BLACK TIDE Bassist On Next Album: 'Our Goal Is To Make The Best Rock Record We Can'

Bradford Skelley of Mega Metal Magazine last month conducted an interview with bassist Zakk Sandler of Miami, Florida metallers BLACK TIDE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Mega Metal Magazine: What's going on? What is the band up to right now?

Zakk Sandler: Right now, we're just wrapping up a session in New York City, where we've been working on demos, and writing songs, and doing some early pre-production for our next record. Just pushing through it. It's going pretty good. The label's lovin' it, and we're lovin' it. So we're hoping to have the record done, I think around June 2010. That's our goal right now, we're probably going to jump right back into the studio in April 2010, and just get it done. We've waited too fucking long to follow up the last record – 2007's "Light From Above".

Mega Metal Magazine: Do you guys have a working title for the new record yet?

Zakk: Not sure yet, I kept joking that we should call the album "Light From Above II" but everybody hates that idea. Guess we're not going to get it. [laughter] We'll see, we're still not sure how we feel about this direction. You know? What CAN we call this record? What would describe it the right way? I think it shows that we've grown as people. We could even go as far as calling it self-titled — "Black Tide". If anything this could be the album that ultimately shows who we are. The second album, for most band's is that point, where you hear, "Oh, this is what they're about."

Mega Metal Magazine: You guys played three new songs on December 6, 2009 on the show that you opened for THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS and TAKING BACK SUNDAY. Are those three new songs going to be on the record as well?

Zakk: I think all three of them are. It might only be two of them. We played the new song "Redefine" all summer. As it stands now, I'm not sure if it's going on the record. I haven't even listened to that song in awhile. At the same time, I think it's kind of cool, because there is all these videos of us playing it on YouTube, and all the kids are like, "I fucking hate them now, see what they've turned into." But when they hear what we've got going on now. They're going to be like, "Holy shit!" Our goal is to make the best rock record we can.

Mega Metal Magazine: Who is producing, and is it the same person you had when you were out here in Kansas? How is the second part of the record coming along since then?

Zakk: We're still working with Josh Wilbur [who previously worked with LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, LIMP BIZKIT] like we were before. I don't know if I can say the other guy that we're working with, but just trust that he's a well-known guy.

Mega Metal Magazine: How is the album sounding so far. Is it similar to the last album? Or is it going to be completely different and blow us all away?

Zakk: I think it's got a bunch of elements from the last record. I think it's obvious that we've grown as players, and as writers, in pretty much every way we can. There's definitely a different sense of direction with this. In some way's it's a lot heavier, and at the same time it's a lot more melodic, and prettier.

Mega Metal Magazine: So a lot of guitar work and solos?

Zakk: There is A LOT of guitar work. Especially from what we thought it was going to sound like, it's a lot riffier, and a lot more diverse. In a weird way, I think it's more — kind of like our last album. More of an '80s rock vibe & elements of a early '90s rock vibe. It's all over the place.

Read the entire interview at Mega Metal Magazine.