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Machine Head release new song ‘Circle The Drain’

MACHINE HEAD have released a new song!

The new song, titled Circle The Drain, is the brand new single from the band and follows on from their 2019 single Do Or Die.

The origins for this new song can be traced back to March 2018, where frontman/guitarist Robb Flynn began having ideas for a new song. Over the following six months, a crazy series of events would lead to what would become this new track, but not without unsuspecting detours and downright sad events as the band in its ‘then current’ form, fell apart.

The song was once again produced by Robb Flynn [MACHINE HEAD’s Through The Ashes Of Empires, The Blackening, Bloodstone & Diamonds], and co-produced by Zach Ohren [ALL SHALL PERISH, SUICIDE SILENCE, MACHINE HEAD] at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland. Joel Wanasek [ATTILLA, BLOODLINE] once again handled post-production duties, while Russ Russell [AT THE GATES, THE WILDHEARTS, DIMMU BORGIR] over at Parlour Studios UK handled the beefy, guitar-heavy song mix. Finally, the track was mastered by the same gentleman who mastered Through The Ashes Of Empires Greg Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering. The song features the drumming of Navene Koperweis [ENTHEOS, WHITECHAPEL, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, ANIMOSITY].

Listen to Circle The Drain here: 

Robb Flynn describes the song as the anti-Valentine’s Day song. “The song is inspired by an acquaintance of mine who returned from Afghanistan only to have his relationship fall apart with his girl. She had messed around on him, then got paranoid about him messing around on her, and drove him crazy. We had a conversation on Valentine’s Day and he said to me “they were just circling the drain”… the phrase struck me. A few days later I incorporated it into the song I’d been working on. It was a strange parallel with my life at the time, having recently had two band members quit, and even more bizarrely, two long-time couple friends of my wife and I, also divorce. It was break-up season, and it played out with friends taking sides, people not being invited to certain events anymore, social and emotional pressure, and all the typical stuff that happens when a relationship goes bad. 

Watching this guy pull through it, helped me pull through my own upheaval. The lyrics to Circle The Drain came out of that frustrating time. It’s a sad song about relationships gone bad, but accepting that it’s over, and making yourself move on. I wrote it in a more metaphorical tone, as I didn’t want it to be about my life, but to be about anybody’s life who may be going through a rough time like that. It may not be a song that connects with everyone, especially those in a solid relationship, but if the day ever comes when your life goes awry, this song will be a lifeline for you, something to help pull you up out of that dark place. The irony that he and I had the original conversation on Valentine’s Day, and are now releasing it on Valentine’s Day isn’t lost on me, it really is the anti-Valentine’s Day song.”

For more information on MACHINE HEAD like their official page on Facebook.

James Weaver

Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Distorted Sound Magazine; established in 2015. Reporting on riffs since 2012.