QUEENSRŸCHE's MICHAEL WILTON: 'We've Managed To Get A Lot Of Really Great Demos Recorded' For Next Studio Album

In a new interview with Finland's Kasarin Lapset, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's upcoming follow-up to 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In between our rigorous touring schedule, we've managed to get a lot of really great demos recorded. And at some point we're gonna not tour as much and really concentrate on the album, and then we'll see what happens. But it's something that could happen really quick, or maybe it won't happen till next year. So I don't know. But the band will determine when it's finished."

Asked what he is most proud of when he looks back at his four-decade-plus career, Wilton said: "I'm proud of the path that we've gone down and how we've stayed true to our DNA. And it's amazing that the fans still wanna hear it, and I think that in itself is something you can look back at. You made a difference in someone's life, whether it was personal or whether it was just music. People just dug your music. I love to play, but I love to see people absorb what I'm playing. So that's so cool, man. That's why I love doing this."

Regarding QUEENSRŸCHE's musical evolution between 1986's "Rage For Order" and 1988's "Operation: Mindcrime" albums, Michael said: "Obviously, 'Rage For Order', which is 40 years old now, we toured [in support of that LP]. We were a touring rock band. We were doing a lot of that. And then one thing with QUEENSRŸCHE, back in the legacy days, was we tried to do 180 degrees different with each album. So off of 'Rage For Order', we go, 'Well, why don't we do a conceptual album?' And so that's where that seed was born, and that's kind of the path we went on that. And here we are, and it's still people's favorite album. But then, at our shows that we're doing over here, people, they say 'Rage For Order' is their favorite album. So we have pockets of fans, and the reason is because each album is a little bit different than the previous one. We haven't written the same album over and over and over again."

This past February, Wilton told Mark Strigl about the musical direction of the new QUEENSRŸCHE material: "Well, we're pushing the envelope. We don't get a lot of standard radio play, so we're just going for it. We're keeping the progressive element, the melodic element, the heavy metal element. So it's gonna be a killer album. But we're trying to make it a little bit different than the previous one. So, fingers crossed."

Asked if QUEENSRŸCHE is still in the "pre-production" and songwriting stage for the next LP or if he and his bandmates are already recording the music for the effort, Wilton said: "Well, it's a bit of both. We're at a point where we know our sounds, so if it's kept in the arrangement of the song, then you're halfway there. But yeah, QUEENSRŸCHE likes to come up with, in the writing process at least, 15 to 20 songs. So that's kind of where we are right now. We're probably on the 13th idea right now. So we're kicking ass."

Wilton also talked about his songwriting chemistry with fellow QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Mike Stone, explaining: "We're both in the room with Zeuss, our producer. And if I have a song, I play my idea. We document it, get it recorded, and then I go, 'Mike, it needs another part on top,' and he comes up with something and it complements, and then we just work together and just build the song. It's great, because you can bounce ideas off each other and it's not just one person saying, 'It's my way or the highway.' It's about getting the vibe and getting the right flavors of the music, and I'll tell you what: Mike Stone does a great job. He can understand what I'm playing and he knows that what we call RŸCHE-ian sound."

Zeuss previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman", 2019's "The Verdict" and "Digital Noise Alliance" LPs.

Wilton told the "Iron City Rocks" podcast about QUEENSRŸCHE's working relationship with Zeuss: "We built such a relationship, and when he hears my ideas and my riffs and everything, he knows, and I trust him with his decisions. And we just have a great relationship with Zeuss."

In a separate interview with J.J. Caithcart of Different Stages Radio, QUEENSRŸCHE bassist Eddie Jackson stated about Zeuss: "Yeah, he's just awesome. He's great to work with and bounce ideas with. He's a great guy, and he's actually a good musician too; he plays guitar and all that. But if it's still working, why not continue working with him?"

