MACHINE HEAD Frontman: Why We Chose 'Now I Lay Thee Down' As New Video Track

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robert Flynn has commented on the band's decision to release "Now I Lay Thee Down" as the first video/single from the group's new album, "The Blackening".

Said Flynn: "It's a tough choice. The problem is that, most video stations in the U.S. will absolutely not play anything past 5 1/2 minutes (unless you're double platinum... which we ain't). Some stations in the U.K. won't play anything past four minutes (?!),and they wil do their own video edits without the bands' consent (which is fuckin lame). And in Germany there are almost no major video stations for metal at all.

"We tried editing 'Clenching the Fists of Dissent' and 'Halo', both 10 minutes, and it was just WACK. I mean where do you start? You literally have to cut out half the song. It just didn't make sense as a song anymore... So then we looked at how much play 'Imperium' and 'Days Turn Blue To Gray' got in the U.S., five spins each... on MTV2... that's it!! Not main MTV like the 'Davidian' video did all over Europe (when 'Headbanger's Ball' was still on MTV) ... MTV2. And the 'Days' vid got those five spins over the course of six months, which is just crazy, considering what it cost to make a video. We have to give them something they want play more than that, or financially, we might as well just not make one.

"So we kinda look at it like this, MH 2007, hardcore fans wil have heard the album, most likely from more web-savvy sources / street sources, the tour will spread the news in another way — as that is always how we've made fans, the album will speak for itself, and if someone is just seeing our MTV2 video as the first taste of the new album they are obviously out of the main loop of our fanbase, because let's face it, were not a new band, so hopefully, we trick them into thinking we are a new band and get some new fans, and turn some of the MTV2 generation into metalheads instead of fucking emo kids!!"

Flynn was scheduled to complete his vocals for an as-yet-untitled new song at Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, Texas last week, to be used as a bonus track/b-side in connection with the group's much-anticipated sixth studio album. The music and most of the vocals for the song were recorded in San Francisco prior to the band leaving home to hit the road with LAMB OF GOD and TRIVIUM. More information will be made available soon.

A crushingly heavy new MACHINE HEAD song, entitled "Aesthetics of Hate", is available for download at this location (free registration required). The track, which comes off "The Blackening", was inspired by an article called "Aesthetics of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Abbott, & Good Riddance". The article, written by William Grim for the conservative web site the Iconoclast, basically kicked fans of the slain PANTERA guitarist while they were down, just days after he was killed onstage. The song is a "fuck you" to Grim, from MACHINE HEAD mainman Robert Flynn.

Due on March 27 via Roadrunner Records (one day earlier internationally),"The Blackening" was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA, with MACHINE HEAD frontman Robert Flynn returning to the producer's chair, and Mark Keaton once again handling engineering duties. Longtime MACHINE HEAD collaborator Colin Richardson (CANNIBAL CORPSE, TRIVIUM, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) mixed the record in London. The cover artwork for "The Blackening" has been posted online at this location.