Bad Religion's Greg Graffin has done another interview with a UCLA-affiliated newspaper, and discusses some of the themes that inspired the band's upcoming album. The record is titled New Maps of Hell and is due out July 10, 2007. It is the follow-up to Live at the Palladium DVD which was released in 2006.

In the story, Greg talks about the parallels between his work in Bad Religion and his role as a professor:

I've been used to [communicating with a college-aged audience] all along, because Bad Religion [always] gets a year older and our audience stays the same age.

He also mentions some of the lyrical subjects that appear on the record:

The new album, Graffin says, marks a return to some of BR's classic themes and is allegorical rather than direct. Which is why there is no direct reference to Iraq in the new music. "I think everyone is really tired of hearing about how everyone is opposed to the war," Graffin explains. "It's just not interesting."

Greg has been teaching while recording his band's upcoming album, has taken a position at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a lecturing professor in the Life Science Department.

You can check out the piece here.

Update: Epitaph has posted the artwork for New Maps of Hell.