Matt Alston

Matt Alston has been Machine Head's drummer since 2019, having taken the role in the period when Robb Flynn was rebuilding the band after successive departures. His task is defined by the group's rhythmic logic, which differs from metal's standard. Machine Head does not build weight on speed but on displacement: the accents fall off the expected beat, the riffs work at mid tempo and the effect depends on the spaces between strokes. Playing that way demands restraint — filling too much destroys the swing that gives the band its identity. At the same time, the recent repertoire includes long compositions and elaborate structures inherited from the phase of The Blackening (2007), with changes of tempo and sections demanding structural reading as well as physical endurance. He comes from the British metal scene, where he worked in other bands before taking the position, and is part of the line-up with which Machine Head recorded Of Kingdom and Crown (2022) and the output that followed.