Linkin Park are to release their third studio album ahead of a headline slot at this year’s Download Festival.
The as-yet-untitled-set is confirmed for release on April 30th, with the U.S. rockers also preparing a single to hit a week prior, on April 23rd.
Co-produced by Rick Rubin and the band’s co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda (who toured his side project throughout 2006), the set is described as ‘unpredictable’ by the band’s other singer Chester Bennington.
“[It’s] dark and spooky, poppy and very melodic…” he says. “We’re straying away from a lot of the predictable sounds we’ve had in the past. But there’s no question in your mind when you hear it that it’s Linkin Park.”
The band have sold over 20m records with the release of 2000’s “Hybrid Theory” and 2003’s “Meteora”, but took the decision to try something different with their new album, as Bennington adds.
“Rick has brought more of a stripped down, classic-rock and hip-hop kind of feel. We’re using vintage guitars and drums made out of wood and skin for a more tribal sound. It’s definitely not nu-metal.”
Linkin Park have been recording the album in Personal Studios, Los Angeles, a building that once belonged to legendary gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and also provided a home to the mistress of master illusionist Harry
Houdini.
