Formation and Burn My Eyes (1991–1995)

On October 12, 1991, vocalist/guitarist Robb Flynn attended the Day on the Green festival in Oakland, California, featuring Metallica, Queensrÿche, Faith No More and Soundgarden. Unhappy with the creative direction of then-current band Vio-lence, he became inspired to form his own band. Later that evening, he asked friend, bassist and longtime Vio-lence fan Adam Duce to join his then-unnamed side project, which became Machine Head. At the point of the band's formation, Flynn had written "Death Church" and "Blood for Blood"—both of which Vio-lence had rejected. Four months after the band's formation, Flynn parted ways with Vio-lence after a physical fight between the band members and a local gang. Flynn then recruited guitarist Logan Mader and drummer Tony Costanza. Despite the popular belief that it came from the Deep Purple album of the same name, Flynn settled on the name Machine Head purely because he thought it "sounded cool". The band played their first show at a house party in Oakland on August 15, 1992. The band then started jamming in a local warehouse shared with four punk rock bands. Machine Head recorded a demo in a friend's bedroom, funded with US$800. Monte Conner representing Roadrunner Records listened to the demo and signed the band; the night of signing the record contract, Flynn nearly died of a heroin overdose.