Queensryche Have ‘Around 15′ New Songs Written, Todd La Torre Plots ‘Aggressive’ Debut Solo Album
As Queensryche wind down the touring cycle for one of 2015's best metal albums, Condition Hüman, they've begun to look ahead to their 14th studio effort while singer Todd La Torre also eyes his debut record as a solo artist.
The frontman went into detail as to what lies in the immediate future for both him and Queensryche when speaking with Jimmy Kay of The Metal Voice (video below, transcription via Blabbermouth). La Torre stated he went to the band's hometown of Seattle for seven to 10 days to focus on song arrangements with the rest of the group before the recording process begins. He said, "Right now, [we have] around fifteen songs. Not all of them are completed. There are many that are; there are many that have all the [arrangements]."
"So right now the tentative recording timeline is to get into the studio September. It was supposed to be March, but we did 100 shows last year and when you only have four days off at home, you're not locking yourself in your studio to work. And you can't force creativity — good stuff," La Torre further explained.
Still uncertain about exactly what musical direction this next album will take, La Torre expressed that Condition Hüman "in hindsight, probably lacks… it could have used a couple of more faster songs," while returning his focus to the new material, adding, "Out of all of the ideas, there's stuff that's more… So far there seems to be more odd-time stuff, a little more progressive." There's also a song bassist Eddie Jackson wrote that the group added orchestration to, making it "kind of Beatles-ish." The singer commented, "It's a really cool song," but cautioned, "it's not a heavy song."
While La Torre elaborated, "There is definitely some reminiscent of Rage For Order kind of era sounding songs maybe," he confirmed it's difficult to tell because when they get in the studio with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, "it'll totally shift."
As for his solo effort, the frontman is targeting a 2018 release through Rat Pak Records. "Musically, it is probably like Fight meets Pantera meets Black Label [Society]. It's definitely got that kind of southern… you know, Pantera had that certain power groove — not full-fledged [speed], but has thrash elements," he began. "And then vocally, I'm singing probably a lot more chest voice and then I've got some brutal guttural vocals on it. That'll be a lot more brutal and more thrash, but the vocals are definitely more a power metal, operatic kind of a thing — very aggressive."
Don't expect La Torre to lose sight of his priorities with Queensryche, however. "It's really just an outlet for me to just get down these ideas that I've had in my head for a long time and new ones that come up and stuff that I know that's not suitable for Queensryche, that it still allows me, as a musician, to record and just put it out there," he affirmed, unsure if he would even be performing solo concerts.
Queensryche have a handful of U.S. dates and smattering of European stops booked through the summer and a list of all upcoming concerts can be found at the band's website.
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