According to Nuclear Blast Records, Members of MACHINE HEAD, METALLICA, SLAYER, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, SUICIDE SILENCE, DEATH ANGEL, FORBIDDEN, SPIRALARMS and RUBBLE will perform classic songs by BLACK SABBATH as part of an all-star tribute band that will headline the “Robb Flynn & Friends” benefit concert on Friday, January 17 at the Oakland
Metro Operahouse in Oakland, California.
FORBIDDEN and SPIRALARMS guitarist Craig Locicero, who organized and will also take part in the event, had the following to say about how the idea for the benefit concert came about: “A good friend of ours and all around great person, Nikki Davis, was in a motorcycle accident with her husband Jeff. Sadly, Jeff died at the scene. Fortunately, Nikki survived but she was unconscious for a few days. She awoke to the daunting reality that her husband, soulmate and best friend had passed away. It was heartbreaking to all of us in the Bay Area scene.
“Robb Flynn and I have known Nikki for at least 25 years and she is a huge supporter of the Bay Area’s metal and punk scene.
“I wanted to help Nikki out a year ago, but most every band was busy on tour and unavailable. A few weeks ago, I had approached Robb about doing a benefit for Nikki and he thought it was a great idea.
“Robb has gone above and beyond to help bring together something very special and memorable to help Nikki on January 17th. He’s been the catalyst for getting this thing off the ground so quickly and Nikki is very thankful.
“We hope to raise enough money to help Nikki continue to get back on her feet because the healing is not finished. She still has medical bills to pay and we want to do anything we can to help our old friend.”
For those who can’t attend the concert, donations can be made to Nikki’s PayPal account at help_jeff_n_nikki_d@yahoo.com.
Roadrunner has released some pretty amazing live albums over the years, and Rush‘s Clockwork Angels Tour (out this week) is only the latest. So for this week’s Spotify playlist, we thought we’d glance backward over that history, and pull tracks from some of our favorite live releases over the years. Here are 30 tracks from Deicide, The Devil Wears Prada, DragonForce, Dream Theater, Machine Head, Opeth, Rush, Sepultura, Slipknot, and Type O Negative. (OK, the Type O tracks aren’t technically live, but what the hell.) Enjoy!
After over a year of dialogues with various record labels, MACHINE HEAD have decided on a new home with the newly launched arm of Nuclear Blast Records, Nuclear Blast Entertainment, headed by the band’s longtime friend and former Roadrunner A&R guru Monte Conner. Excitement runs high in both camps. Says Conner, “I feel incredibly fortunate to say I have signed MACHINE HEAD – for the third time! They wrote one of the greatest metal albums of all-time as their debut and then turned around and beat it 13 years later. MACHINE HEAD have produced some of the best material of their storied career over the course of their last three records, and like a fine wine, they just keep getting better with age. The songwriting in this band is beyond evolved compared to the majority of their peers, and as a lyricist, Robb Flynn is second to none. On the live front, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more commanding and dominating band.”
Continues Conner, “Ever since the launch of Nuclear Blast Entertainment, one of my main goals has been to reunite with MACHINE HEAD. I am grateful to MACHINE HEAD for continuing to put their trust in me as well as my new partners at Nuclear Blast, who share my passion for and commitment to the band.”
This pairing puts one of the top metal bands in the world with one of the top metal labels in the world and puts both on track for an epic, mutually beneficial and strong future together. Guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn adds: “Monte Conner has believed in MACHINE HEAD for 20 years, his belief has never wavered, and we are extremely proud to work alongside him once again. When I visited the Nuclear Blast compounds in both Germany and Los Angeles last year, the vibe and spirit that Markus Staiger, Gerardo Martinez and their respective teams created took me back to the spirit of the old Roadrunner Records days, back when bands like OBITUARY and SEPULTURA were changing the world with their music. Everyone believes, everyone wants it for the right reasons, it’s about creating and respecting a culture, about pioneering new ways for people to discover great music.”
