“Linkin Park Returns with New Album ‘From Zero’ Featuring Emily Armstrong as New Vocalist”[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXQ4sU6KK-I[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRXH9AbT280[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMluqSGag5E[/embed]

Linkin Park have announced a new album “From Zero”, the first with the voice of Emily Armstrong. The Emptiness Machine is the first single

Linkin Park are back, with a new logo and a new album.

After a long seven years of waiting since that fateful July 20, 2017, the day when the rock world mourned the loss of Chester Bennington in the middle of the tour in support of the album “One More Light”, Linkin Park are back to being a band.

The new album will be called “From Zero”, the first from Linkin Park since Chester Bennington’s passing, set to be released on November 15, with the first single ‘The Emptiness Machine’ featuring the band’s new singer, Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara.

The announcement came after an excruciating 100-hour countdown that kept fans on the edge of their seats, only to start counting up again and keep everyone in suspense for several more days until the decisive date of September 5, revealing a world tour in 2025 and a new song.

But the big question, the one everyone was most curious about, was inevitably linked to the name that would take on the complicated task of replacing Bennington, a massive artist and one of the icons of modern rock.

After much speculation, the answer has arrived: ____ will step onto the stage alongside Mike Shinoda for Linkin Park’s 2025 tour.

Emily Armstrong is the new voice of Linkin Park

Seven years after the death of Chester Bennington, the American band announced the release of a new album titled “From Zero”, scheduled for November 15.

The single “The Emptiness Machine” was presented during the much-anticipated event organized by the band in Los Angeles where the new voice was also revealed.

As rumored in recent months, it is a female singer, Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara. But Armstrong is not the only new member of Linkin Park, who also welcome Colin Brittain on drums.

Speaking about the new album, Mike Shinoda said: “Before Linkin Park, the name of our first band was Xero. The title of this album refers both to this humble beginning and to the journey we are currently undertaking. From a sonic and emotional standpoint, it relates to the past, present, and future, embracing our distinctive sound, but new and full of life. It was made with a deep appreciation for our new and old bandmates, our friends, our family, and our fans. We are proud of what LINKIN PARK has become over the years and excited about the journey that lies ahead.”

“The more we worked with Emily and Colin, the more we loved their world-class talents, their company, and the things we’ve created. We truly feel empowered by this new lineup and the vibrant, energetic new music we’ve created together. We are connecting the sonic touchpoints for which we are known, and still exploring new ones,” Shinoda continues.

Linkin Park then announced the first dates of a world tour that will bring them back to the stage for the first time since 2017.

FROM ZERO TRACKLIST

1. From Zero (Intro)

2. The Emptiness Machine

3. Cut The Bridge

4. Heavy Is The Crown

5. Over Each Other
6. Casualty
7. Overflow
8. Two Faced

9. Stained

10. IGYEIH

11. Good Things Go

FROM ZERO WORLD TOUR 2024

September 11, 2024 | Kia Forum – Los Angeles, CA

September 16, 2024 | Barclays Center – New York, NY

September 22, 2024 | Barclays Arena – Hamburg, Germany

September 24, 2024 | The O2 – London, UK

September 28, 2024 | INSPIRE Arena – Seoul, South Korea

November 11, 2024 | Coliseo Medplus – Bogota, Colombia

The Emptiness Machine, official video and lyrics

Your blades are sharpened with precision

Flashing your favorite point of view

I know you’re waiting in the distance

Just like you always do

Just like you always do

Already pulling me in

Already under my skin

And I know exactly how this ends, I

Let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don’t know why I’m hoping

For what I won’t receive

Falling for the promise of

The emptiness machine

The emptiness machine

Going around like a revolver

It’s been decided how we lose

‘Cause there’s a fire under the altar

I keep on lying to

I keep on lying to

Already pulling me in

Already under my skin

And I know exactly how this ends, I

Let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don’t know why I’m hoping

For what I won’t receive

Falling for the promise of

The emptiness machine

The emptiness machine

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part of, part of

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part of, part of

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part

I let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don’t know why I’m hoping

So fucking naive

Falling for the promise of

The emptiness machine

The emptiness machine

[I only wanted to be part of something]

The emptiness machine

[I only wanted to be part of]

The emptiness machine

PHOTO CREDIT: James Minchin III

The Linkin Park countdown

It was clear to everyone that something big was happening with Linkin Park when a countdown started across the social media channels of all the members and the band, which seemed to be something completely different from the usual.

