding half-speed riff that's certain to get your head moving, followed by an impressive harmonized solo section. To a guitarist, this track has everything, and we dig it. (SR)

Stone Temple Pilots - Perdida

The ’90s alt-rock stalwarts made the surprise move to ditch the amps for their second record with new singer Jeff Gutt - and the results are quite spectacular.

The ever-underrated Dean DeLeo picks up a nylon-string to lend the album’s title track a distinctly cinematic feel, with a nuanced, performance so chock-full of flair, it’s hard to believe this is the band’s first all-acoustic affair. (MAB)

Tyler Larson - Eighty-Nine (ft. Tomo Fujita)

The lauded YouTube tutor, PRS endorsee and former GW columnist unveiled his debut EP this week, with a series of videos on his Music Is Win channel. Entitled Nashville Noises, the release showcases five original songs recorded in five different studios in Nashville, with guest appearances from the likes of Adam Neely and Andy Wood.

Eighty-Nine starts in pure fusion territory, balancing funky rhythms with gnarly fuzz tones, before Larson and special guest Tomo Fujita exchange licks over a backing track that recalls ballads by the likes of Joe Satriani - who himself is one of Larson’s all-time heroes. (MAB)

Code Orange - Swallowing The Rabbit Whole

You'd be forgiven for assuming straight off the bat that Code Orange's Swallowing the Rabbit Whole is built on an odd time signature, but this is due to, as the song's music video might suggest, a possible new and unnamed drummer's ability to shift and sway around 4/4.

The track quickly kicks into gear, with a tension-building palm-muted guitar section that couples nicely with the drums, climaxing with one of the most unusual and incredible guitar riffs we've heard in a while.

The rest of the track is an instrumental masterclass, with a particularly standout moment in the breakdown section. Guitar, bass, drums and synth marry together perfectly, seemingly unconfined to any tonal region, creating a beautiful sonic cacophany that's certain to open up the pit. (SR)

Godsticks - Surrender

Wales’ premier prog-rock-metal outfit returns this year with Inescapable, their most refined effort yet.

In Surrender, the band conjure a desolate, uneasy atmosphere, as time signatures simmer and sway, and arpeggiated chords rise and fall, all building towards a climactic wah-drenched lead from six-string-toting frontman Darran Charles - the kind of virtuosic delivery that has also seen him sought after by Bruce Soord-fronted progsters The Pineapple Thief. (MAB)

Machine Head - Circle the Drain

The longstanding California metal quartet have returned with a new standalone single, Circle the Drain. The track appears to mark a sonic change of direction for the band, with catchy, melodic chorus vocals and an instrumentally stripped-back verse. 

But fear not - hardcore fans will not be left wanting, as a Machine Head-signature, natural harmonic-infused riff follows frontman Robb Flynn's "I bring the hammer down" vocal cry. And we can confirm - he certainly does.

Following last year's Do or Die, new guitarist Wacław Kiełtyka comfortably fills the void left in 2018 by long-serving six-stringer Phil Demmel, delivering the pounding riffs with satisfying accuracy and confirming that Machine Head, despite their line-up changes of late, are stronger than ever. (SR)

Former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel made his live debut with Slayer yesterday, December 3, at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. Demmel is filling in for guitarist Gary Holt on the band’s current European run, after Holt bowed out to return home to be with his dying father. You can check out footage of Demmel and the band playing several songs, including "South of Heaven" and "Raining Blood," above.

Just 24 hours earlier, Demmel had played his final show with Machine Head after 15 years with the group, after announcing in October that it was time for him “to step away and do something else musically."

Prior to his first show with Slayer, Demmell posted on his official Instagram profile:

"Full circle. Karma. It's so crazy how things work out. I got a text less than 24 hours after I played my last Machine Head note. 11 years ago (almost to the day), I had to leave a tour to fly home and be with my family when my father passes away. Some amazing dudes stepped in to cover for me and to help the band out. I am filling in for a legend who has replaced a legend in a legendary band on their farewell tour.”

“Despite the fact that Slayer is the reason I wanted to play heavy music, it's beyond my utmost honor to [be] asked to do this. Learning 19 songs (Not just songs, SLAYER songs) has been a daunting task and I have worked very hard to do Gary and the entire camp proud. As we all here send our love and support to @garyholt_official as he goes through a life-altering time, the rallying this camp has done is amazing. Thank you all for your support as I grab the baton for a few shows and fly the Bay Area flag high on stage right.”

"And lastly, the biggest hero is [wife] @martarino for being so selfless after having her partner home for two days, sends him off to follow this crazy dream. All hail the Queen."

Following the performance, Demmel posted the following: “Never has 90 minutes gone by faster. Made a few mistakes but I feel really good about this 1st one. Much love to all of you for the ongoing support.”

For all upcoming Slayer tour dates, head to Slayer.net.

"You ever go dancing?"

Robb Flynn is asking Guitar World a question and, to be sure, it’s hardly the sort of question one would expect from the singer, guitarist and main songwriter of Bay Area groove-thrash kings Machine Head. But smart money says that Flynn has a point to make. And so GW offers the frontman a tentative answer:

“Not often.”

