Machine Head: Robb Flynn Almost Gave Up Music About 20 Years Ago After Being Rejected By 35 Labels

Machine Head and Roadrunner Records parted ways after the band ended touring for 2001’s Supercharger album.

In a new interview with Metal Injection, frontman Robb Flynn says Machine Head was approached by a number of labels before leaving Roadrunner, but none of them came forward after the band broke up. is found without a contract.

He explains that in the meantime the industry has changed and labels that were once really interested in Machine Head are now asking for demos. Flynn mentions that most labels were looking for “radio hits,” and the first five label rejections were particularly tough.

He tells : “I was a little devastated. I had just sold two million records. My last record had sold 300,000 copies, so it was not a failure, far from it.

As Machine Head continued its research, Flynn thought that this might be the end of his career as a musician. He cites a specific example of how he felt when he was working in a studio and watching In Flames (during the Clayman album period) become the next big band, saying: “Maybe it’s over… [Genevra Flynn, la femme de Robb] and I had conversations like, ‘Maybe it’s over. We just got rejected by 35 labels. Maybe it’s time to give up’.”

Fortunately, things finally worked out for Machine Head. The band signed to the European branch of Roadrunner and released Through The Ashes Of Empires, which was successful enough for the US branch of the label to come forward again.

Machine Head stayed on Roadrunner until 2011, when the band signed to Nuclear Blast, a label they’re still on to this day.

A small update on Of Kingdom And Crown

Machine Head’s tenth studio album, Of Kingdom And Crownwas released on August 26 via Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings.

Of Kingdom And Crown is a 13-track concept album set in a decimated futuristic wasteland where the sky is tinged with crimson red. The heart of the story rests on two main characters: the first is Ares, who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a rampage against the nefarious sect responsible for his murder; the second is Eros, who loses his mother to an overdose and later becomes radicalized. Eros loses control and starts killing with all his might. The lyrics detail how their lives intertwine.

Besides, Flynn recently explained how Attack on Titan (the manga) inspired the band’s new album.

On “Why Do People Like Anime,” a podcast hosted by John Hill and Julie Hill, the frontman said, among other things: “My kids never cared about cartoons, but when the pandemic hit, they went crazy for them. I settled in with them and started watching a few – some were brutal, weird, and psychedelic. I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy! Let’s look at this together. I’m all for it. So we started – the four of us were on the family couch watching cartoons on the big screen.”

“The link with the record lies in the fact that I wanted to make a concept album. I was writing a prototype. It originally revolved around two characters, and it was a very American story arc – with a good guy and a bad guy.”

“The thing that kind of opened my mind when I was watching Attack on Titan is that both sides of this story believe they are doing good, but they are both committing evil and atrocities. When I started to understand the concept of Attack on Titan, I was like, ‘Oh fuck, I should do the same for the album; I don’t need that nice/bad thing’.”

In addition, Machine Head and Amon Amarth will soon be visiting French-speaking lands for a few concerts with The Halo Effect as the opening act. You can check out details of upcoming shows below!

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