In early February, it was revealed that groove metal bar-raisers Machine Head had wrapped up work on their new album. Now, the band have revealed the details for that record, and have dropped a brutal new single from it via a disturbing music video.
Machine Head’s 10th studio album will be called Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn — yup, those ‘O’s with lines through ’em are canon, it seems — and will come out August 26th via Nuclear Blast Records. The album is already available for preorder, and includes the band’s 2020 single “My Hands Are Empty.”
Apparently, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn is a concept album, focusing on the relationship between two tragic protagonists:
“Character #1 Ares: (pronounced Aries), our main, who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder.
“Character #2 Eros: (pronounced Arrows) the perpetrator, who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree.
Where’d this idea come from? Well, according to frontman Robb Flynn, it was, wait for it, fucking anime:
“Thanks to my 2 teenage boys my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called Attack On Titan. The album’s concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guy, both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but make no mistake, both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track ‘Slaughter the Martyr’ is basically our character #1’s origin story.”
On the one hand, the basis of this album’s concept has us aching to cry, ‘NERD!‘ But the new single from Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, “Chøke Øn the Ashes øf Yøur Hate,” quickly shuts us the hell up with that nonsense. Furious, mosh-ready, and packed to the gills with everything we want from a metal song, it’s an absolute rager that reminds us why every Machine Head release is an event. The band also went pretty insane with the video, too, landing somewhere between black metal and Nine Inch Nails.
Check out the track below, and keep going for album details. The record will be released in 12 different worldwide vinyl formats, deluxe vinyl box set [with bonus tracks] and CD, (old-school Long Box CD, Jewel Box CD), multi-color cassette options, and limited-edition Digipak with bonus tracks.
Machine Head, Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn:
- Slaughter the Martyr
- Chøke Øn the Ashes Øf Yøur Hate
- Becøme the Firestørm
- Øverdøse
- My Hands Are Empty
- Unhalløwed
- Assimilate
- Kill Thy Enemies
- Nø Gøds, Nø Masters
- Bløødshøt
- Røtten
- Terminus
- Arrøws In Wørds Frøm the Sky
