Linkin Park returns with fresh faces on their new single “The Emptiness Machine.”
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It’s the first release to feature the band’s new lead singer Emily Armstrong, who fills the giant shoes left by Chester Bennington. In 2017, Bennington took his own life at his home in California. He was 41.
Armstrong is joined by another new bandmate, drummer Colin Brittain, who replaces band co-founder Rob Bourdon. The new singer and drummer complete the reformed lineup with longtime guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ Joe Hahn, and vocalist and producer Mike Shinoda.
Though Linkin Park has found new life on “The Emptiness Machine,” the song continues the band’s decades-long search for catharsis.
A Grievance Anthem
“The Emptiness Machine” opens with Shinoda, who usually raps but here sings calmly as the song builds into a grievance anthem. It’s not clear who or what caused the pain—a deceiving lover, the music business, or the whole world.
Your blades are sharpened with precision
Flashing your favorite point of view
I know you’re waiting in the distance
Just like you always do, just like you always do
Armstrong offsets Shinoda’s measured voice with anguished screams, the territory Bennington would fill. Her voice is powerful and emotional, penetrating the power chords with melodic and tortured singing. But she’s not here to copy Bennington. Linkin Park has smartly welcomed someone original. It’s a new chapter. Familiar enough to satiate old fans yet fresh enough to avoid parody.
Let you cut me open just to watch me bleed
Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be
Don’t know why I’m hoping for what I won’t receive
Falling for the promise of the emptiness machine
Born Again
“The Emptiness Machine” is the first single from Linkin Park’s upcoming album From Zero, due November 15. Their eighth album title suggests a new beginning. However, even in their dormant years following Bennington’s death, Linkin Park outlasted their 2000s-era contemporaries with enduring hits.
Gen Z listeners have also taken to the band, and part of that may have to do with Linkin Park’s dedicated fan base, how beloved Bennington was, and how much he’s still missed.
In their prime, Linkin Park was as reliable as Coldplay for boosting the music industry through record sales and concert tickets. And songs like “Numb” and “In the End” attracted fans outside of heavy music. They are also a band that successfully merged genres—heavy metal, hip-hop, electronic, and pop—and foreshadowed the flexibility of a modern artist like Post Malone.
A Nu Era for an Old Band
According to Billboard, “The Emptiness Machine” is Linkin Park’s highest-charting single in 15 years. A combination of curiosity and eagerness from old fans helped drive “The Emptiness Machine” to No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Though it’s a tough hill to climb, there are examples of massive rock bands successfully changing lead singers. AC/DC, Van Halen, Genesis, and Black Sabbath are iconic bands that survived with new vocalists.
Already pulling me in
Already under my skin
And I know exactly how this ends
Bennington’s iconic screams were crucial to Linkin Park’s success and came to define not only the band but the nu metal genre they dominated. So far, Armstrong is off to a great start as Linkin Park gets reborn.
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