Machine Head

Machine Head is a metal band from Oakland, United States, formed in 1991 by vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn and bassist Adam Duce. It is associated with groove metal, heavy metal, metal, nu metal and thrash metal, and is described as a US thrash metal band from Oakland, California. The group remains active.

Background

Machine Head is regarded as one of the bands in the new wave of American heavy metal and as part of the second wave of thrash metal that emerges in the 1990s. Its early line-up includes Flynn and Duce, with later members including guitarists Logan Mader, Ahrue Luster, Phil Demmel and Wacław Kiełtyka, drummers Tony Costanza, Chris Kontos and Dave McClain, and bassist Jared MacEachern. The current line-up includes Flynn and MacEachern.

Recording career

The band signs to Roadrunner Records and releases 11 studio albums, two live albums and one video album, along with 13 singles and 15 music videos. Its studio albums include Burn My Eyes, The More Things Change..., The Burning Red, Supercharger, Through the Ashes of Empires, The Blackening, Unto the Locust, Bloodstone & Diamonds, Catharsis, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, and UNATØNED.

Notable releases and recognition

Machine Head develops from groove metal and nu metal toward a more traditional thrash metal style and longer song structures on The Blackening in 2007. That album receives critical acclaim, is named Album of the Decade by Metal Hammer in 2010, and its single “Aesthetics of Hate” brings the band its first Grammy Award nomination. The following albums Unto the Locust and Bloodstone & Diamonds also receive similar success. The band’s fourth album, Supercharger, draws controversy after the September 11 attacks because its single “Crashing Around You” and its video are removed from media outlets. After that period, the band nearly disbands in 2002 and negotiates its release from Roadrunner Records before later re-signing.

Commercial performance

Machine Head builds a growing audience in Europe with its first four albums, while broader success in the United States comes later. Bloodstone & Diamonds reaches number 21 on the Billboard 200, four studio albums are certified silver in the United Kingdom, and the band sells more than three million records worldwide.