Watch: MACHINE HEAD Performs Two New Songs Reside For First Time At 2025 North American Tour Kick-Off

MACHINE HEAD carried out two new songs — “These Scars Will not Outline Us” and “Unbound” — stay for the primary time in the course of the kick-off live performance of the band’s North American tour on Tuesday, April 1 at Revolution Live performance Home And Occasion Heart in Backyard Metropolis, Idaho. Fan-filmed video of the efficiency will be seen beneath.

MACHINE HEAD will play in Spokane, Washington on April 3 earlier than teaming up with IN FLAMES, LACUNA COIL and UNEARTH for an additional 25 dates throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“These Scars Will not Outline Us” and “Unbound” will each seem on MACHINE HEAD‘s eleventh studio album, “Unatoned”, which shall be launched on April 25 by way of Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings.

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn instructed “The Garza Podcast” about “Unatoned”: “My final album was like an enormous renaissance for the band. It simply was fucking loopy. We headlined Hellfest [in France]. It was our tenth document. It was an idea document. It was the primary time we ever did an idea document. Opening observe was a 10-minute-long tune. It is nuts.

“I am lucky sufficient to have been on this place a handful of occasions the place I now need to comply with up this document that’s so beloved by followers, by individuals,” he continued. “It is extremely profitable — elevates the band to a different stage. And everyone desires us to write down one other idea document. All people is simply, like, ‘It is best to simply make one other document like that one.’ And I am, like, ‘You possibly can’t, as a result of it is by no means gonna stay up.’ Nothing’s ever gonna stay up, ecause that second for therefore many individuals. Lars [Ulrich of METALLICA] all the time talked about this — the rationale so many individuals love [METALLICA‘s] Black Album, it is, like, they misplaced the virginity to the Black Album. Nothing is ever gonna prime that. Folks misplaced their virginity to [MACHINE HEAD‘s] ‘[Unto] The Locust’ or ‘The Blackening’ or no matter. Nothing’s ever gonna prime that. That is simply life and stuff.

“So with this document, I set some fairly strict parameters round what I might do,” Flynn defined. “And I am not a giant believer in speaking in regards to the path of a document. I all the time really feel like even when we have carried out it previously, it by no means panned out. ‘Oh, it is gonna be the heaviest or the beating’ or the no matter, and you’ve got simply gotta comply with it to wherever it goes… However I did wish to put some construction round it. The final document had a bunch of lengthy songs, so I used to be, like, ‘I do not need any tune longer than 4 minutes on this document.’ In order that was one construction. The opposite construction is — [I’m a] big SLAYER fan to the demise; [they’re] one among my favourite bands, life-changing bands of all occasions. And probably the most underrated issues about SLAYER is their genius use of chord adjustments — chord adjustments fucking galore throughout each tune. [They’d] have, like, three completely different chord adjustments within the lead part, and it the best way it units up the refrain or no matter. So I used to be, like, ‘Each tune has to have a chord change exterior of the everyday construction that you’d anticipate.’ … Sooner or later it is gotta go to a key change that completely would not go along with the place the remainder of the tune went. Final thing is that the music within the final refrain needed to be completely different from the music within the first refrain — perhaps the drums drop out, perhaps the guitars drop out, perhaps that is the place the important thing change occurs, however one thing needed to be [different]. The lyrics would all the time be the identical. And at first it type of took me a minute to type of get into that mindset, like, ‘Wow, this can be a actually difficult solution to write,’ but it surely all the time simply turned about trimming the fats, trimming the fats, trimming the fats. And ultimately what we got here up with was 10 songs plus two instrumentals. It is 41 minutes — the shortest album in MACHINE HEAD historical past. And I am actually pleased with this factor. I actually really feel like we have got a fucking monster on our palms. It is simply actually distinctive.”

