Robb Flynn is not unfamiliar with adversity. As a younger man, he encountered it on the streets of Oakland, seeing violence and becoming involved in drugs. In Machine Head, they were emerging into an early-’90s music scene in which many were saying metal was done and dead. Across the years, he’s faced problems from within – he is the only constant in the band’s almost 30-year history – and from outside. Most recently, 2019’s Catharsis album was subject to much criticism. Shortly after, half the band quit. But in all this, Robb Flynn has still stood tall and stood by what he’s done. Often, the knocks have only spurred him on. After its divisive predecessor, ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN is the best thing Machine Head have done since The Blackening, itself a rebirth of sorts after some...
