As it turns out, Machine Head‘s tenth studio album could have been a much different affair. According to vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn, there was an attempt made to write an album with a pair of familiar veterans from the band .
The sessions for what would eventually become this past August’s “ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN” were preceded by a run of 25th anniversary touring on the band’s 1994 album “Burn My Eyes“. Those runs found Flynn and current Machine Head bassist/vocalist Jared MacEachern joined by returning drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader.
Speaking recently with Rock Hard Greece, Flynn was asked if he thought about trying to make a new album with that particular lineup at the time. He responded:
“I did. And we tried to do that. Logan actually has a co-write on [the song] ‘My Hands Are Empty‘. And we tried. I sent everybody the demos [for the new album]. The stuff that I had till that point, I said, ‘Hey, add some riffs to this’ or ‘Add some drum ideas.’ I think the timing of it was just crazy.
Once the pandemic hit, everybody was just trying to hustle and make money and live and stay afloat. Even Logan and I had a conversation at one point. He was, like, ‘Dude, I’d love to do this, but I need to fucking find a way to pay my rent. I’ve gotta figure out some other shit to make money here.
‘Cause he lost a lot of… When the pandemic hit, many people lost their jobs. So it just, unfortunately, didn’t pan out. Not to say that it won’t in the future, but for this time it didn’t. And so Jared and I just kept on plugging along.”
Ultimately “ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN” was recorded by Flynn, MacEachern and current Machine Head guitarist Waclaw Kieltyka (also of Decapitated). Entheos‘ Navene Koperweis was brought in to hand the studio drumming on the effort.
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