Anvil Prepare for Next Album, Make It ‘Even More Focused’ — Video

As soon as the editing was finished for Sascha Gervasi's documentary film "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," Canadian power trio Anvil started thinking about the follow-up to their recently released disc 'This Is Thirteen.' And unlike writing sessions for some of the band's past albums, which were motivated by adversity and frustration, the new sessions were abuzz with excitement and optimism.

"We just channeled all that positive energy into our songs," drummer Robb Reiner tells Noisecreep. "It was great and really productive."

"To everyone else, it looked like we had down time, but that time was spent writing over 20 new songs," frontman Steve 'Lips' Kudlow adds. "It was an extremely exuberant, celebrative period, and our attitude was, 'The movie's done. We've got nothing else to do. Let's write!'"

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The new tracks are for an album tentatively titled 'Juggernaut of Justice,' which Anvil plan to record next year in time for a summer release. According to Kudlow, the record will be a natural evolution from 'This is Thirteen,' but will be "more organized" and "even more focused." Like 'This is Thirteen,' most of the songs will be straightforward and bludgeoning, emphasizing solidity and groove over blazing technicality.

"Sometimes less is more," explains Kudlow. "We used to throw the kitchen sink into our songs and show every aspect of what we could do. We wanted the wildest parts and the most blistering solo for every song. Now, instead of worrying about that, we just do what is necessary for each song. When you have unnecessary parts, that's just overwriting, and that happens when you're trying to just continue proving yourself rather than thinking, 'What's better for the song?'"

Although most of 'Juggernaut of Justice' will be simple and stomping, the album will likely include at least one offbeat track heavily influenced by swing and big band jazz. Interestingly, Kudlow wasn't at all interested in jazz until his father died, and Kudlow inherited his car.

"Inside, there were all these cassette tapes of his favorite music from the '40s. And I started listening to them, and I got really inspired," Kudlow says. "I came to realize why my father called my music 'noise.' These [jazz] songs were written in a very, very high-integrity era where you had to be good if you were going to get recorded at all. It's all very schooled playing. I started listening particularly to Benny Goodman, and I really came to realize that what he was doing on his clarinet is not really a lot different from what all of us lead guitar players are trying to do. And one foundational similarity is the drumming. Listening to the clarinet over the drumming, I'm like, 'Well why don't I just try riffs like that?'"

"The song's like Buddy Rich playing metal," adds Reiner. "I think it's going to change a lot of people's perceptions about us."