It was at least a little surprising that Machine Head replaced longtime guitarist Phil Demmel with Decapitated guitarist Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka in 2019.
According to Kiełtyka in an interview with Kaaos TV, he ended up getting the position after reaching out to Machine Head vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn about the Burn My Eyes tour. Which then turned into an audition, which of course turned into Kiełtyka getting the job.
"It was a huge experience. So many things happened. It was a big surprise for me, because I didn't plan that, to play [with Machine Head]. It kind of accidentally happened.
"In 2019, when we started the summer festivals with Decapitated, I sent an e-mail to Robb Flynn about congratulations, because I heard about the upcoming Burn My Eyes tour. Because I'm still a huge fan of the first album, I just wanted to share my happiness about that with Robb. So I sent a message to him. And he replied, saying, 'Thanks, man.' And, 'Maybe you can play with us one song as a guest in Warsaw,' because they planned a Warsaw show.
"So we started to talk. And then it became a serious talking about the guitar player they were looking for, and I was sending my proposition that maybe I can help with that. So I did an audition. They sent me song requests for the audition, so I did it. And in a few days, I became a new guitar player of Machine Head.
:It was really fast. Because I didn't hear about that they were looking for a guitar player. I heard about Phil Demmel, the issues with Phil and the rest of the guys; they quit the band before. But I thought that the Burn My Eyes anniversary tour was only the Burn My Eyes lineup, and then I found out that it's also a second lineup to play songs. So, it was cool. It was [such] a positive shock for me."
