Soundgarden’s new album producer revealed
Terry Date will be the producer of Soundgarden’s new 2026 album. Date has produced The Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, and Korn, along with Soundgarden’s Louder Than Love and Badmotorfinger.
Ben Shepherd told Bass Guitar, “The first song we did together, the mighty one – seems when you first hear the demo, it’s not powerful at all,” Shepherd says of the new material. “And then when you start playing it you’re like, Holy hell! I blistered my hands trying to play those parts.
“I was like, Thanks, Cornell. He and Kim always throw some wild riff in there that you have to nail. It’s just intuitive for them. I’ve always been amazed by those two, and that song is just whomping. These songs have been flooring me with how powerful they are.”
Soundgarden new album songs revealed
The long-awaited album’s tracks include: “Cancer” and “Stone Age Mind” penned solely by Chris Cornell; “Road Less Traveled,” “Orphans,” and “At Ophians Door” crafted alongside drummer Matt Cameron; “Ahead Of The Dog” in collaboration with guitarist Kim Thayil; and “Merrmas” co-written with bassist Ben Shepherd
In a new interview with The Seattle Times, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Kim Thayil spoke about the emotional and challenging process of piecing together Soundgarden’s final album with Chris Cornell’s vocals, 8 years after his death.
“It’s a massive emotional roller coaster,” Cameron said. “A lot of highs, a lot of lows. The highs are based on the fact that the music is seeing its light of day, it’s coming to life. Some of it feels like it could have been a new chapter in songwriting for the group, so that’s super bittersweet.
“But it’s been challenging to work on some of this music, soloing up Chris’s vocals and hearing that beautiful voice come through the speakers all on its own.”
Referencing the band’s years-long legal battle with Chris’ widow Vicky Cornell over the release of the his final recordings, Thayil added:
“The delay in the process was damaging in some ways to the emotive nature of the experience. Certainly, it’s great that we’re doing it now. I’m wondering — because you can’t help but wonder — how that emotive and creative journey might have been undertaken six, seven, eight years ago. You will never know that, and there’s something unfortunate (and) damaging about that.
“But there’s something also beneficial about that because we’re doing it now, and it’s beautiful. It’s a way to post tribute to our beloved brother. All of it just has that much more weight emotionally and creatively, and we don’t take that lightly.”
