MACHINE HEAD Recruits Ex-MASTODON Touring Guitarist BEN ELLER For June 2026 Shows With KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

Fan-filmed video of MACHINE HEAD's June 3 performance at The Fillmore in Detroit, Michigan can be seen below (courtesy of Front Row Bobby). It marked the band's first full concert with new touring guitarist Ben Eller, a YouTuber and session musician who previously toured with MASTODON after the departure of Brent Hinds in early 2025.

In a video message shared on MACHINE HEAD's social media just hours before the Detroit show, the band's frontman Robb Flynn said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Hanging out in Detroit, opening night of the KILLSWITCH ENGAGE tour. And honestly, it's a pretty special night for us. We are going to be bringing out Ben Eller on the guitar to do the whole show with us. The other night [June 1] in Pittsburgh, we brought him out to do the last three songs, but tonight's gonna be the first full show that he does with the band. So, definitely excited to see how this goes. We've been throwing a lot of songs at him, and he's had a very short amount of time to learn it all. But, yeah, definitely looking forward to tonight. Can't wait to see the Michigan headcases out there raging. We'll see you in the pit."

In June 2025, guitarist Reece Alan Scruggs announced that he would sit out MACHINE HEAD's summer 2025 European tour in order to stay home with his father, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Playing guitar for MACHINE HEAD at various shows on the trek were MACHINE HEAD producer Zack Ohren and DECAPITATED's Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka.

Kiełtyka, who joined MACHINE HEAD's lineup prior to the launch of the band's "Burn My Eyes" 25th-anniversary tour in late 2019, left the Flynn-fronted act in February 2024 and was replaced by Scruggs, who has previously filled in for Vogg on a couple of tours.

Reece made his live debut with MACHINE HEAD in November 2022 at Strummer's in Fresno, California at the opening show of the "Electric Happy Hour (Live)" tour.

Vogg was back in MACHINE HEAD's lineup for most of the shows on the April/May 2026 "An Evening With…" European tour.

MACHINE HEAD's eleventh studio album, "Unatoned", came out in April 2025 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings.