Several audio snippets of the upcoming QUEENSRŸCHE album, "The Verdict", can be heard in the trailer for the band's North American tour with FATES WARNING. Due on March 1, 2019 via Century Media Records, the disc was produced, mixed, and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (ROB ZOMBIE, ICED EARTH, HATEBREED) at Uberbeatz in Lynwood, Washington; Planet-Z in Wilbraham, Massachusetts; and Watershed Studio in Seattle, Washington. "I'm extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish on this record," states QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre. "The relentless dedication and hard work of everyone involved has been very rewarding. I am excited and looking forward to it no longer just belonging to us, but belonging to the world. We hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it!" Michael "Whip" Wilton (guitar) adds: "'The Verdict' is the most metal and the most progressive record we have made in a long time. I couldn't possibly be more excited for everyone to hear this." QUEENSRŸCHE's spring U.S. headline tour with special guests FATES WARNING will kick off on March 2 in Orlando, making stops in major markets such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and will wrap on April 3 in Seattle. THE CRINGE will be joining both bands on select dates. Todd spoke about "The Verdict"'s musical direction with Eclectic Arts, saying: "It's got more driving songs on this record than the last one… I think there's elements that are more progressive — some different time signatures. It's a good-flowing album. There's some slow, kind of haunting, creepy, cool stuff on this record," he continued. "Like I say, there's more progressive elements on this one, I think — certainly more, I think, than the last one. The song 'Condition Hüman' was kind of progressive in QUEENSRŸCHE's standards, so there's kind of some of those elements going on. Really good lyrical content — thought-provoking stuff. Certainly never trying to tell anyone what to think, but to think. Again, a lot of it deals with things that are happening in the world that everyone can identify with and relate to. I tried to have some really good vocal acrobatics on this [album]. There's not a ton of high singing, but there's some high stuff on there vocally. I mean, it just sounds like a great QUEENSRŸCHE album to me. But you never know until you put it out to everyone, and then it's not yours anymore." For the past 18 months, drummer Scott Rockenfield has been taking time off from QUEENSRŸCHE's touring activities to spend time with his young son, who was born in early 2017. Filling in for him is former KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo. However, QUEENSRŸCHE has not yet indicated if Rockenfield was involved with the making of "The Verdict", although it did confirm that Grillo did not play on the record. "The Verdict" will mark QUEENSRŸCHE's third full-length release with La Torre, following the departure of Geoff Tate in 2012.
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