Roll for Damage are recording again, despite their personal issues with substance abuse and relationship problems.
By ARLING WILSON
Perplex City's top-selling band, Roll for Damage, is back in the studio recording a follow-up to their critically acclaimed album Random Encounter. Sources close to the band say that the new sound they are producing has a much darker, almost nihilistic feeling, especially as compared to the primal joie de vivre of their recent work.
Celebrity-watcher Phil Benoit suggested the somber, more sophisticated sound is the result of several factors internal to the band. "Alejo [Jackson] just had a high-profile breakup, and by all accounts he is devastated," Benoit explained. "Plus Echo [West] and KT [Keenan Thoreau] are rumoured to be fighting a pretty serious battle with substance abuse," he added. "All of these things will inevitably come out in their music."
The band's publicist, Shane Cobalt, confirmed the band is recording. "Our guys are fine, working hard, putting out some sharp tracks," he said. "Alejo admits he is still deeply disappointed in the end of his relationship with Joya, but he and all of the band-members wish that the public could respect their privacy on such personal matters now and into the future."
Cobalt also said the new album's working title is Take Initiative. If the band's typical recording cycle holds true, the album could be available under the Hesh Records label as soon as this autumn.
Benoit, though, was not so certain. "Their friends and studio employees say their new material is positively brilliant, but nobody is sure they can keep it together long enough to see anything hit the streets."
Cheri Lindemann, president of the RFD Fan Club, expressed great enthusiasm for the project. "The band are such great friends, and making music is how they pull themselves through rough times," she said. "[The fans are] all looking forward to what [the band] has to say to us." Lindemann was confident sales of the album would yet again easily exceed the one million mark in its first week of sales.
