Sum 41 is currently putting the finishing touches on their new album, “Heaven And Hell,” and vocalist and guitarist Deryck Whibley told Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta on The Jasta Show that the double album will feature a pop-punk side (“Heaven”) and a metal side (“Hell). “There is somewhat of a nod to Black Sabbath,” he said. “We’re not gonna be covering anything, I don’t think. Obviously we know the record and love the record, and we knew that you know, calling it this was … we kind of looked at it as like ‘well, you know what? They’ve they’ve had it for like, about 42 years. We’ll take it from here [laughs].”
Sum 41 performed a cover of Linkin’ Park’s “Faint” with the band’s co-founder Mike Shinoda in 2018, and Jasta asked Whibley if he would ever consider joining the band as a replacement for late frontman Chester Bennington. “I think that’s an impossible task; I think those are impossible shoes to fill,” Whibley said. “I don’t know if they’re ever gonna do anything. I have no idea what that’s gonna look like or who that could be.” Jasta went on to say Whibley’s vocal style would be a good fit in Linkin’ Park. “I’ll take that compliment. I don’t know if I could do that. I don’t know if I agree with you on that.” Whibley answered when pressed again about the possible pairing saying: “That is such a non-possibility that it’s too weird to even, like, sort of ‘joke think’ about it. [Laughs] I don’t know. I don’t know how someone could fill those shoes. I think it would be tough.”
Earlier this year, Whibley shared a video of Sum 41 performing “Faint” with Shinoda and told the backstory of how the cover came together. “A little back story to this performance. We had only decided to perform this song together about a week before the show. We had no rehearsal whatsoever. On the day of the show we (@sum41) were stuck at customs coming into the UK and it didn’t look like we were even going to make it to the show. After hours of waiting we were finally cleared and had to try and make our way through all the concert traffic which ended up getting us to the festival 45 min before our show time. We quickly said hello to @m_Shinoda outside of our tour bus, confirmed we were still going to perform together, spoke very briefly about how the arrangement would go and then scrambled to get ready for our set.”
He continued: “It was such a blast to perform this song, (which is one my favorites) but also nerve racking at the same time. With no rehearsal and only practicing in a hotel room by myself a few nights before the show, all I wanted to do was to come in with the utmost respect and try my best to honor the music, Chester, Mike, @linkinpark band members and the LP family. No one will ever come close to @Chesterbe and that’s not what it was about for any of us. It was purely just about the love of the music. As you can see by the smiles on all of our faces we were having so much fun!”
In 2019, Shinoda shot down rumors that Linkin’ Park were actively searching for a new singer. “Lemme clarify a rumor: we are not looking for a new singer, and if it were to happen organically, I’d be open,” Shinoda said. “Seems pretty clear, yet I guess some folks have a hard time understanding. I’m not into predicting the future. The future will happen.”
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