New Maps of Hell (Bad Religion album)
| New Maps of Hell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Bad Religion | ||||
| Released | July 10, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | February–April 2007 | |||
| Studio | Grandmaster Records, Ltd. in Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Punk rock, melodic hardcore | |||
| Length | 38:27 | |||
| Label | Epitaph | |||
| Producer | Joe Barresi | |||
| Bad Religion chronology | ||||
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| Singles from New Maps of Hell | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 69/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The A.V. Club | B |
| IGN | (8.7/10) |
| Kerrang! | |
| PopMatters |   |
| Punknews.org |  |
New Maps of Hell is the fourteenth studio album by Bad Religion, released on July 10, 2007.
Bad Religion's follow-up to 2004's The Empire Strikes First was originally rumored to be a double album to be released in 2006, but this was denied by bassist Jay Bentley. Due to the band's ongoing support with their previous release, the album was put on hold until 2007. Another one of the reasons why the band had yet to release a follow-up to The Empire Strikes First was their various other activities, most obviously frontman Greg Graffin's, who released his second solo album in 2006, following his first since 1997.
New Maps of Hell also marks the third Bad Religion album released after returning to Epitaph Records for 2002's The Process of Belief and with Gurewitz since his departure during the release of 1994's Stranger Than Fiction.
Bad Religion first mentioned the follow-up to The Empire Strikes First in 2005, stating that the band would begin recording it later that year, making it likely that it would be released sometime in 2006. In July 2005, it was announced that Graffin and Gurewitz had begun writing "about 20 songs or more" for the album.
On January 20, 2006, it was announced that Bad Religion was "almost 100% ready to go back to the studio or to the house" to begin working on the album. Members of the band had mentioned that it would be a double release, but this idea was later turned down flat by Bentley.
In early February 2006, Bentley was chatting with a visitor who comments on news articles at the official Bad Religion fansite, stating that the new Bad Religion album was planned for a September release, as well as a tour to follow.
In May 2006, Bentley also mentioned that the band was planning to begin recording it around late June/early July. In September, the band mentioned they were in the process of demoing.
Bentley also told Kristoffer Averheim, the webmaster of the Bad Religion fansite, that the album had been pushed back to late 2006/early 2007. While drummer Brooks Wackerman posted a message on MySpace stating that the band had continued working on a new album, he stated that the album was once again pushed back to "mid/late 2007".
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