DOKKEN To Release Long-Awaited New Album In September

DOKKEN will release a new studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", in September.

Earlier today, the Don Dokken-fronted outfit shared a few photos from the video shoot for the LP's apparent first single at the popular immersive arts venture Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and it included the following message:

"Hey everybody! We just finished a great music video shoot at Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return with Director Chris Eyre for our new record coming out in September titled, Heaven Comes Down.

"If you haven't heard about Meow Wolf, check them out! And check out my cool jewelry by Cody Sanderson!"

The title of the new DOKKEN album is apparently not to be confused with the song "When Heaven Comes Down" which originally appeared on the band's 1984 LP "Tooth And Nail".

This past March, DOKKEN bassist Chris McCarvill confirmed to Sam Wall that the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2012's "Broken Bones" album was "totally finished." The LP will be made available via Silver Lining Music, the label owned by Thomas Jensen, one of the founders of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival.

Regarding what DOKKEN fans can expect from the new album, Chris said: "I have to tell you is Don sounds fantastic on it. He sounds great. I talked to him on the phone about this a bunch of times, and it was, like, he re-did his vocals three times. He didn't just phone it in; he really worked hard on it. And I can honestly say that, as someone that — I liked DOKKEN growing up and stuff — I can't imagine any DOKKEN fan being disappointed by it; I really can't. Don really sounds good on it."

In 2018, Don told "The Classic Metal Show" that his band's next album would be "a classic-sounding DOKKEN record" with "straight-ahead, catchy choruses, cool guitar riffs, burning guitar solos" and "nice grooves." He added: "The dilemma is to try to do that 30 years later without just ripping myself off and regurgitating old DOKKEN riffs."

Regarding the musical direction of the new DOKKEN material, Don previously told The Metal Voice: "We're kind of going retro. I mean, look, you write what you write as a musician — your life changes, the world changes, you write what you write. You're influenced by new bands and other music. But I know where my bread is buttered as far as the classic DOKKEN sound, and Jon's really good at doing that. And so I said, 'I think we should write a record between the lines of 'Tooth And Nail' [1984] and 'Under Lock And Key' [1985].' And that's kind of the direction I'm writing in right now."

DOKKEN released an album called "The Lost Songs: 1978-1981" in August 2020 via Silver Lining Music. Featuring sleeve art by renowned U.S. artist Tokyo Hiro (MOTÖRHEAD, MOTLEY CRÜE),the effort contains material written and recorded by a hungry young Don Dokken as he embarked upon a journey which started in Southern California and Northern Germany.

DOKKEN's classic lineup of Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer "Wild" Mick Brown completed a short Japanese tour in October 2016, marking the first time in 21 years the four performed together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available in 2018.

At some of the recent DOKKEN shows, Lynch has been rejoining the band on stage to perform three of the classic DOKKEN songs: "Kiss Of Death", "When Heaven Comes Down" and "Tooth And Nail".

Image credit: Melvin Zoopers