“Me neither!” Flynn quickly responds. “But my wife loves to dance, and so sometimes she’ll drag me to the club. But a friend once told me: ‘You can pull off any dance move as long as you keep a straight face. Because you’ll fucking own it.’ ” And here, Flynn makes his point, using this story to draw a parallel to Machine Head’s new and ninth studio album, a massive 15-song, hour-plus offering titled Catharsis. “To me, there were a handful of songs on this record where I was like, ‘Can we own this?’ ” he says. “Because some of these songs are definitely out of our wheelhouse.”

True to Flynn’s word, the new Catharsis is unlike any album Machine Head—which also currently includes guitarist Phil Demmel, drummer Dave McClain and bassist and backing vocalist Jared MacEachern—have released over the course of their career. To be sure, there are plenty of tracks—the throttling opener “Volatile”; the nihilistic thrash-’n’-roll workout “Razorblade Smile”; the grinding, downtuned groover “Triple Beam”—that make it clear that, almost a quarter-century after their landmark 1994 debut, Burn My Eyes, Machine Head are still one of the most ferocious and explosive units in modern metal.

But Flynn also uses the album’s ample run time to showcase songs that explore other sides of the band’s musical makeup. Chief among these tunes is “Bastards,” which finds the singer ranting against politicians, Wall Street, racists, rednecks and other perceived enemies of liberty over a musical backdrop that is equal parts punk-metal anthem and folk-rock protest song. And other tracks, from the grungy “Screaming at the Sun,” to the unplugged ballad “Behind a Mask,” which features a full-on acoustic guitar solo, to the atmospheric, almost post-metal closer, “Eulogy,” are similarly outside the standard Machine Head box.

In early interviews about Catharsis, Flynn went so far as to warn fans that they shouldn’t expect the record to rank among the band’s heaviest. But, he says, “You know what, man? We’ve got some great fucking songs here. And it’s still heavy, it’s still Machine Head. But it’s definitely not the traditional Machine Head. It’s really different from what we’ve done in the past. And that’s a good thing.”

And lest any fans be concerned that Flynn and Co. bit off more than they could chew with Catharsis, the frontman returns to his earlier analogy about dancing. “We just decided, ‘Let’s put on that straight face and fucking own it,’ ” he says. “And we did.”

Since day one you’ve been pretty upfront about the fact that Catharsis is not Machine Head’s heaviest record.

When I first made those comments it was because fans were asking, “What does the record sound like?” And it’s such a cliché that every metal band says, “It’s the heaviest shit ever!” So I started thinking about it in real time, and I was thinking about songs like “Behind a Mask” and “Bastards” and “Eulogy,” and I was like, “It’s not the heaviest. And it’s really melodic. And it’s really grooving. It’s probably the least thrashy we’ve been in a long time.” And when I started saying that it freaked some fans out. But I think you’ve got to be honest with your fans. I could make someone think this album is fucking Reign in Blood right now if I wanted to. But that wouldn’t be very sincere of me. So I just told it how I thought it was.

Those songs you mentioned, in particular “Behind a Mask” and “Bastards,” are pretty far from the normal Machine Head fare.

Yeah. “Behind a Mask” is a first for Machine Head. There’s no heavy guitar riff and no heavy vocals throughout the whole song. And “Bastards,” it’s a folk song. Lyrically, that song was written the day after the [2016 presidential] election. It was based on a conversation that I had with my two boys. And it was a complicated conversation. So the next day I just started writing lyrics, and those words just vomited out of me in, like, 60 minutes. In order. And that doesn’t happen too often. And when I was done I had that melody for the chorus in my head and I picked up my acoustic guitar and I started strumming four chords that I’ve heard a million times over the years. It’s four chords that have been around forever. And I knew that and I didn’t care. And I worked out the song right there. And then the intro is like a six-fingered tapping thing. It’s fucking insane.

At the same time, there’s also things like the opening track, “Volatile,” which is just a straight-up classic Machine Head rager.

I wrote that the day of the Charlottesville [far-right] rally. We were in the studio and I’d been watching that shit unfold on TV for two days. I literally watched Heather [Heyer] get murdered. And I was like, “What the fuck?” I went into the lounge of the studio and just starting writing lyrics, and 20 minutes later I was singing them and we were recording the song. And that’s what you hear. If music is a snapshot of somebody’s headspace in a moment, you got a pissed-off, angry, frustrated, confused moment right there.

Can you talk about your gear setup on Catharsis?

My main guitar is this custom baritone that I have had for about a decade now. I want a tight downtuned tone, not something sludgy, so getting the baritone with the longer scale neck was amazing. Because those three extra inches just makes the strings so much tighter. Not to mention I’ve got fat fingers! [laughs] The guitar was handmade by this guy Dragan, and it’s just a fucking awesome guitar. I actually have a little arsenal of guitars from him. Then my main amp was my old [Peavey] 5150, which I’ve had for like 23 years now. Its name is Bubba. There’s nothing that’s been done to it—it’s just one of those heads that sounds better than all of the other heads for no reason in particular. I play all the rhythms on the album, and we quad the guitar tracks—two on the left and two on the right. One side is the 5150 through a Boogie cab and the other side is the 5150 through a vintage Marshall cab.

