Metal Injection reported back on November 27th that Rage Against The Machine would not be writing a new album, however, reports now indicate that not only will they not be releasing new music but the rumored tour that was in the works will no longer be happening either.
When Tim Commerford was questioned by TMZ as to whether the band was working on new material, he replied, "Definitely, maybe" which made every Rage Against The Machine fan perk their ears up. Since then, Tom Morello reported in a new interview with NME.com that this was not the case, saying:
“When bands make albums it’s because everybody wants to, and that’s not the case with Rage Against The Machine at the moment. Everyone in the band gets along very well, we consider each other friends and comrades in arms, but people sometimes don’t feel ready to do it. I don’t have one minute of one day that’s not filled with music, or politics, or family. If at some point Rage were to get it together to work more I would be open to that, but that’s not on the table right now.”
Instead of new material, the band released a deluxe-edition reissue of the classic 1992 self-titled debut, which is great and all but it's simply not new music. Rolling Stone interviewed Tom on the deluxe-edition reissue and when asked about the band's future tour plans, he said, "There's no plans, no current direction of anything…It was my great hope that we'd celebrate the 20th anniversary with a five-continent world tour."
Asked why it is so difficult to tour at this point, Tom said, "We'd have to agree to go on one. Once a year, the band meets and very seriously discusses and turns down awesome offers to tour the world. That's part of the program. I'm very grateful that we did agree to do is this box set, which we're very, very proud of. Some of those early videos, you know, we're playing these clubs for 25 people. I remember that period very, very well. I had been in a lot of bands before Rage Against The Machine, bands that had tried hard to make it, and with that band, with Rage, it just spontaneously combusted. It immediately connected with something in the reptilian brain of fans of rock, hip-hop, punk, metal, activists in a way that was global right off the bat."
On the topic of his relationship with his bandmates today, Tom said, "Oh, I mean, we communicate fairly regularly, and my relationship with those three guys is what it's been for some time. I love them. I consider them brothers and brothers-in-arms, and whether or not we ever play music again in any capacity is unknown. I'm grateful for the music we played together, and thank goodness the cameras were rolling at that first show at Cal State Northridge, and it's been very hard. For me, as a fan, not just as a member of the band, it's some of the most exciting stuff I've ever had the pleasure to hear, let alone to be a part of."
