Soundgarden’s Final Album With Chris Cornell Is Being Mixed, Says Matt Cameron

Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron says the band’s final album featuring late frontman Chris Cornell is now being mixed. Speaking on Dean Delray’s “Let There Be Talk” podcast, Cameron said the surviving members are working to finish an eight-song record built from previously unreleased recordings made with Cornell before his death in May 2017.

• The album will contain eight songs, which Cameron called “pretty much all there is with vocals.”
• Guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd are the surviving members working on the record.
• Producer Terry Date, who helmed Soundgarden’s “Louder Than Love” (1989) and “Badmotorfinger” (1991), is collaborating on the project.
• Mixing is being handled by Joe Barresi, who has previously worked with Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat, Slipknot, Monster Magnet and Bad Religion.
• No release date has been set.

How Soundgarden Built the Final Album With Chris Cornell

Cameron said the material dates back to around 2013 and 2014, when he and Cornell traded demos remotely. Cameron would send instrumentals, and Cornell would rearrange them and sing over the top before the songs were passed back and forth further.

The band began working together in the studio around 2015 and 2016, recording rehearsals while preparing what was intended to be another album ahead of their final tour in 2017. The version of the album now being finished combines live rehearsal recordings, including guitar parts Cornell played, with vocals pulled from his demos and music the full band wrote together.

Cameron said leftover instrumental material without vocals may be developed further by Thayil into new music, separate from the eight-song album currently being mixed.

Which Songs Are on Soundgarden’s Final Album

Cornell is credited as a writer on all eight songs expected to appear on the record, taking sole credit on two of them.

1. “Cancer” (Chris Cornell)
2. “Stone Age Mind” (Chris Cornell)
3. “Road Less Traveled” (Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron)
4. “Orphans” (Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron)
5. “At Ophians Door” (Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron)
6. “Ahead Of The Dog” (Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil)
7. “Merrmas” (Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd)

Kim Thayil on Finishing Soundgarden’s Unreleased Material

In May 2026, Thayil told LifeMinute editor-in-chief Joann Butler that some of the material has existed for 10 to 15 years and was demoed at various points by Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd and himself. He said the band is now working without a record label budget or schedule, coordinating the recording process around each member’s own time.

Thayil described finishing the songs as important both for Soundgarden’s legacy and for Cornell’s, calling it a matter of “doing right by our collective work” and “our partner and friend.”

Matt Cameron’s Departure From Pearl Jam

Cameron also confirmed during the podcast that he left Pearl Jam in July 2025 after nearly three decades with the band. He said he “pretty much quit” with no animosity between him and his former bandmates, explaining that he wanted to put his full attention into finishing the Soundgarden project without touring commitments.

Cameron said he believes three or four of the eight songs are especially strong and expects fans to have an intense emotional reaction once the album is released. He said the band is focused on getting the record “over the finish line” before deciding what happens next.