Brent Smith: "This album is about Life and Death"

Shinedown singer Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers have spoken to Classic Rock about the creation of the band’s most recent album, Threat To Survival. The album came out in September, hitting the Top 20 of the album chart in the UK and the Top 10 in the US. It has sold over 150,000 copies.

Threat To Survival is definitely about life and death,” says Smith. “The writing process was quite intense from the lyrical side of things… Coming into this album, everything was a blank canvas. But it’s a beautiful record, but it’s also a very devastating record.“

“Where Amaryllis was a record about life and being alive and all these beautiful things, this is a darker record,” says Myers. “It’s about surviving, it’s about the fact that the sun’s not always out every day, it’s about the fact that you’re gonna have days that you don’t want to happen, that are out of your control. You’re gonna have bad days, and it’s about how to overcome those.”

Earlier this month, Shinedown released a video for State Of My Head. The band have also been confirmed for next year’s Download Festival, and play the Carnival Of Souls tour with Black Stone Cherry and Halestorm next year (dates below).

Carnival Of Madness Tour dates (with Black Stone Cherry and Halestorm)
Jan 28: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Jan 29: Nottingham Capital FM Arena
Jan 30: Liverpool Echo ArenaFeb 01: Glasgow SSE Hydro
Feb 02: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
Feb 04: London SSE Wembley Arena
Feb 05: Leeds First Direct Arena
Feb 06: Manchester Arena

Tickets are on sale now at Live Nation, with VIP First Entry packages available from www.carnivalofmadness.com.

Classic Rock

Classic Rock is the online home of the world's best rock'n'roll magazine. We bring you breaking news, exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features, as well as unrivalled access to the biggest names in rock music; from Led Zeppelin to Deep Purple, Guns N’ Roses to the Rolling Stones, AC/DC to the Sex Pistols, and everything in between. Our expert writers bring you the very best on established and emerging bands plus everything you need to know about the mightiest new music releases.