We have some bad news for The Big Four of thrash metal. Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, it is time for one of you to step down or become “The Big Five” because Machine Head’s latest release is topping the Billboard charts. Machine Head have topped themselves with a #22 Billboard Top 200 chart debut for their new album, “Unto The Locust”, with over 17,000 albums scanned. Just to reiterate how big this debut is, we’ll put it in perspective for you. The band’s 2007 Grammy-nominated release, “The Blackening” debuted at #54 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The good news for Machine Head only continues. “Unto The Locust” debuted…

The buzz has been circling around Machine Head ever since the metal band announced the making of a new album, “Unto The Locust”. With the album’s release date fast approaching, September 27th to be exact, Machine Head will be celebrating its release with fans in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Oakland. These four listening events will also allow fans to hear the new album in its entirety. The band will not be performing at any of these shows, but Machine Head will be joining fans, friends and industry at all four events, each unique in its own way. These events will be free to attend, but space is limited…

Even though it has officially come to an end, we constantly talk about the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival as if we attended it a day ago. Being metal fan “newbies”, we were blown away by the metal bands unbelievable instrumental rifts and powerful vocals. The musical skills of these bands are there, but so is their undying passion for music. Machine Head stands high on this metal pedestal that we have built over the summer months. The Grammy nominated and the Album of the Decade winning Metal Giants are gearing up to release their newest album “Unto The Locust” on September 27th in the U.S. via Roadrunner Records….

We guess it is safe to say summer is officially over; well for metal fans that is. The 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival wrapped up its summer tour last week in Dallas, TX. During the closing shows, several of this year’s festival artists took to the main stage to perform a special tribute to Dimebag Darrell by performing Pantera’s “Walk”. Check out the performance and watch the Mayhem family charge the stage. We wish we were able to see this metal gathering when we went to the Mayhem festival back in July. Oh well, we still got to chat with a handful of the Mayhem bands, like Megadeth, Kingdom…

Our Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival interviews continue with Machine Head’s lead guitarist, Phil Demmel. We were a bit intimidated to chat with the metal musician since Machine Head has been there and done that. With a total of 6 studio albums and a career spanning across two decades, the quartet knows how to deliver successful album sales without compromising their metal authenticity. That’s true musical talent for you. Our built up anxiety was pretty much all for nothing. Demmel had a laidback demeanor, but was extremely enthusiastic to discuss anything regarding Machine Head. Who wouldn’t be? Especially when the group has a jam packed touring schedule and is also…

We hate seeing bands lose members. Once we are musically attached to a group, anyone walking out is an upset, but lately we are beginning to see the positive side to some of these switch ups. You should take Trivium for example. The metal band has had several members come and go since the group’s formation in 1999. Most recently, Trivium replaced the original drummer, Travis Smith, with Nick Augusto. It’s difficult to say goodbye to Smith after his decade long career with Trivium, but with a fresh face, the band can keep the energy flowing by spicing up their sound. Also, we can’t help, but find Trivium to be…

In just a few short weeks, we will be one of thousands pushing through the crowds, trying to get a closer look at our favorite metal bands at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. We prefer this sweaty atmosphere over just about any other indoor concert. Yes, every now and then we enjoy those leisurely concerts where we can sit in a seat, tap our feet to the beat and wait for the lead act to go on. This slow build-up of adrenaline doesn’t suit our junky needs as frequently as we would like. So, we give much thanks to those music festivals that give us one performance after another….

Here’s the latest Roadrunner Records release “Halo” from Machine Head. Halo is the third single from the album “The Blackening” by the metal band Machine Head. This is the only song on the album to be written by all four band members. It was also featured as one of the metal genre track in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage.

Black Tide have just announced that they will be performing at Hot Topic’s annual South by Southwest bash on March 14th at La Zona Rosa in Austin. The SXSW party will also feature live sets from UK sensations Enter Shikari and Texas natives Flyleaf. Headlining the event will be System of a Down frontman, Serj Tankian! Black Tide are gearing up for the release of Light From Above, their Johnny K (Machine Head) produced debut album which comes out on March 18th.

Check out the new Machine Head music video “Now I Lay Thee Dow” from Roadrunner Records.