Dress The Dead / ex-Forbidden guitarist Craig Locicero has checked in with the following update.

"It's time to address the elephant in the room.

NO. I AM NOT JOINING MACHINE HEAD.

Hope that's clear enough. I've been hit up about joining the band every single day of my life since Phil Demmel left the by people from all over the world. As has Robb. It's been relentless.

Not that the gig was going to be handed to me anyhow. I'd still have to try out. Do I think I'm capable of winning the gig if I did try out? Of course! As I should feel. But...

1) I value my friendship with Robb a lot more than I want to play in his band and be his employee. We've known each other since 1984 and we're better friends than we ever were back then. We like that.

2) I love my band and everyone in it. A lot.

I feel like I don't see Dress The Dead through I'd be making a huge mistake. It's taken a while to get to this point. We're locked in and things are looking pretty fucking good. Ever since Kayla got here, we've been clicking more and more. I owe it to Mark, Dan, James, Kayla and myself to see that our special brand of metal gets out there. We've worked hard on getting our sound and ideas in line. We're ready.

Gonna to be completely honest here. I've thought long and hard about the opportunity of seeing the world with Machine Head. At that high level of production. I love both Robb and Jared. We all get along great and have a tangible musical chemistry already. Any time we get together to do Robb Flynn & Friends, everyone feels it. It's partly because we keep it all fun. No pressure. Just music, laughter and camaraderie.

There's been a lot of judgements past down through the metal community as of late about Robb and the MH camp. Much of it he owns. As he should. Some of it unfair and hearsay. I've watched Robb grow from this. He was gutted and felt responsible. Been around him a lot as of late and he's definitely taken a step back in the right direction.

But don't get it twisted...it's Robb's band.

Whoever gets the gig of drummer and guitarist in the new MH will be very lucky dudes. It's a streamline metal machine at the ready. It's also gonna be a TON of hard work and dedication with 3+ hour sets every night. They'd better love every second of it, because that train ain't slowing down once it starts again.

So there it is. I support Robb in his next adventure and he's been nothing but supportive to me and Dress The Dead.

Moving on..."

In a recent interview with Talk Toomey, former Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel opens up about his departure from the band in October 2018 amid creative differences with frontman Robb Flynn.

On the deterioration of the band

Demmel: "I'm not gonna badmouth the breakup or Robb. I think he's an amazing musician, and the times I had in Machine Head were awesome. The last few years just weren't. We just didn't work as people anymore. I think Robb strayed from the path of being a band. He stayed on his path. Instead of us being on the same path or asking to be on the same path, it just became, 'This is what we're doing.'"

On "hating" the Catharsis album

Demmel: "There's moments of what I wrote that I like. I wrote most of the music to 'California Bleeding', but then Robb wrote the lyrics on top of it that I just wish that… Me and Dave (McClain / drums) talk about it, like, 'Fuck! I wish I could take my riffs back. No, that isn't what we want them used for.' So, I think, in that sense, it just became a Robb Flynn solo project, and that isn't what I signed up for, and the last few years were basically collecting a paycheck. And I just couldn't do that."

Check out the complete interview here.

It was announced in October 2018 that Machine Head's US tour would be the band's last with its current lineup, as guitarist Phil Demmel and drummer Dave McClain were leaving the band.

Phil Demmel commented on his decision to leave the band. He says: "Thanks to all who have reached out and offered such positive support. 15 years in MH is a long time let alone the almost 32 years since Robb and I first started playing music together. I’m honored to have been given the opportunity to be in this band and I’m proud of my contributions over that time. It’s simply time for me to step away and do something else musically.

"People naturally grow apart over time and it’s no one’s fault. It’s amazing and we’re so fortunate to have been able to it for so long. This last run will give us an opportunity to say goodbye as a group and have a sense of closure to an incredible run. I wish the MH camp and @alienhead65 well as we see what is next. I have so much left to express musically and pretty soon, I’m gonna need a jobber-job!!! Hoping you’ll all stick around for the next chapter. Much love and gratitude, PD."

Photo: Craig Locicero (Facebook)