QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre is featured in a new interview with UK-based PennyBlackMusic.com. An excerpt from the discussion is available below:

PB: I stopped listening to Queensrÿche when Empire was released way back in 1990. Personally I just couldn’t get on with Geoff’s (Tate) over the top and theatrical vocals. I know that the majority of Queensrÿche fans would say those words are sacrilege, but I much more enjoyed the metal flavour running through the band's earlier work also. With the new record I have just that. Whichever side of the vocalist fence you sit on, musically this return to form is an utter relief for fans.

TLT: "I actually stopped following the band after Empire, but I think Promised Land is a really great record though. I lost interest due to the musical direction that the band was going in; it was not something that was very appealing to me, so I understand why a lot of people began to drop off the radar for them. Now with this album it’s completely different from what the band has put out in the last ten years if not more, and the people that have a copy of the record tend to be saying, 'Wow, this could have come out straight after Empire.'

The style is more like the first five or six albums. This album seems to encompass the feel from the first EP through to Promised Land. Songs like 'Spore' are a little more progressive, and vocally it could have gone on one of those earlier records. Then you have songs like 'A World Without' or 'Open Road' which are sort of Promised Land or Empire-ish type songs. I’m really proud of this record, but are we trying to compare it to Mindcrime or Empire? No. Those records and Rage For Order were phenomenal. They are masterpiece records that deserve every bit of credit they have ever gotten and more. They were able to capture magic back then. What we are trying to do now is create our own new magic in 2013.

We are already writing songs for the next record, I was just recording tracks for a new guitar part for a new song that I have just last night, and I’ll be doing that again tonight."

PB: So you have already begun to plan the next album?

TLT: "Yeah, there are already four or five songs that are in the works for the next record. Personally what I would like to see on the next record would be to have a few songs that are even heavier than anything that made it onto this record. I would personally like to have at least one song in the six to eight minute mark, something that is like a 'Roads to Madness' length. That’s an intense ten minute song. It’s something that can really morph into another animal and does it seamlessly under the one song title."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Multi-camera footage of the band performing their new song 'Where Dreams Go To Die' during their album release party in Seattle, WA on June 26th can be viewed below;

In live news, catch Queensrÿche at the following shows:

August

2 - Sturgis Buffalo Chip - Sturgis, SD
22 - Dow Event Center - Saginaw, MI
23 - Freedom Hill Amphitheatre - Sterling Heights, MI
24 - Rock Jam - Grand Junction, CO

October

12 - O2 Academy Islington - London, United Kingdom
16 - The Ritz - Manchester, United Kingdom
17 - Rock City - Nottingham, United Kingdom
18 - The Button Factory - Dublin, Ireland
26 - Bürgerhaus Quadrath-Ichendorf - Bergheim, Germany
27 - Rockfabrik - Ludwigsburg, Germany
29 - Moonwalker - Aarburg, Switzerland
30 - Stadthalle Langen - Hessen, Germany
31 - Brielpoort - Deinze, Belgium

November

1 - Effenaar - Eindhoven, Netherlands

Queensrÿche will be the featured guests on US nationally syndicated radio show Rockline with host Bob Coburn today (Wednesday, July 24th) at 8:30 PM, PT/11:30 PM, ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with the band toll free at 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). For more information on finding a station near you and for information regarding how to log onto the internet broadcast go to Rocklineradio.com.

The show will be streamed on the Rockline website for two weeks beginning the afternoon after the live broadcast.