New to the band is singer Jakob Samuel who has replaced shouter Pete Sandberg. "There were no personal problems between Pete and I," Reingold explains. "It was just the right time to go our separate ways. It's a bit like a football team - you have to change the players now and again to stay competitive. Even if such a shake-up means taking a certain risk." After Sandberg left Reingold contacted his old friend, Jakob Samuel who travelled down from Stockholm and who put all doubts aside at the very first rehearsal session together. "He was steaming!", Reingold recalls, still impressed. "His singing just blew us away."

Guitarist Magnus Karlsson, who joined the band for the recordings of the last album, Nemesis has become an especially important part of the current Midnight Sun lineup. On Metal Machine, Karlsson can demonstrate all his talent. His precise, rhythmical way of playing and his clever solos prove him to be a brilliant instrumentalist, who enhances Metal Machine as much as he does on his own new Last Tribe album, The Ritual. Completing the current lineup is drummer Jaime Salazar, certainly one of the best and most popular Swedish drummers of the day and also a member of the Scandinavian progrock elite band, The Flowerkings. Majestic Keyboarder, Richard Anderson was invited to play as guest musician and although keyboard parts on Metal Machine are few and far between, Richard can be heard during his brilliant solo in ´Distorted Eyes`. The eleven tracks of the new album were produced by Anders Theo Theander (Majestic, Pain Of Salvation etc.) in the Swedish ´Roasting House` Studios.

The new material was written from September 2000 onwards, after Reingold had badly injured his hand playing soccer and needed to undergo surgery. The instrumentalist was out of the music game for two months, but still worked on the basic ideas for the new album. "Metal Machine is by far the best album that I've ever made," he says proudly. "I think it has an unmistakeable sound, fits into the world of heavy metal perfectly and the music and text form a solid unit. Midnight Sun fans will really enjoy the new album."

HISTORY
Midnight Sun was formed in Summer 1996. Still under the name of Tranquility the group gave a series of club shows all over Sweden and - after changing the band name to Midnight Sun  recorded their debut album, Another World in the ´Roasting House` Studio. The CD was released in in Japan, Sweden and Germany in 1997 and received brilliant reviews in BURRN, Young Guitar, Music Life, etc. Their follow-up work, Above & Beyond was released a year later and showed, with the help of two guest musicians, drummer Hempo Hildén (Dokken, Slash, Glenn Hughes Band) and the brilliant guitarrist John Norum (ex Europe), the band in the style of the heroes of melodic hardrock´s á la Rainbow, Deep Purple and Yngwie Malmsteen. BURRN awarded Above & Beyond 89 from 100 possible marks and this was reflected in other reviews all over the world. For their third album, Nemesis (also awarded 89) Midnight Sun changed the line-up again. In the place of guitarist Chris Palm came the young, talented Magnus Karlsson who had already made a great name for himself for his fabulous playing in numerous other Swedish bands. Karlsson's fancy playing left a permanent mark on Nemesis and often led to comparisons with Malmsteen and even to Iron Maiden.

Armed with the new singer and a new record company, Limb Music Products as well as a whole bag full of great metal songs, Midnight Sun is now back on the scene after almost two years. The Reingold/Samuel/Karlsson/Salazar lineup is doubtlessly the technically best one that has ever played in this band. So if you're looking for the Autumn 2001 release to end all releases, you'll certainly find it in Metal Machine, because, as bass player Jonas Reingold puts it so self-confidently, We are the Metal Gods!