Sully Erna says Godsmack is not done after all. The singer said the band’s ninth album, Lighting Up the Sky, was not the end of the road and that there is “definitely” a new record coming, even if he cannot say when.
“We’ll probably get some new music out by early ’27, I suppose,” Erna said, putting a rough timeline on a return that only months ago would have sounded unlikely.
That matters because Godsmack had said in 2023 that Lighting Up the Sky would be its last album, a statement that sounded like a clean exit for one of hard rock’s most durable touring acts. Instead, Erna is now describing a band that is still writing its next chapter, with live releases and a fresh run of shows leading the way.
The shift follows a lineup change that began after Tony Rombola and Shannon Larkin retired from the group after the tour supporting Lighting Up the Sky. In April 2025, Erna said both men left on good terms and wanted a simpler, quieter life away from touring. He said he and bassist Robbie Merrill were eager to try new directions, and the band moved ahead with Will Hunt and Sam Koltun on its 2025 European tour.
Erna said he and Merrill talked at length before deciding not to stop. “Me and Robbie sat down and had a long talk,” he said. “We contemplated kind of retiring the band…but we were just like, ‘We don’t really want to stop yet. We feel like we have some gas in the tank. We love what we do.’” That is the clearest sign yet that the group’s current pause from the old lineup is not a farewell but a reset.
Godsmack is set to release Live at the Mohegan Sun on Friday, May 1, and its Rise of Rock World Tour begins May 7 at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Florida. The band has also teamed with Dorothy on a track called “Set Me Free,” another sign that the focus is now on moving forward rather than closing the book.
For now, Erna has answered the question the band raised in 2023: Godsmack’s last album was not its last act. The next one is already taking shape, and if his timeline holds, the new music should arrive in early 2027.