Machine Head have announced a raft of EU and UK tour dates in support of their forthcoming ninth studio album, ‘Catharsis’, which is set for release via Nuclear Blast in early 2018.

Vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn tells us, “It’s been far too long since we’ve demolished venues in Europe and the UK! We have had an awesome and productive break writing our new album 'Catharsis’, but now it’s time for MACHINE HEAD to go melt some faces!! The reaction to our last 'Evening With’ tours in the EU & UK was nothing short of incredible, so once again these dates will be 'Evening With’ shows and will see us performing 2 ½ to 3 hours every night, with no opening bands.”

He continues; "We LOVED performing as an 'Evening With’ for the EU and UK Head Cases and you guys loved it as well. The freedom to do whatever the fuck we want, for as long as we want every night was liberating. This is not what everyone else is doing, and frankly, there are not a lot of bands who could even pull it off, but Machine Head CAN pull it off, and we are excited as fuck to do it again. We are carving our own path here, playing by our own rules, and as an artist, it’s the best feeling in the world! 

No festivals, period! No supporting some stupid DJ! The Head will only be 'Headlining’, so come on down and rage!!”

Full EU and UK dates rack up as follows:
Thu 22-Mar France, Rouen, Le 106
Sat 24-Mar France, Paris, Bataclan
Mon 26-Mar France, La Rochelle, La Sirene
Tue 27-Mar France, Bordeaux, Rocher de Palmer
Thu 29-Mar Spain, Santiago de Compestalla, Sala Capital
Fri 30-Mar Portugal, Lisbon, Coliseum
Sat 31-Mar Portugal, Oporto, Colisum 

Mon 02-Apr Spain, Madrid, Riviera
Tue 03-Apr Spain, Seville, Sala Custom
Wed 04-Apr Spain, Malaga, Sala Paris 15
Fri 06-Apr Spain, Valencia, Sala Republica
Sat 07-Apr Spain, Barcelona, Razzmatazz
Sun 08-Apr France, Toulouse, Bikini
Mon 09-Apr France, Marseille, Caberet Auletoire
Wed 11-Apr Italy, Bologna, Zona Roveri
Thu 12-Apr Italy, Rome, Orion
Fri 13-Apr Italy, Milan, Live Club
Sun 15-Apr France, Lyon, Tansbordeur
Mon 16-Apr Switzerland, Lausanne, Les Docks
Tue 17-Apr Switzerland, Pratteln, Konzertfabrik Z7
Thu 19-Apr Austria, Vienna, Gasometer
Fri 20-Apr Hungary, Budapest, BNMC
Sat 21-Apr Germany, Munich, Tonhalle
Sun 22-Apr Germany, Stuttgart, Longhorn
Tue 24-Apr France, Strasbourg, Laiterie
Wed 25-Apr Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Den Atelier
Fri 27-Apr Germany, Munster, Skaters Palace
Sat 28-Apr Germany, Cologne, Ewerk
Sun 29-Apr Germany, Berlin, Columbiahalle

Tue 01-May Denmark, Copenhagen, Vega
Wed 02-May Sweden, Gothenburg, Pustervik
Thu 03-May Norway, Oslo Rockefeller
Sat 05-May Germany, Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit
Sun 06-May Holland, Gronigen, Oosterpoort
Mon 07-May Holland, Tilburg, 013
Wed 09-May Germany, Hannover, Capitol
Thu 10-May Germany, Wiesbaden, Schlacthof
Fri 11-May Belgium, Brussels, AB
Sun 13-May UK, Southampton Guildhall
Mon 14-May UK, Cardiff, University
Tue 15-May UK, Bristol Academy
Thu 17-May UK, Birmingham Academy
Fri 18-May UK, London, Roundhouse
Sat 19-May UK, London, Roundhouse
Mon 21-May UK, Nottingham Rock City
Tue 22-May UK, Newcastle, Academy
Wed 23-May Scotland, Glasgow Academy
Fri 25-May UK, Manchester Academy

MACHINE HEAD will also be offering an extremely limited number of VIP Packages in 2 tiers at www.machinehead.vip.

Gold VIP Tour Package:
One (1) General Admission Ticket
Meet and Greet w/ Machine Head
Group Photo w/ Machine Head
Exclusive Meet and Greet Shirt
Machine Head Flag
Souvenir Laminate w/ Lanyard
Early Entry
and
Platinum "Soundcheck” Package:
One (1) General Admission Ticket
Soundcheck Viewing
Meet and Greet w/ Machine Head
Group Photo w/ Machine Head
Exclusive Meet and Greet Shirt
Machine Head Flag
Souvenir Laminate w/ Lanyard
Early Entry

Confirmed North American tour dates are as follows:
Thu 25-Jan Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater
Sat 27-Jan Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
Mon 29-Jan San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
Tue 30-Jan Dallas, TX - Gas Moneky Live!
Wed 31-Jan Houston,TX – HOB

Fri 02-Feb Birmingham, AL - Saturn
Sat 03-Feb Pensacola, FL - Vinyl MH
Mon 05-Feb Orlando, FL - Plaza Live
Tue 06-Feb Atlanta, GA - Centerstage
Thu 08-Feb Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
Fri 09-Feb New York, NY - Playstation
Sat 10-Feb Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Sun 11-Feb Montreal, QC - Club Soda
Tue 13-Feb Toronto, ON - Danforth MH
Wed 14-Feb Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Thu 15-Feb Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
Fri 16-Feb Cleveland, OH - Agora
Sat 17-Feb Detroit, MI - Majestic
Tue 20-Feb Des Moines, IA - Woolys
Wed 21-Feb Madison, WI - Majestic
Thu 22-Feb Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Fri 23-Feb Chicago, IL - Concord MH
Sat 24-Feb Saint Louis, MO - Pops
Tue 27-Feb Denver, CO - Summit MH

Thu 01-Mar Las Vegas, NV - HOB
Fri 02-Mar Los Angeles, CA - Fonda
Sat 03-Mar Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater
Mon 05-Mar Portland, OR - Roseland
Tue 06-Mar Vancouver, BC - Commodore
Wed 07-Mar Seattle, WA - Showbox Market

It’s been far too long since we’ve demolished venues in America, we have had an awesome and productive break writing our new album “Catharsis”, but now it’s time for Machine Head to go melt some faces!!  The reaction to our last “Evening With” tours in America were nothing short of incredible, so once again these dates will be “Evening With” and will see us performing 2 ½ to 3 hours every night with no opening bands.  

We LOVED performing as an Evening With for you Head Cases, and you guys loved it as well, the freedom to do whatever the fuck we wanted for as long as we wanted every night was liberating.  It’s not what everyone else is doing, and frankly, there are not a lot of bands who could even pull it off, but Machine Head CAN pull it off, and we are excited as fuck to do it again.  We are carving our own path here, playing by our own rules, and as an artist, it’s the best feeling in the world!  

