RAVEN To Record New Album This Summer: 'The Stuff We've Got, It's Yet Another Step Ahead'

In a new interview with The Five Count radio show in Mankato, Minnesota, 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): "The EP really points to where the next album's going to be, which we have pretty much all the songs written. We have an awful lot of songs, and I think we have everything we need. We just have to go through them and see what would be a good starter, what would follow that, what would be a good end and fill in the gaps. And we will probably be recording that in the summer, [around] July, August. So we'll be able to, in our down moments on the [spring 2026 North American] tour, which won't be many, we'll be playing songs and going, 'What do you think of this one? What do you think of that one?' But I'm excited. The stuff we've got, it's yet another step ahead — more intense, more melodic, more heavy, more crazy. [Laughs] A little bit of everything."

John went on to say that there will be an extensive tour to follow the release of the next RAVEN album. "Yeah, we're already planning for 2027," he said. "It's looking really good so far. And I'm just excited to kick it all into gear, get it going."

He added: "We'll be discussing title and cover idea for the new [album] when we're out there [on the road]. Because we're spread a little bit all over the map — Mike's [Heller, RAVEN drummer] out in Texas, [RAVEN guitarist Mark Gallagher and I are] here Florida. But we shall be throwing ideas at each other."

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.

Last month, 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 is feeling at the moment and whether he is 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)