STAIND Completes Work On First Studio Album In 12 Years

STAIND has completed work on its long-awaited new studio album. The band's frontman Aaron Lewis offered an update on the LP's recording progress during his February 24 solo concert in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Before launching into his song "I Ain't Made In China", the 50-year-old guitarist/vocalist told the crowd: "I just finished a new STAIND record. And I just finished my new solo record. How I found the time to do it, I'm not really sure. I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead."

This past December, STAIND guitarist Mike Mushok told the Loaded Radio podcast about the musical direction of the group's new material: "It's a little bit more modernized, I think. I think that was something we kind of wanted to do. There's a little bit more of an electronic element on there, which is something new for us, but I feel like everybody is kind of doing that. But I think it's cool. It's not overused. I think the songs are really good. I'm really happy with it. I can't wait for people to hear it."

Mushok also talked about his working relationship with Lewis, saying: "We've been doing it for a long time. It's great to be back and doing that… I think that we definitely respect each other. It's kind of always been that. I think that STAIND's really kind of been… For the most part, I bring some music in and he decides what he likes and what he wants to write to, and we kind of take it from there. That being said, he's come in, obviously, with some amazing songs as well. So it's been a really good writing partnership, I feel."

Last September, Mushok told Atlantic City Weekly that both he and Lewis will continue to pursue other projects — Mushok with SAINT ASONIA, the band he co-founded in 2015 with former THREE DAYS GRACE singer Adam Gontier, and Lewis with his country solo career — alongside their long-running outfit.

"Aaron's built up a great following and great career that he'll fully pursue," Mushok said. "If we can do some STAIND shows in there, it would be great. If we can find a week here or there or maybe a tour every now and then, I'd be cool with that. Like we are looking to do a [STAIND] record, so we'll see how much we do to promote that. Honestly, I'm kind of taking it as it comes, one day at a time. It's hard to plan, you know what I mean. Who would have thought the world would shut down? So you've got to take it as it comes."

In 2021, STAIND supported KORN on a U.S. run of dates.

In June 2021, Mushok told Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio that he and his bandmates were working on their first studio album since 2011's self-titled effort. "There's a bunch of [new] songs kicking around," he said. "It's just kind of [a matter of] sorting through that stuff and seeing what, if anything, we like, and figuring out… I imagine, having not put out a real record of new music in 10 years, we're gonna be pretty critical of what it is and wanna make sure that it's great."

In March 2021, Lewis told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he "would certainly love to" have the new STAIND album released in the not-too-distant future. "All of our plans that were kind of semi on the books and on the table, everything just had a year taken off of it [due to the pandemic]," he said at the time. "We were gonna have a record come out sometime in 2020 or certainly in 2021, and there was a schedule that was on the table that, just like everything else, got burned to the ground as soon as [the lockdown] started."

STAIND has released seven albums since 1995, the latest being 2011's self-titled effort. The band has had a number of hit songs during its first two decades, including the Top 10 smash "It's Been Awhile" from the No. 1 album "Break The Cycle". Follow-up LPs "14 Shades Of Grey" and "Chapter V" also topped the Billboard chart.

STAIND released its first album in nine years, "Live: It's Been Awhile", in May 2021 via Yap'em/Alchemy Recordings. The "Live: It's Been Awhile" album was accompanied by "The Return Of Staind", a two-part global streaming series in partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents. The series launched with STAIND's "Live: It's Been Awhile (From Foxwoods)" concert, which streamed globally on May 1, 2021. The "Live: It's Been Awhile" album and concert were recorded at the band's comeback show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut in October 2019. The never-before-seen concert celebrated the band's reunion after a five-year hiatus. STAIND also performed its iconic multi-platinum 2001 album "Break The Cycle" in its entirety for a May 8, 2021 streaming event, exactly 20 years after the album's release. The "20th Anniversary Of Break The Cycle, Performed In Its Entirety" took place at Mill 1 in Open Square in Holyoke, Massachusetts, bringing the band back to their Western Mass roots.

STAIND played its first full live show in five years in September 2019 at the Louder Than Life music festival in Louisville, Kentucky.