No festivals period, no 45 minute slots, no supporting some stupid DJ, no parking lots in a rain storm, The Head will only be “Headlining”, so come on down and rage!!“

MACHINE HEAD recently wrapped up recording their 9th full-length album with Zack Ohren (FALLUJAH, ALL SHALL PERISH) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA. An official release date has yet to be confirmed, but a Jan. 2018 release is expected. More details to follow shortly.

Watch Robb talk about the tour announcement:  

https://www.youtube.com/user/machinehead/featured

MACHINE HEAD will also be offering an extremely limited number of VIP Packages in 2 tiers.

Gold VIP Tour Package:

One (1) General Admission Ticket

Meet and Greet w/ Machine Head

Group Photo w/ Machine Head

Exclusive Meet and Greet Shirt

Machine Head Flag

Souvenir Laminate w/ Lanyard

Early Entry

and

Platinum "Soundcheck” Package:

One (1) General Admission Ticket

Soundcheck Viewing

Meet and Greet w/ Machine Head

Group Photo w/ Machine Head

Exclusive Meet and Greet Shirt

Machine Head Flag

Souvenir Laminate w/ Lanyard

Early Entry

Head to the link below

www.machinehead.vip

Confirmed tour dates are as follows.

North American “Catharsis” World Tour 2018

Thu       25-Jan      Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater

Sat        27-Jan      Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater

Mon      29-Jan       San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater

Tue       30-Jan       Dallas, TX - Gas Moneky Live!

Wed      31-Jan       Houston,TX - HOB

Fri         02-Feb      Birmingham, AL - Saturn

Sat        03-Feb      Pensacola, FL - Vinyl MH

Mon      05-Feb       Orlando, FL - Plaza Live

Tue       06-Feb       Atlanta, GA - Centerstage

Thu       08-Feb       Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts

Fri         09-Feb       New York, NY - Playstation

Sat        10-Feb       Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club

Sun       11-Feb       Montreal, QC - Club Soda

Tue       13-Feb       Toronto, ON - Danforth MH

Wed      14-Feb       Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom

Thu       15-Feb       Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE

Fri         16-Feb      Cleveland, OH - Agora

Sat        17-Feb      Detroit, MI - Majestic

Tue       20-Feb       Des Moines, IA - Woolys

Wed      21-Feb       Madison, WI - Majestic

Thu       22-Feb       Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

Fri         23-Feb       Chicago, IL - Concord MH

Sat        24-Feb       Saint Louis, MO - Pops

Tue       27-Feb       Denver, CO - Summit MH

Thu       01-Mar       Las Vegas, NV - HOB

Fri         02-Mar        Los Angeles, CA - Fonda

Sat        03-Mar        Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater

Mon      05-Mar         Portland, OR - Roseland

Tue       06-Mar         Vancouver, BC - Commodore

Wed      07-Mar         Seattle, WA - Showbox Market

MACHINE HEAD wrapped up the touring cycle for their first Nuclear Blast Entertainment album Bloodstone & Diamonds in March 2016 with a whopping 283 concerts on 5 different continents around the world.  Around 250 of those shows were performed as “An Evening With MACHINE HEAD” with no support bands and performances often lasting 2 ½ to 3 hours in duration, much to their fans (called "Head Cases”) delight.

Three tours of the United States (with many dates sold out in advance), three tours of The U.K. / Europe, (including multiple dates in Russia and Greece), shows in Mexico and South America, a completely sold out run of 9 Australian / New Zealand shows, sold out dates in Japan, plus their first ever plays in Taiwan and Thailand, and all without any festival performances which the band publicly announced they would stop performing at in 2014.

Bloodstone & Diamonds debuted at #21 on the U.S. Billboard charts and has gone on to sell 285,000 copies worldwide.

MACHINE HEAD’s latest track “Is There Anybody Out There?” released as a stand-alone, digital-only, non-album release became their #2 most streamed song ever on Spotify with 9 million streams in less than a year, and cracked the Top 40 on the Active Rock chart in the United States. It marks the first time for any Nuclear Blast artist to enter what is widely considered to be the “official rock chart” for the United States, and is significant considering there was no physical track sent to retail.  

The controversial video for MACHINE HEAD’S track “NOW WE DIE” can be see below.

MACHINE HEAD - NOW WE DIE  

I’ve debated even writing this.

You all know how I feel.

I’ve said probably all I’ll ever need to say on the subject a year and half ago.

I’m going to tell you the conversation my wife and I had Sunday morning.

As she drank tea (me; Blue Bottle coffee) I told her about the white supremacist rally(s) held in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, she had only heard bits…

She was appalled.

We discussed how people could feel that way, read our president’s pathetic “many sides” response to a domestic terrorist attack by white supremist’s, watched the horrifying videos of a white supremacist’s car barreling though counter-protesters killing one woman and injuring 34, and looked at the barreling car photo in the NY Times showing a pair of shoes on the ground (where a person used to be) while men hung upside-down in the air.

It was seriously disturbing.

She looked at me and said “ I hope you’re not planning on writing a General Journal about this…?  I don’t want to have my life threatened again, I don’t want to have out kids lives threatened again… this kind of stuff scares me”.

I sat in silence.  I let her know I had begun dabbling with one a little before she woke up.

She continued, “Berto, I was scared to go to your birthday bash, worried that some whack-o was going to bomb the place or do something crazy to you, or me, or someone else.“

"People know how you feel, do you need to add fuel to the fire?”

And she’s right.

I don’t need to add fuel to the fire.

What happened to my family as a result of the “Racism In Metal” video was fucking scary.

She’s not over it.

I’m not over it.

Hence, why I debated this.

Even a year and half later, when I go out to most big metal shows, at least one group screams “white power” at me.

I keep my head up, do my best to ignore them.

And while a healthy fear of whack-o’s comes with the territory of being married to someone famous, no one “wants that”.

Out of respect to her, I told her if I finished writing something, I would show it to her before posting asking for her blessing.

She read this and said "go for it”.

So I’m not gonna offer my opinions on the events in Charlottesville.

Instead, I’m gonna tell you a story about a journalist I used to know.

His name was Onno Cro-Mag.

He was a Dutch hardcore journalist / hardcore scene supporter /and co-owned a record company with Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret.

He passed away a few years ago, but the mark he left on me was deep.

And while the story is a little hazy to me 20 years later, I’ll do my best to honor the dead.

I first met him on our 1994 tour across the Europe.  He interviewed me a few times, we shared a mutual love of the hardcore band Cro-Mags, (that’s Onno who comes up and sings back ups on our Cro-Mags cover of “Hard Times” in the Dynamo ’95 YouTube clip).

