MACHINE HEAD's 'Unto The Locust' Cracks U.S. Top 25

"Unto The Locust", the new album from San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD, sold more than 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart putting MACHINE HEAD in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 17-year history. Even more impressively, this is the third consecutive album to show at least a 20 percent increase in sales over its predecessor, a virtually unprecedented feat for any band or artist, let alone a metal band in 2011. Add to that the fact that MACHINE HEAD's last CD came out four and a half years ago, a period of time that has seen the music market drop by more than 45 percent, and you're looking at something amazing.

Roadrunner A&R guru Monte Conner gushed about the band's achievement in the U.S., stating simply that "It's really incredible to see MACHINE HEAD gain in both first-week sales and on the Billboard Top 200 for three albums in a row. I can't think of one other band here, or anywhere for that matter, that has done that given the tough climate in the music biz over the last few years. This is quite a feat and is a testament to the band's rabid fanbase as well as their ability to win new fans."

MACHINE HEAD has consistently averaged more than 100,000 copies sold in the U.S. for each of its seven albums and has shifted double that overseas (accruing several silver records in the U.K.),resulting in cumulative worldwide sales of more than 2.4 million.

"Unto The Locust" first-week chart positions:

Germany: #5
Austria: #6
Australia: #10
Switzerland: #10
France: #13
Japan: #18
New Zealand: #19
U.S. #22
Belgium: #22
Norway: #28
Canada #32
U.K.: #82 (digital only due to the release of "fanpack")

MACHINE HEAD's previous CD, "The Blackening", opened with just under 15,000 units back in April 2007 to debut at No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's 2004 effort, "Through The Ashes Of Empires", premiered with less than 12,000 copies to land at No. 88.

"Unto The Locust" was recorded at GREEN DAY's Oakland, California's JingleTown Recording compound, with guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn handling production duties for the third consecutive time, and mixing done at JingleTown by engineer Juan Urteaga and Flynn (who flew back to Oakland from the road on every day off during the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival),along with Colin Richardson and his U.K.-based team of Carl Bown and Martyn Ford. "Unto The Locust" was tracked and mixed over the course of four months and saw the band bring in a string quartet by the name of Quartet Rouge, who ended up on no less than three of the album's seven songs.

"Unto The Locust" standard CD track listing:

01. I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)
I) Sangre Sani
II) I Am Hell
III) Ashes To The Sky
02. Be Still And Know
03. Locust
04. This Is The End
05. Darkness Within
06. Pearls Before The Swine
07. Who We Are

"Unto The Locust" special-edition CD track listing:

01. I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
I) Sangre Sani
II) I Am Hell
III) Ashes To The Sky
02. Be Still And Know
03. Locust
04. This Is The End
05. Darkness Within
06. Pearls Before The Swine
07. Who We Are
08. The Sentinel (JUDAS PRIEST cover) *
09. Witch Hunt (RUSH cover) *
10. Darkness Within (Acoustic) *

* Bonus tracks

DVD:

* "The Making Of Unto The Locust" Documentary