New Album Exclusive: Chester Talks To Kerrang! Magazine

[the enigma]

Like Derek said, speculation is useless when it comes to these guys. What they mean (I'm sure) is that the album is going to be more like the pre-ATS in that they are returning to song-centric writing, making good songs and putting the ones that work well together on the album as opposed to writing one cohesive 45 minute track.

I'm excited to see what's coming. It feels like this is the logical progression (on the timeline) for them. Take what they've done musically and lyrically through all of their divergent song writing and make it one with their original sound, thus creating the sound they've been searching for all this time.

PS: Screaming feels good. It takes a while to teach yourself how to do it without destroying your voice, but once you've got it, it feels amazing to get a mic in your hand and just belt in front of an audience full of energy.

[FoxxPS]

Revealed! The Secrets Of Linkin Park's New Album
Chester Bennington takes K! on a tour of their forthcoming album - and explains how they've learnt to love guitars again

Linkin park are busy putting the finishing touches to their fifth studio album and they've given Kerrang! the inside story of the new record.
The as-yet-untitled release - tentatively scheduled to see the light of day this summer - is currently being completed in the band's LA studio, and frontman Chster has revealed to K! that it's sounding "a lot morefamiliar" than the bands last album, ATS.
Where that 2010 release took LP into unfamiliar and polarising territory, the vocalist has promised that the latest outing sees the Californians take heed of their nu metal roots and throw an embrace around guitars once more.
And if that's whetted your appetite for the new release, just wait and see what else Chester and co have shared with us this week...

With the record nearly finished, how are things shaping up in this final straight?
We've found our stride right now. It's really a prolific phase for the band; we've found a place where everyone is really happy and feels like their voice is being heard.

How ha the positivity rubbed off in the sound of the record?
One thing that Mike and I discussed early on in the writing process was that we wanted to focus on trying to keep things up-tempo. There's some dark stuff, too, but our fans can tell that even in the darker stuff there's always a glimmer of hope, and that's what we write the songs about. It's not finding the positive twist on even the darkest moments; we never want people to feel any hopelessness.

Was the decision to write "up-tempo" based around planning to play the songs live?
Yeah, that was our real motivator. We know that when our fans come to see us play, they come for the nergy of the show. But we've been writing a lot of midtempo stuff and they're good songs, and if we keep writing these kind of songs we're going to end up with a really long set (laughs). We know that with every record we put out we're going to need to put out singles and pick our favourite songs, so we thought it'd make a good exercise.

Does that mean a departure away from the sound of ATS and towards LP of old?
Over the previous two records, we were trying hard to break out of the nu-metal box that we'd found ourselves in. It's easy to characterise us as that, based on HBT and Meteora, when we were a nu-metal band. But we knew there was more to us than that. And, with the exception of the metal seven-string guitar tone that we had on the first two records - which I think is the reason a lot of people like the band - I feel we've found a place where we're finally comfortable in our skin.

Is it simply a case of balancing all the different sides of the band?
Absolutely. There'sso many different sides to LP, and we're tapping into each of them a little bit. With this album, we've incorporated a lot of guitar work with big choruses and the heavier electro stuffto give it a really big wall of sound feeling without getting too metal. This will be a lot more familiar to people than ATS was, where we were like, "Fuck it, we're just gunna go bonkers." (laughs).

Stay tuned, next batch up by 11:20, school calls.

[m_macdonald]

Morning LPA. Voila, here are the scans!

[Lazarus]

they do go together...haven't you listened to P.O.D...

You're very right man.

Oh, the scans are here! Gonna read them now. Thanks guys!

[Arjun]

Morning LPA. Voila, here are the scans!

now we're talkin...the linkin pie properly sums up the interview.

[Elaine]

Linkin Pie?

Don't mind if I do!

[Lazarus]

I was out of my mind when I read "big choruses". BIG choruses. BIG CHORUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS

[TheZlajaZlo]

I want that pie!!!!!!!! Seems very delicious

[AndreyKamensky]

ohhhhh yeah!!!!!! I want this record now!!!

[arbiter]

That right there is some of the vaguest shit i've read in a while! Thank you Chester. Now i know the album could sound like ANYTHING!


In other news, i think that Linkin Pie is now my favourite dessert!

[Ree]

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