Ya see… Onno was an ex-skinhead.  An ex-racist-skinhead.

He was extremely open about that to me during our conversations / interviews and it always caught me a little off-gaurd.  Not in a bad way… but let’s face it, how many ex-nazi’s do you know?  It’s not the first thing you expect to hear out of someone’s mouth.

He explained to me how he’d gotten caught up in some bullshit in the scene, at some point something serious happened, serious enough that it shook him out of it.

He never looked back.

At least in the handful of conversations we had, he looked back on those days with a brutal honesty and regret that was palpable.

But he wasn’t apologetic about it, he was strong about it.  He fucking owned it.  It was a life-lesson that he never let himself forget.

I gotta tell you, I’ve never met anyone quite like him.

And it’s not like because he realized the error of his ways, that all was forgiven.  No, no, no.  He faced considerable danger from his ex-partners, he faced a considerable lack of trust from people who knew the “old Onno”.

It bothered him deeply.

We could all learn a lot from Onno Cro-Mag.

We should all aspire to be so honest with our flaws.

Because we all have them.

We were/are all assholes at one (or many) points in our lives.

I’m no exception to that.

I look back on the person I was in my mid-twenties and think “who the fuck is that guy?”

And if you change, someone will always be there to shove it in your face, the asshole you have been.

Now more than ever, in today’s “gotcha” society someone is gonna try and say to you “LOOK, you were like THIS before!“

I can assure you, as soon as I post this, some dickhead will post a 22 year old photo of Kerry King and I (from when MH and Slayer toured together in 1995), arms by our sides, walking alongside Jeff Hanneman and Gary Holt (both in nazi-salute), and go “why didn’t you write a song about these guys?!” Or say, “you’re a hypocrite for saying what you said about Anselmo!”

That’s been the racist’s rallying cry for decades, “how, if you’ve ever been racist, can you decry racism?”.

Welp…

Guess what..?

That just ain’t gonna happen.

And the fact is, most people are incapable of change.

Once someones mind is made up, whether via political party, religion, whatever… it’s nigh impossible to change.

It usually takes a considerable tragedy to shake ‘em out of it, and even then…

But people can change.

I don’t care if someone was in the nazi rally Saturday, if they were disgusted by the senseless death of Heather Heyer, and said “Fuck this shit, enough… I’m out”…. we need to be tolerant enough to respect that.

A tad skeptical…?  Sure.

As I wrote this today, I read a story about an ex-white supremacist named Christian Picciolini who started an organization to help people get out of the WP movement called Life After Hate.

In a nutshell:  they are a non-profit created by former members (called “formers”) of the American violent far-right extremist movement. Their goal is to "work with individuals who wish to leave a life of hate and violence, and help organizations (community, educational, civic, government, etc.) in grappling with the causes of intolerance and racism.”

In their own words, "Life After Hate works to counter the seeds of hate we once planted.”

Because on the flip side of this fiery topic, we need be non-judgemental of the defectors of that movement.  The Onno Cro-Mags of that movement, who wish to change, who want out, but fear they won’t be accepted by anyone other than their own.

I’ll leave you with this.

Saturday my buddy Sean Doolittle (ex-Oakland A’s pitcher and current National’s pitcher) was on a tweet rampage (he along with comedian Patton Oswalt were seriously giving me hope for the entire world).

Amazingly Sean has not been silenced and regularly post provocative, thoughtful opinions on political land mines for subjects.

Kudos to him for being such a high profile sports figure, and still letting his voice be heard.

He tweeted:

“People say, ‘if we don’t give them attention, they’ll go away’.

Maybe.

But if we don’t condemn this evil, it might continue to spread.  This kind of hatred has never gone, but now it’s been normalized, they didn’t even wear hoods.

It’s on us to condemn it and drive it out.

There is only one side.

Actual nazi’s just marched on Charlotesville, we have to come together and drive this hatred & domestic terrorism from our country.

While it’s important to protect free speech, we have a patriotic obligation to condemn racism and domestic terrorism.”

- Sean Doolittle

Links:

https://www.lifeafterhate.org

https://www.exitusa.org

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/543259499/a-reformed-white-nationalist-speaks-out-on-charlottesville

You read that right, 23 years ago today Machine Head’s debut album was released on an unsuspecting world and launched their career in an unprecedented matter.  While success would be slow in America, both overseas in Europe and Australia MH became an almost instant powerhouse in metal.

Combining elements of thrash metal, hard-core, and hip hop along with a notable Industrial influence, the songs on “Burn My Eyes” resonated loudly with metal fans. Most controversially was the rap influence lyrically and visually in the “Davidian" video with Robb wearing his long hair in corn-rows and the boys walking around the city of Oakland with pit bulls, re-creating their favorite rap videos. Many metal fans did not approve, but most agreed it was a breath of fresh air.

And while the boys definitely played up their street/tough guy image (occasionally to comical levels), the gritty lyrics featured on “Burn My Eyes” were reflection of a genuine tension the band was living through at the time, including gang fights, and several members dealing drugs to earn a living.

Fun facts about Burn My Eyes:

- The first song written for the album was “Death Church" inspired heavily by the album “Street Cleaner" by Godflesh

- Started in Oct 1991, Machine Head it was originally a side project while Robb was still in Vio-Lence.  But by Feb 1992 became his full-time project.

- At one point Robb was asked to be a fill-in guitarist for industrial pioneers Ministry.  Asked to provide some material, Robb asked future-drummer Chris Kontos to showcase 3 tunes he had written, “Blood For Blood", “Block” (then-called “Fuck It All”), and "Death Church” on a boombox.  However, with Chris’s hands full in both Sap, and Attitude Adjustment at the time, Robb asked Las Vegas resident Tony Costanza to join on drums.

- The first 3 shows played by Machine Head were a house party in Oakland, Las Vegas, and the ’92 Los Angeles Metalfest at Gazarri’s all featuring Tony on drums. They would mark bassist and guitarist Adam and Logan’s debut live performances.

- Chris Kontos joined in Oct. 1992 and his debut show with Machine Head was at Mayday Malone’s in Pleasant Hill, CA supporting Defiance.

- The demo that would get Machine Head signed was recorded by John “Indo” at a friends home studio with amps in the bathroom, and all distorted vocals being recorded over the house intercom.

- Then-Metal Maniacs journalist, (and current blabbermouth impresario) Borivoj Krgin, was pivotal in the band getting signed to Roadrunner records, convincing a not-so-sure Monte Conner that he should sign them.

- BME was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in Nov 1993 at the same time as Rancid’s - "Let’s Go”, Green Day’s -  “Dookie” and Tesla’s - “Bust A Nut". The boys often hung out with Rancid and would periodically break into Tesla’s recording studio and steal from the massive stash of candy Tesla had.

