Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: Machine Head’s Robb Flynn is Reaching Out to You

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

You’ve got to have an outsized personality to make it in mainstream metal, and nobody has ever accused Machine Head’s Robb Flynn of lacking in that department. MetalSucks has dutifully covered his recent snipefest with Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho following a fall tour cancellation, and whether or not Flynn’s dead serious or just pulling pigtails, it all contributes to his cult of personality. He voices an opinion, we lap it up. Kinda like Mustaine, except usually pretty interesting—and sane.

Is it strange that he’s on the cover of a magazine that skews towards underground extreme music, especially given that this happened? Sure. To Flynn’s credit (kind of), he’s completely unapologetic about his band’s early 2000s days of the nü, reasoning that it ultimately gave Machine Head the confidence to do as they pleased. Luckily, that paid off big time starting with 2007’s The Blackening, and continued through forward-thinking thrashterpieces Unto the Locust and next week’s Bloodstone & Diamonds.

So, yeah: Flynn has somehow come out the other side as one of the most compelling and reliable figures in heavy music, and Machine Head’s latest boasts hairpin turns, tasteful compositions and infectious dark harmonies. Our own Justin Norton spoke to the frontman at length—as well as friends and supporters from Forbidden, Job for a Cowboy and Roadrunner Records—for December’s insightful, labyrinthine profile. And if Bay Area metal is your thing, lucky fucking you: the Flexi Series offers the first new Cretin music in eight years. Get touched by an angel right here.

The December issue of Decibel also features Overkill, Old Man Gloom, and Revocation, and can be purchased here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue?