Sometimes with certain bands bits of news are like London Buses. Nothing for ages then two come along at once and that’s exactly what Oakland’s favourite metal residents Machine Head have done with two huge announcements.
First of all, the band have confirmed one of their biggest UK tours ever with an eleven date trek across the British Isles in December, including two nights at London’s famous Camden Town Roundhouse. Full confirmation of the tour, which goes on sale tomorrow morning (15th of August 2014) can be found below:
Machine Head December 2014 UK Tour Dates
Sat 6th – LONDON – Roundhouse
Sun 7th – LONDON – Roundhouse
Tue 9th – PORTSMOUTH – Guildhall
Wed 10th – BRISTOL – O2 Academy
Thu 11th – PLYMOUTH – Pavilions
Sat 13th – GLASGOW – O2 Academy
Sun 14th – LEEDS – O2 Academy
Tue 16th – MANCHESTER – Apollo
Wed 17th – NOTTINGHAM – Rock City
Thu 18th – BIRMINGHAM – O2 Academy
Fri 19th – DUBLIN – Academy
Tickets for some shows are available via www.livenation.co.uk‘s pre-sale RIGHT NOW. Prices for the shows are around £25-27 plus booking fees and postage.
Secondly, the band have named their highly anticipated forthcoming new album as “Bloodstone & Diamonds”. The album is due for release before the end of 2014 on their new home of Nuclear Blast Entertainment, a branch of the legendary metal record label Nuclear Blast Records. A number of notable metal studio maestros have worked with Machine Head on the album, most notably their longtime mixer Colin Richardson as well as famed producer Andy Sneap, but the production was actually done by Machine Head’s very own Robb Flynn alongside Juan Urteaga.
Full track listing and artwork for Bloodstone & Diamonds can be found below:
Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds Track Listing
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 (instrumental)
12. Take Me Through The Fire
Standard edition artwork:
Mediabook edition artwork:
Bloodstone and Diamonds is described by Robb Flynn from a literal perspective as:
“10 songs, an interlude, and an instrumental with an audio collage of spoken word snippets (think ‘Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies’) by Dr. Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman, taken from their (incredibly inspiring) audiobook, Spontaneous Evolution.”
In terms of his actual opinions on the album, Mr Flynn gets rather more excitable in his traditional fashion. He also covers some substantial levels of detail on different aspects of Bloodstone & Diamonds, as you can read below:
“I cannot even begin to tell you how proud we are of this album, It’s been a heck of a ride. It looked like it might not ever happen again at one point, but man, this album is a milestone for us. You’re going to love it HeadCases!
“Without getting too philosophical on ya, bloodstone and diamonds represent two of the hardest materials on earth, it is also a lyric from the opening track of the album ‘Now We Die’. In many cultures the bloodstone has been used as an amulet to protect against evil, and is the symbol of justice. Diamonds and are 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.”
“Guest musicians include two different string quartets featuring the original Quartet Rouge that appeared on our last album, ‘Unto The Locust’, and a new all-male quartet which we featured on the song ‘In Comes The Flood’. String arrangements for two of the songs ‘Now We Die’ and ‘Sail Into The Black’ came courtesy of myself and Rhys Fulber who has worked with everyone from Sarah McLachlan, to FEAR FACTORY, and the string arrangement for ‘In Comes The Flood’ came courtesy of myself and ex-WORSHIP and current-BRING ME THE HORIZON keyboardist Jordan Fish, who is a producer in his own right.”
“We worked with several artists to complete the 28 page (!) ‘standard’ CD booklet, as well as the 48 page (!) hardcover leather-bound media-book that will serve as the special edition, including Rafal Wechterowicz, Marcelo Vasco, and long-time MACHINE HEAD art-collaborator Strephon Taylor. The theme was to have both CD and hardcover mediabook look like an old Alchemy book from the 1800’s, with weathered edges, sepia toned pages, and magic / masonic / alchemy themed woodcarvings throughout.”
Further news about Bloodstone and Diamonds (including, at some point, the release of more teaser music to go along with the demo of Killers and Kings from several months ago) will no doubt be released in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to Rock Sins for further updates!