- It was mixed by Colin Richardson once at Fantasy, and then re-mixed at scream Studios in Burbank California. In fact Machine Head, Rancid, and Green Day would all remix their albums at different locations.

- The first tour the album was opening for label-mates Obituary who co-headlined with Napalm Death. MH and Napalm Death shared a bus together.

- Burn My Eyes was original called “Davidian” and artwork was created featuring their logo on a TV screen.  Thankfully saner minds prevailed.

- The “Davidian" video was recorded throughout parts of Oakland, and San Francisco, culminating with a show at the Rock On Broadway featuring a then-unknown Deftones as main support.

- The live photos of Deftones singer Chino Moreno for their debut album “Adrenaline, “are from the Davidian video shoot show.

- BME charted at number #25 in the UK after the “Davidian” video received a substantial reaction on Headbanger Ball.

- With Headbangers Ball cancelled in America, and no outlets to play the video, BME sold 1,100 copies its first week in the US.

- Machine Head supported Slayer in both Europe and the US, returning to headline the same European venues just 6 month later.

- Machine head and Stuck Mojo would headline in America in October-Dec 1995. The tour was dubbed “the disastour”, and while it had several highlights including Chicago at The Thirsty Whale and New Mexico, most of the tour would only have 100 people at most venues.  In the south, they played to 35 people regularly.

- A year and a half after release BME had sold a staggering 400,000 records worldwide, and a respectable 80,000 albums in the US. It would be the biggest debut album on Roadrunner.

Do you have any recollections of this album?
Did you catch MH on tour then?
How does "Burn My Eyes” stand the test of time for you?

Share your stories on our FB and Insta pages!!

That’s right 18 years ago today, our infamous third album was released.  Inspiring some of our most beloved (and most loathed) songs, and in many ways drawing a dividing line between older metal fans and nu-er metal fans. 

And while the boys choice of clothes and hair may have been, er uh, questionable… 18 years later the songs still stand up with live favorite such as “The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears”, and “From This Day” proving to be certifiable smashes in the MH Setlist. 

The album undeniably changed the course of the band’s history forever, some might argue for the worse, but most would agree it was absolutely for the better. The melodic influences and guitar tones of Robert Smith/ The Cure brought into the sonic spectrum with songs like “The Burning Red”, “Devil With The Kings Card” and ”Silver” would later inspire melodic masterpieces such as  “Descend The Shades of Night”, “Darkness Within” and The Cure worshipping guitar intro to “Locust”.

Fun facts about TBR:
- The first song written for the album was "I Defy” which contains a riff from then-guitarist Logan Mader.  Logan quit right at the beginning of the writing sessions.

- The band held guitar tryouts for several months, with people traveling from all over the US and included Gary Holt of Exodus.

- Ahrue Luster was brought in in the summer of 1998, based on his catchy song writing with Man Made God, but just as much from his riff-work in his previous death metal band The Horde Of Torment (of which Robb was a fan).

- It was recorded by Ross Robinson at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, CA at the same time as the debut Slipknot album, with both bands occasionally living at Indigo Ranch with each other for periods of time.  Joey Jordinson screams back ups during the build up/breakdown on the song “Nothing Left” (I’ve got nothing left for nobody / ahhhhhh)

- It charted at #88 on the Billboard charts, and would go on to sell nearly 400,000 albums worldwide. It is the 2nd best selling album for Machine Head in terms of CD sales.

- The infamous video for “From This Day” was directed by rapper Master P’s video director for “Make ‘Em Say Ugh” Michael Martin at the behest of Roadrunner Records president Jonas Naschin.  It shows Robb with blonde and black spikes in his hair, Dave with yellow leopard-print hair, Ahrue in a Kung Fu outfit ( a look later taken on by Zoltan of Five Finger Death Punch) and Robb in a much-debated / much-maligned bright orange nylon outfit (not a track suit!).

- The “From This Day” single was edited down to 3 minutes (with the breakdown in the middle deemed “too heavy for radio”), and featured a cover of the Bad Brains song “House Of Suffering” and the b-side “Alcholocaust” recorded during the TBR sessions.

- Machine Head’s “Year of the Dragon" tour in January 2000 would prove to be the biggest U.S. tour band had put together at the time. Featuring Reveille, and Primer 55, it turned Machine Head into a verifiable headliner in America.
- Machine Head sold out the Brixton Academy in London (for the first time) on their headline tour of the U.K featuring One Minute Silence opening.

Do you have any memories of this album?

Did you catch the band on tour during this period? 

Share your stories on Facebook or Instagram!

What up everyone!

Just shooting everyone a quick link to Journal that is now up at the K&K site.  Again, this isn’t really a “General Journal” but there is so much story in these last 3 “Thrashed" collabs, that it feels like a TGJ, because it’s basically a General Journal with pictures!

Of course feel free to disregard.

But here is a sampling, and if you like what you see, read on.

https://killersandkings.com/collections/thrashed

————————

What up!

Robb here:

I am super excited to announce the final installment of the Killers & Kings + Thrash collaboration called “Thrashed” with three of my favorite 80’s thrash bands: Destruction, Forbidden, and Sacred Reich.

In this Journal I’m going to talk to you about how this “limited edition” Sacred Reich collab happened, why I felt strongly about doing a collab with these bands, and walk you through the various stages the design went through to meld the Sacred logo with the Killers & Kings logo.

*I talked about this in the previous Destruction and Forbidden Journals, so skip down a few paragraphs if you already read it.*

One of the main reasons that I decided to do a Killers & Kings + Thrash collaboration was that I recently went to a streetwear convention in Las Vegas with my buddy Dom Deluca who owns an old school/legit skateboard/streetwear shop on Melrose called Brooklyn Projects.

While walking through the convention we came a cross a streetwear company whose name I can’t remember, (nor would I even want to promote), who had various flyers from 80s thrash and punk shows all over their booth. At first I was really stoked to see this, I was like “wow, a place that gets where Dom and I came from”

But as I started talking to the people at the company, they clearly had no clue about any of it. In fact the guy straight up told me “yeah these are cool flyers right? We downloaded them off of The Google!”.

Fuck that.

And while I "get it"… I was kinda pissed that they were taking the culture that I grew up in, (and in some small way contributed to), and we’re just using it to sell their brand.

Dom called ‘em Culture Vultures.

I walked away thinking, I want to do the collaboration with these bands and actually have it be from an authentic place. With the people that were there at the beginning of it, from people that contributed to it, and put it out to the world as a “limited edition”, premium shirt, with a rich, 14-color layout that stayed as true to the original art as is possible via modern screenprinting methods today.