Elaborating on the musical path of “Unatoned”, Robb mentioned: “It isn’t our heaviest document; I might by no means say that it is our heaviest document. It is bought lots of melody. The final tune on the document is a… I am a complete sucker for the Elton John piano ballad. I like Chris Stapleton… And that final tune ‘Scorn’ is… It is, like, I have been attempting to write down a piano ballad for 4 albums in a row now, and I failed 4 albums in a row. And I lastly nailed it with this album. I collaborated with this man Joel Wanasek. I collaborated with Jordan [Fish], ex-BRING ME THE HORIZON, on the entire album. He truly bought a bit on the document, which was actually cool — added a extremely superb factor. I’ve bought a couple of collaborators, like 4 guys that I work with, however me and this man, Joel Wanasek, lastly nailed down this piano factor… It was the final tune I wrote on the document. And I do know lots of people assume I am tremendous Mr. Libtard, social justice warrior man and that is simply not me, however that is type of simply what individuals assume and the haters assume. And I simply began writing about — not that — however I simply began writing about, I do not imagine in Trump, however I believe the fucking Democrats are a bunch of spineless fucking pussies. And I do not imagine in something anymore. I imagine in myself. And I simply wrote all of those lyrics type of in that mindset. And the final line is, ‘The wings of an angel, the guts of a king, the energy of a lion, the facility I deliver. I’ve misplaced religion in everybody, comply with no extra, my heroes have failed me, they give the impression of being down on me with their scorn.’ And so I took all of that. I used to be, like, ‘I haven’t got any music, however I actually like these lyrics.’ So I got here in with Zack [Ohren] — Zack‘s my engineer; he is my producer. He’s fucking superior; he is superb… And I simply picked up a guitar and I simply mentioned, ‘I am gonna play 4 chords right here and I am simply gonna make this up as I am going. I do not even know what I am doing. I simply wanna sing over this to one thing.’ And I did, and I sang it, and I sang it in two takes. I laid out all of the lyrics that I had written that morning. I pulled up some shit on my pc. I bought two binders of lyrics. I wrote three and a half binders of lyrics from this document alone — simply three and a half binders… And I actually sang the tune in two takes, and once I was carried out, I used to be, like, ‘That tune’s fucking carried out.’ And it is the final tune on the document. And I despatched the chords to Joel and I used to be, like, ‘Hey, like, are you able to make this into unhappy piano chords and put it collectively and type of reverse engineer the remainder of the tune?’ And I’ve gotta say, I am so pleased with this tune. It is positively type of the outlier of the document, however I actually simply really feel prefer it’s a particular tune. And it is type of one thing we have by no means carried out. And while you’ve been attempting to do one thing for a very long time — 15 years, I have been attempting to write down a fucking piano tune — and it all the time simply sounded too dorky… And it [finally] occurred [on this album].”

Flynn additionally talked about his basic strategy to creating artwork with MACHINE HEAD, saying: “I do not know what I am doing. I am simply attempting to write down music. Alls I ever wished to do was simply play guitar and write songs and sing and make motherfuckers circle pit and make motherfuckers soar and sing and fucking headbang and go loopy. That is all I’ve ever wished to do.

“I am not a businessman. I do not know what the fucking proper resolution is,” he continued. “I simply know the music that I do and the place it comes from, and I do know that I am actually, actually, actually good at that. I do know that. I am not one among these guys who’s good at one million fucking issues — I am not — however I do know that I am actually, actually good at that. And I simply try to concentrate on that. And I’ve bought a great workforce of folks that assist me make choices now and I really feel like we have all bought a great head on our shoulders and what MACHINE HEAD must be.

“We’re not the heaviest band on the planet,” he added. “We’re heavy, however we have been round for 32 years, and motherfuckers like [SUICIDE SILENCE] got here alongside and LORNA SHORE and SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, and [those bands are] fucking 10 occasions heavier than we are going to ever, ever, ever be. I can not sing like that. I do not even wanna attempt to; it would be fucking ridiculous to. It might sound silly for my fucking heavy metallic Gandalf ass to be fucking attempting to sing like that. We discovered our lane and we’re tremendous fortunate that we discovered our lane and we fucking made that lane somewhat bit wider and somewhat bit wider so we will type of go over right here and do that and go over right here and do that. However on the finish of the day, it is simply MACHINE HEAD music. That is what it’s to me. It is metallic, for positive — one hundred percent.”

“Unatoned” was recorded at Flynn‘s Jam Room, Sharkbite Studios and Drop Of Solar Recording between July 2023 and December 2024. The album was produced by Flynn, in addition to Zack Ohren, who was additionally liable for the engineering. The blending and mastering was dealt with by Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy at Audioworks UK, and the mastering of the document was dealt with by Ted Jensen and his assistant Justin Shturtz. The one exception was the observe “Panorama Of Thorns” which was produced by Flynn and Joel Wanasek who was additionally accountable for mixing the one alongside Zack Ohren. MACHINE HEAD as soon as once more tapped Seth Siro Anton to create the album art work.

Final November, MACHINE HEAD launched “These Scars Will not Outline Us” as the primary single from “Unatoned”.

MACHINE HEAD‘s present lineup contains former HAVOK guitarist Reece Alan Scruggs. Scruggs stepped in for MACHINE HEAD‘s earlier guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka, who had been unable to make a number of the group’s dates on account of his touring commitments along with his longtime band DECAPITATED.

Reece made his stay debut with MACHINE HEAD in November 2022 at Strummer’s in Fresno, California on the opening present of the “Electrical Comfortable Hour (Reside)” tour.

Vogg joined MACHINE HEAD‘s touring lineup previous to the launch of the band’s “Burn My Eyes” Twenty fifth-anniversary tour in late 2019.

The remainder of MACHINE HEAD‘s lineup consists of guitarist/vocalist Flynn, bassist Jared MacEachern and British drummer Matt Alston (DEVILMENT, EASTERN FRONT).

Earlier final 12 months, MACHINE HEAD accomplished the “Slaughter The Martour” North American tour with assist from L.A.’s FEAR FACTORY, Sweden’s ORBIT CULTURE and Louisville, Kentucky’s GATES TO HELL.