In a recent interview with The Chill Dude On A Couch, Armored Saint's frontman John Bush revealed the band is making headway on a new studio album, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2020 release Punching the Sky.
Bush confirmed the band has been "writing some songs" and has already demoed five or six potential tracks. He emphasized the band's meticulous approach, explaining their preference for crafting polished demos with complete vocals.
"We've been writing some songs. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna try to get back to that today a little bit. We've written about five or six that we've demoed. That's kind of our M.O., how we do it. We write something and then we'll try to make this really good-sounding demo. I'll go and sing. I actually try to sing it like I'm singing a record, and we've kept a lot of the original vocals."
This dedication to capturing the essence of a song from the demo stage translates to the final product, according to Bush. He highlights the importance of preserving the unique inflections and nuances present in the initial recordings.
"This goes back to the way we wrote songs back to 2000's Revelation even. 'Cause sometimes I think you sing something that maybe you'll never sing exactly the same, and so that nuance in your voice or who knows what, your inflection, you can try to mimic it, but maybe you never will mimic it exactly that way. Same with a guitar lead — a certain bend, it may not be exactly how you play it again. So I think those are key things that you try to keep when you're making demos, and that's what we do. So I've gotta get back to doing some work. And we've got more work to do, that's for sure."
While acknowledging their reputation for a measured pace, Bush hinted at a desire to pick up the steam on the project: "We certainly don't work at a fast pace; everyone knows that about Saint. We could try to put a little urgency into this and try to kind of move on it a little quicker without sacrificing quality. I think that's a good idea."
Armored Saint will be opening for Queensrÿche during their upcoming "The Origins Tour," which will kick off on March 22, 2024, in Houston, Texas, at Hell's Heroes Festival, and will run until May 12, 2024, in Ft. Meyers, Florida.