It was an epic undertaking, I reached out to several bands, (some of whom unfortunately declined after we created some really amazing artwork) but all 3 bands involved happily signed off on the collaboration. And all of the bands involved in this collab have been paid to use their artwork.

The second K&K / Thrash “limited edition” collab shirt I’m releasing is Forbidden - Forbidden Evil.

***
I met the Sacred guys back in 1988 when my previous band Vio-Lence stared touring. I believe Phil was friends with their singer Phil Rind and they would always come hang at the Phoenix shows.  I can clearly remember driving in our van listening to the debut Sacred album and being way stoked on the song "Death Squad” which began with one of the heaviest riffs of it’s time.

So we’re on our first U.S. tour, 5 band members, plus our manager Debbie Abono and co-manager/soundman/roadie/light guy/ bug-collector-extroidinaire (and future-MH-manager) Joseph Huston driving all across America in a cargo van.  7 people, all our gear and luggage packed in to the van (no trailer) drums tied to top of the van with cheap rope.  Life was good, we got a solid break, we did our first tour of the U.S opening for Testament.

Ya gotta remember…back in ‘88 there was no cell phones, no internet, no social media to keep us distracted, if you wanted to talk to your girlfriend you had to call her from a payphone pumping in an endless stream of quarters, but if you didn’t have any money…  What we did have was music… specifically, cassette tapes.

We would play a show, load our gear in the van, maybe play some pool, try and talk a girl into a blowjob, and if that didn’t work… a beer, if that didn’t work… well, McDonalds would do.  At first I wasn’t old enough to be in some bars, so I had to wait in the van more than a few nights.  Once the show was over it was just another long overnight drive to the next town, and whoever drove, controlled the stereo.   Sometimes we’d drive halfway, crash out in a Motel 6 for a few, then drive the rest of the way in the morning.

Deen, Phil and I drove the most, as well as Joseph (who we called Joey back then, and I still call Joe to this day), and on those tired nights driving it was always music that carried us through.  In fact, when you’re driving all that time, the band we were listening to had better have good “driving songs” or your cassette might get thrown out the window.  Motorhead’s - Best Of “No Remorse” got A LOT of play, and SR’s - “Ignorance” and “Surf” did as well.

I remember us catching them at The Channel in Boston later that year, and they were just killing it.  KILLING IT!  The Channel was PACKED, and people were loving this band, they played “Surf Nicaragua” and the place went NUTS… I mean NUTS!  It was a straight up Thrash Smash!  If I’m honest, a 20-year-old Robb Flynn was tad jealous.

But ya know what… they had captured a moment, and when music works best, it channels the times. Not to mention, what a combination of words to make into a song!!  "Surf Nicaragua"??!!  Somehow it worked!   It felt new, they from a new area (Phoenix), their singer Phil always had an interesting take on the world, he was a smart dude with cool political lyrics, and of course, a massive pro-weed stance which I thought was great.

I caught 'em at the Omni in Oakland a few times, most memorably when they co-headlined with Sepultura on the wonderfully titled “New Titans On The Block Tour” (a not-so-subtle dig at the Clash Of The Titans tour featuring Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth)

By the time “Independent” came around a few years later (now on a major label with major push), they seem poised to take over the world.

Little did I know, what a strange and interesting thread Sacred Reich would weave into my life.  As many of you know, Dave McClain was in Sacred, he joined them on their “Independent” album. I always loved the title track, goddamn what a hook! Machine Head even worked on this tune for a covers album that we had contemplated but never came out.  Check him out in the video below and see what a svelte, long-haired, greyhound-like Dave McClain looked like back in 1993 in the Mark Pellington (Pearl Jam - Jeremy) directed video for the title track.

3 years later Dave would join Machine Head, and the rest is history.  It’s never lost on me, the journey this band has played, in my musical career.

I reached out to singer Phil Rind, and he was way down for this collab.  Sacred have just gotten active again, and are gearing up for a U.S. tour in the Fall which encourage all of you to check out.

**Read the rest of the story here:
https://killersandkings.com/collections/thrashed

Got back from a week-long camping trip in Burney Falls, which is about a 5 hours Northeast of us near the Oregon/Idaho/Nevada border.

Man, it was gorgeous up there, 85 to 90 degrees everyday, huge campgrounds surrounded by pine / douglas fur trees (which basically look like giant Xmas trees).  The waterfalls (Burney Falls) is all snow run off, and about a mile down from the falls it runs into a lake where you can wakeboard/boat.  You can hike around the falls which is beautiful, and swim at the base of the falls itself (if you dare) but remember, it’s snow run-off, so when I tell you it’s cold, lemme tell ya… IT’S FUCKING COLD!  42 degrees if you’re lucky, maybe 10 degrees above freezing.  

Of course, the boys and I had to have a man-off and jump into the falls.  Zander (at 13) and his buddy were a little more up for it, Wyatt (at 10) was not so brave.  And I’m telling you the shock of that cold is insane.  You have to put your feet in the ice water first and let them adjust to the frigid temperature maybe 10 times, because the pain you feel on just your feet is literally unbearable at first.  It felt like your feet are being smashed.  I could last about 5 seconds the first couple times.  For some reason once your feet adjust, the rest of your body isn’t so bad.  I talked a younger guy into doing it and he was afraid of having heart attack!  And yeah, he is right… it’s a freakin SHOCK!

But once you climb out of the water it is such a damn rush.

You get a high I can’t even describe

I jumped in 3 times.

Zander and Wy-Guy twice.

The rest of the week was spent just boating and swimming, tubing and just chillin’.  We fund an awesome section of bridge that crossed over the lake that you could climb and jump into the water from.

The most interesting part is that there is ZERO cell phone reception, and the only wi-fi is a mile away at the check-in area, and even then it’s small gazebo with what amounts to dial-up wi-fi speeds.  I had to drive 15 miles back in to town to get gas and that was the only real service I got.  

And ya know what… it was great.

Of course like everyone, I ALWAYS look at my phone/email/Insta feed when taking a shit.  

Sit down on the toilet seat, pull out my phone.  

And while I recently did a full-on social media detox, I would still check email, text, or talk on the phone.  So this was straight up weird.  I’d go take a shit in the morning and not be able to do ANYTHING.  My phone was useless other than as a camera, and even then couldn’t post any pics.  

And then, it wasn’t weird…

In fact, I just stopped taking my phone to the bathroom.  There was nothing to look at, no reason to bring it.

At night, since none of our phones worked we would build a fire, play music from an iPod, drink, and do something strange… we’d talk…

And we wouldn’t talk about some funny thing in our feeds, or a photo, or YouTube clip… we would just talk… about life.

I know, I know, what a bunch of weirdos!!

We were all forced to unplug… and let me tell you… it was really, really nice.

