“I am honoured to be joined by dozens of my favourite artists”: Slash, Corey Taylor, Serj Tankian and more will appear on a new album by composer extraordinaire Bear McCreary

Corey Taylor, Slash and Serj Tankian performing onstage
(Image credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images | Samir Hussein/WireImage | Kevin Winter/Getty Images for ABA)

Film, TV and video game composer Bear McCreary has announced a new solo album called The Singularity, which will feature contributions from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Guns ’N’ Roses’ Slash and System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian, among others.

McCreary – who’s scored The Walking Dead, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, Battlestar Galactica, God Of War and more – announced the album on February 23. It will be released on May 10, with an accompanying graphic novel out on May 8 and a celebratory concert held at the Fonda Theater, Los Angeles, on May 12.

The Singularity’s lead single, Type III, features Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright and is now streaming.

Also featured across the album will be Scott Ian of Anthrax, Jens Kidman of Meshuggah, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Joe Satriani, Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult, Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan, plus more.

According to NME, McCreary calls The Singularity “an epic rock concept album” that he started writing at age 15.

“I was obsessed, even then, with melding my love of hard rock, symphonic film scores, and dramatic storytelling into a cohesive whole, laying the groundwork for what would become a concept album, graphic novel, and multimedia concert experience.”

He continues: “I spent the next three decades trying to perfect it. My first demo from high school, a 30-year-old cassette-tape recording, even makes a cameo appearance on the record, moments before the melody is reinvigorated by a new interpretation from Slash, one of the guitarists who originally inspired it.”

Of the roster of stars he’s amassed for the project, McCreary comments: “I am honoured to be joined by dozens more of my favourite artists, each of whom brought their unique personalities to this record. Perhaps the biggest shock of them all was when Rufus Wainwright brought his warm, theatrical vocal tone to my symphonic metal anthem Type III. I am grateful he took a chance and sang in this genre, which is new for him.”

Tickets to McCreary’s May 12 LA concert are on sale now.

Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.