OBITUARY's New Album Is 'Done' But Won't Be Released 'Until Europe Opens Up'

Drummer Donald Tardy of Florida death metallers OBITUARY has confirmed to Finland's Chaoszine that the band has completed work on its long-awaited new studio album. Regarding the musical direction of the follow-up to 2017's self-titled effort, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It is fucking awesome. It is OBITUARY, absolutely 100 percent, meat and potatoes, but with Ken's [Andrews, lead guitar] influence and him being able to write a few songs with me on this one, he brings a much more old-school thrash metal feel. So it's fresh, it's killer, it's exciting on some of those songs, but then also the meat and potatoes, there are some songs that are so heavy on this record, man. I'm so proud of it. I can't wait for people to hear it. And the production — we recorded it at our studio and then we sent it off to Joe Cincotta, my boy who's done the last four albums with us. He did an amazing job; the sound of this record is fantastic. I can't wait for everybody to hear it. We're working on the album cover right now. And we are now just waiting for the target date that we're gonna release it."

As for when fans can expect to get the new OBITUARY LP, Donald said: "Until this pandemic opens up Europe, we will not release this album until we are invited back to Europe. Because the only thing that albums are good for now, and some people won't agree with this, especially fans, is that it's there to get people talking about the band so when we get ready to go tour, we can make a living because nobody — and I don't mean nobody as in zero percent — but the percentage of people actually walking to a Best Buy or walking to a store and physically buying one of my albums compared to 18 years ago, as you can imagine, is nil. So we have to wait for the prime opportunity to release this thing so everybody wants to go and get it. And the prime opportunity is when Europe is open, when America is open, we can release it and we can be in Europe and we can go bust our asses and hope that people go and buy the new album. 'Cause everyone is listening to it, but we're all listening to it on Spotify and on these streaming sites, and that doesn't do musicians like myself, it doesn't do us any good because we don't get royalties from those companies."

He continued: "The reality is we haven't been to Europe in four years and they're deserving of it as well. So we're gonna wait so all of us around the whole world can celebrate this album with us properly where we can go do a world tour and promote it. So, you guys are gonna have to have patience. We're gonna wait until Europe opens up."

As previously reported, OBITUARY will embark on the "RedNeck Run III" spring 2022 U.S. tour with GRUESOME and 200 STABS WOUNDS. The trek will kick off on March 18 in Jacksonville, Florida and conclude on April 10 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Last March, OBITUARY frontman John Tardy told France's United Rock Nations that the band had used some of the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to work on material for a new studio album. "We've definitely been working on new tunes, and we've been taking our time," he said. "We didn't feel like releasing [a new album] now in the middle of the pandemic when you can't go on tour and support it is not what we wanted to do, so we're in no hurry. But by the time next year comes around, we're gonna be hitting the road again. We're getting tours set up, and we will be releasing another album next year before we hit the road and start touring again. So we are currently working on new material."

Asked what fans can expect from the new LP, John said: "I think it's just gonna sound like OBITUARY. [Laughs] You know us — we're kind of cavemen; we don't like to evolve too much. We like to change it up and do a little here and there, but we're getting too old to change too much, I think. So as long as it's heavy and pounding, then that's what you can expect."

Decibel Books has just released "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY. In the book, David E. Gehlke — author of "Damn The Machine: The Story Of Noise Records" and "No Celebration: The Official Story Of Paradise Lost" — provides an unprecedented look at the death metal legends through all-new, in-depth interviews with bandmembers past and present, recording engineers, scene contemporaries and music industry veterans who've worked directly with the band throughout OBITUARY's nearly four-decade career. Packed with hundreds of rare and never-before-seen photos, as well as a foreword from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA),the 328-page hardcover "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary" is exclusively available for order now via decibelmagazine.com.