It made us all realize how fucking addicted to our phone we are.  And it is, a straight up addiction.  I know for me it is.

This week of “phone detox”, couldn’t have put it more in perspective.

We drove back on the friday and I just left my phone off, turned it on Sat morning, checked feeds, and nothing was different, I hadn’t missed anything, literally nothing.  I was almost annoyed looking at my feeds.

I love social media, I love that we can connect, I love that people can express themselves, but it’s so important to draw a boundary.  To step away from it all, to unplug, and not look at someone else life, but to just enjoy YOUR life, and your friends life.

Because really, when its all said and done, thats all were going to have to take with us when it ends.

Anybody remember these lyrics…?

“Say some punk try to get you for your auto,
Would you call the one-time, play the role model?
Nooooo, I think you play like a thug
Next hear the shot of a magnum slug
Hummin’, comin’ at cha
yeah ya know I’m gonna gat ya”

Or this one?

"Time for some action, just a fraction of friction
I got the clearance to run the interference
into your sattelite, shinin a battle light,
swing out the gat, and I know that will gat ya right?
Here’s an example, just a little sample.
How I could just kill a man!”

Or this one

"Do my shit undercover
Now it’s time for for the blubber
Blabber
To watch dat belly get fatter
Fat boy on a diet
Don’t try it
I’ll check your ass like a looter in a riot”

And that ends with:

"Happy face n***a never seen me smile”.

Always loved that line!

Been on a serious Cypress Hill kick lately. I forgot how good their debut S/T record is!  Maybe that it’s just that it takes me back to that time (1991)? Regardless, I can’t get enough of it right now.

I saw that Billy from Biohazard is jamming’ with Cypress Hill’s Sen-Dog in a new band called Powerflo, and that sent me back down the rabbit hole.

I first heard about Cypress Hill from a local Bay Area magazine called BAM.

It had a hip-hop column that was pretty small, but was often on the pulse of all the new stuff.  I checked ‘em out solely on the advice of the columnist (whose name eludes me) but got hooked instantly. The music was so fresh for the sound at the time, which relied heavily on 60’s psychedelica (sampling Hendrix and a plethora of cool guitar licks for their hooks) and 60’s pop yet with an almost bluesy major key undertone throughout.

It sounds crazy to say now, but back then there weren’t a whole lotta’ people singing about weed like these dudes were. That was the surface; party stuff, but there was a real dark feel to the lyrics. The album opener ”Pigs” (about crooked cops) sets the dark tone and then track #2 was, (which ended up being the hit single) “How I Could Just Kill A Man” (which sampled a guitar lick from Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced”) and “Hand On The Pump” (of a shotgun…) taking it even darker, melding the post-Rodney-King-era of Los Angeles, with their South Central, blunted out state of mind.

Something about the bluesy feel of the music mixed the B-Real’s nasally almost nursery-rhyme delivery made it all so goddamned catchy you could not get the songs out of your head.

One thing I always loved that the main music-crafter DJ Muggs did was he almost always brought in a bridge/key change at the halfway point of each song.  It doesn’t sound like much, but hip hop at the time (and even now) kept the same beat/melody almost entirely the same.

They brought terms like “gat,” “blunted,” to the public consciousness. Soon enough every rapper and pop group from Ice Cube to TLC was taking a crack at the Cypress Hill sound with bluesy riffs, and major keys at a time when hip-hop was primarily atonal and noisy (think - Public Enemy).

By the time I got into them, I had pretty much stopped smoking weed, but I just loved the vibe that they brought.

Genevra and I went and caught them live on this album, they were headlining a small club in San Francisco with a fairly eclectic bill for the time. There was Money B of Digital Underground opening, and pro-African, uber-black-power, also-rans X-Clan (who were never really that good, but dressed so crazy and militant that they stuck out) as main support.  Cypress Hill came on and played a short but inspired set that got the crowd going nuts.  I actually met B-Real before the show, who was just chilling’ in the crowd.  I said “what up B-Real?” He took one look at Genevra (who looked ridiculously hot), gave me a completely dead-fish handshake and started chatting her up.  I was “all right, we’re outta here!”

It was a great fuckin’ show, the energy, and buzz in the audience was palpable.  Not sure if I would do that now (go to a hip hop club), but I was 20-something and fearless back then.

And while the hits from the debut album still resonate with me, it deep album cuts like “Pyschobetabuckdown" and “Latin Lingo” that truly set “the kids from the Hill” apart.  The latter blending english and spanish to form the bi-ligual “Spanglish” that flowed so good when you heard rapper Sen-Dog’s baritone with lines like “Troop like a vacuo, who said I was baracho, had an attitude, tried to play me macho, Just relax, calmado mijo, Sen Dog with the funky bilingual.”

I still don’t know what most of it means, but it somehow made sense.

I followed them through the next couple records with 2nd album “Black Sunday containing the massive smash hit “Insane In The Membrane,” and the very metal-sounding “We Ain’t Going Out Like That” (which sampled Black Sabbath’s harmonica intro for “The Wizard”).  Overall the album wasn’t as strong.  It seemed rushed with a lot of the exact same lyrical content, though with that said, it still contained one of the most random / awesome lyrical gems with “like a chicken wing, pa-cock, so you can just suck my cock!” in the track “Lil’ Putos.”

So fucking random, but every once in a while, I still hum it!

Temples Of Boom was the last record I really delved into and it had a few gems like “Throw Your Set In The Air” (as in: your gang set), and the brutally dark Ice Cube diss track “No Rest For The Wicked,” but other than that it was a little all over the place.

I didn’t even hear the next album “IV”, but then they came back stronger than ever with 2000’s “Skull & Bones” and the rap/rock cross-over double hit “So You Wanna Be A Rock/Rap Superstar” which they did 2 versions of (a Rap and Rock version) that worked equally strong.  Great storytelling mixed with the realities of being in the music business.

They have gone on to become a southern California staple with an semi-annual festival (I think) called The Cypress Hill “Smokeout” (Machine Head played it back in 2000, but we were way out of place).  Last I saw them Cypress killed it, putting on a really good show that showed them evolve into a full live backing band playing along with them.

Since I listen to all of my music solely on Spotify, I’ve been playing the latter day tracks and checking out what they’ve been up to (Spotify is GREAT for music discovery, I cannot tell you how many bands / songs I’ve found since going purely Spotify!) and they definitely continued to evolve a bring in some cool new tunes.

But if you want to go back in time to 1991 and check out a record that changed shit, a record that hit so hard when it dropped, that was pissed off, a record that even inspired a few of my own lyrics on Burn My Eyes (“Blood For Blood” in particular) check out Cypress Hill’s self titled.