How about effects?

There are tons of effects. I’ve got a Bradshaw unit and also a bunch of old pedals from the Seventies and Eighties. I love the [Electro-Harmonix] Electric Mistress. That’s on pretty much every song on the record. Then there’s a Boss chorus, a Boss delay, a Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face, and those old Line 6 multi-effect units that have delays and filters and phasers and shit like that. For me, I like to have a guitar tone for a minute and then it’s gotta go into some weird psychedelic shit that takes it into another realm. And that kind of thing is all over the record. But you know, as far as tones, there’s no Kemper or anything like that. In a lot of ways it’s a very raw record.

Lyrically, there are several songs on the album, including “Bastards” and “Volatile,” that touch on political and cultural issues. You’re a guy who’s known to be outspoken about your views. Have you experienced any backlash because of this?

For sure. I mean I get “Shut up and play” every day. Every time I post something on social media. But for a long time now we’ve had these pretty political songs, going back to the first album. So if someone says, “I don’t wanna hear it,” it’s like, “What band have you been listening to?” [laughs]

You would think fans would not only expect it from you, but that they would welcome it.

Well, you know, I think musicians have for the longest time walked this line about being apolitical, in order to not upset anybody. But the Beatles were writing about the Civil Rights movement with songs like “Blackbird,” and Black Sabbath were writing anti-Vietnam War songs like “War Pigs.” Those are pretty powerful statements, and they’re statements that inspired me. So I just think it’s weird that metal bands have written so many songs about wars from 150 years ago, but they won’t write about the wars that are going on now. I mean, there are some bands that have entire albums and careers based on wars that happened hundreds of years ago! But we’re all afraid to comment on what’s going on today. That’s just strange to me.

There also have been times when you’ve challenged your fan base from a musical perspective. For instance, some people tend to slag on the Burning Red era of the band, when you brought in some nu-metal influences. But for a lot of your longtime fans, that period was probably their introduction

Yeah. I would say the majority of fans that we still have with us are from the Burning Red era. And you know, in a lot of ways, to me, Catharsis could have been the record that came after The Burning Red. And night after night we play “From This Day” and “The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears,” and people lose their fucking minds. And The Burning Red was really when the more gothy influences came to the fore. Because we were always big Cure fans, and we were also adding in the almost poppy elements they had in songs like “Pictures of You.” And I think with Catharsis, more so than with any of our other records, there’s a lot of pop elements in there, too.

Does it feel like you really pushed the envelope as far as your sound on this one?

I think so. And that’s exciting to us. We’re nine albums deep, and I’m constantly asking myself, “How do we make people go, ‘Oh shit! That’s Machine Head?’ ” It’s hard. Especially as you get older. But you have to look at your legacy, you have to look at good decisions and bad decisions you’ve made, and you’ve gotta just throw all that away. You have to live in the moment and go, “This is what we’re doing now.” I mean, lots of people say, “We want you to do The Blackening again.” Or “We want you to do Burn My Eyes again.” And I’m like, “I’m 50 years old! I’m never gonna be that fucking insane, pissed-off 23-year-old kid running around the streets of Oakland like I was back then.”

With all due respect, you still sound pretty pissed off. The first words we hear on Catharsis are you screaming “Fuck the world!”

[laughs] Thank you. I appreciate that! But you know, Keith Richards once said, “We’re all just a vessel, and your job is to let the music go through you.” And I truly believe that. You’re just trying to channel whatever’s coming. I think that’s the way the best music is made. And I feel like we’ve got something really special with this record.

Last Friday, Machine Head premiered their new single, "Beyond the Pale," the first taste of their new album, Catharsis. That very afternoon, however, rock fans started pointing out that the song's main riff bears a resemblance to Devin Townsend's riff from "Love?," a popular 2005 tune by Strapping Young Lad.

Before we go any further (or is it farther?), let's check out both songs:

Thoughts? Opinions?

Anyway, from the looks of things, no one seems too upset about the supposed riff infraction.

Here's what Townsend said via Twitter: "People asking me about riff similarities: I don't have an opinion really. I've written riffs my whole career that sound like something else. ...I've used whole themes from other albums, movies or soundtracks. Art is a collage of your experiences, you taking clippings and reassemble.

"Heres the best part about comparison of MH new song to 'Love'—I basically ripped off the SYL chorus from this song ['City of Love' from Yes' hit 1983 album, 90125]."

Finally, here's Machine Head guitarist Robb Flynn's reaction to Townsend's reaction (also via Twitter):

"Shout out to Devin Townsend for being so cool. The Riff Police pulled me over, I got a $300 infraction for that one!! Like Dimebag always used to tell me, 'we're all just sharing riffs man.'

"Got a lot of respect for you Devin, super talented musician, amazing producer (As the Palaces Burn production crushes all!) And while I would proudly admit that I stole a riff from you...Was just a happy accident. Riff on brother!"

Metal masters Machine Head have released a new song—"Beyond the Pale"—and you can hear it below. The gritty track is from their new album, Catharsis, which'll be released January 26 via Nuclear Blast.

