Dave 'PHOENIX' Farrell Talks LINKIN PARK’s Return: 'Time Doesn’t Heal The Wound, It Changes The Lens'

Summary

• Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell says Chester Bennington’s death changed everything, but time helped shift the band’s perspective.
• From Zero marks Linkin Park’s first album since 2017, introducing Emily Armstrong and Colin Brittain to the lineup.
• Farrell explains how The Emptiness Machine shaped the record and served as a reintroduction to fans.

Linkin Park is back on tour with a new album and new members. But for bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, returning to the band after Chester Bennington’s death was not easy.

In a recent interview with Evropa 2, Farrell said the loss of their longtime singer is something the group still carries.

“It doesn’t heal the wound,” Farrell said. “But it does give you an opportunity to try to look at things through a different lens.”

Bennington died in 2017. Since then, the band stayed mostly silent. Farrell explained that it took years for the remaining members to even think about writing music again.

“From that point forward, it took us years before we were even kind of comfortable getting back in a room,” he said. “My brain shut off to all of that. I said, ‘I’m just going to go be with my family.’ A bomb had just gone off.”

Eventually, Farrell said, time helped him see a way forward—not by forgetting, but by adjusting.

“It doesn’t leave you. It stays with you,” he said. “But you do figure out a way to ask, what is tomorrow? What are you going to do? And you take it one step at a time.”

Linkin Park returned in 2024 with a new album, From Zero, their first full-length release since One More Light in 2017. The new lineup includes Emily Armstrong (of Dead Sara) as co-vocalist and Colin Brittain on drums. Original drummer Rob Bourdon is not currently touring with the band.

The album’s lead single, The Emptiness Machine, features vocals from both Mike Shinoda and Armstrong. Farrell said the song helped shape the entire album.

“It starts on Mike’s vocal. Then Emily gets introduced into it,” he explained. “It just happened kind of that way with the writing. It became this way of saying to fans, ‘Have you met my friend Emily?’”

The band is now touring across North and South America and Europe in support of From Zero (Get Linkin Park Tickets Here). A deluxe edition of the album, featuring bonus tracks and live recordings, was released on May 16.

Even with the new material and new voices, Farrell said the sense of loss remains. But it no longer stops them from moving forward.

“You do figure out a way to step into that,” he said. “What’s that going to look like? How are you going to move? That’s what I’ve learned.”

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