Spotify:  Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ7DOkfbgpQ

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I don’t know if any you have tried this ridiculous experiment with sunflower seeds and/or pineapple, but the comments and this music video by nut job/ Head Case Floyd MC BBQ have kept me in stitches!!

@mcbbq - Big Loads (music video):  https://youtu.be/s7wqVXBTRHI

And I couldn’t stop laughing at this photo:  https://instagram.com/p/BU4jHD1FDj_/

Dyin’ ova’ here!

This just in; my A&R head honcho Monte Conner tells me that veteran music manager Scott Koenig claims that pure Pumpkin Seed Oil produces HUGE loads!

One more thing to try I guess…

I have yet to see any results, but it is supposed to take a couple weeks.

Below are 3 of the most interesting replies I recieved regarding muslim/gay friends.



From:  Peter Southwood

Sunflower seeds and pineapple - no fucking idea. Sounds like bullshit.

Muslim Friends - Apart from having very few friends anyway, none at the moment. However, I have known plenty, and the one thing I know is that they are people first, Muslim second (unlike the majority of Christians I have met). The Muslim community in the UK don’t even recognise jihadists as being Muslim. They don’t want the three pricks who attacked London on Saturday to be buried with Muslims.

Kathy Griffin - It’s all a matter of perspective. If there weren’t beheadings by extremists in the middle east, would we see the picture in a different light? If this were during the election campaign, would we see it as less disgusting? With what Trump has said about Muslims, trying to ban them from going to the US, people could see the image as a jihadist with the presidents head, and therefore an attack on America. Personally, I have no problems with the picture; not funny nor satirical, but controversial and too easy to be misinterpreted by those who want to.

Gay friends - Can’t say much about having gay friends; as I mentioned before, I have very few friends as it is, let alone gay ones. However, being gay myself, I find it funny that it’s frowned upon in the metal community. Let’s face it, one of the most popular rock singers was gay (Freddie Mercury), and the main figure behind the leather look that a lot of metal bands and fans adhere to, Rob Halford, got his look from the Leather scene in the gay community!

Personally, I’m not worried about being open at a metal gig. In fact, whilst queuing outside the Hammersmith Apollo to see you guys, I got speaking to a couple of others. When they asked if I was married, I told them that my boyfriend and I were waiting for a while. We then went on to have a fucking fantastic time inside. The fact that I’m in the UK and not the US may explain it somewhat; there’s no-where near the level of bigotry over here. There are still some fucktards, but I’ve been lucky enough not to have come across them (not that I would, even if they wanted it!)



From:  Waseem Ahmed

Mr Flynn


A 43 year old Londoner here who’s been listening to your music since 1994, well-kept digipaks of Burn My Eyes and TMTC proudly sat in my music collection, along with your other releases. And a muslim too. And I naturally know shedloads of muslims, both professionally and personally.


Last Sunday, I was on the underground on my way to the theatre in the Covent Garden area with my kids. My sister sat opposite me, still heavily mourning the loss of her childhood favourite Chris Cornell. I received a text from a friend in Paris asking me to be careful as emotions would be running high following the London Bridge incidents. I responded that I’d be fine, “I’m wearing a Machine Head t-shirt so everyone will love me.”



Then it hit me. We’ve reached a point in London, one of the most awesome multicultural cities in the world, where we are now having to explain ourselves and how we differ to the maniacs that wreaked havoc in Manchester and London.


Passing questions. All politely asked though. Are you ashamed about what they did? You’re not like those other muslims are you?



At that moment, protecting me from any glare was my Bloodstone & Diamonds tour t-shirt. Damn, bad times.


My 9-year-old boy is going to his first gigs this year, ticking off Linkin Park and Metallica of his wishlist. He’s scared after hearing about the Ariane Grande concert incident. I’ve told him he will be safe as security has increased everywhere. Fortunately he’s not cottoned onto the muslim label thing yet. That would be heartbreaking to see.


I’ve been gigging in London since the age of 17. Classic venues such as The Marquee and Astoria have gone. One thing has remained. The camaraderie at metal gigs, irrespective of faith, skin tone or whatever. Everyone looks after everyone and we’re all there for the same thing. Together. Irrespective of the nonsense taking place in the world, I hope this bond remains throughout my lifetime and beyond.


Well now you kinda know another muslim, although via email. If you’re ever in London and fancy a hearty home cooked curry, you’re most welcome to join me and my family.


I’ll invite my gay work colleagues too. They are awesome too. And one’s a diehard metaller and one my favourite gig buddies ☺


All the best


Waseem




From: Svetlana Simanski
Subject: Muslims and pineapples


Hey Robb,

I just read your TGJ email and laughed a lot - what a mix of topics and - since I’m already craving for new MH stuff - I thought the email would maybe an update. Anyway… as a straight girl I have been confronted with the pineapple-hypothesis several times in my life and - until today - in my opinion this is just a way to get girls into BJs a little more. :D Men can never get enough, so they invented this hoax to maybe achieve exactly this. And yes, I already tried to prove the hypothesis. Guess what, the pineapples had no effect at all. If you’ve ever tasted cum in your life you might know why pineapple-flavor sounds like a nice game-changer. So much on this topic.

Now lets get to the muslims. I’m 28 years old right now and I am from Germany. After WW2 there came many guest-workers from Turkey to help us out here, to rebuild the country and most of them stayed, had families and their kids had families themselves, but I never was in touch with them. I met some in my time as a student at university, but never was closer friends with one so I didn’t have a chance to get to know the culture or the religion.

So, honestly, I had some prejudices. Not from my own experience, but from the word that spread. I live in a big city and we have to deal with some issues here. There are places you shouldn’t visit after dark or even whole parts of the city which are not completely safe for white girls in black clothes and without a hijab.

Well, of course I had kind of an inner fight with myself and these prejudices. I didn’t want to have them at all and since we welcomed like two millions of refugees in Germany over the past two years I decided to work this out for me. Can you believe we still have Nazi-stuff going here in Germany? Didn’t they learn anything from history or is it just a story, a bad fairy tale for some people? Honestly, I don’t get it.

Anyway I took a new job offer at a stationary youth welfare institution and had no idea what to expect. This was kind of an experiment for me and I started six months ago. I work there with 22 refugees. With kids. They came all the way without their parents or any other relatives.

The youngest one is 15 years old and he arrived in Germany when he was 13. He did the whole fucking trip vom Afghanistan to Germany by himself. This age I played with barbie or tried out how to look good with make-up. Those were my problems. Wow… I thought I had to go through some things in my life, but I realized it was nothing compared to what they did to come here. What they had to do in their countries to basically survive. They killed for the Taliban to save their families. Can you imagine? No, neither can I.

