San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD will release their ninth full-length album, "Catharsis", on January 26, 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014's "Bloodstone & Diamonds" was recorded with Zack Ohren (FALLUJAH, ALL SHALL PERISH) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, California.

"Catharsis" track listing:

01. Volatile
02. Catharsis
03. Beyond The Pale
04. California Bleeding
05. Triple Beam
06. Kaleidoscope
07. Bastards
08. Hope Begets Hope
09. Screaming At The Sun
10. Behind A Mask
11. Heavy Lies The Crown
12. Psychotic
13. Grind You Down
14. Razorblade Smile
15. Eulogy

The album is available for pre-order at this location.

The song "Beyond The Pale" can be streamed below.

MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn told Poland's Interia.pl that "Beyond The Pale" was "the second song that we wrote for the record. It was just a simple four-minute song that we were, like, 'Fuck, cool!' It came together really fast," he said. "Lyrically, it took me a while to get how I wanted to shape it. That was the one song on the record where I couldn't get a theme for the song, like a lyrical theme. I went through seven different choruses, seven different subjects, seven completely different sets of lyrics. When it finally came to this last one, that's when I knew it was it. 'Kaleidoscope' was the opposite. We literally wrote that in the studio. Me and Dave [McClain, drums] were messing around. It just came super-fast. I ended up going in there and I freestyled a bunch of the lyrics and that whole intro section was the second time I ever sang the song. It just poured out of me. I was really excited."


He continued: "I think when you go to capture a record, you go into the studio and sometimes it can be a little bit of a sterile environment. You want to capture lightning in a bottle, but it's hard, it's the hardest thing to do. Many bands don't do it. With ['Kaleidoscope'], we just fucking captured it and it was crazy. You're literally hearing the first day we ever played that song as a band. We captured it. I think you feel that energy. I think there's an urgency there, there's an excitement there. I don't know if it would have been there if we worked on it for eight or nine months and then recorded it later."

The North American tour in support of "Catharsis" will kick off on January 25 in Mesa, Arizona


Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/listen ... z20ybaO.99

I'm at work and haven't had a chance to listen to the new song yet. I'm not a Slipknot fan so I hope this new song doesn't sound like them.

It doesn't.

The main riff is basically identical to Strapping Young Lad's "Love?", though.

That cuts to the problem with modern Machine Head: they don't know who they are. You get symphonic parts, and thrash parts, and jumpdafuckup mallcore parts, and children's choirs, all thrown together. They're trying to be everything to everyone, and I wish they'd just pick a sound, even if it's an annoying one.

I've enjoyed the last three albums as well as the debut so I'll be picking this one up. Pre-order started today, but so far I've only seen digital, no physical yet.

"People asking me about riff similarities: I don't have an opinion really. I've written riffs my whole career that sound like something else. I've used whole themes from other albums, movies or soundtracks. Art is a collage of your experiences, you taking clippings and reassemble."

Machine... what?!?
Uhm, wait... I remember some albums in 1994 and 1997...

I didn't mention the numetal phase as being enjoyable.

Devin Townsend's take on the riff:

https://twitter.com/dvntownsend/status/ ... 2749702144
https://twitter.com/dvntownsend/status/ ... 9932367872

Machine Head just dropped new music late last week with a track called "Beyond the Pale" being the first song to surface from their Catharsis album. But keen-eared fans have been calling out the group, feeling that the opening riff of the song sounded a little too close to the Strapping Young Lad track "Love?" While that might have sparked some early outrage, Strapping Young Lad's Devin Townsend has quickly squashed any further debate, downplaying the similarities.
In a series of tweets, Townsend writes, "People asking me about riff similarities: I don't have an opinion really. I've written riffs my whole career that sound like something else. I've used whole themes from other albums, movies or soundtracks. Art is a collage of your experiences, you taking clippings and reassemble."

