Portland, OR hard rock band APE MACHINE will roll out its sophomore album War to Head on September 20 via its guerrilla label Ape Machine Music. Recorded at The Magic Closet Studios with Isaiah “Ikey” Owens (Mastodon, The Mars Volta, TV on the Radio) and mixed at Supernatural Sound (The Thermals, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse), the album delivers nine tracks of heavy, organic music that melds exhilarating ambitiousness with a well-honed accessibility.

The name APE MACHINE is a nod to the days of reel-to-reel magnetic tape audio recording; a fitting moniker for the heavy-hitting quartet as the band plays through vintage tube amplifiers and lays down its songs using exclusively throwback quality studio equipment. With a heady mix of animal aggression and technical precision, APE MACHINE‘s music carries an organic depth and warmth rarely heard since the time of rock’s glorious early years (or your Dad’s bad ass record collection) infused with an exceptional modern sensibility. When the mystical lyrics of vocalist Caleb Heinze lock in with the band’s stone-cold groove, APE MACHINE demonstrates an earth-shaking ability to rock. A true four-piece, the group has been called “a rock and roll band with a finger on the pulse of the 70′s and their asses firmly in the present” and “real heavy-psych for the iPhone generation” that delivers “true guts and glory rock and roll.”

“We went into the studio with the idea of slamming out a record that’s played live, heavy-as-shit and the way we feel it should be done,” dishes APE MACHINE guitarist Ian Watts. “Bringing Ikey Owens in as producer and guest organist added another dimension and a musical co-conspirator. We kept things fully analog throughout the mix process for an end result that’s raw, uncut Ape Machine.” The new album – war to head – will be released September 20th, 2011! Tour dates will be posted soon. war to head will be available on this website as well as iTunes, cdbaby, Super D, Amazon and select retailers.

Pre-order your copy here!

Ape Machine has teamed up with Ikey Owens of the Mars Volta and Free Moral Agents to produce a new record for 2011. Owens has done a string of productions in recent years in addition to his role as keyboardist for the Mars Volta and Free Moral Agents. Owens brought out the soul in the layered the gospel harmony-filled spastic rock of Dusty Rhodes & The River Band in their release “First You Live”. He also produced the beautifully powerful and vocal driven album by Chase Frank — “Smile Trials” as well as recordings of the Crystal Antlers, among others. This will be the second record for Ape Machine in as many years. The upcoming release will pack newly-formed fusions with prog and some “what-the-fuck-are-they-doing?”. All the while keeping your head bobbing and connecting the pain in your Root Chakra to your balls and your broken heart. Jeff Stuart Saltzman, Bryan Daste and Tony Lash have provided engineering and the album is currently being mixed. More updates soon!

Normally we’d talk up the alluring details of our show, or the beer available, but this time we’d like to talk a bit about Killing Joke. This is the band who comes out of the late-seventies, English post-punk scene and has influenced practically a whole generation of rock music. For those of you who remember Metallica in the early days, the album Garage Days (not the 90s remake), had a cover of Killing Joke’s “the Wait”. Helmet and Foo Fighters, among others have recorded covers of Killing Joke songs. Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” practically borrows verbatim the main riff from Killing Joke’s song “eighties”. They’ve influenced bands we love such as Godflesh, Napalm Death, the Melvins, Ministry, Big Black, Mr Bungle… The list goes on. We’re excited to see this band, let alone share a stage with them.

For Ape Machine’s part, the band will be performing new songs from the upcoming record. The band goes back into the studio in January, with Ikey Owens of the Mars Volta and Free Moral Agents producing. This will be the last local show of the year before hunkering down in the studio to paint a new picture of heavy-riffing head-bobbing rock, connecting the pain in your Root Chakra to your balls and your broken heart.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster here:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0F00443C9FBC6F25

Thanks to Throwback Suburbia for the referral!

Ape Machine has recorded an 8 song LP entitled "This House Has Been Condemned". The album was recorded at the Magic Closet in Portland, OR and was engineered by Jeff Stuart Saltzman, Ian Watts and Josh Heinze, and includes tracks produced by Sebastian Rogers. The album is scheduled to drop in May so all of those who have been waiting can look forward to picking up a copy this spring! The record will be released on vinyl, digitally and on a CD that will be included in the vinyl purchase.