Nuclear Blast founder/owner and long time MACHINE HEAD supporter Markus Staiger states: “There’s no doubt that MACHINE HEAD is one of the most influential modern day bands. Just listen to their debut album which still sounds like it’s been recorded just a few months ago – sound wise as well as in terms of songwriting! Or check out their recent metal masterpiece The Blackening which shows the band is still peaking and is more vital than ever. I’ve been a huge MACHINE HEAD fan from day one and I’ve always followed them through all the different stages of their career. So it is a real honor for me to finally be working with them, having them join the Nuclear family and kicking some major ass worldwide for and with MACHINE HEAD! Let freedom ring with a Nuclear Blast!”
MACHINE HEAD will enter the studio in late October to begin recording its eighth album for an early 2014 release, followed by a massive worldwide tour cycle.
MACHINE HEAD’s most recent studio release, 2011’s Unto The Locust, entered The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 22 – putting them in the Top 25 for the first time in the band’s history. The album was the follow-up to the 2007 Grammy nominated metal milestone The Blackening, widely hailed as one of the finest metal albums of the last decade, which led the band to an extensive three-year tour, sharing the stage with such heavy hitters as SLIPKNOT and METALLICA.
Congratulations are in order for MACHINE HEAD drummer Dave McClain, who just married his Australian girlfriend Belle. The couple live in Alameda, California.
This is the second marriage for McClain, a former member of Arizona thrashers SACRED REICH who joined MACHINE HEAD in 1995 following the departure of Chris Kontos.
In a January 2012 interview with Examiner.com, McClain stated about the touring life: “Personally, I love it. It’s been part of my life for 21 years now, so I love pretty much everything about being out [on the road]. Doing shows, hanging out and doing our thing and doing what we love, it’s a good life.”
He continued: “When I’m stuck at home for some time, that’s when I start feeling a little caged up or something, but not really being in the studio. As long as we’re doing something band-related… I used to kind of just learn to like everything about it. It’s cool if you’re recording, just soak everything in and get back on the road. And that’s when the fun begins.”
MACHINE HEAD will enter the studio later this year to begin recording the follow-up to 2011’s “Unto The Locust” for an early 2014 release.
MACHINE HEAD guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn has commented on RADIOHEAD frontman Thom Yorke‘s much-publicized decision to pull songs from music streaming service Spotify.
Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich took to Twitter to express their frustration at the Spotify business model for new artists, complaining that up-and-coming musicians “get paid fuck all.” “Make no mistake, new artist[s] you discover on Spotify will no[t] get paid,” Yorke declared. Godrich added: “Streaming suits [back] catalogue. But [it] cannot work as a way of supporting new artists’ work. Spotify and the like either have to address that fact and change the model for new releases or else all new music producers should be bold and vote with their feet. [Streaming services] have no power without new music.”
In the latest installment of his online blog, “The General Journals: Diary Of A Frontman… And Other Ramblings – Life Affirming”, Flynn wrote: “Thom Yorke from RADIOHEAD went on a big rant about the evils of Spotify the other day. It was so random and out of the blue it was a total WTF? It’s funny how Spotify has come to represent the bad thing for (it seems) older people… er uh, people my age *ahem*.
“In fact, I was talking to a buddy out here on [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] the other day, and he was telling me about a band’s new record I should check out, and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, thanks for the reminder. I’ll have to Spotify that,’ and he gave me a little shit, like, ‘Oh, man, you gotta go and ‘buy’ that shit,’ and I was, like, ‘I AM buying it, I got Spotify Premium, they’re getting money off my stream and if I love it, I’ll most likely buy it on iTunes, but dude, I’m on tour, at an amphitheater in the middle of nowhere, when am I going to buy that shit at a store? That most likely doesn’t even carry said record?’
“That’s the beauty of Spotify. I can get music in an instant, no waiting, no trips to the store, literally within 30 seconds! For 10 bucks a month!! Shit, I spend 5 times that on fucking coffee which doesn’t do jack shit for me!!
“See what getting old does?
“It makes you scared of the future. It makes you scared of what other people may think of you, it makes you scared to adapt, when really, the only thing that will allow us to survive is adapting. When you’re young, you just don’t care, you’re gonna rebel, you’re gonna do your own thing, you want to find about the ‘newest thing,’ you’re willing to give things a shot, and if it sucks, you’re quick to ditch it, but if it’s great, you tell everyone you know.
