Sully Erna Reveals Upcoming Godsmack Album Will Be The Band’s Last

In a recent inteview with Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X, Sully Erna of Godsmack has stated that the band’s tenth studio album, Lighting Up The Sky, will be the band’s final work. Having toured the world relentlessly for the last three decades and selling millions of chart topping albums and singles, Erna speaks very fondly of the band’s legacy and what they’ve achieved. And based off the details he’s provided about the upcoming record, it might just be the perfect time for Godsmack to take the foot off the gas.

“It’s the most important record, I think, we’ve ever written and recorded. I’ve never been that artist who says, ‘Oh, this record is our newest record. It’s our best work ever.’ Erna tells Minnesota radio station 93X regarding the band’s forthcoming album. “You can read any interview you want over my whole career, and you’ve never heard me say it. I’ve always loved our records, I always knew there would be some good singles on it and hoped it did well, but I was never the guy that said, ‘This is our best f**king work ever.’ And I’m telling you right now this is our best f**king work ever.”

“And it’s because it’s emotional, man. This is the last record we’re ever gonna do. This is the last run around the mill for us. We put every single ounce of energy and emotion into this album. Especially for me, when I wrote a lot of these songs, it was about my life journey. That’s really what the sequence of this album becomes about. Not that it was planned that way, but this really kind of mystical thing happened where I felt like the universe wrote this record.”

Erna presents a valid, and moreover respectable case in signaling why this record is the final Godsmack album. While there are plenty of artists in the rock and metal space who go on to write/release well over a dozen albums throughout their careers, it’s more often a bloated and overwhelming experience from a fan and artist’s perspective to do so. And that’s not to say that there aren’t bands who’ve gone on released 10-15+ albums that are all consistent with one another, but it’s a feat that’s so hard to reach and maintain that the artist risks negatively impacting their own legacy and the connection they’ve had with their fanbase. Overall, respect is owed to Erna and Godsmack for being so upfront about the context of this new album. It should also be noted that Erna states the band won’t be retiring from performing or touring after this album, they will simply be done writing new music.

With all that being said, bands have time and time again announced ‘farewell tours’ or ‘final albums’ but then go on to ‘reunite’ years down the road, and it’s especially common in rock music. To that, Erna doesn’t completely ‘close the door’ at the thought of returning to record new music after this upcoming album.

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do after this record. And it doesn’t make sense to continue to do music. It really feels complete in a good way, in a positive way. We feel like we’ve honored our career, our relationships with our fans, and we’re always gonna be there for them; we’re gonna do shows. But as far as to continue this, after this [album], unless we just decide one day, ‘Yeah, one more for the road,’ I think this could be it for us with new music.”