Grammy-nominated Christian rock titans Skillet recently unleashed their aggressive new single “Scream“. Released on July 10, the heavy-hitting track serves as the lead preview for an upcoming six-song collection. According to frontman and bassist John Cooper, the new material is deeply rooted in severe personal turbulence and unexpected mental health struggles.
During a recent interview with “ChurchLeaders“, John Cooper provided profound insight into the lyrical inspiration behind the track, explaining that the new music comes from the most emotionally raw place the band has operated from in years.
“I call it a ‘scream’ because… I mean, this is definitely not just the song, but the upcoming full release, which is gonna have six songs. It’s definitely the most, I think, vulnerable that we’ve been in a long time. It feels emotional, dealing with the hard stuff in life,” he began (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Addressing some of the initial fan reactions to the single’s darker tone, he noted:
“I think most people immediately understand what the song is about when they hear it. I did see a few things like, ‘What does this have to do with Jesus? This isn’t a Christian message.’ And we can talk about that too. But in reality, most people know what this means.
“We all go through things,” Cooper continued. “Some people have suffered more than others. And when suffering comes your way, generally you’re not expecting it, and you kind of see what you’re made of, you see what that testing’s all about. And we can all jump in church or clap in church and, ‘Amen, man. Nothing can get me down.’ And then suffering comes. And it comes in lots of different ways for people. It could be betrayal. It could be grief. It could be the loss. It could be, God forbid, your kid’s got cancer. It can come in all sorts of ways — addiction, depression, et cetera. And so ‘Scream‘ is that thing of, like, okay, sometimes there’s so much noise that you feel almost trapped inside yourself or in the chaos of things. And so some people have a literal scream, but a lot of times with people who suffer with mental health and things, it’s kind of a silent scream. It’s an inward scream. And that can come out in different ways — addiction, it could come out in alcoholism. It could come out in all sorts of things. Or just depression, or just locking yourself in your room, not wanting to see people.
Cooper then pulled the curtain back on the specific, real-life trauma that fueled the song’s creation, detailing the intense betrayal and resurgence of depression that severely impacted both him and his wife, Skillet guitarist and keyboardist Korey Cooper.
“For me, there’s a specific — some things that have happened in my life the last couple of years, which I won’t get much into except to say I’m writing from a very personal place in this. I’ve gone through quite a lot in the last couple of years, a lot of my own dark night of the soul and betrayal and lies and things that have been said about me. And the rug pulled out from underneath us in a way that me and [my wife] Korey [Cooper, Skillet guitarist, keyboardist, programmer and string arranger] never thought would happen to us. And so because of that, I began to really struggle with that chaos, that confusion, and in a way that I really hadn’t in decades. And for me, it sort of exhibited itself into some depression and some things I just did not expect. I thought I was done with that, and he came back. The black dog came back. And so I did kind of want to write about that. And I wanted to be open about it because I think that some people that struggle with these kind of things, I think it… I assume most, a lot of people, but I think talking about the church, it’s, I think, even more so. Because we can be ashamed about it. And there’s nothing shameful about suffering. And I want people to know they’re not alone in that. It’s okay to admit that, ‘Yeah, it was really weird depression.’ ‘It was a really weird,’ et cetera, et cetera. But I think we can get kind of like we feel like ‘maybe I didn’t have enough faith.’ ‘Maybe I’m not being a good Christian by admitting that.’ ‘Don’t you know Jesus died for you? He fixes all your problems.’ I mean, I believe that Jesus died for me and he is the prince of peace, but that doesn’t guarantee you that you’re not going to suffer, and that you might not handle it all that well as well. But God’s tough enough to handle that. He’s tough enough to handle that conversation,” Cooper revealed.
Despite the overwhelming darkness detailed in the lyrics, John emphasized that the message ultimately serves as a defiant pushback against giving up entirely.
“So that’s what it’s about. And in the song, I realize for some people, they might think it sounds angry. To me, it’s not really about the anger. It’s more about this is the first sign that I’ve got life in me yet, and I’m fighting back. We’re not giving into this because when you’re in the middle of that dark night of the soul, you do have thoughts that are very much inconsistent with who you think you have been. And you have these thoughts, and you go, ‘Oh, my gosh. Am I losing my mind?’ And so that scream for me is, like, ‘I know my life matters. I know that God can help me, and I’m not gonna give in to this.’ So that’s kind of what the scream is about. It’s actually a sign of resistance,” he concluded.
The launch of the explosive new single comes amid an already massive year for the veteran rockers. Their six-times-platinum juggernaut hit “Monster” recently cracked the four-billion streams mark globally, earning a permanent spot in Spotify‘s elusive Billions Club. The achievement cements its legacy as one of the most-streamed rock songs in history, and notably, the only track by a Christian artist to ever cross the one billion mark on Spotify alone.
Adding to their 2026 victories, Skillet recently wrapped up a completely sold-out European headline tour, playing to over 90,000 fans across 23 cities, the largest international audiences of their entire career. The band officially debuted “Scream” live for the first time during a May 14 headlining show at Arena 8888 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Looking ahead, the band will hit the road stateside for the highly anticipated “Comatose: 20 Years, Still Screaming Tour“, a comprehensive fall headline run celebrating two full decades since the release of their definitive 2006 record, Comatose.
“Comatose: 20 Years, Still Screaming Tour” dates:
- September 30 – Schenectady, NY – Proctors Theatre
- October 2 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
- October 3 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
- October 4 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
- October 7 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
- October 8 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
- October 10 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe
- October 11 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
- October 12 – Pittsburgh, PA – Citizens Live at The Wylie
- October 14 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
- October 16 – Minneapolis, MN – Uptown Theater
- October 17 – Milwaukee, WI – Landmark Credit Union Live
- October 18 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse Omaha
- October 20 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
- October 22 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
- October 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Center
- October 26 – Airway Heights, WA – Pend Oreille Pavilion at Northern Quest
- October 27 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
- October 30 – Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live Sacramento
- October 31 – Inglewood, CA – YouTube Theater
- November 1 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
- November 5 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
- November 6 – San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theatre
- November 10 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