“I feel like metal could really infiltrate the mainstream with this album," guitarist Robb Flynn said in a statement released this morning. "And it needs to...now more than ever.

"A lot of consideration went into making these songs more identifiable to a wider audience. Simplifying ideas, simplifying hooks, really concentrating on story-telling as opposed to ‘brutal poetry’ or whatever. And while I’d love to say it was all some grand plan, there was no ‘plan.’ You never know where you’re going to end up whenever you start writing a record...you just write...but I tell ya what...we ended up with a landmark here.

"Whenever you finish an album, you always feel proud, but this time...we’ve got something really special. We can feel it. We know it. Catharsis could really elevate our genre."

The album was produced by Flynn and recorded, mixed and co-produced by Zack Ohren at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. Mastering was handled by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York.

For more about the new album (including pre-order info), head here. To enter Machine Head land, step right this way.

Catharsis Track List:
1. Volatile
2. Catharsis
3. Beyond the Pale
4. California Bleeding
5. Triple Beam
6. Kaleidoscope
7. Bastards
8. Hope Begets Hope
9. Screaming at the Sun
10. Behind a Mask
11. Heavy Lies the Crown
12. Psychotic
13. Grind You Down
14. Razorblade Smile
15. Eulogy

In 2010, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn's Bay Area home was robbed. Among the stolen property was a “Dimebolt” guitar that was given to him Dimebag Darrell.

After purchasing a storage unit for $10, Holly Cherry stumbled upon two guitars, including the “Dimebolt.” After investigating the gear, Cherry learned the guitars were stolen and heard about Flynn’s story.

“I’ve had so many false leads over the last six years I can’t even tell you, literally hundreds, and while I was grateful for everyone’s enthusiasm in helping find them, but I had kind of given up hope,” Flynn said.

Cherry got in contact with one of the band’s sponsors, Jim Dunlop. Eventually. the guitar made its way back to Flynn.

“You can imagine my shock when that email came through and it was really them!” Flynn said. “I was sitting in our son Wyatt’s gymnastics class waiting for it to start and I blurted out ‘HOLY S–T, they found my guitars!’ My kids laughed and said ‘What? what?’”

In the video below, Flynn is seen recovering the guitars from Cherry in a parking lot in Oakland, Calif. Check it out.

Jackson is pleased to announce the latest addition to its popular Pro Series, the Phil Demmel Demmelition Pro guitar.

Jackson’s Demmelition Pro model puts Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel’s devastating style and double-cut King V specs right in your hands.

Features include a three-piece through-body maple neck with graphite reinforcement, compound-radius (12”-16”) bound ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and pearloid piranha inlay at 12th fret, EMG 60 (neck) and 81 (bridge) humbucking pickups with three-way toggle switching, Floyd Rose locking nut and recessed double-locking tremolo, and black hardware.

Now available in Black Tide Fade and Red Tide Fade finishes.

For more information, visit jacksonguitars.com.

Machine Head have premiered their new music video for "Now We Die."

Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook.

The track is from the band's recently released album, Bloodstone & Diamonds.

Bay Area metal heavyweights Machine Head have released a new song, “Night of Long Knives,” and you can check it out below.

The track comes from their upcoming Nuclear Blast debut, Bloodstone & Diamonds, which is due out in North America November 10.

Right now, fans can get an instant download of “Night of Long Knives” when they preorder the album on iTunes; they'll also get the songs “Now We Die” and “Killers and Kings.”

Check out “Night of Long Knives” and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

Machine Head have premiered a new song, "Now We Die."

Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

The track is from Bloodstone & Diamonds, which will be released November 10 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

As part of last weekend's Record Store Day, Machine Head released a 10-inch single with the "demo" version of a new song, "Killers & Kings."

Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook.

P.S.: The B-side of the single is a cover of Ignite's "Our Darkest Days."

Machine Head are hard at work in the studio working on their eighth full-length album. Stay tuned for details!

Machine Head have parted ways with bassist Adam Duce (pictured at far left).

Duce has been a member of the band since its formation in 1991, along with vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn.

The band released a brief statement on its website, saying, "The split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors. The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece."

Machine Head have begun writing the follow-up to Unto The Locust, and the new album is expected to be released later this year.

Welcome to Guitar World's roundup of the top 25 live, reissued and archival albums of 2012.

The common theme of these 25 releases is easy to follow: They all feature classic or well-known songs that have been repackaged and presented anew, but with a twist, whether it be in the form of live versions, alternate versions, demos, simple remasters, etc.

At the risk of sounding like an actor who insists that the latest film he's worked on is his best yet, we have to admit that 2012 was a particularly strong year for live discs.

We got top-notch, exciting offerings from heavyweights like Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motörhead, Machine Head and Joe Satriani, not to mention archival live releases from The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the late Gary Moore, who covered 12 classic Hendrix tracks on Blues for Jimi: Live in London.

Music fans also were treated to several kick-ass reissues and remasters in 2012, including outstanding deluxe, 20th-anniversary editions of classic albums by Pantera and Rage Against the Machine, not to mention deluxe offerings from Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, David Bowie and others.

While you're in a "looking back" mood, be sure to check out two other lists, namely Guitar World's Top 50 Albums of 2012 and Guitar World's Top 15 Blues and Roots Rock Albums of 2012.

Looking ahead, Jimmy Page is hinting at a solo tour in 2013, so get ready for what could be a very interesting list of live albums this time next year!

In a news item posted on Machine Head's official website this morning, the band claim Walt Disney Properties is behind the cancellation of yet another Machine Head show.

The item also claims Machine Head are on Disney's "banned list."

Here's the complete post, which you also can view here.

"For the third time in a row, the corporate powers behind Walt Disney Properties have pressured promoter Live Nation into canceling Machine Head's performance at a House of Blues venue on Disney property, this time the December 4 show in Orlando, Florida.

"While no one is willing to provide evidence that would prove unfavorable to Disney, sources close to events have suggested Machine Head remains on a 'banned list,' and while Dethklok, All That Remains and Black Dahlia Murder will still be allowed to play, the corporate powers at Disney have refused to allow Machine Head to perform.

"In 2007, Walt Disney Properties banned Machine Head from the House Of Blues venues in Anaheim and Orlando, citing 'violent imagery,' 'inflammatory lyrics' and most appallingly 'undesirable fans' as the reason. The diversity-impaired corporation began pressuring the promoter with vague threats of liability and reduced job security before placing Machine Head under an internal 'review process.' Five days later, Walt Disney Properties would convey their alarming decision to the band, less than 48 hours before the first date of 2007's anti-war, anti-religion, anti-conservative-themed The Blackening album headline run at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California.

"Machine Head wish to once again extend their gratitude to Live Nation and the House Of Blues for their poise and tolerance throughout these ridiculous developments, unbelievably transpiring here in these United States Of America in this year 2012.

"As they are not on Disney property and therefore not subject to the corporation's alleged coercionary tactics, the current dates with Dethklok, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder at the Dallas and Houston House Of Blues will go on as scheduled. Unfortunately, Machine Head’s Florida performance will not be rescheduled in an effort to avoid creating any conflict with the existing dates on the tour. All refund requests will be honored."

Peavey is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its 6505 Series guitar amp line.

“The Peavey 6505 Series has earned its place in rock history as the guitar amplifiers of choice for a wide range of top rock and metal artists,” said Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics.

The Peavey 6505 has helped define the down-tuned sound of modern metal in the arsenals of artists like Machine Head and producers such as Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap and Jason Suecof, who have produced the most enduring metal and hard rock albums of the past two decades.

“The 6505 was the first amp you could plug into for that heavier, thrashier tone,” Sneap said.

One of the keys to bringing metal’s new lows to the masses was Peavey’s patented Resonance circuit, which keeps the extreme low-end tight where other amps cannot. Resonance causes dramatic changes to the low-end response and allows the speaker to recreate the extended low frequencies with clarity and punch. Resonance is still a key ingredient of the 6505 sound today.

Machine Head’s Robb Flynn has used the amp since the recording sessions for his band’s debut, Burn My Eyes, in the early ‘90s. “We were trying to get a modern, heavy tone,” he said. “And when we came across [the 6505], it was crushing. It’s got a really incredible midrange growl that works so well. That guitar tone has pretty much defined a generation of guitar tone.”

The 6505 legacy continues today with an artist roster that includes Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria, All That Remains, Black Veil Brides, The Devil Wears Prada, Bring Me The Horizon, August Burns Red and more.

The Peavey 6505 Series includes the original 6505 head; the 6505 Plus, which features two independent channels; the 6534 Plus, outfitted with EL34 tubes for a more British-sounding tone; and two combo versions of the 6505 Plus, a 1x12 and a 2x12.

Learn more about the Peavey 6505 and check out artist videos and sound clips at peavey.com/6505.

For more about Peavey, visit peavey.com.

The following content is related to the July 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

In the following video, Guitar World's Paul Riario check out the brand new Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V from Epiphone, which features a 27-inch scale giving it the low-end punch of a baritone with the classic feel of the Flying V.

The long-rumored cruise edition of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival has now officially been announced, adding another metal cruise to the itinerary for 2012 and making this quite possibly the loudest year the Carribean has seen since "pirate" was a real occupation.

The cruise will take place December 7 to 10 and will feature a stellar lineup headed up by Lamb of God, Anthrax and Machine Head.

Also playing the ship's main stage will be Kingdom of Sorrow, Hatebreed and Suicide Silence.

The second stage will feature Gojira, Born of Osiris, Periphery, Otherwise, Girl On Fire, Anti Mortem, Battlecross and Gypsyhawk.

For more info on the cruise, head to mayhemcruise.com.

The 2012 Revolver Golden Gods took place last night, putting together a night of epic performances like no other show can.

During Trivium's set, the band were joined by Slipknot/Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor and Machine Head's Robb Flynn for a rendition of the Metallica classic, "Creeping Death." You can watch video of the performance below.

If you didn't catch the action live last night, you can still replay the event today only right here.

Yes, we know this is GUITARworld.com, but we figured the Machine Head fans out there would still find this interesting.

Machine Head drummer Dave McClain has posted the drum parts, drum-set diagram and drum transcription for the Unto The Locust track "I Am Hell" at drummagazine.com.

