Machine Head released Bloodstone & Diamonds in North America and the UK on November 10, 2014. Their eighth studio album was their first for Nuclear Blast Entertainment and their first with bassist Jared MacEachern. String arrangements were central to how frontman Robb Flynn found the record’s direction.
Flynn told MetalSucks he spent the first ten months of writing unsure how the material would fit together. The breakthrough came while developing “Now We Die” and “Sail Into the Black.” Adding vocals and strings to those unfinished songs gave him a sense of the whole record before his bandmates had heard the arrangements. “Now We Die” became the opening track, and its lyrics supplied the album’s title.
Those arrangements involved two separate string quartets. In his General Journals announcement, Flynn explained that he and Rhys Fulber arranged the strings for “Now We Die” and “Sail Into the Black,” while he worked with Jordan Fish on “In Comes the Flood.” Quartet Rouge, who had appeared on Unto the Locust, returned, with another quartet playing on “In Comes the Flood.” Even the physical editions gave listeners plenty to explore. Flynn wanted the packaging to resemble an alchemy book from the 1800s, using weathered edges, sepia tones and woodcut-style imagery. The standard CD came with a 28-page booklet, while the special edition expanded that idea into a 48-page hardcover book.
Fans had already heard another part of the record take shape. A demo of “Killers & Kings” came out for Record Store Day in 2014. Flynn told Metal Hammer that September that it had been the song they had ready, and its fast pace made him think it would work well live. That early release caught a piece of the writing process before listeners could hear how it sat alongside the longer compositions. On the finished album, “Now We Die” ran past seven minutes and “Sail Into the Black” stretched to 8:29.
The recording involved Jingletown and Trident studios in California, with Flynn producing alongside Juan Urteaga. For all the care that went into the arrangements, Flynn wanted the performances to retain a human edge. Speaking to Full Metal Jackie in an interview published by Loudwire in February 2015, he described perfection in terms of capturing urgency: a guitar hit too hard, a voice cracking or drums pushing ahead. “It’s too easy to be perfect,” he said of recording technology. He valued the feeling of a performance close to losing control. That helps explain how he could pursue elaborate arrangements while also wanting the playing to preserve the tension and imperfections that drew him to punk records.
MacEachern’s arrival tested that openness within the band itself. In the same MetalSucks interview, Flynn recalled having to resist asking the bassist to follow the guitar parts; MacEachern naturally worked more closely with the drums. The band had asked him to relocate to the Bay Area so he could take part in the writing process as the songs developed. Flynn wanted that involvement, and accepted MacEachern’s different approach. The new bassist’s contributions reached beyond playing the finished parts: he supplied lyrics for “In Comes the Flood” and bass lines for “Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones.”
