Metal Anarchy

It looks like Queensrÿche have started work on their next album. According to guitarist Michael Wilton, the band are “currently working on demos.”

Wilton told Metal-Rules.com the following:

“We’re currently working on demos for the next album, which is really important for us. After this [European tour], we have the Monsters Of Rock cruise, followed by the Monsters Of Rock festivals in South America. That brings us to May. Then we have some sporadic gigs here and there, but we’re also planning to work with our producer, Chris ‘Zeuss’ Harris, and continue the writing sessions. Hopefully… But we’re already getting offers for the end of the year, so I’m not sure when the album will be released. [Laughs]”

He continued after the interviewer described the schedule as “complicated”:

“You know, for the bands to make money, they have to tour. We get lots of offers — weekend gigs, two-week tours or even just a weekend here and there. You can’t say no because if you do, someone else will take that opportunity and might not ask you again.

The thing is, to do a proper Queensrÿche album, we need about six weeks of uninterrupted time. But it’s harder now because we have to juggle these gigs — weekends here and there — before coming back to focus. Zeuss has had to adapt; he’s very mobile now. He’s learned to be because we’re not the only band that does this; all bands do. He works with Rob Zombie — ‘Hey, come on over for the weekend. Let’s work on some stuff.’ Or with Shadows Fall — ‘Let’s work on some stuff.’ So, he’s used to it. It’s just a matter of someone organizing it all.”

He went on to say that the process may be similar to the one that spawned “Digital Noise Alliance”:

“With [‘Digital Noise Alliance’], the recording and writing sessions were meant to feel fresh — nothing was e-mailed back and forth. Everything was built during the writing process. In that sense, it was about going back to the days when we’d be in a room writing the [debut Queensrÿche] EP in the morning. Back then, we didn’t have technology like we do now. No cell phones, no computers — maybe, if you were lucky, you had a four-track recorder. The way we worked was simple: ‘Hey, Chris [DeGarmo], you got a riff?’ And I’d say, ‘Okay, I like that. Let me add something to it.’ It was a real band effort because everyone was in the room, giving input. That’s exactly what we did with [‘Digital Noise Alliance’]. Everyone was involved — ‘Oh, I like that,’ ‘Oh, I don’t like that’ — and the songs evolved a little more each day. Some songs we dissected and reworked completely. Take ‘Tormentum’, for example — that’s like four songs merged into one! [Laughs]”

He also added the following when asked if “Digital Noise Alliance” was “a fresh start” with drummer Casey Grillo:

“Yeah, I think so. This next one will be even better because, with [‘Digital Noise Alliance’], Mike didn’t come in until the end of the process. But now, he’s here from the beginning of the process. He’s writing with me, and I’m writing with him, so it should be a bit more cohesive, I think… He knows the ways of the Rÿche. He knows the guitar style and how to stay within that area. But, like I said, the stuff we’ve written so far sounds pretty cool.”

[via Blabbermouth]