McClain worked for a long time with the drumming magazine, and it's a detailed lesson with notes. It is available on the website's Lessons section.

If you're more interested in what Machine Head's guitarists are up to, check out our recent Dear Guitar Hero feature with Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel.

Here's a Dear Guitar Hero feature with guitarists Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel of Machine Head. All the questions were provided by Guitar World readers.

Q: Who is the weirdest musician you have ever met? -- Jenna Swift

ROBB FLYNN: Dimebag Darrell was a weirdo, in the best way possible! When you were around him, you'd get sucked up into this tornado of lunacy that would take you down these ridiculous paths where you would usually have the best night of your life. He would be like, "We're all gonna paint our beards pink!" And I'd be like, "What?" We toured with Pantera twice, and he was by far one of the greatest characters that I've ever met in my life.

Q: Your last record, The Blackening, was amazing. Did you feel any extra pressure to top it on your new album, Unto the Locust? -- Billy Frank

PHIL DEMMEL: We always want to make a better record than the previous one or do something different, and that was no different with this record. We really wanted to push ourselves, performance-wise, more than we had in the past and incorporate classical influences and a lot more singing. So there's always a little bit of pressure to do better.

Q: "Who We Are" [from Unto the Locust] has children singing on it. It's really creepy. What inspired that section, and where did you find the kids? -- Geoff Kritz

FLYNN: They're my two sons, Phil's son, and my engineer Juan [Urteaga]'s two girls. When I wrote that section, I was playing that intro part on an acoustic guitar and singing those lyrics. My kids were wrestling downstairs -- I have a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old -- and they started singing a song just out of nowhere. When I heard it, I thought, Wow, it would be so cool to have this song start off with kids singing.

Q: How did you get that super-high-gain guitar sound on Unto the Locust and keep the notes so clear? -- Kevin Williams

FLYNN: I have a [Peavey] 5150 amp that I've used forever. I've had him for 14 years and call him "Bubba." I literally have him in a high-security storage area. He comes out to record and then he goes right back in. He never goes on tour. Bubba hasn't been modified at all. It's just one of those magical heads that you come across in your life that stands head and shoulders above the rest. I use that and a Marshall. There is a lot less gain on it than you'd think, and that's part of how we get the clarity and picking definition. A lot of it has to do with my right hand and just being cognizant of my playing. I play all the rhythms, so that really makes it tighter overall. And Phil will come in and do overdubs and leads.

Q: You often use natural harmonics to accent riffs, like on "Davidian" from Burn My Eyes and "This Is the End" from Unto the Locust. How did that technique find its way into your style? -- Jon Richards

FLYNN: When I first started playing guitar, I was really influenced by bands like Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost and D.R.I. Those bands would sometimes do these stops in their songs, where they'd let their guitars feed back. At the time, I was learning how to play on a $45 guitar my dad had rented that came with a little 6-inch practice amp. I didn't even know what feedback was.

At some point, I stumbled on hitting the harmonic and I thought that was feedback. So when the feedback part came along on a song like Celtic Frost's "Morbid Tales," I would just hit the harmonic. Over time I realized I had learned it wrong. But as I became a songwriter, I still thought it sounded cool, so I started bringing that into my style. At this point it has become the trademark sound of Machine Head. It's just one of those magical accidents that happens as you're learning, and you just roll with it.

Q: Robb, what piece of gear is the most crucial to your sound and why? -- Carter Burke

FLYNN: The Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress [flanger], which is a big old hunking, 9-inch-wide pedal. It's one of the stomp boxes that I use religiously on every album. I use that thing so much, I can't even tell you. It's one of the best pedals ever invented. Listen to the opening riff of "Imperium" [from 2003's Through the Ashes of Empires]; that effect is on both the clean part and the heavy part.

You can basically hear it in any clean tone on any of our records, like at the beginning of "Aesthetics of Hate" [on 2007's The Blackening]. The way that it flanges is unlike any other flange I've found. It's got this watery, glassy tone to it that makes almost anything sound better. I've actually gotta be careful I don't overuse it, because I like it so much.

Q: In your opinion, what is the greatest thrash-metal record of all time? -- Johnny D

DEMMEL: Of course, there's Slayer’s Reign in Blood. I was brought up on Slayer; they’re the first thrash band I ever saw live. Metallica’s Ride the Lightning is a great thrash album too. It’s probably my favorite Metallica record. And Exodus’ Bonded by Blood is right up there. So I’m gonna do a three-way tie -- a three-headed crown of thrash! [laughs]

FLYNN: The greatest thrash-metal record to me would be Bonded by Blood. Growing up in the Bay Area, Exodus were the craziest of all the thrash bands, particularly on that album. Their singer, Paul Baloff, was fucking bat-shit crazy, like a fucking psychopath. When they played shows, he just had this incredible knack for winding up the crowd into a bloodthirsty frenzy. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. Exodus shows back then were the most crazy and violent shows that there were, period.

That record was the soundtrack to my life for years. The first solo that I ever learned how to play was Gary Holt’s lead on the song “Bonded by Blood.” That record just had such a huge impact on me. Everything about it impacted me: the riffs, the little bit of melody, the attitude. They should have been in the Big Four. They were there, for real, at the beginning.

