New Maps of Hell is the fourteenth studio album by Bad Religion, released on July 10, 2007. Bad Religion's follow-up to 2004's The Empire Strikes First was originally rumored to be a double album to be released in 2006, but this was denied by bassist Jay Bentley. Due to the band's ongoing support with their previous release, the album was put on hold until 2007. Another one of the reasons why the band had yet to release a follow-up to The Empire Strikes First was their various other activities, most obviously frontman Greg Graffin's, who released his second solo album in 2006, his first since 1997. New Maps of Hell also marks the third Bad Religion album released after returning to Epitaph Records for 2002's The Process of Belief and with Gurewitz since his departure during the release of 1994's Stranger Than Fiction.
Background and composition
Bad Religion first mentioned the follow-up to The Empire Strikes First in 2005, stating that the band would begin recording it later that year, making it likely that it would be released sometime in 2006. In July 2005, it was announced that Graffin and Gurewitz had begun writing "about 20 songs or more" for the album. On January 20, 2006, it was announced that Bad Religion was "almost 100% ready to go back to the studio or to the house" to begin working on the album. Members of the band had mentioned that it would be a double release, but this idea was later turned down flat by Bentley. In early February 2006, Bentley was chatting with a visitor who comments on news articles at the official Bad Religion fansite, stating that the new Bad Religion album was planned for a September release, as well as a tour to follow.
Recording
In May 2006, Bentley also mentioned that the band was planning to begin recording it around late June/early July. In September, the band mentioned they were in the process of demoing. Bentley also told Kristoffer Averheim, the webmaster of the Bad Religion fansite, that the album had been pushed back to late 2006/early 2007. While drummer Brooks Wackerman posted a message on MySpace stating that the band had continued working on a new album, he stated that the album was once again pushed back to "mid/late 2007". In January 2007, it was announced that the album would be called New Maps of Hell and would work with producer Joe Barresi. The band began recording at Grand Master Studios in Los Angeles, California. On April 1, Bentley posted an update on the MySpace bulletin board, stating that the band was finally finished recording the album and would soon begin mixing it. He had this to say:
Release
On March 16, 2007, New Maps of Hell was announced for release and the track listing was revealed. The song "Heroes and Martyrs" was introduced to the public on April 6 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during an encore as a small preview of "New Maps of Hell". On April 25, the track listing was rearranged and the track "New Chapter" was dropped. When asked why "New Chapter" would not appear on the album, Bentley recently stated that it "ran into insurmountable issues" that the band "couldn't rectify", hinting that it will probably appear on the next Bad Religion album. "Honest Goodbye" was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace account on May 15, and released as a single a week later. On May 25, "Heroes & Martyrs" was released as a free download. "Honest Goodbye" was released to radio on June 12, 2007. From late June to late August, the band went on the 2007 edition of Warped Tour. New Maps of Hell was made available for streaming on July 3, and released a week later through Epitaph. Discussing the album's title, guitarist Brett Gurewitz stated "We all liked the concept of maps, because we are exploring new material on this record, both musically and topically." In September and October, the band went on a headlining tour across the US, with support from the Briggs and Gallows. "New Dark Ages" was released to radio on October 23. On November 14, a music video was released for "New Dark Ages". The video for "Honest Goodbye" was planned, but "never made it out of the office" according to Bentley. On February 27, 2008, Punknews.org reported that Epitaph would be releasing a deluxe edition of New Maps of Hell on July 8. In February and March, the band went on a west coast tour of the US. On May 9, 2008, Punknews.org released the artwork for the reissue and more details, including the track list and the bonus DVD. It contains two double-sided posters. The DVD features an hour of a live performance, music videos for "New Dark Ages" and "Honest Goodbye", a showing of Bad Religion making New Maps of Hell and Graffin and Gurewitz recording the acoustic bonus tracks. It also has seven bonus tracks which are performed acoustically. An acoustic version of "Sorrow" was posted on the band's Myspace on July 2. Between late June and late August 2008, the band performed on the Warped Tour. In September and October, the band went on a tour of Australia with NOFX.
Reception
Following the album's release, it debuted at number 35 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 21,000 copies in its first week.
