RAVEN Has 'A Lot Of Songs' Written For Upcoming Album

In a new interview with Metal Mayhem ROC correspondents Southern Cal and Bill The Rager, bassist/vocalist John Gallagher of the British/American metal trio RAVEN spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next album, following the arrival of last year's "Can't Take Away The Fire" EP. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We have a lot of songs. We have a very, very large cache of songs. A lot of them were written before I had the accident [bleed on the brain, which required surgery in August 2025]. So with all that, a lot of them I couldn't even remember. Totally. I mean, it's tough when you're a sausage factory and stuff anyway. You just concentrate on the one you're working on, and then you go back, and we kick it around between the three of us and see where it is. So I've got perfect perspective on listening back to a lot of this stuff, and it's, like, 'Wow, that's really cool. I like that.' So it's a question of going through them and going, 'What would be a great opener?' 'What would be a slam-dunk follow-up?' 'What would be a great ender?' If you had something more epic, where would you put it? Where would a rock and roll one go? You try to pre-sequence, in a sense, and end up with, like, 12, 13 songs and maybe cut them and work it down from there. You always need an extra track for Japan or what have you. There's always something like that. But we like the concept of the 10, 11 songs, 40 minutes. You don't overstay your welcome. People's attention spans are slow enough to start with. But back in the day, that was your restriction due to vinyl, so it made sense. You could build a little narrative, little peaks and valleys up and down, and sequence it correctly and really hit hard. MONTROSE, first album. VAN HALEN, first [album]… I mean, VAN HALEN kept it real short, but within reason, the concept is still there."

Asked what the advantages were of being on a major label like Atlantic in 1980s compared to now when RAVEN is working with Silver Lining Music, John said: "Well, even back then, the major pro was distribution. And back then there was somewhere to distribute to. Now, not so much. You're talking about specialist mom-and-pop stores. You're not gonna get your record in Walmart. I mean, nobody is, unless you're K-pop or something or it's a best-of from 40 years ago. They don't have it. And the other shop that would be in the mall would have been FYE, and again, they're just selling off whatever they've got. They're not putting anything new in. So it's pretty strange. I mean, we sell an awful lot live… A lot of people will buy the CD, play the CD and buy the vinyl just to look at or to collect. We've got collectors that come out and they buy four copies of everything. It's, like, mental. I don't get that. But they want to sit down and immerse themselves in it, and we understand that 'cause we do the same thing. If I get an album I like, I wanna sit and listen to it and read the liner notes and see who did what, what the lyrics are, try to decipher them, who played on it, who produced, where was it recorded, what kind of socks were they wearing, all that good stuff. And that's in our DNA. That's from way back."

In August 2025, it was announced that RAVEN was postponing its previously announced summer/fall 2025 European tour so that John could undergo emergency brain surgery.

This past February, John told Metal Mayhem ROC about his health: "I call 2025 our medical gap year. My brother [RAVEN guitarist Mark Gallagher] had an ankle replacement and a knee replacement, which were kind of planned, but me getting knocked on the head and being in the ICU for two weeks and bleed on the brain wasn't planned. I'm just very, very lucky to pull through with it, with very little to show for it. Medically, I'm doing okay."

Speaking in more detail about Mark's surgeries, John said: "Well, the ankle, Mark needed the ankle for an awful long time. I mean, you guys have seen him running around like a crazy man, but you don't see him curled up in a ball after the show. He's been in a lot of pain for many, many years, and this is something he's wanted to do. And [it was] basically bone on bone, no cartilage, so it really needed to be done. And the other thing that followed from that, of course, is all those years of compensating for the ankle with the other leg, and the knee got shot because of that. So he got both of them done. So he's a little bit more metal than what he was before."

As for how he was feeling at the time and whether he was prepared to return to the road, John said: "Well, with my thing, I'm currently still on anti-seizure medication, which is being reviewed later this week. We'll see how we're doing. But I was basically given the green light to do whatever only a few weeks after with the caveat that 'you won't be strong enough to do any of that.' And they were right, 'cause [when] you get a head injury like that, it kind of sucks all the power out of your body to try and fix that. So it was humbling, put it that way. It took a hell of a lot out of me. But I'm doing pretty good now. And it was a little weird, a few strange things. As soon as I got back, I picked up a bass and started trying to play a few of my favorite MONTROSE riffs, and the fingers weren't going where they were supposed to go. So I put it down for a day or two and came back and realized I was about 80% of what I should have been. And I just had to work real hard and getting back to where I am — currently a little better than I was before. So I'm happy about that."

According to John, his inability to play the bass properly after being released from the hospital was "totally mental. Literally my fingers weren't going in the right place or were out of sync," he explained. "[It was] just a brain thing. Compared to a lot of people, I'm incredibly lucky. So it was just a small hurdle to work on, and it did scare me a little bit, but I was getting improvements almost immediately on that. And it only took a few weeks, and I got back to where I was supposed to be."

Referencing KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, who died last October after a fall at Ace's home, John added: "Believe me, very few moments go by where I'm not reminded [that] I could be where Ace Frehley is, and Ace could be where I am. God bless. I'm very, very lucky. My family, my friends, they've all been amazing. The doctors, the nurses, the whole deal."

Considered part of the "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" movement of the early '80s, RAVEN is perhaps best remembered for its trailblazing tours in America in the early '80s that gave groups like METALLICA and ANTHRAX their first taste of the road.

RAVEN's classic albums "Rock Until You Drop", "Wiped Out" and "All For One" virtually invented both the speed metal and power metal genres, with the band consistently pushing the envelope while retaining its unique sound and attack — both in the studio and in their true element: onstage.

RAVEN's latest EP, the aforementioned "Can't Take Away The Fire", came out in February 2025 via Silver Lining Music.

Photo by Magalie Aspeele (courtesy of Earsplit PR)