The Sound of Madness - Pre-release and Production

Pre-release and Production

Brent Smith told Billboard.com, "It's time to just go over the top, literally go above and beyond what a human being thinks they're capable of recording. We want to do a huge hard rock record that has a lot of crossover potential but also some of the most insanely intense and heavy material that this band has ever tried—and see if we can pull it off." Smith said the group had more than forty songs written from writing sessions in Atlanta, Nashville, and Los Angeles. Shinedown road tested four "potential singles," which were written with the bands founding guitarist Jasin Todd, "Sound of Madness," "The Crow & the Butterfly," "Second Chance" and "Devour," on a short run of shows before his exit from the band.

The band began working on The Sound of Madness after several off-date shows in the summer of 2007. Recording began in Los Angeles on September 20, 2007, with the final CD being completed in early-mid-2008.

On June 17, 2008, the entire original album was made available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. It was removed again a few days later.