Scorpions Enlist Metallica + Slipknot Producer for Upcoming Album

Scorpions are getting help from a familiar face in rock and metal for their upcoming album. Producer Greg Fidelman, best known for his work with Metallica, Slipknot and others, is on board to helm the German rockers' next effort.

Guitarist Matthias Jabs revealed as much during a chat last month with the Metal Bar — listen to the interview down toward the bottom of this post. Speaking with host Riccardo Ball, the musician laid out the timeline for Scorpions' upcoming year, indicating that recording sessions for the forthcoming collection will revolve around the group's month-long residency in Las Vegas plotted for July 2020.

"We've been writing some material before we went on tour this summer," Jabs explained. "It's always difficult to come up with stuff on tour. You get the inspiration but actually [to] put it down, that's a different story when you travel every day. We have songs — about 10, I guess — but we will do more writing once this tour's over, then prepare for rehearsals and recordings right after our shows in New Zealand and Asia. So we'll be back [in] early March."

He continues, "We know that we're working with producer Greg Fidelman, who is known for doing Metallica and Slipknot and others, and he's a great guy. He came to visit our studio in Hanover, Germany, already. The plan is to record until … July when we have a residency in Las Vegas for a whole month. During that time, we can either do the final touch-ups or mix. Then the album should come out in the fall of 2020." Fidelman produced and engineered Slipknot's We Are Not Your Kind as well as Metallica's  Hardwired... to Self-Destruct.

Scorpions started writing for their upcoming album earlier this year. The band previously mounted a small Las Vegas residency back in May 2016 with a stretch of five shows at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's music venue the Joint. But didn't the Klaus Meine-led act announce a farewell tour not all that long ago?

"We said almost ten years ago that it's time to call it a day," Jabs admitted, "But we realized on the so-called final tour that we were having too much fun. The fans and the promoters and everybody, the business didn't want to let us go."

He added, "Why should we stop?"

See Scorpions' upcoming tour dates listed below and get tickets here.

Scorpions' Matthias Jabs Talks to the Metal Bar's Riccardo Ball - Nov. 26, 2019

Scorpions 2020 Tour Dates

Feb. 19 – Melbourne, Australia @ Rod Laver Arena
Feb. 22 – Sydney, Australia @ Qudos Bank Arena
Feb. 24 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Feb. 27 – Auckland, New Zealand @ Spark Arena
March 1 – Yogyakarta, Indonesia @ Kridosono Stadium
March 4 – Singapore, Singapore @ Fort Canning Park

See Scorpions in Top 80 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the '80s