Usually, the band had trained its fans with custom web pages, scattered clues, puzzles to solve for unlocking rewards, all elements with a high level of engagement, very different from a simple countdown.

The countdown proved to be anything but simple when, at zero, it started counting back up again, leaving this time behind hints, as Shinoda likes. It soon became evident that the key numbers were 9 and 5, indicating an announcement on September 5, a hypothesis later confirmed by the band themselves. 

Within a few days, official fan club members, Linkin Park Underground, were contacted to access a special event set for Los Angeles. No plus ones, guaranteed attendance, undisclosed location to reach with the band’s team were just some of the terms listed in the contract signed by fans to attend the event, which was then streamed worldwide.

The doubts about the new possible voice of Linkin Park

Upon the opening of the countdown immediately began to bounce around the web what had been speculated in previous months: is Linkin Park ready to return live but with whom?

There was much talk of the possibility of a woman to replace Chester, especially after the rumors launched a few months ago by Orgy frontman Jay Gordon, a friend of Linkin Park. Amy Lee, for example, stated she was flattered but had never had any contact with the band, and Lzzy Hale, who sang alongside the voice of Evanescence in a Linkin Park cover a few years ago.

Hours after the countdown ended, the frontwoman of Halestorm thought it wise to post a video in which she covers Crawling.

If the first thought went to the more recent rumors related to the female voice, the Sum 41 made fans of both bands panic for hours. 

The Canadian punk rock band made an announcement from frontman Deryck Whibley on the same day the countdown was set to end. 

The Sum 41 singer had been one of the first names to surface, a couple of years ago, as a potential substitute for Chester, although back then he had been quick to express his flattery but deny it.

Whibley again dispelled any doubts, emphasizing that no, he would not be joining the reunion of any band – Linkin Park or Oasis – but was only intending to announce dates for his book presentation.

Some even speculated a possible collaboration with Twenty One Pilots – a band for which Chester Bennington was a huge fan – due to the appearance of a symbol close to the band like the Ø within the Linkin Park logo and the countdown.

The wait for Linkin Park

Since Chester Bennington tragically passed away in the summer of 2017, on the same day as his friend Chris Cornell‘s birthday, who died a few months earlier under equally dramatic circumstances, the Linkin Park have always been clear about the possible future of the band.

After a tribute show to Bennington, the rest of the band pulled the oars in and put any project not strictly related to the archive on hold. There have been celebratory reissues for the 20th anniversary of “Hybrid Theory” and “Meteora”, and the first singles collection “Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000 – 2023)” but never any prospects for a possible return to the scene.

Mike Shinoda has worked to process his grief through his solo music, and when asked about a possible return of Linkin Park, he would always respond that there was no need to pay attention to rumors and that, if anything, the only news would come exclusively from the band’s official channels.

And officially, from the band, after the compilation “Papercuts” – which also contained the unreleased track featuring Chester ‘Friendly Fire’ – there have only been other archive releases such as the 180 gram ‘audiophile’ vinyl reissues of Hybrid Theory, Meteora and Minutes To Midnight available in only 3,000 copies or the limited edition colored vinyls of Hybrid Theory (Translucent Yellow), Meteora (Translucent Gold & Red Splatter) and The Hunting Party (2LP Translucent Blue).

The rest are just chatter.

The rumors of recent months

But the chatter, with the web involved, is impossible to stop. So it happens that seven years after Chester’s passing, the voices of a possible return to the scene become increasingly insistent, voices that spiked in recent months when Jay Gordon from Orgy dropped a bomb during an interview.

Last April, the frontman of the American band, a friend and collaborator of both Linkin Park and Chester himself, let slip that a return was indeed in the works but, surprisingly, with a female voice.

Despite the subsequent denial, the damage was done. Amy Lee immediately became the prime suspect but quickly distanced herself, followed closely by Alanis Morissette, among the artists who took the stage at the tribute to Bennington and Lzzy Hale, considered the most sensible choice by many.

In May, a prestigious outlet like Billboard reported that yes, the return of Linkin Park would take place in 2025 with Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell, Brad Delson, and a female voice.

With the summer, the buzz seemed to have been lost in the wind until the arrival of the countdown published by Linkin Park which managed to reignite the spotlight on the return of one of the bands that significantly defined the sound of the early 2000 scene.