Iconic hard rock band Guns N’ Roses have released a new single, ‘The General’, a slow-building gem that emerged from the creative depths of the ‘Chinese Democracy’ sessions. 

The guitar-driven song marks the band’s second release of 2023 following ‘Perhaps’, which dropped in August, according to the Rolling Stone magazine. 

The band debuted ‘The General’ live during their two-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles last month, and it'd been flying under the radar for quite a while. 

The mid-tempo track is a switch-up from Guns N’ Roses' signature hard rock vibe. Back in the mid-2000s, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach got a taste of the song and called it "the heaviest metal tune I think I've ever heard Axl [Rose] do. Slow, grinding riff, high-pitched, screaming vocals -- the whole shebang". 

The release comes 14 days after singer Axl Rose was accused of sexually assaulting an ex- model in his hotel room in 1989 in a lawsuit. Axl has denied the charges through his lawyer, who said the incident never took place. 

'The General' marks the fourth jam the trio of Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan have dropped since they reunited in 2016, following the 2021 releases of ‘Absurd’ and ‘Hard Skool’ and this year's ‘Perhaps.’ 

The band spent the summer and fall on a headlining tour, which included stops at Glastonbury, the Hollywood Bowl, and London’s Hyde Park. Guns also performed with AC/DC and Metallica at Power Trip in Indio, California.