Scorched

Scorched, the twentieth album, came out on Nuclear Blast on 14 April 2023 as NB 6957-2, with Ward Records issuing the Japanese edition (GQCS-91303) the same day. In Ellsworth's own words it followed the longest gap in the band's history, from February 2019 to April 2023. It was made during the pandemic, with every member recording on his own. Colin Richardson, who had worked on From the Underground and Below, Bloodletting and Killbox 13, mixed it with his assistant Chris Clancy; Johnny Rodd helped produce the vocals and Maor Appelbaum mastered it. While it was being made, D.D. Verni said it had a few more Black Sabbath-like parts and was a little more doomy. Travis Smith's cover shows two Chalys as serpents, hissing at each other in a pool of flames. Ellsworth says the fire stands for the band's origins, reaching from Feel the Fire in 1985 to Scorched in 2023. It reached number ten in Germany. It is the second album with drummer Jason Bittner, and his last. The running order here is the original's as printed.