MetalSucks

When we interviewed Howard Jones about the new Killswitch Engage album earlier this year, we couldn’t help but ask about the rumored new offering from Blood Has Been Shed, too. Here’s what Howard told us:

There was some news a little while ago that there might be another Blood Has Been Shed album.  Are you involved in that still in any capacity?

Howard Jones:    Well… yeah [laughs].

They made it sound like you might not be coming back…

HJ:   We’re just trying to figure out what exactly it is that we’re going to do.  Blood Has Been Shed is just one of those things where none of us do it full time, barely part time.  We’ll get something out.

Of course, for any BHBS fan, this was fantastic news. A new album was really in the works! Howard was still on-board! What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for starters, it could turn out that Howard isn’t really involved.

Our friend Chris Harris at Noisecreep reports that Burnt by the Sun’s Mike Olender might, in fact, be stepping in for Jones:

But now, reports are surfacing that Olender has been working with the New England band on the new disc, tentatively titled ‘Enloco Tacoa,’ but there has been no official announcement statement one way or the other from either Jones or Blood Has Been Shed.

“I’m working with them on some stuff for the new record,” Olender says. “I’m finding that it has been very difficult for me to step up to the plate just because of the fact that I got so much out of my system with the last record [Burnt by the Sun's 'Heart of Darkness'], and I’m in a very interesting time in my life right now that’s very hopeful. It’s hard for me to feel inspired to write in the way that I would need to for something like Blood Has Been Shed or Burnt by the Sun. I’m really not sure what the future holds.”

Now, before we all freak out, I’d like to reference something that BHBS guitarist Corey Unger told Lambgoat way back in January:

“There is a vast mix of people who will be involved in this project including the original members. The line-up of musicians is very artistically driven based on the album’s style.”

That statement suggests that there may actually be a revolving door of musicians working on the project, which could mean that Jones and Olender will be on the album. That wouldn’t necessarily be the worst news in the world – in fact, a Olender-led BHBS wouldn’t even be the worst news in the world, so much as it would just be disappointing from the standpoint of a fan who would like to see the original line-up (including BHBS/KSE drummer Justin Foley) back together again.

More news as it comes…

-AR