MACHINE HEAD's 'Unto The Locust' To Be Released In U.K. With Special-Edition Fan Pack

Metal Hammer magazine will release MACHINE HEAD's next album, "Unto The Locust", in the U.K. with a special-edition fan pack. Complete with 132page special issue with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the making of the new album, extensive interviews with every member, never-before-seen historic shots from the band's personal collections, a guide to their custom rigs, and a diary of their massive Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour happening this summer, this is the ultimate companion to the long-awaited follow-up to "The Blackening", Metal Hammer's "album of the decade." And that's not all. This exclusive fan pack also includes a 100% official patch, sticker sheet and poster. This is your chance to be part of MACHINE HEAD history!

"This is gonna be fucking awesome! It's ridiculous," says MACHINE HEAD guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn of the venture. "I can't believe that there's going to be a magazine about us with a special edition of our new album. It's pretty mind-blowing, really. It's something really fuckin' cool for the fans, and it's something incredible for us, too. We're all really stoked on this new record and we can't wait for everyone to hear what we've been doing in the studio. Releasing it this way on newsstands (not just record stores) makes it way cooler!

"You guys know how to make magazines, man! People over here in the U.S. need to look at the U.K. and how you make magazines. You guys make people care about this stuff and you're real music fans. Get your niche and fuckin' ride it! People want cool shit and cool interviews. We're pumped about the whole idea."

Pre-order your copy of "Unto The Locust" at this location.

"Unto The Locust" will be made available in late September via MACHINE HEAD's longtime label Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at JingleTown Studios in Oakland, with frontman Robb Flynn producing, and it is sure to level anything and everything that happens upon its path.

MACHINE HEAD will prepare for the release of their new album by appearing on the main stage of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival for key dates, while headlining the Extreme Stage for others, this summer, which kicks off this July. This is the band's second tour of duty on Mayhem, as they appeared on the festival during its inaugural run in 2008.

An advance mix of the new MACHINE HEAD song "Locust" was released via iTunes on June 14 and will be included on an iTunes Mayhem digital sampler. Download cards for the digital sampler will be distributed at every date of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival so fans can redeem the song after being summarily kicked in the face by MACHINE HEAD's always devastating live show.

Flynn previously stated about the meaning of the song, "'Locust' is a metaphor. Locusts fly in a swarm, but they can't control which direction they fly; they float on the wind, they land, cause massive destruction, and then float away on the wind to leave you in the aftermath. The song is a metaphor for a type of person that sometimes comes into your life and has a similar effect."

Musically, the song is the essence of what MACHINE HEAD have been doing for nearly two decades. "It feels like the culmination of what we've been doing for the last 17 years: power grooves, patented MACHINE HEAD harmonics, crushing guitars and dark melodies, but taken to a new level," Flynn said. "It's a natural progression from [2007's] 'The Blackening', but different than anything on that record. In the past, when we debuted a new song, it was usually the fastest, thrashiest tune. This time we wanted to go with something just straight-up heavy."

The song is eight minutes in length, which is not unfamiliar territory for the band. Flynn even joked, "We still can't seem to write a damn song under six minutes. But MACHINE HEAD aren't writing music for the radio or MTV. This is for us. This is for the metalhead who let's music take him on a journey. This for the metalhead for whom music is the only thing that matters, to whom music is a savior. The music fan who's going to study every detail of the artwork, go online and find the lyrics and memorize every word, and let it take them away from their fucked up life for a while. It's for the music freak, who maybe just wants to get hammered, air-guitar and sing at the top of his lungs, and act like an friggin' idiot while starting a moshpit in their living room with reckless abandon. Because that's who wrote this song, and that is the only people we care about connecting with."

"Locust" can be streamed in the YouTube clip below (courtesy of Roadrunner Records).

[Note: This version of the song was mixed by Juan Urteaga (EXODUS, SADUS, TESTAMENT, NIGHT RANGER, VICIOUS RUMORS, HEATHEN, VILE, CATTLE DECAPITATION). The final mix will be handled by longtime MACHINE HEAD producer Colin Richardson (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, SLIPKNOT, FEAR FACTORY, TRIVIUM).]

MACHINE HEAD will embark on a European headlining tour, dubbed "The Eighth Plague", in the fall. Support on the trek will come from BRING ME THE HORIZON, DEVILDRIVER and DARKEST HOUR.

For a complete list of dates, go to this location.