Machine Head leader Robb Flynn hopes his band’s eventual retirement will be a grand finale like Stranger Things’ last season.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone Australia, the Oakland thrash/groove metal four-piece’s singer/guitarist says he doesn’t want to needlessly drag their career out, despite the positive fan reception to their two most recent albums, 2022’s Of Kingdom And Crown and this year’s Unatoned.
“I don’t want this to go on forever, it shouldn’t go on forever,” he says. “It needs to end. Things end. I don’t know when that is for us… I’m always thinking in the back of my head like, ‘It should probably end soon…?’ Just so we can have an exclamation point on it.”
He then compares his aspirations for Machine Head’s bow-out to the ongoing final season of Stranger Things. Volume one of the hit series’ fifth season was put out exclusively via Netflix last month, and the rest will come on Christmas Day (December 25) before a feature-length finale on New Year’s Eve (December 31).
“You don’t want to be the old guys still hanging around at the party when the party ends,” Flynn continues. “Like Stranger Things! It’s a phenomenon, right? But it’s ending. I hope I reach the point where, when the time comes, we step away gracefully.”
On Sunday (December 7), Machine Head wrapped up a six-date tour of Australia. They played the first three shows as a power trio, with Flynn being flanked by bassist Jared MacEachern and drummer Matt Alston.
Flynn explained in a video message last month that their planned touring guitarist dropped out at the last minute due to a family emergency. Their full-time guitarist, Reece Scruggs, previously sat out some summer tour dates to be with his father, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Producer Zack Ohren and Decapitated guitarist (and former Machine Head member) Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka played on those dates.
Machine Head will return to the road in the spring, when they headline an ‘Evening With…’ tour across Europe and the UK. The band will play three-hour shows at each stop with no support act. Flynn promises that they will bring “molten metal, raging pits and life-affirming sing-alongs” to each stop.
Last week, it was announced that the first volume of Stranger Things’ swansong season had broken Netflix viewership records, achieving 59.6 million views in its first five days. Not a bad model for Flynn to try and follow.
