Machine Head: Imperium – new video & Machine Fucking Head Live – new live album

Metal establishment known as MACHINE HEAD will be releasing their second live effort, ‘Machine Fucking Head Live’, on November 13th, 2012 via Roadrunner Records. But before you rush to pre-order the two-CD set here and the deluxe digital edition with four bonus tracks here (Roadrunner Records store), make use of a preview available to you above in form of ‘Imperium’ video. ‘Machine Fucking Head Live’ was recorded at various tour stops across the globe last year. It includes songs from throughout the band's expansive catalog, including crowd favorites like ‘Imperium’, ‘Aesthetics Of Hate’, ‘Locust’, ‘Ten Ton Hammer’, ‘This Is the End’ and ‘Halo’. It was mixed and mastered at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California by Juan Urteaga and the group's co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Robb Flynn:

“MACHINE HEAD's studio albums rule,” [expressed an opinion Phil Freeman who rules the Roadrunner Records site:] We all know this. But honestly, you’ve got to experience this band's music in the live setting. MACHINE HEAD has spent nearly two full decades establishing itself as one of the best live acts in the hard rock and metal world, bringing venues and crowds to their knees night after night, for years at a stretch. Few, if any, of their peers can deliver the type of sweat-soaked, deafening and totally punishing live sets that the band delivers with near-religious fervor, in their native U.S. and across the globe.”

But, before ‘Machine Fucking Head Live’ there was ‘Unto The Locust’; MACHINE HEAD's highly anticipated seventh LP was released in September 2011 on Roadrunner Records. The album, produced by MACHINE HEAD's vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn at Jingletown Studios, had charted outstandingly upon its release, debuting at position number 5 on the German Albums Chart and climbing up to position number 22 on the Billboard Top 200. The group has released a video for ‘Locust’, directed by Mike Sloat and worked on by a team of veteran Hollywood CGI artists and monster makers, including album art designer Paul Gerrard, available below:

“The first thing you’ll discover about the group's seventh full-length studio effort overall is that it is comprised of only seven tracks. However, time-wise, it all adds up, as the majority of the tunes stretch past either the six-minute or seven-minute mark. And something else the listener will discover quickly after sampling a few tunes on ‘Unto The Locust’ is that Robb Flynn and company have hit upon a formula that they follow throughout, save for one song (‘Pearls Before The Swine’) - start off mellow, then bludgeon the listener with full-on metal fury. … Still, it can’t be overlooked that 17 years after the release of their debut album (1994's ‘Burn My Eyes’), MACHINE HEAD is still a force in modern heavy metal, as exemplified by ‘Unto The Locust’,” [wrote Greg Prato, AllMusic – more here]

MACHINE HEAD was formed in 1992 in Oakland, California by Robb Flynn, Adam Duce, Logan Mader and Chris Kontos. The band's debut album and their Roadrunner debut, 1994's ‘Burn My Eyes’ (released to a massive European acclaim), was said to “successfully bridge the gap between second-generation Bay Area thrash (represented by TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, etc.) and the modern-day PANTERA school of hard knocks”. The record sold over 500,000 copies and took the band on a massive international tour that lasted almost two years.Drummer Kontos, who left to join TESTAMENT, was replaced by Dave McClain on 1997's ‘The More Things Change’. The album debuted at number 138 on American albums chart Billboard 200. MACHINE HEAD's next effort was Ross Robinson-produced 1999's ‘The Burning Red’, featuring lead guitarist Ahrue Luster; the album charted even higher than its predecessor, reaching position number 12 on the Finnish Albums Charts, position number 13 on UK Album Chart and debuting at number 88 on the Billboard Top 200. Next came ‘Supercharger’ in 2001; deemed a disappointment by some critics, the album would go on to sell an impressive 250,000 copies worldwide. In 2002, Ahrue Luster left the band and was replaced by Phil Demmel. ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’ came out in 2003 in Europe and Australia, and only a year latter in the USA, again debuting at number 88 on the Billboard 200. MACHINE HEAD's sixth album, ‘The Blackening’, was released in 2007 and had quickly became the group's highest charting release at number 54 (Billboard Top 200), selling 16,000 units in its first week. The album's first single, ‘Aesthetics Of Hate’, received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Metal Performance”:

“[‘The Blackening’] is an over-the-top rage and pummelfest with all the qualities that earned the group its enormous fan base by touring and recording. The record starts out unlikely enough, and gladly enough, with a left-of-center call to arms to the youth of this nation to not accept blindly the words (and threats) of “patriotic brutes”. It calls for rage with triple-timed slamming beats and blistering lead guitar breaks, as the piece alternates between death metal, industrial metal, thrash and prog. It blends seamlessly. At ten-and-half minutes for an opening cut, one can tell this is no original heavy metal record,” [recommended Thom Jurek, AllMusic – more here]

MACHINE HEAD features: Robb Flynn - lead vocals and guitar, Adam Duce – bass and vocals, Dave McClain – drums and Phil Demmel - lead guitar