Q: Phil, you’ve talked about how Dimebag Darrell inspired you. What is your favorite Dime story? -- Brandon Wagemann

DEMMEL: I met Dimebag once at the Download Festival in the U.K. Damageplan were supposed to play right before us. They rolled up, and they’d been on a two-day drinking binge. Dime opened the door to their van and just freaked when he saw us, because he hadn’t seen Machine Head since I joined the band. Through the Ashes of Empires had just come out, and Dime came up to me. He’s all, “You brought the shred into Machine Head. I love your work, brother.”

It was amazing hearing that from him. Then I watched him do four more shots before they played, warm up a little bit on Robb’s guitar, and go up there and just absolutely kill it live. It was just flawless. That was a couple of months before he passed away. I’m happy I got to share that moment with him and witness him, just to be able to testify that the man was exactly everything he was billed to be.

Q: Phil, why does one of your instruments have polka dots, like Randy Rhoads’ guitar? -- Marilyn McCracken

DEMMEL: I started playing maybe a year before [Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 solo debut] Blizzard of Ozz came out. My first concert was a festival called Day on the Green in 1981, which Ozzy, Loverboy, Pat Travers, Blue Öyster Cult and Heart headlined. Ozzy went on at 10 in the morning and we got there at, like, 6 to get up front. I remember watching Randy Rhoads play. I was so impressed by how he performed with such passion. He felt every note that he was playing. He believed in everything that he was doing.

His performance made me admire not only his playing but also the way that he was selling it and the way that he was feeling it. He was such an innovative metal guitar player. You really remember his leads; you can hum his solos. I wanted to incorporate that into my lead playing, especially on Unto the Locust. He is a legend, and he was taken too soon. So on my signature guitar, I use [Rhoads’ signature polka-dot] paint job to pay tribute. I have another one that pays tribute to [guitarist] Michael Schenker, ’cause they’re my top two dudes.

Photo: Travis Shinn

Continuing to be not only one of the better thrash bands around, but one of the coolest, Machine Head invited a 13-year-old fan on stage last night in Buffalo, New York, for a rendition of "Aesthetics of Hate" from their 2007 album, The Blackening.

Thirteen-year-old Anthony Potenza was holding up a sign that read "Let This 13-Year-Old Play 'Aesthetics Of Hate' With You" -- a move that worked for another fan back in 2010 -- and was ushered up on stage to join the band.

How did Anthony do? Check out the video below to see for yourself.

Machine Head are on tour with Suicide Silence in support of their latest album, Unto the Locust.

The February 2012 issue of Guitar World magazine is available now at the Guitar World Online Store.

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Nick Mason tell the story behind the making of Meddle and Wish You Were Here, the two prog-rock classics that book-ended their 1973 masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon.

The 1971 album Meddle set the group on the path to success, while 1975’s Wish You Were Here cemented the band’s reputation for creating groundbreaking multimedia arena shows.

The new issue also includes a free poster of previously unseen Pink Floyd artwork by Storm Thorgerson, who designed many of the group’s album covers.

Other features in this issue include:

• The Black Keys: Guitarist Dan Auerbach gets his motor running for an in-depth discussion about the group’s latest album, El Camino.

• Opeth: Mikael Akerfeldt and Fredrik Akesson tell how Opeth incurred the wrath of die-hard modern metal fans with their latest album, Heritage.

• Korn: On The Path of Totality, Korn merge heavy riffs with dubstep to take their innovative sound even further off the map.

• 50 Years of Ernie Ball: When it came to guitar strings, Ernie Ball was a game changer who revolutionized the industry. As his company turns 50, it looks back at his history and looks ahead to a yearlong celebration of innovative new products.

• Soundcheck: Yamaha A1M and A3R A Series acoustic-electric guitars, Boss BC-2 Combo Drive and FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster pedals, Peavey Devin Townsend Signature PXD Vicious seven-string baritone, EMG James Hetfield Signature pickups and much more!

For more information or to order, head to the Guitar World Online Store.

Oakland, California's Machine Head has released a new commercial for their upcoming North American tour with Suicide Silence and Darkest Hour.

You can check out the video below.

The tour kicks off January 15 in Denver, Colorado, and will wind through the U.S. for the rest of the month, coming to a close February 18 in San Francisco. See below for all current tour dates.

Machine Head w/Suicide Silence, Darkest Hour

• 1/15, Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
• 1/17, Sauget, IL @ Pop’s
• 1/19, St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
• 1/20, Milwaukee, WI @ Rave Ballroom
• 1/21, Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
• 1/22, Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
• 1/24, Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
• 1/26, Portland, ME @ State Theatre
• 1/27, Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
• 1/28, Toronto, ON @ The Sound Academy
• 1/29, Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
• 1/31, Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
• 2/1, Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live
• 2/2, Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
• 2/3, New York, NY @ Best Buy Theatre
• 2/4, Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
• 2/6, Norfolk, VA @ NorVA Theatre
• 2/7, Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
• 2/8, Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
• 2/10, New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• 2/11, Houston, TX @ House of Blues
• 2/12, San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live
• 2/13, Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
• 2/15, Farmington, NM @ Top Deck
• 2/16, Tuscon, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
• 2/17, Hollywood, CA @ Avalon
• 2/18, San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield

Machine Head are currently on the road in Europe touring behind their latest album, Unto the Locust. The band's label has just uploading a video of the band performing the track "Locust" at Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon, Portugal last month, and you can check it out below.

