Linkin Park, ‘The Hunting Party’ – June 2014 Release of the Month

The readers have spoken! Linkin Park are upping the rock factor on their 'The Hunting Party' album, and the fans have responded by voting the disc as Noisecreep's June 2014 Release of the Month. The album, due June 17, easily outdistanced Amity Affliction's 'Let the Ocean Take Me' and Hellyeah's 'Blood for Blood' releases to take the title.

As previously stated, 'The Hunting Party' amps up the guitars and rocks a little harder than some of the band's previous releases. Co-vocalist Mike Shinoda recently stated, "I was looking for something that was visceral and aggressive and I wanted to hear this certain kind of music and I couldn’t find it. I had to look back to the bands that I listened to in the ’90s.”

Guitarist Brad Delson added in a separate interview, “I thought this was kind of funny: [Mike] Shinoda actually described it almost a prequel to ‘Hybrid Theory.’ There’s a lot of records that were influential to us -- some hardcore stuff, some heavy, punk-oriented stuff -- and that spirit is there. It’s like the record we might have made had we not made ‘Hybrid Theory.’ It definitely goes down a different path, and it is guitar driven — that’s not an accident.”

The band got off to a hot start with the single 'Guilty All the Same,' a track that features a rare guest turn by rap legend Rakim. Linkin Park, who typically don't have guests on their songs, also worked with Helmet's Page Hamilton on a punk-leaning track called 'All for Nothing,' lured Tom Morello for a guest guitar spot on 'Drawbar,' and unleashed System of a Down's Daron Malakian on the thrashily chaotic 'Rebellion.' The disc has also generated its second single, the darkly tribal, 'Until It's Gone.'

Linkin Park will be supporting 'The Hunting Party' album on tour later this summer, teaming with Thirty Seconds to Mars and AFI for the 'Carnivores' tour. Dates can be found here. For those wishing to pick up 'The Hunting Party,' it's currently available for pre-order at Amazon and iTunes. There's also a special Best Buy pre-order that will net you a two-song CD single featuring 'Guilty All the Same' and 'Until It's Gone.'

Once again, our congrats to Linkin Park on their 'The Hunting Party' album -- Noisecreep's June 2014 Release of the Month.