Strapping Young Lad has put the finishing touches on "The New Black"; the album will be released July 11, 2006, in conjunction with Strapping's appearance on the Ozzfest.
Prior to the OzzFest dates the band will head to Europe for a two week festival run.
The follow-up to last year's "Alien" was recorded at the Armoury and Profile studios in the band's hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia and was mixed by Mike Fraser, who has previously worked with AC/DC, Aerosmith and Metallica, among others.
"The New Black" tentative Tracklist (in no particular order):
01. Decimator
02. You Suck
03. Antiproduct
04. Hope
05. Wrong Side
06. Monument
07. Far Beyond Metal
08. Fucker
09. Almost Again
10. Polyphony
11. The New Black Bonus Tracks:
12. The Long Pig
13. C:enter:###
Commented Strapping Young Lad mainman Devin Townsend: "The recording process went amazingly well, and Strapping as a whole is really excited about this effort. We were very inspired with the idea of doing Ozzfest, and the concept we are running with on this record is really based around abhorring the current music scene, yet being a part of it in some weird way.
SYL is ready to be a subversive product for the unwitting 14-year-olds to scream along with. We also intend to sprinkle a little ugly around all the pretty bands this year. You can think of us as the proverbial pubic hair in the cheesecake of this year's festival. We are ugly, large and angry. We have also been around longer as a band than 90% the other bands. Most of all, we're just really excited to be a part of Ozzfest and this summer is going to be crazy."