After nearly three years of studio inactivity, The Offspring has begun working with legendary producer Bob Rock (Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Skid Row) on their eighth full-length studio album, according to Monstersandcritics.com. He said: "I'm working with [vocalist/guitarist] Dexter [Holland] and helping him sort out songs."
The band hasn't released any albums with new material since 2003's
Splinter.
As previously reported, Holland recently stated that the band had begun demoing the songs for the new album. He said: "We're finally demo-ing new songs. Yep. Maybe it seems like nothing has been going on with us but we've actually been really busy writing. We didn't want to rush into the studio just to record demos for the sake of doing something, so we've really taken our time getting the songs together first. Like, making sure the songs kick ass before we even try it in the studio."
The Offspring's still-untitled follow-up to Splinter is expected to be released sometime in 2007 via Columbia Records. There now doesn't seem to be any plans for its release this year, since 2006 is now almost over. The new album will also be their first studio release with Atom Willard (Rocket from the Crypt, Angels and Airwaves), who replaced longtime drummer Ron Welty during the recording of Splinter. Willard or Welty were not credited on the album. Josh Freese (The Vandals, Infectious Grooves, A Perfect Circle) handled the drumming tracks on the album, but was not credited.