Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to QUEENSRYCHE Singer Todd LaTorre about the release of his first solo album ‘Rejoice In The Suffering’ that will be released on February 5 2021 via Rat Pak Records. Todd also gives a Queenrcyhe update in terms of new music.
When asked about the recording and writing process
“My friend Craig (Blackwell) and I wrote and recorded the album here in Florida between my studio and his in about a four month period. We wrote the music and recorded everything and then we gave the recordings to Zeuss (producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris) who you know from doing all the work with Queensryche and other artists and he did the mixing and mastering and that was when Covid started and the lockdown happened. We flew home from two cancelled shows and I called him and said hey this is the time as we have talked about the solo record for several years now (on The Metal Voice). It was really simple to be honest and it was a great opportunity to get it done. There was no touring for the foreseeable future and I remember saying we are going to be down for a long time. So I thought I am never home for any real length of time so I told Craig this is the time, right now and every single day I woke up and we just worked on the music and recorded and we got it done.I just considered it (Covid Lockdowns) as an opportunity that I am never going to get again with this kind of isolated downtime to just focus on this.”
When asked about the different tones and types of vocals used on the album
“This is how I have been singing for so long on my own in various ways and people will say you’re a chameleon, you can mimic and sound like so many different people but at the same time others say but what does he sound like? You know what I sound like? I sound like all this stuff cause I sing whatever the song makes me feel like it wants. Well when Michael Wilton writes a song and it sounds like Queensryche I’m gonna phrase the vocals that way. But I do have other textures to my voice that people don’t get to hear because again I am never going to use that in Queensrcyhe.”
When asked about the musical style of the album
“It’s heavy in a classic sense and in a thrash sense. The guitars are very biting and they are very present. Craig’s guitars needed to stand out but we didn’t want a bunch of layered guitars we wanted to keep it two rhythms and that’s it. The guitars are just simple classic metal right to the point. I just wanted to do music that I hear in my car that makes me want to headbag and groove to.”
When asked if Queensryche is working on new material for an upcoming studio album
“Yes, Michael (Wilton) flew down recently a week or two ago and Zeuss came down we recorded 14-15 new song ideas and Michael will be coming back in a month or so. So yes we are writing new Queensryche stuff and Zeuss is recording it in real time as we are in a room coming up with fresh ideas on the fly.”
When asked if Queensryche would consider doing a new live album
“We have tons of multi track recordings from two years of live shows and I told Eddie I think Michael has the hard drives why don’t we send hard drives to each of us and we can pick three songs. Each guy picks three songs and maybe we can assemble 15 songs for a live record. That is something we are talking about, we shall see.”
Todd teamed up with longtime friend and collaborator guitarist Craig Blackwell, alongside producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris, to create a diverse heavy metal album that draws influence from different styles. These styles will surprise fans who only know La Torre from his previous work with QUEENSRŸCHE or CRIMSON GLORY.
pre order here
“Rejoice In The Suffering” available on CD/Vinyl/Cassette at: https://smarturl.it/tltbundles – Also available on iTunes: https://smarturl.it/tltitunes and Amazon: https://smarturl.it/tltamazon
“Rejoice In The Suffering” track listing:
- Dogmata
- Pretenders
- Hellbound And Down
- Darkened Majesty
- Crossroads To Insanity
- Critical Cynic
- Rejoice In The Suffering
- Vexed
- Vanguards Of The Dawn Wall
- Apology
Bonus tracks (deluxe version only)
- Fractured
- Set It Off
- One By One
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 