Rob Flynn
Logan Mader
Adam Duce
Dave McClain
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Vocals, guitar -- Robb Flynn
Guitar -- Logan Mader
Bass -- Adam Duce
Drums -- Dave McClain
For those of you who have not heard the newest Oakland, California sensation, I urge you to get a hold of Machine Head. This band, composed of vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn (formerly of Vio-lence), lead guitarist Logan Mader, bassist/backup vocalist Adam Duce, and drummer Dave McClain (the ex-Sacred Reich skinbeater who replaced former MH drummer Chris Kontos), have almost single-handedly revived the bay area thrash scene. This was a scene once dominated by thrash greats Testament, Metallica, Death Angel, Megadeth, and so on. Machine Head have a different sound than those, however. Their sound is based more around the the grooves of Sepultura and Pantera rather than the 80's style of thrash.
The band has modest beginnings. Robb Flynn was once guitarist in another Bay Area thrash band, Vio-lence. After that group's unfortunate demise (from what I hear they were quite original), Robb had some hard times. He claims to have been so poor that on one Christmas eve he (and soon-to-be-bassist Adam Duce) almost robbed a Domino's Pizza guy because they had nothing to eat. Eventually the band pulled themselves together and began doing shows around the Bay Area, where they became an underground sensation, creating as much commotion in the metal community as Pantera had just before it released its breakthrough, Cowboys From Hell. They played a few of their own compositions along with a few old Slayer tunes. Eventually, Monte Conner of Roadrunner Records (he has a nose for talent in the metal community) signed the fledgling band. The result was the band's first album, Burn My Eyes. Many instantly hailed it as the metal album of the 90's, a long-awaited answer to Metallica's Master of Puppets. The songwriting on this album is sharp, focused, and hits dead on target. The band's sense of music was already well-developed, as they had a keen understanding of what their songs really needed. They weren't afraid to add a few haunting acoustic parts, and they knew when to punch you as hard as they could.
Machine Head deduced that the best way to get attention was to tour like crazy, which is exactly what they did. The band toured with death metal gods Obituary and Napalm Death, but what really got them the attention of their peers was a head-slamming tour with Biohazard and Slayer. Europe went wild for the band--it was commonplace to find them on the inside of reputable British metal magazines and on Headbanger's Ball Europe. The United States was a little less sympathetic, but that did not stop the band from doing good (although far from sold-out) tours with lesser known groups like Skinlab and Stuck Mojo.
Three years passed and the time came to record a new album. After months of delays, The More Things Change... was released with great fanfare in 1997. The recording was patience-testing, for both the band and its fans. The band sustained a robbery of their practice area (a few guitars were stolen) and a car accident involving Dave McClain and Adam Duce. This time around the material was designed to be played live more. There are fewer guitar solos and acoustic parts than on Burn My Eyes, so it is probably easier to play on stage. They will be playing the Ozzfest and doing long months of
touring.
I nicked this bio from someones
page...can't remember whos. If it
is you, and you want me to remove it then just mail me ok?
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