But before this happens, the Canadian pop-punk legends will be on one massive tour, and that’s not forgetting their colossal new album!

A lot of this was by accident,” says Deryck Whibley of the genesis of Sum 41’s eighth record, Heaven :x: Hell. During lockdown, the Canadian singer/songwriter was inundated with calls and requests asking him to pen some more pop-punk bangers – which worried him. It had been several years since he’d done such a thing. But he took the plunge anyway.

At the time, Derek and his wife Ariana had just welcomed their first child into the world – Lyndon Igby. “The only thing he would mellow out to was punk rock music,” explains Deryck, who’d regularly take his son out in the car, driving around the uncharacteristically quiet streets of Los Angeles, blasting the songs that soundtracked his high school years – NOFX, Pennywise, Social Distortion, Lagwagon and Bad Religion.

This routine would repeat on a daily basis and made its way into Derek’s creative cortex. He began writing in a way that was reminiscent of Sum 41’s earlier material. These songs were, at first, due to be gifted to someone else, but eventually, he became reluctant to part with them.

Derek then spent some time trawling through Sum 41’s earlier material and realised he’d amassed quite a collection.

So, he went about adding a pop-punk tune here and a riffy rager there until the bones formed of what would become the band’s final record.

“It was all with the help of our son,” smiles Deryck, whose daughter, Quentin, was born a couple of weeks after this interview – on her mother’s birthday.

When Sum 41 first arrived on the scene in the early 2000s, they were subjected to the same kind of cynicism as many up-and-comers. Some said they were one-hit wonders, a flash in the pan that wouldn’t last. Deryck bristled at the time – not because the naysayers’ words hurt, but the suggestion that anyone else could spell the end for his band. “No one was going to decide when we would go,” he would think. “I will decide when we go.”

“It was hard to bring it up but easy to talk about,” recalls Deryck. “Although they were surprised, and didn’t necessarily feel the way I did, it was a very loving and supportive conversation.”

Sum 41’s final album Heaven :x: Hell is due out on March 29 via Rise Records.

Catch the band at Download, which takes place from June 14 – 16, 2024 at Donington Park – get your tickets now. You can also see Sum 41 live at Rock For People this summer – get your tickets here.

The Leicestershire festival, taking place from 14 June to 16 June 2024, will also welcome alternative rock duo Royal Blood, California punk rock band The Offspring and heavy metal group Machine Head. Pantera, a heavy metal band hailing from Texas, will make their first UK appearance in 20 years at next year’s Download, while Canadian pop-punk idols Sum 41 will bid farewell to the UK festival scene as they make their last ever UK festival appearance. The band will continue to tour however, and have a new album, Heaven :x: Hell, coming out next year.

The hard rock, heavy metal and punk festival, one of the UK’s biggest and most popular summer events, is set to be partnered for a second year with canned water company Liquid Death. CEO of Liquid Death Mike Cessario spoke on the partnership, stating, “The deep connection between Download fans and artists is unique, and we’re pumped to officially be a part of the Download community. We’re looking forward to murdering thirst for festivalgoers and artists in 2024 and beyond.”

Watch the music video for “No One Knows” by Download 2024 headliners Queens Of The Stone Age below:

Other bands and artists to feature include: Alien Weaponry, Alpha Wolf, All Them Witches, Alt Blk Era, Atreyu, Babymetal, Bad Omens, Billy Talent, Biohazard, Bleed From Within, Bowling For Soup, Brand Of Sacrifice, Calva Louise, Celestial Sanctuary, Charlotte Sands, Corey Taylor, Counterparts, Crystal Lake, Deathbyromy, Defects, Delilah Bon, Dream State, Dying Fetus, Dying Wish, Elvana, Erra, Fear Factory, Fit For A King, Frozemode, Gel, Halocene, Hanabie, Harper, Heilung, Heriot, Holding Absence, Hoobastank, Hotwax, Imminence, Karnivool, Kelsy Karter & The Heroines, Knife Bride, Lord Of The Lost, Make Them Suffer, Missio, Noahfinnce, Oxymorrons, Pest Control, Polyphia, Pinkshift, Røry, Royal & The Serpent, Scene Queen, Scowl, Shadow Of Intent, Silverstein, Slaughter To Prevail, Speed, Storm, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Blue Stones, The Callous Daoboys, The Offspring, The Used, Those Damn Crows, Thy Art Is Murder, Tigercub, Underside, Until I Wake, Urne, Vukovi, Wargasm, While She Sleeps, Zulu, 311.