In April 2025, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre was asked by Brazil's Monsters Of Rock which "unexplored musical directions" he would like to see the band go in on its next LP. He said: "[We're] kind of [doing] the same thing as what we've been doing. I mean, we don't go in writing a record with a preconceived idea. We just get in a room and [go], 'Hey, show me your guitar parts. What do you have in your mind?' And we kind of all get together in a room and just see what happens in real time. So as far as unexplored musical directions… Personally, I'd love to hear more clean guitar on the next record, maybe some more spacious stuff, some more clean guitar. Orchestration is always fun to work with. It's very huge and cinematic sounding. So those are fun things to play with. Maybe some different percussion things would be interesting to play around with again.

"But, gosh, after 40-plus years, I think without completely changing the band, the band's style of music, I don't know that there's really any too much unexplored musical directions," he continued. "I mean, QUEENSRŸCHE's kind of done a lot within the large space that QUEENSRŸCHE has to run around in. I mean, if we were to do something — we wouldn't write a hip-hop song, we wouldn't write a death metal song. So within the confines of what QUEENSRŸCHE kind of is, as diverse as it as it is, I don't know what kind of unexplored musical directions there would be. On the next one, I mean, I would love to, like I say, play around with some other clean guitar sounds, maybe some more interesting percussion things — like the song 'I Am I' had some really neat percussion things going on."

Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's latest studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past nine years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Jackson and Wilton filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit. That dispute has since been settled out of court.

In a recent interview with The Joel Martin Mastery Podcast, Wilton stated about QUEENSRŸCHE's songwriting process: "Well, the last few albums we've kind of wanted to write fresh, so kind of on the spot. So I'm not looking at anything I've done in the past. I'm looking at just the inspiration of the day and getting something recorded and live with it for a couple of days and then come back and go, 'Okay, yeah, this is pretty cool,' or, 'Nah, I'm gonna delete this.' But I think it's something that is special to a group of guys that everything that you create is new or kind of new. We're probably ripping ourselves off blind with all the riffs and melodies, but that seems to be the fresh approach. I mean, the stuff that goes by the wayside, that's stuff that goes on solo albums. [Laughs]"

Wilton previously discussed the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to "Digital Noise Alliance" in February 2025 in an interview with Marko Syrjala of Metal-Rules.com. Michael said at the time that he and his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates were "following the same process" this time around as they did for "Digital Noise Alliance". "With ['Digital Noise Alliance'], the recording and writing sessions were meant to feel fresh — nothing was e-mailed back and forth," he said. "Everything was built during the writing process. In that sense, it was about going back to the days when we'd be in a room writing the [debut QUEENSRŸCHE] EP in the morning. Back then, we didn't have technology like we do now. No cell phones, no computers — maybe, if you were lucky, you had a four-track recorder. The way we worked was simple: 'Hey, Chris [DeGarmo], you got a riff?' And I'd say, 'Okay, I like that. Let me add something to it.' It was a real band effort because everyone was in the room, giving input. That's exactly what we did with ['Digital Noise Alliance']. Everyone was involved — 'Oh, I like that,' 'Oh, I don't like that' — and the songs evolved a little more each day. Some songs we dissected and reworked completely. Take 'Tormentum', for example — that's like four songs merged into one! [Laughs]"

Asked if it's "correct to say" that recording the "Digital Noise Alliance" album was "a fresh start" for QUEENSRŸCHE, with Grillo becoming a permanent bandmember and Stone returning to the fold for the studio sessions, Michael said: "Yeah, I think so. This next one will be even better because, with ['Digital Noise Alliance'], Mike didn't come in until the end of the process. But now, he's here from the beginning of the process. He's writing with me, and I'm writing with him, so it should be a bit more cohesive, I think… He knows the ways of the RŸCHE. He knows the guitar style and how to stay within that area. But, like I said, the stuff we've written so far sounds pretty cool."

QUEENSRŸCHE kicked off a European tour on June 6 in Köln, Germany, with shows running through July 5 in Cartagena, Spain. Dates include a mix of headlining shows with RIVERS OF NIHIL opening, as well as festival appearances.