COREY TAYLOR On STONE SOUR's 'Hydrograd': 'We Captured Lightning In A Jar That Nobody's Seen In A Thousand Years'

Corey Taylor says that STONE SOUR fans "are gonna freak out" when they hear the band's album, "Hydrograd".

While the first song from the disc is expected to be "leaked" later this month, the full-length follow-up to "House Of Gold & Bones" will arrive at the end of June.

"Hydrograd" was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX and STEEL PANTHER.

Speaking to Kilpop, Taylor said about the making of the new STONE SOUR album (see video below): "Sphere Studios is one of the best studios I've ever worked at. All the people there are some of the best people I've ever worked with. And we captured lightning — not even in a bottle — in a jar that nobody's seen in a thousand years. It is so goddamn good. People are gonna freak out. It's so good."

STONE SOUR bassist Johnny Chow recently described "Hydrograd" as "a straight rock and roll album," adding that it's "a little bit of a departure" from the band's previous output. Speaking with Detroit radio station WRIF, Chow said: "This album is just a straight rock and roll album. There's some kind of FOO FIGHTERS-meets-CHEAP TRICK, but there's also groove-heavy stuff. It's not heavy in the way of SLAYER… It's just very groove-oriented, very melodic [with] big choruses. We've got some mellower songs on there too, which are equally just as amazing and have a lot of groove to them."

He added: "This album is a little bit of a departure from previous STONE SOUR albums. We think it's the best one yet."

Chow said that the group recorded a total of 18 songs, of which 14 or 15 will make the final track list. He also remarked that the band "recorded the whole album live," explaining, "We didn't do it piece by piece in Pro Tools and chop it up… We really were able to capture that raw, aggressive feel and tone."

"Hydrograd" is STONE SOUR's sixth full-length studio album.

STONE SOUR will play the Rock On The Range kick-off party on Thursday, May 18 at Express Live! in Columbus, Ohio. The event will start the Rock On The Range weekend, with METALLICA, SOUNDGARDEN and KORN headlining this year's festival.

STONE SOUR will also be special guests of KORN on the latter act's "Serenity Of Summer" trek, which starts on June 16 in Salt Lake City and wraps on August 2 in Cleveland.

Regarding where the title "Hydrograd" came from, Chow explained that it was Taylor's idea, adding: "It has to do something with him being in an airport, going to the wrong gate, but the gate he thought he saw said 'Hydrograd,' and it just always stuck with him for some reason — that word 'hydrograd.' So I don't know if it's an actual true word or not."