In February 2017, Smith announced that they had begun work on a sixth studio album. Bass had been working on writing 22 separate pieces of music over the course of their 2016 touring, separate from the rest of the band, who wanted to just concentrate on touring. Bass had just begun presenting the material to Smith, who, while unsure how much exactly would go into the future album, did say that he was very impressed, and that the material may fit together into a concept album, a first for the band. They joined Iron Maiden on tour in Europe in April and May, and began recording soon after. At the time, the band planned to finish the album in late 2017, release a first single in January 2018, and then release the album in April. In January 2018, Myers announced that the band had finished recording the album, and that Bass was working on finalizing the production and mixing of the album. Myers also described the album's sound as "heavier than "Threat to Survival"."