Marty Friedman Has 207 Demos Recorded for Next Album, Release Expected in 2017

One-time Megadeth member, consistently prolific guitarist and current Japanese celebrity Marty Friedman’s 2014 Inferno impressed the pants off of everyone who gave it a listen. Not that we didn’t expect Friedman still had plenty in the tank, but the way in which he put the album together — featuring a slew of guest musicians including Revocation’s Dave Davidson, Shining’s Jørgen Munkeby, Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho and more — was masterful, letting some of the today’s best metal musicians compliment his own style. It was also his first proper solo release in America in some time (he’d put out a few albums in Japan only), and it was satisfying to watch Friedman’s profile in the States ascend back to its rightful place amongst today’s top metal players.

Now it seems as if album #2 in the Prosthetic Records era of Friedman’s career will follow the same format. Metal Injection reports that special guests this time around will include Mutoid Man (which member isn’t specified), Black Veil Brides guitarist and keyboardist Jinxx and a reprise from Munkeby. The BVB inclusion is a head-scratcher, but as a play to get Friedman’s music into the hands of the younger generation I’m into it. And if the other two reported guests are any indication it’s not as if Friedman is going all that direction.

Recent Facebook posts by Friedman reveal that he’s got 207 demos recorded for the album, and that it’ll be recorded in Dave Grohl’s Studio 606, in Northridge, CA, with engineer Paul Fig (Deftones, Alice In Chains). I shouldn’t be surprised that Friedman is the kind of guy who records a bunch of demos and then picks the best ones for his albums, but DAMN, that’s a fuckton!

We’ll keep you posted on new release details.