Machine Head are back and they sound heavy as fuck. The Oakland groove-metal stalwarts have offered up a new EP titled Arrows In Words From The Sky that contains three absolute bangers that feature Robb Flynn and Co. sounding as ferocious and musically adept as ever.
For their first non-single release since 2018's Catharsis LP, vocalist-guitarist Flynn and bassist Jared MacEachern enlisted drummer Navene Koperweiss to bang on the kit. Known for his work in prog and deathcore bands like Animals As Leaders, Entheos, Whitechapel and The Faceless, Koperweiss is a serious force who brought a tremendous amount of power to these three tunes, which are each, in their own ways, quite dark as far as Machine Head songs go.
The stomping opener "Become the Firestorm," the brutally fed-up "Rotten" and the emotionally pained title-track are each fantastic cuts with punchy production, air-tight musicianship and rejuvenating energy from the veteran act. Listen to the whole thing above via YouTube.
"The lyrics to these songs took to me places inside I didn't want to go," frontman Robb Flynn said in a statement. "From the bile and negativity on 'Rotten' to nothing-will-beat-me-down fury of 'Become The Firestorm', to the title track 'Arrows...' being one of the saddest songs I've ever written, yet somehow has the power to lift me up out of what was a very dark time in my life. My hope is that by sharing these dark experiences with the Head Cases of the world, it can save someone else out of that same dark place."
"These three songs represent Machine Head better than anything I could ever try to explain," he continued. "The way these songs grew and took shape over time tells us our future is more exciting than even we would like to admit. Being able to corral all the chaos, pain, confusion, and, yes, hope into music has never made me feel more alive. These songs will hopefully do the same for you. After all, that's who they were written for."
