Soundgarden’s New Album Is Going To Be ‘Very Heavy’

We've all been salivating over the potential of the upcoming Soundgarden album; their first in almost 15 years. You would think after that long the guys may have lost some of their edge. Guitarist Kim Thayil claims the exact opposite saying that the new tunes are 'very heavy'.

Over the weekend fans finally got some hints at the direction of the new Soundgarden material when Kim Thayil told Stereogum:

"We have about 14 songs in various stages of completion. Previously, we’d just block out a bunch of time and go and track everything at once, but we can’t really do that right now. Matt has commitments to Pearl Jam, Chris [Cornell] has a solo tour happening and Soundgarden is touring in July. So we do the studio thing around those other engagements, which actually is turning out to be a lot better for us. It takes the pressure off in some ways.

The vibe of the songs is definitely very heavy. We’ve always tried to explore how to make this really heavy, aggressive music without sounding like a bunch of knuckle-dragging meatheads. I think these songs are kind of exploring that idea. Ways of emoting aggression and anger and hostility in ways that feel new."

There is no release date for the untitled disc, but the band has said several times that it probably will be out sometime in 2012. Soundgarden will be kicking off their 2011 tour next month; here are the dates:

July 2nd - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 3rd - London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
July 5th - Ottawa, ON @ LeBreton Flats Park (Ottawa Blues Fest)
July 6th - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
July 8th - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
July 9th - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
July 10th - Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center For The Performing Arts
July 12th - Fairfax, VA @ Patriot Center at George Mason University
July 13th - Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing
July 14th - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center
July 16th - Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
July 18th - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 21st - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Center
July 22nd - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
July 23rd - Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
July 29th - Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
July 30th - George, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre

Here is a professionally shot video of the band performing 'Rusty Cage' at Lollapalooza 2010 that just found it's way to the web.