Robb Flynn

Robb Flynn — born in the United States on 19 July 1967 — is Machine Head's singer, guitarist and founder, and one of the few musicians to cross three distinct eras of American metal while remaining relevant. He came from the Bay Area thrash scene, where he played in Vio-lence — the same circuit that produced Exodus, Testament and Metallica. When he put Machine Head together in 1991, thrash was already in decline, and he wrote something different: Burn My Eyes (1994) works with mid-tempo riffs, low tuning and weight built on rhythmic displacement rather than speed. It is groove metal, and the record became one of the genre's biggest debut successes. The following decade was rough. On The Burning Red (1999) and Supercharger (2001) the band took in nu metal elements, a decision that drove away much of the audience and that Flynn spent years repairing. Through the Ashes of Empires (2003) and above all The Blackening (2007) restored the group's standing — the latter with compositions of eight, ten minutes, elaborate structure and a declared return to thrash. Flynn is also one of the most outspoken voices in that world: he writes long public texts about politics, addiction, mental health and the industry itself, with a degree of exposure practically no other band leader in the genre practises.