So now I know like 26 muslims (my boss and some coworkers are muslims as well) and I love them all. The kids are so kind and so cute, help- and respectful. You can’t imagine. For me this changed everything in my life. Before this job I couldn’t image to have a romantic relationship with a muslim, now I can. Besides… they’re all a little too young, but in ten years from now… I’d see a bunch of handsome and polite young men from Afghanistan and I can tell you, there are some really, really special characters among them. Just awesome. I got to know their culture a little bit, their habits and routines in religious practice and I even started to learn a little Persian.

My job is to look after them in any situation and explain the pitfalls of german bureaucracy. We are also friends somehow, they tell me stories about their lives in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Eritrea - sad and happy ones - and this is basically all I need. This job just gives me back so much. The love and the kindness you get back from these kids is amazing. It took some time to realize: I’m part of their lives now, I am somehow their sister, mother, aunt and friend at the same time.

I can’t write down all my experiences here, but I wanted to let you know at least a small part of my story and how this job changed my view, my behavior, my thinking and the way I speak to others about muslims or their culture, especially from Afghanistan.

I’m hoping my English isn’t too bad and you can somehow imagine what I tried to describe.

Hope to see you in Germany in 2018.
I’ll be there, somewhere in the crowd.

Cheers from Germany,
Svetlana

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PINEAPPLE:
A) Semen taste enhancer?
Or
B) Cheap attempt by dudes to get blowjobs?

As per our conversation last Friday on Facebook Live, what started out as a fairly mundane conversation, we somehow devolved into whether sunflower seeds make big loads for dudes. Ya see… I had read a story about how Vitamin E (which sunflower seeds are high-in), has this uh, enhancing, effect on men.

Many folks weighed in on the subject, saying that they would do a test (and I believe it was 2 weeks before results would be *ahem* “seen”).  Many folks offered alternate opinions about what makes big loads with the theory that both “celery” and “cucumber”, contribute to big loads.

But THEN, someone chimed in that eating pineapple, or drinking pineapple juice can make your cum taste sweeter!!

News to me.

I had/have never heard this theory, so the Facebook Live-ers and I agreed we we’re going to try and convince their girlfriends/wives to see if that was the case.

I failed to, uh, convince my wife to test the theory, so I’m relying on you guys.

But it also raised the question, do big loads matter?  Is slightly sweeter cum going to make your chances of getting a blowjob higher?  I ran it past my wife who seemed to not give two shits about the size of a dudes “load”.  “Who cares?” was her answer, and slightly sweeter cum was not-in-any-way going to inspire her to slob-the-ol’-knob (much to my chagrin).

Ladies (or gentlemen I guess?) weigh in and let me know!  Email me the results of your tests (not literally of course!) and I’ll post the funniest, most interesting ones.


MUSLIM FRIENDS:

Does anybody know any Muslims?

I follow the rapper Immortal Technique on Twitter and he asked that very question. It made me think… do I know any Muslims?  And if you’ve never checked out IT, do yourself a favor and listen to “Revolutionary Vol. 2”, one of the greatest hip hop records of all time.

But back to muslims, yes I do know a few, our old babysitter was muslim, my Uber driver Ozan (a.k.a. “Gay Muslim Pizza”) is also muslim.

He recently immigrated from Turkey, he’s a funny motherfucker, slightly annoying, a die-hard metal-head, and yes, he is Muslim.  We’ve had many deep discussions about religion, terrorism, what Turkish people think about that bullshit (most aren’t even very religious) the other countries that surround and often threaten Turkey, as well as what is was like growing up in Turkey.

He’s been living here in the US (legally) for the last seven years and he loves it.

After reading that question though, it made me wonder… I don’t really know that many Muslim people… in fact, he may be the only one that I know at the moment (other than of course “Dirt Junior”).  There was a kid on the old MH Message Board The Frontlines named Tharsh that was muslim… other than that… not sure… though being non-religious myself, I don’t really ever ask, cause I don’t really care.

Isn’t religion what got us into this mess?

Regardless, do you know any Muslim people?  Are you friends with any muslims folks?  If your white and christian would you ever date a muslim if she/he was smokin’ hot?

GAY FRIENDS:

Anybody here listen to Howard?

There was a hilarious episode recently where they brought in a professional lie detector test, and did it on Richard and Sal to see if they were gay.  Holy fuck, the results were so goddamn hilarious.  I could not stop laughing listening at this episode.

As it turns out, both Richard and Sal are gay according to this test, (and while nobody knows for sure), it made me wonder the same thing as the Immortal Technique question… do any of you guys know someone who is gay?

I mean, everybody’s got that gay cousin, right?

We all have that gay relative, right?

Hell, I have two gay cousins, my older cousin Ronnie who’s an attorney for San Francisco, and my cousin Stacy.

I knew Ronnie was gay since he was a kid, he lived with us for a while as a teen. When he was 12 he used to "practice kissing” on me.  When he finally came out of the closet (at around 20) it was like, “well shit… saw that one coming a mile away! “

So, does anybody here know any gay people?

Is anybody here gay?  Pretty uncommon/frowned-upon in the metal community, so it’d be interesting to know.  Though if you don’t want to answer I fully understand.

Let me know I’ll share the most interesting responses


KATHY GRIFFIN:

Man there’s a whole bunch of people still going crazy over this Kathy Griffin thing. I’m surprised that folks are as up in arms as they are considering the level Trump has taken thing to. I saw the picture, and I don’t even get what the fuck it means… I thought she was re-creating the Brujeria album cover!

I don’t know…?

Thank satan for the comedians of the world right now.  They are literally and figuratively our guiding light.  WAY more than any 2-dimensional musician, and certainly more than ANY rock/metal musician who’s more afraid of losing their spot at Rock On The Range and turning off a potential-republican-CD-purchaser than pushing any fucking boundary what-so-ever.

Jim Carrey said this of the photo, “I think it is the job of a comedian to cross the line at all times — because that line is not real,”. Adding, “If you step out into that spotlight and you’re doing the crazy things that [Trump] is doing, we’re the last line of defense. And, really, the comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing.”

And it’s fucking true.

True for comedians.

True for musicians.

Artists, musicians, comedians hold a mirror up to the world, to society, and show us the uncomfortable things back, show us beautiful things back, allow us to process the hardships, and wonder of life…

Whether it was George Carlin making us laugh that “Religion Is Bullshit”.

Whether it was Chris Rock breaking down the difference between “Black People and N*****s"

Or

Whether it was Black Sabbath singing about brain-washed minds in “War Pigs”.

The Beatles singing about Civil Rights in “Blackbird”.

Bob Marley singing about freedom.

Rage Against The Machine singing about all kinds of revolution.

The Mirror Which Flatters Not…


George Carlin - Religion is Bullshit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r-e2NDSTuE

Chris Rock - Black People vs. N*****s:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4