While Machine Head fans were no doubt stoked to learn that the Oakland metal crew are heading out on tour with Children of Bodom, their excitement levels should now be soaring over news that the outfit will also be pumping out their first album in three years in the fall.
Though an exact release date has yet to be delivered, the group's Bloodstone & Diamonds is due to arrive this November via Nuclear Blast. The full-length is their first since 2011's Unto the Locust and was recorded in part at Bay Area studio JingleTown Recording. Guitarist Rob Flynn co-produced the set with Juan Urteaga, with mixing done by Colin Richardson.
Flynn described the upcoming set in a statement as a heavy record with "a dark and evil vibe," and added that its simpler arrangements are comparable to those on Machine Head's Through the Ashes of Empires. Flynn helped compose string arrangements with the likes of Rhys Fulber and Bring Me the Horizon's Jordan Fish, while they're performed on the LP by previous collaborators Quartet Rouge and an unnamed "all-male quartet."
Flynn also hinted that the band were unsure if they'd make another LP ("it looked like it might not ever happen again") but has now called the record a "milestone" release. As for the album title, Flynn explained that it comes from a lyric on opener "Now We Die," which represents "two of the hardest materials on earth" and also highlights the Machine Head's decades-old logo.
"In many cultures, the bloodstone has been used as an amulet to protect against evil, and is the symbol of justice," he explained. "Diamonds are the hardest natural material on earth (which is how we feel about our music), and it also represents the diamond logo I drew 22 years ago (in my wife's apartment on Dover St. in Oakland) that has become the symbol for the band."
The album will be available in a standard edition that includes a 28-page booklet, while a leather-bound, 48-page special edition will also be released.
Though music from Bloodstone & Diamonds has yet to be revealed, you'll find the record's full tracklisting down below, as well as a demo version of "Killers & Kings." Machine Head's tour, meanwhile, kicks off in October and will have them hitting Canadian clubs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Saskatoon. You'll find the trip details in full over here.
Bloodstone & Diamonds:
1. Now We Die
2. Killers & Kings
3. Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones
4. Night Of Long Knives
5. Sail Into The Black
6. Eyes Of The Dead
7. Beneath The Silt
8. In Comes The Flood
9. Damage Inside
10. Game Over
11. Imaginal Cells
12. Take Me Through The Fire
Though an exact release date has yet to be delivered, the group's Bloodstone & Diamonds is due to arrive this November via Nuclear Blast. The full-length is their first since 2011's Unto the Locust and was recorded in part at Bay Area studio JingleTown Recording. Guitarist Rob Flynn co-produced the set with Juan Urteaga, with mixing done by Colin Richardson.
Flynn described the upcoming set in a statement as a heavy record with "a dark and evil vibe," and added that its simpler arrangements are comparable to those on Machine Head's Through the Ashes of Empires. Flynn helped compose string arrangements with the likes of Rhys Fulber and Bring Me the Horizon's Jordan Fish, while they're performed on the LP by previous collaborators Quartet Rouge and an unnamed "all-male quartet."
Flynn also hinted that the band were unsure if they'd make another LP ("it looked like it might not ever happen again") but has now called the record a "milestone" release. As for the album title, Flynn explained that it comes from a lyric on opener "Now We Die," which represents "two of the hardest materials on earth" and also highlights the Machine Head's decades-old logo.
"In many cultures, the bloodstone has been used as an amulet to protect against evil, and is the symbol of justice," he explained. "Diamonds are the hardest natural material on earth (which is how we feel about our music), and it also represents the diamond logo I drew 22 years ago (in my wife's apartment on Dover St. in Oakland) that has become the symbol for the band."
The album will be available in a standard edition that includes a 28-page booklet, while a leather-bound, 48-page special edition will also be released.
Though music from Bloodstone & Diamonds has yet to be revealed, you'll find the record's full tracklisting down below, as well as a demo version of "Killers & Kings." Machine Head's tour, meanwhile, kicks off in October and will have them hitting Canadian clubs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Saskatoon. You'll find the trip details in full over here.
Bloodstone & Diamonds:
1. Now We Die
2. Killers & Kings
3. Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones
4. Night Of Long Knives
5. Sail Into The Black
6. Eyes Of The Dead
7. Beneath The Silt
8. In Comes The Flood
9. Damage Inside
10. Game Over
11. Imaginal Cells
12. Take Me Through The Fire