Wolfgang Van Halen has announced a deluxe edition of his Mammoth WVH 2021 self-titled debut, and revealed that he’ll shortly be entering the studio to record a followup.
The deluxe version of Mammoth WVH, which arrives November 11, will feature Talk & Walk – a track previously only available on the Japanese edition of the album – as well as two never-before-heard songs: As Long As You’re Not You and Goodbye.
Naturally, Talk & Walk was uploaded to YouTube shortly after the release of the Japanese version of Mammoth WVH last year – and has been played live by the band on several occasions since – but for those who haven’t yet tracked it down, it’s a straightforward hard rock rager with massive electric guitar riffs and effortlessly catchy vocal hooks. Listen below.
Mammoth WVH are set to play a string of European dates from November 1 – making stops in Hamburg, Oslo, Berlin, Paris and more – before wrapping up at London’s O2 Arena on December 12.
But before he heads out, Wolfgang Van Halen will enter the studio to begin recording the followup to Mammoth WVH, as he revealed last week in communication with fans on Twitter. After one fan encouraged Wolfgang to “give us the Mammoth followup album ASAP,” the rocker replied: “I start next week!”
Wolfgang touched upon his approach to the second Mammoth WVH outing earlier this year in an interview with Full Metal Jackie [per Blabbermouth].
“Basically, I certainly don't wanna take as long as it did [to record Mammoth WVH],” he explained. “I think throughout that first process, I was really just figuring out what it was and who I was as my own artist, finding my own sound and discovering who I was as a lead singer, as a songwriter.
“But when it comes to the next album, now that I've figured out what this is and who I am, within the context of it, I'm really excited to figure out how to condense that process to as an efficient of time as possible, so I can get an album done in a third of the time while it being twice as good. It's always a personal challenge.”
Notably, I Don’t Know It All – a track debuted by Mammoth WVH during the opening show of their Young Guns tour with Dirty Honey earlier this year – will not appear on the deluxe version of the group’s debut.
It was reportedly recorded during the sessions for that album, but remains to be seen whether it’ll feature on the group’s sophomore effort. As evidence that it will, Wolfgang told Eddie Trunk in February that “we have some leftover tracks from the first album that I’d like to take another look at – maybe add stuff or maybe redo entirely”.
In other Wolfgang Van Halen news, the rocker made an appearance at Foo Fighters’ recent Taylor Hawkins tribute concert earlier this month, in which he surprised fans by performing two classic Van Halen cuts: Hot For Teacher and On Fire.
The deluxe edition of Mammoth WVH is available to preorder and presave now.
