Buzzfest: Godsmack, I Prevail, Highly Suspect & The Struts at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Heading up their first radio festival, Godsmack, the hard rock band fronted by Sully Erna, will be touring in support of a new record, “Lighting Up the Sky.” It’s the followup to 2018s “Legends Rise,” and has already spawned two singles, “Surrender” and “You and I.” In a September 2022 interview, Erna described Godsmack’s newest record as “high-voltage, high-energy, hard rock album, packed with melodies, packed with good hooks, big grooves, great guitar solos.” Erna said. Lighting Up the Sky, is probably the last studio album from Godsmack. “It is a true hard rock record, and we are really, really proud of this body of work,” Erna said. “I really think it may be the last piece of Godsmack music you’re ever gonna hear. This could be the last one for us. We’ve had a great run, and we’re so grateful for it, but we also have other things that we wanted to do with our lives. We’re not announcing a breakup or anything like that, but this could be the last music that we put out, and we’ll go out there, and we’ll tour, and we’ll create a greatest hits show.”

Godsmack, a Boston-area band formed in 1995, has seven studio albums to its name, "Lighting Up the Sky" will be their eighth. To date, their smash singles including "Awake," "I Stand Alone," "Bulletproof," "Speak," "Under Your Scars," and "Straight Out of Line." The band received three Grammy nominations and a Billboard Award for Rock Artist of the Year in 2001. Godsmack's other members include bassist Robbie Merrill, guitarist Tony Rombola, and drummer Shannon Larkin.