Stone Sour released House of Gold & Bones Part 1 in the United States on October 23, 2012. Their fourth studio album opened a story that would stretch across two records, following a man deciding whether to accept responsibility and change his life or retreat into the habits of his youth.
“Gone Sovereign” and “Absolute Zero” opened the album and were unveiled together ahead of its release. The band also paired them in an official video, keeping the two opening songs together as an introduction to the project.
The plan had taken shape well before those songs reached listeners. In an interview with Roadrunner Records’ Phil Freeman, guitarist Josh Rand recalled visiting Corey Taylor in October 2011 and hearing both new music and the concept behind it. Rand wanted to explore more aggressive material than the band had on Audio Secrecy, and Taylor encouraged him to pursue it. Writing remained collaborative: Rand sifted through Jim Root’s recorded improvisations, drummer Roy Mayorga submitted ideas, and the group gathered in Des Moines in January 2012 to assemble the material. The story gave them a reason to stretch while still writing songs that could work individually.
They recorded at Sound Farm Studios in Iowa with producer David Bottrill and Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan. Making both installments during the same sessions created a demanding schedule. Taylor told Rolling Stone he was recording vocals for two songs a day to stay on deadline. Bottrill also helped keep the band focused on the complete work, Rand told Roadrunner, with potential radio singles left to emerge from the finished music.
Capturing how Stone Sour played together mattered just as much as the narrative. Rand told MusicRadar that he and Root recorded their rhythm guitars simultaneously, placing one player on each side of the stereo mix. They judged performances by their energy, accepting that a lively take might contain imperfections. “Does it have energy; is it lively?” was the question Rand described asking. His own solo for “Gone Sovereign” took three passes at 10 in the morning, following preparation he’d done before entering the studio.
That preparation was one half of a partnership Bottrill enjoyed. In a separate MusicRadar interview, the producer recalled Rand arriving with pages of scales and carefully considered solo ideas, while Root worked spontaneously. Their contrasting approaches gave him different material to work with. The band stayed involved in shaping the guitar sounds as recording progressed, and Bottrill pushed Taylor to rewrite a couple of songs in the studio. Even with a story already mapped out, the music was still being worked into shape.
The album also made room for instruments beyond the core band. “Tired” included strings arranged by Kevin Fox, who played cello, alongside violinists Karen Graves and Kate Unrau and violist Anna Redekop. Those arrangements expanded the musical palette available to tell Taylor’s story.
House of Gold & Bones Part 2 followed in the United States on April 9, 2013, completing the paired album release. Taylor described the second installment as darker, with musical ideas from the first returning as the story unfolded. He also expanded the narrative into a four-issue comic series, following the character known as the Human through an unfamiliar world. Dark Horse published the first issue on April 17, 2013.
