Machine Head have announced a new concept album, Of Kingdom and Crown, set to arrive on August 26th. In advance of its release, the veteran metal act has released the heavy single “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate.”
Regarding the concept surrounding the upcoming album, frontman Robb Flynn stated, “Thanks to my two teenage boys, my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called Attack on Titan. The album’s concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guy — both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but make no mistake, both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track ‘Slaughter the Martyr’ is basically our character No. 1’s origin story.”
A press release describes the two main characters as follows:
Character No. 1 Ares: Our main, who loses the love of his life (Amethyst) and goes on a murderous rampage against the vile sect responsible for her murder.
Character No. 2 Eros: The perpetrator, who loses his mother to a drug overdose and becomes radicalized in the aftermath. Eros goes off the deep end manifesting his own killing spree.
Of Kingdom and Crown, which marks the band’s follow-up to 2018’s Catharsis, will be released through Nuclear Blast/Imperium Recordings. Following the digital, CD, and cassette release in August, a vinyl version will come out a few months later on November 25th, with pre-orders available here.
In addition to Flynn, the album’s band lineup includes bassist Jared MacEachern, drummer Matt Alston and Decapitated guitarist Vogg.
Check out the video for “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate” below, followed by the album artwork and tracklist.
Of Kingdom and Crown Artwork:
Of Kingdom and Crown Tracklist:
01. SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR
02. CHØKE ØN THE ASHES ØF YØUR HATE
03. BECØME THE FIRESTØRM
04. ØVERDØSE
05. MY HANDS ARE EMPTY
06. UNHALLØWED
07. ASSIMILATE
08. KILL THY ENEMIES
09. NØ GØDS, NØ MASTERS
10. BLØØDSHØT
11. RØTTEN
12. TERMINUS
13. ARRØWS IN WØRDS FRØM THE SKY