In the wake of the release of Machine Head’s new album ‘Unto the Locust,’ frontman Robb Flynn has said that both, he and his fellow bandmates are proud of the finished product. “We really set out to challenge ourselves, both musically, lyrically, with storytelling, with arrangements, and try some stuff other bands aren’t doing. Really be daring. Dare to fail. And we’re stoked on the results.”
Speaking with exclaim.ca Flynn says that while the band didn’t set out to release part 2 of the hugely popular, ‘The Blackening,’ which saw the band rise to become one of the biggest names in metal, they did set out to make a statement. “For the whole last six months of The Blackening tour cycle, all that we heard, every day, every interview, first question: how are you going to top The Blackening? At first we didn’t really know because we hadn’t started writing yet. After a while it just got so fucking irritating hearing that. In some ways it lit a fire under our ass, like, alright, we’re going to show you. It wasn’t about bettering The Blackening. We’re not trying to beat The Blackening. For us, it’s not about comparing the two. We just wanted to make a record that will allow The Blackening to stand on its own legs, and make another record that could be different and stand on its own legs And that’s what we shot for. Whether we achieved it or not, that’s for the world to decide. But we feel that we challenged ourselves. Especially with The Blackening, the accolades, it’s amazing, it’s humbling, but we still have this challenge, this desire, we want to go out there and change things and shake things up and, like you said, make a statement.”
Despite only being out for a few days, ‘Unto the Locust’ is already shaping to be just as big as its predecessor, with songs like ‘Locust,’ the albums first single, leading the charge. Fans have had a chance to Machine Head perform ‘Locust,’ at several of their past shows, and Flynn says that so far, it is has gone down well. “We played that [Locust] in Toronto, and it went down amazing.”
You can read the full interview here.
Do you think ‘Unto the Locust’ compares to ‘The Blackening?’