Machine Head have been keeping themselves well and truly busy, recording a bonus track for the US release of ‘Through the Ashes Of Emmpires’ and securing a run of dates. Robb posted the following update on MACHINE HEAD 1 last night… “Wooí¢ä‰åäóìhoo! Still recovering from Fat Tuesday, Yow! Drink of the night, Grey Goose Vodka Lemon Drops. Fuck í¢ä‰åäóì in í¢ä‰åäóì A! Kind of a fruity drink (in the metrosexual sense), but they’re a manly color, so, you know… that’s how manly men can pull it off *cough*. Last night was the final night of tracking for our í¢ä‰åñnew songí¢ä‰åŒ, so we had a little post-recording / Fat Tuesday celebration. We were back at Sharkbite studios with Mark Keaton in the engineer’s seat, and yours truly back in the producer’s seat. We busted it out in 4 days, Dave nailed his drum tracks on the first take, even though we did a few takes… the man is a monster. Phil played a BAD ASS lead, and The Duce-ster sang some of the most crystal-clear vocals ever! Still working on a title *ahem*, but the new tune is rockin’. Probably the fastest song on the record, with a full-on U2 breakdown in the middle… sounds crazy… but it works. Colin Richardson begins mixing Friday. We had contemplated adding a cover song to the U.S. release, and I believe our new U.S. record company, Roadrunner Records, announced that we were including a cover. But… originally it was believed that our U.S. release would be 2 versions – a 2-disc limited edition with demo tracks, the making of, cover song, etc… and then a normal version. After we concluded that that idea wasn’t logistically feasible, we decided to just include the new song, as we didn’t feel it would be appropriate to add a cover song to TTAOE for the rest of eternity. We thought it better to record the cover for a future release sometime down the road. What song was it? Rush’s í¢ä‰åñWitch Huntí¢ä‰åŒ… a seriously bad-ass song. And yes, you read right, we’re BACK on Roadrunner. Crazy, huh?! It’s a crazy business, Rock n’ Roll. Trust us, it was the right decision. I think that’s like… history or something… not sure if that’s even happened with a band before. Honestly though, we’re super stoked, and proud to be working with them again. Would they have come back to us if we hadn’t written the record we did, or the record didn’t take off over in Europe like it did? Of course not. Do we care? No. Every band has to prove themselves to a label. We did. We’ve smoothed out our issues, worked out differences, and they are chompin’ at the bit to get this record out. In all the years that MH and RR have worked together I’ve never experienced them being this excited and this hungry to put a Machine Head album out. Ever! They are fully 100% behind the band, nay, 1000% percent behind the band. Record’s comin’ out [in the US- Ed] April 20th. 420, kid!!! Machine Fuckin’ Head are going out on the road in the U.S. around April 27th, and we are STOKED about the package we lined up with the help of our ass kickin’ booking agent Scott Sokol. The “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” tour featuring Machine Head, Arch Enemy, and God Forbid will be hitting most major U.S. cities in April and May, with a more extensive U.S. headline run happening in September. Both AE and GF dole out heaping helpings of lean, low-carb, cutting-edge Metal, and offer something fresh to the world of music. Arch Enemy’s “Anthems of Rebellion” was practically the only CD we listened to on the TTAOE Europe tour, and God Forbid’s “Gone Forever” is the ONLY thing in my CD player. It’s fuckin’ inspiring to have these bands out with us. Buy their records, dammit! New England Metal Fest is confirmed for Fri. April 30th, more dates coming soon. And get your livers ready, fuckers, cause the Vodka Kings are comin’ back… And we ain’t fuckin’ around!” Machine Head will be hitting UK shores later this year for the Download Festival- Glasgow Green 2nd/3rd June and Donnington 5th/6th June.