Unto the Locust marked the band's seventh full-length effort. The album sold around 17,000 copies in its first week on sale, enough to land it at No. 22 on the Billboard charts.

If you want to learn how to play the song and don't know where to start, check out this video with Machine Head's Robb Flynn giving you an exclusive lesson on how to play "Locust."

Machine Head have just debuted a brand new video for their song locust over on the German version of Metal Hammer's website. You can watch the video below.

"Locust" is off the band's latest album, Unto the Locust, which was released last month on Roadrunner Records.

In anticipation of their upcoming new album, Unto the Locust, Machine Head have sent us this exclusive teaser video from the album's bonus DVD. Scroll down, and whet your appetite!

Machine Head will release Unto the Locust, the long-awaited follow-up to 2007's The Blackening, on September 27 via Roadrunner Records. You can pre-order the album now at this location.

The album has so far received rave reviews from critics, with Metal Hammer giving the album a perfect 10/10 score. As one of the Guitar World staff members who has heard the album -- and who is a big fan of The Blackening -- I have to agree with Metal Hammer's bold claim that Unto the Locust tops their last album.

If you just can't wait any longer, the band will also be attending four special listening parties for the album, including this coming Saturday night at 9 p.m. in New York City. The event is open to the public, so fans are welcome to come out to the party -- which is happening at Paul Booth's new tattoo studio at 511 West 33rd St. in Manhattan -- to enjoy the new album and hang out with the band, and maybe even a member of the GW staff.

Machine Head have just posted a new lyric video for their song "Locust," which you can check out below.

"Locust" comes from the band's upcoming new album, Unto the Locust, which will be released on September 27 via Roadrunner Records.

In the online bonus content for the October issue of Guitar World, Machine Head's Robb Flynn stopped by to show you how to play "Locust." You can check out that series of videos here.

Full Metal Jackie, corresponding for Guitar World from the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, got the chance to catch up with Machine Head guitarists Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel. You can check out both interviews below!

Machine Head will release their new album, Unto The Locust, on September 27 via Roadrunner Records.

For more information on this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, including dates, tickets and exclusive media, click here.

Machine Head vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn recently dropped by Guitar World to film a video lesson on the track "The Locust," from the band's new album, Unto the Locust.

Click here to watch that lesson.

Flynn also took the time to give us the lowdown on his new signature Love/Death Baritone V.

Watch that video below:

More about the Epiphone Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone:

The Love/Death Baritone Story: Robb Flynn, founder, guitarist and vocalist of Machine Head, worked with Epiphone engineers to create the Epiphone Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying-V, the first of its kind not only for Epiphone but for the Gibson family of brands as well. Robb has won countless awards including the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award presented in 2007. And just like his music, Robb’s baritone design brings a totally original sound to metal and hard rock.

“The main reason for having the slightly shorter 27.0" baritone scale is when you tune down to B, it just makes the low definition really tight, especially for palm muting and chunking,” remarks Flynn. “It opens up the sound a lot.”

The guitar comes equipped with string gauges (low to high) .58, .42, .32, unwound .18, .13, and .10--the same that Robb uses on stage-- but can also accept heavier gauges.

The Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying-V features a Mahogany body with an EMG-HA neck pickup and an EMG-81 bridge pickup. The EMG-HA neck pickup is a uniquely designed single-coil pickup inside a humbucking housing which keeps the classic look of a Flying V guitar but with something special under the hood. The EMG-HA debuted in 1974 as the first noiseless single coil pickup and features Alnico magnets for warmth and the widest possible frequency response for great definition and harmonics.

It’s also a perfect choice for rhythm when matched with the low tuning of a baritone guitar, providing a solid “chunking” bedrock while still showing off all the complex overtones that are part of the baritone experience. The EMG-81 bridge pickup is one of EMG’s most requested pickups and utilizes powerful ceramic magnets and close aperture coils for incredible amounts of low end cut and fluid sustain. TheEMG-81, combined with the unique intervals of baritone tuning, will cut through dense mixes and make your baritone leads sound thunderous.

Other Features Include: The Mahogany SlimTaperTM "D"-profile neck features a 27” scale with a 1.68” graphite nut for precision tuning, an Ebony fingerboard with “Love/Death” inlays and 24 medium jumbo frets. Controls are straightforward with a master volume and a 3-way toggle switch, chrome knobs, a standard 1/4” metal jack plate and Epiphone strap locks. Grover™ locking tuners ensure on-stage precision and like most Epiphone guitars, the bridge is our industry standard LockTone™ Tune-o-matic/Stopbar.

The Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying-V includes a Custom Hard Case with original artwork by Robb Flynn and Strephon Taylor.

“This guitar isn’t for blues players or jazz players,” says Flynn, "it’s a metal guitar designed specifically for young or modern-metal players.”