Michael Wilton thinks next Queensrÿche album could be more of a continuation of ‘The Verdict’

Michael Wilton thinks next Queensrÿche album could be more of a continuation of ‘The Verdict’

Queensrÿche founding members, Michael Wilton (guitar) and Eddie Jackson (bass), were recently interviewed by Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon for Canada’s The Metal Voice.

In terms of the status of the band’s upcoming new album, Wilton indicated (with slight edits): “The band is doing a think tank session, recording demos for the new Queensrÿche album. We are kind of doing it more as a group. Everybody is brainstorming together.  It’s actually a throw back to the way we used to build songs together back when there were no Pro Tools and there were four track and eight track recorders, and we all got together and gave everybody your ideas. You would brainstorm and things come up and you try them out and throw them at the canvas, and you see if it sticks. And that is kind of what we are doing now. Obviously, it’s in a digital framework but the ideas are flowing. This is kind of refreshing fun and we are coming up with some killer stuff.”

Jackson added: “Our last show was February 27th of last year, 2020, and this is the first time we’ve actually seen each other in over a year. It was kind of nice getting together and work. We just arrived a couple of days ago, but we’re here for just about two weeks. And like Michael said, we’ll put our thinking caps on and start creating some music.”

In regard to the musical direction of the next Queensrÿche record, Wilton opined: “It is what it is. I can’t describe it. I have a hard time telling people what my guitar style is. I have no idea what I do technically or whatever. This is — I think it’s just organically happening. We’ve got a lot of ideas. So now we’re just building it. And that’s kind of the joy of doing this as a band, is we get to see it happen in real time and see the songs build from the riff to the finished song. And we’re in that process right now. So it’s kind of hard to say where we’re going or what we’re doing. Our producer, Zeuss, if this is any indication, he says it sounds like Queensrÿche. I think we’re just going with our gut right now. You don’t wanna take too many drastic chances in this day and age. So I think it’s more of a continuation of The Verdict, maybe, in some sense. We’re riding that wave. It’s been good to us.”

The Verdict finished at #15 on the Sleaze Roxx Readers’ Top 20 Albums of 2019 to which Sleaze Roxx stated: “Since hooking up with frontman Todd La Torre, Queensrÿche continue to generate about the same number of votes from Sleaze Roxx readers from one album to the next with 186 points with their self-titled album for a #11 finish in 2013, 219 points with Condition Hüman for the #10 spot in 2015 and now 260 points for #15 in 2019. The revamped Queensrÿche line-up of La Torre, bassist Eddie Jackson, and guitarists Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren, seems to have lost quite a bit of melody with its new songs. If the band was to release something in the vain of 1990’s Empire, one would think that such an album would be a contender for album of the year among Sleaze Roxx readers.

Perhaps the group simply needs former lead vocalist Geoff Tate and guitarist Chris DeGarmo back in the line-up? Tate continues to celebrate Queensrÿche‘s past as he is currently touring and playing the albums Rage For Order and Empire in their entirety. While Tate appears ready to partake in some sort of reunion with his former bandmates, it seems there’s almost zero chance that DeGarmo would rejoin the band. In the meantime, we are left with a Queensrÿche line-up that continues to record and release new music, and that seems to satisfy a certain “base” of Sleaze Roxx readers.”

You can read other excerpts from the interview with Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson at The Metal Voice‘s website and/or listen to the interview below: