San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have parted ways with bassist Adam Duce. The split is said to be "amicable," and MACHINE HEAD would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors. The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and has begun the writing process for the follow-up to 2011's "Unto The Locust". A late 2013 release is projected.

In a 2012 interview with Holland's FaceCulture, Duce stated about whether he felt any pressure following up 2007's "The Blackening": "I'm doing this for fun. If it doesn't work out and I don't get to make money doing this anymore, fuck it. If it's not fun, then I don't wanna do it. I don't expect to get rich doing this. I wanna have a good time and I wanna make some good music."

He continued: "I had some issues with [the writing] process [for 'Unto The Locust']. I kind of took myself out of it until it was time to write my bass lines. I wrote a bunch of music, or riffs, that Robb [Flynn, guitar/vocals] didn't have any idea what to do with vocally, and so he didn't wanna use any of that. But more importantly, I wrote lyrics that meant a lot to me and I gave it to him. I've given him page after page after page of lyrics. And it usually comes back that way, [where] he'll use a verse or a part of it or whatever — 'I'm gonna take this part and put it down here.' . . . whatever works for the cadence. But I got kind of burned on putting my soul out on a piece of paper and giving it to him and when I see it next time, there's no remnants of what the original idea was. And I was just like, 'You know what, dude?! I'm not giving you any more fucking lyrics, because I'm fucking sick of looking at this, the way that it fucking turns out.' I said, 'I'll work on it with you at the same time, but I'm not giving you any more lyrics. I'm not giving you pages of lyrics.' He was fucking angry at me for a while, but you know… that's fucking what happens."

Asked if he has ever thought about quitting the band, Adam said: "I've thought about quitting on different occasions, but I mean, Robb's thought about quitting on different occasions as well. Dave [McClain, drums] actually quit the band. I can safely say everybody's thought about quitting at one point or another."

Regarding whether he was happy with the things he could contribute to MACHINE HEAD, Adam said: "Well, I find what's important to me and where is my freedom. 'Cause that is what is important to me — the freedom aspect of it. Because making music is freedom to me. Probably [in] several different ways, because I wasn't allowed to have it while I was actually locked up. And just the freedom to go wherever you want to, the freedom to get yourself out of the way and let the music flow. [I still feel that freedom within MACHINE HEAD] with my bass lines — that's where I found it. And so when it's me and her [laughs], that's what I do here. That's my freedom."