He goes on to add, "Here's the best part about comparison of MH new song to 'Love' I basically ripped off the SYL chorus from this song," then pointing to Yes' "City of Love." Townsend concludes, "I met Jon Anderson at one point and told him. He seemed to find it funny." See his tweets below.
Devin Townsend ✔@dvntownsend
People asking me about riff similarities: I don't have an opinion really. I've written riffs my whole career that sound like something else.
4:04 AM - Nov 17, 2017
20 20 Replies 24 24 Retweets 288 288 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Devin Townsend ✔@dvntownsend
I've used whole themes from other albums, movies or soundtracks. Art is a collage of your experiences, you taking clippings and reassemble.
4:07 AM - Nov 17, 2017
12 12 Replies 61 61 Retweets 396 396 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
YouTube ‎@YouTube
Devin Townsend ✔@dvntownsend
Heres the best part about comparison of MH new song to 'Love' I basically ripped off the SYL chorus from this song: https://youtu.be/7kODOf2vuTg
1:04 PM - Nov 17, 2017
30 30 Replies 22 22 Retweets 189 189 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Devin Townsend ✔@dvntownsend
I met Jon Anderson at one point and told him. He seemed to find it funny.
1:06 PM - Nov 17, 2017
5 5 Replies 8 8 Retweets 111 111 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
This is the second time in the past year that Townsend fans have found similarities in another artist's new work, with Deep Purple's InFinite album cover and title closely mirroring Townsend's own Infinity, and in that case as well, Hevy Devy downplayed it, stating that it was "not a big deal."
Meanwhile, Machine Head's Robb Flynn saw Townsend's comments and thanked the musician for being so cool over the situation. "Shout out to Devin Townsend for being so cool," stated Flynn. "The Riff Police pulled me over, I got a $300 infraction for that one!! Like Dimebag always used to tell me 'we’re all just sharing riffs man.' Got a lot of respect for you Devin, super talented musician, amazing producer (as the palaces burn production crushes all!) And while I would proudly admit that I stole a Riff from you... Was just a happy accident. Riff on brother!!"
Robb Flynn ✔@TheGeneralMH
Shout out to @dvntownsend for being so cool. The Riff Police pulled me over, I got a $300 infraction for that one!! Like Dime bag always used to tell me “we’re all just sharing riffs man”. https://twitter.com/dvntownsend/status/ ... 2749702144 …
4:33 PM - Nov 17, 2017
12 12 Replies 32 32 Retweets 239 239 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Robb Flynn ✔@TheGeneralMH
Got a lot of respect for you Devin, super talented musician, amazing producer (as the palaces burn production crushes all!)

And while I would proudly admit that I stole a Riff from you... Was just a happy accident.

Riff on brother!! https://twitter.com/dvntownsend/status/ ... 0728834048 …
4:36 PM - Nov 17, 2017
17 17 Replies 28 28 Retweets 205 205 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Machine Head's Catharsis album arrives Jan. 26. Look for the band returning to the road next year with plenty of shows supporting the album.

I'm not gonna bother with this song but Jesus Christ, Robb Flynn is THE most defensive musician alive.

That cuts to the problem with modern Machine Head: they don't know who they are. You get symphonic parts, and thrash parts, and jumpdafuckup mallcore parts, and children's choirs...

And I thought the title track was horrible. I remember enjoying "The Blackening" and "Unto The Locust" at some point, this cannot be the same band, can it? Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT????

Remember when Machine Head compared themselves to Metallica?

Specifically, when they said The Blackening was an attempt to write a new Master of Puppets (lol.)

The Blackening came out 10-11 years ago. So based on that timeline (MoP came out in 1986), we're now riiiiight on schedule for their Load/Reload period, along with fantastic songs in the vein of "Mama Said" and "Hero of the Day". They should cut their hair.

Nah, we're far past that. They're now comparable to Lou Reed & Metallica.

lol...more regarding riffgate:

http://loudwire.com/devin-townsend-down ... -responds/

Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn reacted to Decibel Magazine bashing the band's new album "Catharsis" - due out on January 26 - giving the effort a shrug emoji (¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and comparing it to Megadeth's "Super Collider" in terms of being bad.

Rob's post reads:

"'DECIBEL MAGAZINE SLAMS 'CATHARSIS'!

"The former-Decibel cover stars new album gets called 'juvenile,' 'stupid,' 'endlessly pummeling' and a 'Super Collider-level-miss.'

"Oh, and hey... FUCK YOU Jeff Treppel!!

"Read the entire review below:

"MACHINE HEAD – CATHARSIS

"EVERYTHING OLD IS NÜ AGAIN

"Let's just tear off this Band-Aid:

"The new Machine Head is a 74-minute rap metal album with a song that sounds like the Dropkick Murphys in the middle. Maybe Robb Flynn really misses the late '90s (although, let's be honest who doesn't these days)?

"Maybe, after a decade of ridiculously great progressive groove metal records, Flynn decided to blow off some steam by going back to 'The Bleeding Red's' knuckle-dragging simplicity?

"The frustrating thing about 'Catharsis' is that Machine Head are great even when they're making bad music. The Soulfly tribal breakdowns on 'Volatile,' the drop tuning on 'Beyond the Pale,' the whiteboy hip-hop of 'Triple Beam' (nothing more 'street' than gymnastics metaphors), the anti-gentrification screed 'California Bleeding' - they're effective in the same primal way that the best Rage Against the Machine and Korn hits were back in the day. None of it feels half-assed; these are clearly well-crafted songs.

"It's all just so stupid.

"As intermittently satisfying as the nu-metal approach may be, Flynn and his bandmates have proven themselves more than capable of expressing their rage articulately. This feels juvenile from dudes pushing 50. There are certainly some interesting parts mixed in; unfortunately, with 15 songs, any nuances get lost in the endless pummeling.

"Frankly, I'm baffled. This is a 'Super-Collider'-level miss from a band that seemed to have ditched this phase long ago.

"'Catharsis' drops Jan. 26th #machinehead #catharsis #spreadthehead"