Wednesday 13, who mixes punk rock and metal with kitschy horror imagery and who is formerly one half of the MURDERDOLLS braintrust, will release his seventh solo studio album, titled "Condolences", on June 2 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The follow-up to 2015's "Monsters Of The Universe" was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with Wednesday 13 and guitarist Roman Surman on the 2010 MURDERDOLLS album "Women & Children Last". The artwork was created by Travis Smith (OPETH, KATATONIA, NEVERMORE).
Wednesday 13 comments: "I'm really excited to unveil the new video for 'What The Night Brings', the first track from our upcoming album, 'Condolences'. It kicks off our new album and really sets the tone for the rest of it.
"We worked on the video with director Matt Zane (SOCIETY ONE) and he really helped bring a spooky vibe.
"The song reminds me of a heavy metal version of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' theme! It was also a lot of fun filming the extra scenes too, where I get to dress up like a demon at a ritual!
"I never knew that singing with fangs would be so difficult, but I made it work!"
Wednesday 13 told Creative Loafing that "Condolences" may be his darkest and heaviest album to date. "The campiness is kind of gone off of this record," he said. "It's definitely heavier, and definitely the best-produced sounding thing, I think, I've ever recorded. A lot of people go, 'He's serious now!' Well, I'm 40 years old now. I'm growing with the music, my band, everything, and this record definitely has some experimenting with different sounds and things. The sense of humor is still always there, but maybe not as campy as it's always been, and sometimes that comes off more serious."
Regarding the subject matter covered on "Condolences", Wednesday 13 said: "The theme is death, and it comes from everything from the point of view of a killer, the point of view of being killed, and the whole record ends with the title track 'Condolences' and that's like the funeral."
He continued: "It's just a dark, weird record, kind of inspired by basically everybody who seems to be dropping around us. I kept seeing, 'Condolences, sorry for your loss,' and I saw that, and I themed the record around what's in the air right now."