More bands and artists are expected to be announced.

Presale tickets for next year’s Download 2024 are available here from tonight, Wednesday 8 November at 9pm.

According to NME Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley said in a statement. “We’ve been having such a great time on our tour with Simple Plan in the States and cannot wait to bring the party over to Europe, we’re so excited to celebrate the anniversaries of some of our favourite albums along with other hits and favourites with you on the “Does This Look All Killer No Filler” tour!”

The UK/EU ‘Does This Look All Killer No Filler’ tour kicks off in Stuttgart on September 20, heading through Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Italy and more before concluding with a massive London show at Alexandra Palace on October 21, the only UK gig of the run.

Sum 41 dropped their most recent album, Order In Decline, back in 2019. Earlier this year, Whibley revealed that the band had completed a new double record called Heaven And Hell. The band will also be heading to the UK next month ahead of the upcoming tour, playing the Leeds (June 3) and Hatfield (June 4) legs of Slam Dunk Festival.

You can see the full list of dates for the ‘Does This Look All Killer No Filler’ UK and European tour below and get your tickets here for the London date. Tickets are set to go on sale at 10am local time on Friday, May 20.

Sum 41 ‘Does This Look All Killer No Filler’ UK/European Tour Dates:

20/09/22 Porsche-Arena – Stuttgart, Germany
21/09 myticket Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
23/09 Arkea Arena – Bordeaux, France
24/09 Bilbao Arena – Bilbao, Spain
26/09 Altice Arena Sala Tejo – Lisbon, Portugal
27/09 WiZink Center – Madrid, Spain
29/09 Accor Arena – Paris, France
01/10 Sportovin Hala Fortuna – Prague, Czech Republic
03/10 EXPO XXI – Warsaw, Poland
05/10 Arena Open Air Vienna – Vienna, Austria
06/10 Incheba Expo Hall – Bratislava, Slovakia
08/10 Unipol Arena – Bologna, Italy
10/10 Olympiahalle  – Munich, Germany
11/10 Edel Optics Arena – Hamburg, Germany
12/10 Max-Schmeling-Halle – Berlin, Germany
14/10 –Mitsubishi Electric Hall – Dusseldorf, Germany
17/10 Rockhal – Luxembourg
18/10 O13 – Tilburg, Netherlands
19/10 Forest National – Brussels, Germany
21/10 Alexandra Palace – London, England

NEW YEAR, NEW BANDS!

We are very excited to inform you that @NeckDeepUK are your 4th and final festival headliner!

Also joining us are @cancerbats, @bronxovision, @thesummerset, @PointNorthBand, @momjeansca and @AsDecemberFalls!https://t.co/hb3406ieze pic.twitter.com/5cPE1PVM1z

— Slam Dunk Festival (@SlamDunkMusic) January 14, 2022

The festival suffered the same fate as all of its counterparts in 2020, however was one of the lucky ones in 2021; although dates were rescheduled from June to September, both Slam Dunk North and Slam Dunk South were able to go forward, featuring headliners such as Don Broco, NOFX, While She Sleeps and Don Broco.

As you can observe from the poster, the festival boasts an extremely exciting line-up this year. Sum 41, who were unable to attend the rescheduled 2021 festival, will be present, and are accompanied by UK pop punk titans Neck Deep, Celtic rockers Dropkick Murphys, and Canadian post-hardcore legends Alexisonfire. The line-up is an absolute dream come true for avid pop punk fans, as there will also be performances by The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck, Motion City Soundtrack and Pennywise.

Alexisonfire are not the only throwback outfit on the bill either; Canadian post-hardcore outfit Silverstein will be performing, having had their 20^th anniversary in 2020, along with The Used and American ska punk band The Might Mighty Bosstones. Another group who are a truly special (albeit a little niche) addition to the line-up is Hot Water Music, a post-hardcore/punk rock band that formed in the early 1990s.

There are also a fair few heavier bands billed, such as Canadian hardcore punk outfit Cancer Bats, Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction, and German metalcore outfit Eskimo Callboy.

Slam Dunk Festival, associated with Slam Dunk Records, was formed in 2006 on a small-scale basis and was held at Millenium Square in Leeds, before being moved to the University of Leeds’ student union. Despite only being able to host a few artists in its early days, the festival still attracted a great deal of popular acts; for example Fall Out Boy headlined in 2006, and were accompanied by now legendary post-hardcore band Thursday. Later years saw the appearance of acts such as Reel Big Fish, Paramore, You Me At Six, Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday, and the festival expanded from its small scale to hosting over forty different acts across six stages.

