The next Cro-Mags new album is close to finished. Frontman Harley Flanagan told WSOU 89.5 FM that the band has nine songs tracked and six more written, and he expects the record to come out early next year. The sessions are the same ones that produced June’s “Wired For Chaos” video, the band’s first new song in six years.
“We’re almost done with the new album,” Flanagan said, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “So we have something that should be [released], I’d say, early next year. I don’t know when exactly. But we got nine songs tracked [and] six more songs written that we’re gonna be tracking in a couple weeks… I always try to get a couple of extra in there, so six will probably turn into eight.”
Cro-Mags New Album: What Harley Flanagan Said
The album will follow 2020’s In The Beginning. No title, label or release date has been announced.
Asked about influences, Flanagan pointed back to his roots: “It’s everything I grew up on. I’m always evolving, but it’s all those same ingredients. I mean, you got some Motörhead, you got some Bad Brains, you got some Discharge, you got all that stuff whipped up, some [Black] Sabbath.”
“Wired For Chaos” Sets the Direction
Flanagan said “Wired For Chaos” “was part of the session for the new album. So that will give you kind of a reference to where the direction of this album has started.” He added, “I actually recorded ‘Wired For Chaos’ and the other eight songs all together. So it’s a continuation of that same session. So you can expect more of that.”
The official video came out in June on the BLKIIBLK YouTube channel. It was directed by Rex Miller, and the song was produced by Harley Flanagan and Arthur Rizk.
The Age Of Quarrel: 40 Years Of Quarrel Arrives Nov. 13
Before the new album, Cro-Mags will release The Age Of Quarrel: 40 Years Of Quarrel on Nov. 13 via BLKIIBLK. It is a re-recording of the band’s 1986 debut, The Age Of Quarrel, with fresh takes on “Hard Times,” “World Peace” and “Malfunction,” plus the 1985 demo-era song “Everybody’s Gonna Die.”
The players on the re-recording include:
- Harley Flanagan
- Doug Holland, the original Age Of Quarrel guitarist
- Rocky George, formerly of Cro-Mags and Suicidal Tendencies
- Meg Mills
- Zach Blair
- Arthur Rizk
- Current members Dominic Dibenedetto and Dave Sharpe
- Greyson Nekrutman of Sepultura on drums for every track
Rizk produced and mixed the album. His past credits include Kreator, Power Trip, Blood Incantation and Soulfly.
Why Cro-Mags Re-Recorded the Album
The project started during the making of the Wired For Chaos documentary. Several songs had to be re-recorded for the film’s soundtrack because the original recordings could not be licensed, and that led Flanagan to redo the whole album. According to the announcement, none of the musicians who played on The Age Of Quarrel were ever paid or given an accounting of the album’s sales. Flanagan tried for years to reunite the original lineup and reclaim the rights to The Age Of Quarrel and Best Wishes through the Copyright Reversion Act, but he could not bring everyone together before that window closed.
Flanagan started Cro-Mags in 1981. He has played bass and sung for the band since Best Wishes in 1989.
Cro-Mags Live in Southern California
Cro-Mags are on the bill for For the Children, SOS Booking’s two-day holiday toy drive at The Belasco in Los Angeles on Dec. 12 and 13, with Death Threat, Seahaven and more, according to Knotfest. No San Diego date is on the calendar. The band’s most recent San Diego show we could find was at Brick by Brick on April 29, 2024, with Berthold City, Major Pain and Abominate. SDMETAL’s guide to metal venues in San Diego has more on the room.
What Comes Next for Cro-Mags
The next step is 40 Years Of Quarrel on Nov. 13. After that, Flanagan plans to track the remaining songs within weeks, aiming for an early 2027 release. Title, label and date for the Cro-Mags new album are still to come.
SDMETAL
