It was really unavoidable for Chester, being asked about the new Linkin Park album while doing promotional interviews for the three Kings of Chaos shows he did at the beginning of the month. Thankfully, Chester is probably the most sincere member of the band when it comes to talking new music, so he actually gave some really interesting information about the new album. Most interestingly, he mentions the new album has entered the mixing stage. Mixing is a process typically done by professional mixing engineer, and it sums the multitrack recording down to mono, stereo, or surround sound print. It's typically one of the final stages of making a song or an album, followed by mastering. This doesn't necessarily have to mean the band has completely finished the writing and recording of the album, but with the lack of studio pictures through the last few weeks, it's not unlikely. Though interestingly, just a few days ago Mike sent out a tweet which indicated that the band was in the studio with K.Flay. Check out the full quote from Chester about the new album below. Everything Chester said seems to align with a short statement Mike gave about the album a few days ago. At the end of the video below, Mike mentions the band hopes to have new music out at the beginning of 2017. Phoenix mentioned the beginning of next year as the beginning of the album cycle back in the beginning of October, so while this is hardly new information, it's nice to see all the band memebers are on the same page. However, I believe the most interesting thing for any sane fan of the band will be this quote from Chester. Never change, Chester. What do you think about this information? Excited to finally hear some new music from the band? Interested in the album title or cover? Join the discussion in our forums! Source: Robin Leach and YouTube via sasuke4545; Mike Shinoda Twitter
No. The mixing on THP was messy as fuck, and this seems to be a cleaner album. They need to get Neal Avron back or take someone new.
Damn, I'm starting to get super hyped now. On the topic of mixers, I wonder who's mixing this, I've always liked Andy Wallace's mixes, wonder if they're going with him again
In terms of mixing engineers, any personal speculation on who would be the best choice for this record would depend on what the music actually sounds like.. and what type of "feel" the band is hoping to achieve. (Can't say I have any concrete sense of the former.. maybe a vague idea of the latter.) For example: Pretty much everything Chris Lord-Alge mixes (regardless of genre) sounds punchy, in your face, technically "perfect", and gigantic. There's never anything sonically wrong with a CLA mix, but the feel of his mixing certainly wouldn't suit every song/record. With regard to Andy Wallace: Unless the goal is a "rock" feel (which isn't necessarily dependent on the specific arrangement/instrumentation), I'm not sure he'd be a likely choice. As for THP, I've never quite been able to decide whether I think the muddy/mushy/messy sounding mixes on that record were the result of Wallace's advancing age, the fact that he mixed it on location instead of in his personal mixing space, or simply that the band wanted the record to have the feel of an older more indie hardcore release (which I suppose kindof ties back into my first point)... or all of the above.
The first LP record that i HOPE is more melodic, downtempo, and atmospheric. Please no screaming and heavy guitar riffs. Oh how the times change. I could not have imagined saying that years ago.
Actually, same here! I like to hear Chester sing over him screaming. I also love Mike's singing voice. That's why I liked Mike better on THP than Chester. (actually I might like Mikes singing better overall)
Actually, right now I'm doubting if the new album is going to be a heavy one or a more stripped down one because lately they are announcing a lot of heavy festivals shows (HellFest, Maximus Festival...) and this kinds of indicates us that maybe the new album is going to be a heavy one.
Yeah, Linkin Park can put out whatever they want and they still have to perform "Numb" and "In The End", and that's enough for most of the audience.
I don't think the festivals are much of an indication of the album direction, especially with the studio updates making things look very mellow and not heavy.
The weirder, the better. Hopefully this album lives up to the band's claims of it being really special. The vocals are what intrigue me the most from what they've said.
I would love a song that has Mike, Brad, Dave and Chester all playing the guitars. Since we rarely or never have Linkin Park music that requires all four of them on the guitars, it would be a dream come true if it happens on the new album.