Speaking to Kerrang about the announcement, Sum 41 frontman, Deryck Whibley, said: “Slam Dunk is a festival we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and until now we’ve never been able to pull it off.

Scheduling and all that stuff has meant we’ve not been able to play in previous years, which has been frustrating. To finally be appearing at Slam Dunk is a great feeling – it’s been a long time coming. It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, and it’s a festival I’ve continually heard great things about. Sum 41 playing Slam Dunk just makes sense to me.”

ANNOUNCEMENT INCOMING!
Our 2nd headliner is @Sum41!
Also adding @BillyTalentBand, @theused, @thestorysofarca, @basementuk, @GrayscalePA & @DreamStateUK, reunion shows in the shape of @WeAreTheInCrowd & @YourDemise

+ Punk In Drublic is returning with @NOFXband, @Pennywise & MORE! pic.twitter.com/xWFavxzoR7

— Slam Dunk Festival (@SlamDunkMusic) October 23, 2019

The Canadian pop-punk rockers will be joined on the bill by the likes of The Used, Billy Talent, The Story So Far, Basement, Your Demise, We Are In The Crowd, NOFX, Pennywise, Dream State, and Grayscale.

NOFX’s Fat Mike, said: “I don’t actually remember playing last year… so we decided to do it again this year! I probably still won’t remember, but this time we’re gonna video tape it!”

Slam Dunk Festival North take place, at Leeds Temple, in Newsam, on Saturday the 23rd of May 2020. While, Slam Dunk South will take place, at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire, on Sunday the 24th of May 2020.

Sum 41 will join be joined as headliners by the previously announced Don Broco, alongside the likes of The Wonder Years, State Champs, Mayday Parade, Knuckle Puck, Four Year Strong, Bayside, Ice Nine Kills, Issues, Hands Like Houses and Motion City Soundtrack. The festival’s latest line-up announcement also includes a world exclusive reunion from We Are The In Crowd and the return of Your Demise.

Posting on Instagram, Slam Dunk wrote: “THE SECOND #SDF20 ANNOUNCEMENT HAS ARRIVED! Yes, it’s happening, the rumours are true… We are bringing the mighty Sum 41 to the party as our second headliner, alongside Billy Talent and The Used!

“SDF favourites The Story So Far are back for 2020 and Basement make their 2nd ever SDF appearance. We have 2 massive reunions for Slam Dunk 2020. The first is the UK’s very own hardcore heroes, Your Demise. We are also super excited to have We Are The In Crowd back on UK soil as a world exclusive!”

Concluding they said: “We are pleased to announce the return of Punk In Drublic Stage to SDF. The full line up will be announced soon, but for now we can tell you NOFX will be returning with the legendary Pennywise. Last but not least we have UK up-and-comers Dream State, and American pop-punks Grayscale, plus plenty more to come over the following months, including our 2 heavy stages!”

The tour will kick off at Birmingham’s O2 Arena on February 24 and will round off at Southampton’s Guildhall on March 6.

The band released their sixth album last week, their first since Screaming Bloody Murder back in 2011. According to NME, it’s the band’s first UK tour since singer Deryck Whibley became sober, having got clean in hospital in 2014 after he was diagnosed with liver failure from alcohol addiction.

Talking to Canoe about writing 13 Voices and the severity of his alcohol addiction, Whibley said: “It was just sort of a very uncertain time. A lot of insecurities. I actually thought I was going crazy at one point. I thought I was turning schizophrenic or something. I had so much chaos and so much noise in my head. Everything was a question, which is where the term 13 Voices came from.”

Sum 41 formed in 1996 and are from Ontario, Canada. In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records and released its first EP, Half Hour of Power in 2000.  The band released its debut album, All Killer, No Filler in 2001, which achieved huge success with its first single, ‘Fat Lip’, reaching number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains the band’s most successful single to date.

Tickets are on general sale at 10am on Friday14 October, and are priced at £22.50-£23.50. The details for the dates and venues are below.

24/02 – Birmingham O2 Academy
25/02 – Manchester Academy
26/02 – Leeds O2 Academy
28/02 – Glasgow Barrowlands
02/03 – London O2 Academy Brixton
03/03 – Bristol O2 Academy
04/03 – Nottingham Rock City
06/03 – Southampton O2 Guildhall