“Do I ever miss being 22? Hell no! I was a cranked-out, tweaked-out, heavy drinking, gun-toting idiot without a car! I don’t need to be young again! I’m better now than I’ve ever been but most importantly I don’t ‘feel’ old. I don’t want to be like Thom Yorke, thinking Spotify is a scary thing. The world changed, and that’s a good thing.”
Bassist Jared MacEachern (pictured below) made his live debut with San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD last night (Monday, June 24) in Spokane, Washington. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.
Some fans might remember MacEachern from MACHINE HEAD‘s 2007 “The Black Tyranny” tour, on which he performed with his previous band, SANCTITY. MACHINE HEAD, challenged to find a fill-in bass player for the North American tour after an injury sidelined their then-four-stringer Adam Duce, also found themselves in need of someone to sing harmony with singer/guitarist Robb Flynn. Flynn remembers: “We had locked in Brandon Sigmund of local boys HOSTILITY to play bass on that tour, but we soon realized we’d need someone to hit the high harmonies. Our A&R guy [at Roadrunner Records], Monte Conner, recommended Jared since he was already on the tour, and that ended up being a great call. Jared flew out a few days before the tour and rehearsed with us and did great. What was most impressive about the whole thing was that he was doing double duty — opening for MACHINE HEAD with his band at the time, SANCTITY, and then later singing with us. He would stay sober until after our set, and often get in the van and drive all night. His seriousness and dedication was awesome to see and it stuck with us.”
Earlier this year, MACHINE HEAD conducted an extensive search for candidates through various channels, the most fruitful of which proved to be video submissions. Sifting through more than 400 videos, the band personally reviewed and evaluated everyone’s performances, including MacEachern, who made the short list without a second thought. Lead guitarist Phil Demmel recalls: “There were dozens of amazing players, and it was interesting to watch each one take on our tunes. One of our biggest criteria for this gig was to be able to sing the high harmonies. That was our litmus test. And Jared passed with flying colors.”
After reviewing all of the submissions, the band narrowed down the 400-plus candidates to a short list of seven, each of whom took a trip to Oakland to perform a handful of songs in person and spend the day hanging with the band. Drummer Dave McClain remembers: “Jared came in to the audition and just killed it! Besides being able to nail the bass and vocal harmonies, he also had the vibe and personality to make it feel like we were a BAND again. It was a great feeling and we all knew he was the guy.”
MacEachern first picked up concert bass at 12, and around the same time discovered metal. Jared recalls: “I heard the [METALLICA] song ‘Unforgiven’ and really liked it. The next day my friend gave me [METALLICA‘s first album] ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and it was over. I became completely enamored with all the metal bands of that time; METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and PANTERA, but when it came to bass, it was all about Cliff Burton, he was, and is my dude.” With a brief stint at the Brevard School for Music Performance, Jared has consistently played bass for the past 22 years, most notably in SANCTITY, where oddly enough, the band needed a guitar player. “That was purely out of necessity,” he explains, “I’d been a bass player, but that gig opened up and I gave it a shot on the six-stringer.”
After extensive global touring with SANCTITY and the birth of Jared‘s daughter in 2007, the band’s release from their label ignited Jared’s sense of responsibility and he quit the group to focus on her. But music stayed a part of his life and he continued to jam locally throughout the south with death metal bands FROM A DIG and TELIC, until he saw MACHINE HEAD were in need and thought he’d try out.
Frontman Robb Flynn reflects: “We really wanted a guy that was hungry for this, someone who could live and breathe this with us. Dave would joke around that we didn’t want to get someone too green that’d be, like, ‘Oh my god, is this a dressing room?!’, but we also didn’t want someone who was too jaded by the whole thing and ‘been there done that.’ We thought the perfect guy would be someone who’d paid some dues, who had done nine or ten crummy van tours, and wasn’t broken by that, but inspired to keep going and play music, and in many ways that was Jared. I mean, hell, the guy’s only rode in a bus for two nights, one of which was with us! It brings a really cool level of appreciation to the table, and it shows where his heart’s at.”
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Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
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