These tensions openly manifested themselves at a concert on April 14, 2012, in São Paulo, Brazil, when Tate, who was irate over the firing of his wife and stepdaughter as the band's manager and fanclub manager, respectively, allegedly physically assaulted and spat on drummer Scott Rockenfield and guitarist Michael Wilton.
[11][12] After hoping to reconcile with Tate, the other founding members Rockenfield, Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson decided to fire him.
[13] Meanwhile, Jackson, Rockenfield, Wilton and guitarist Parker Lundgren had been working with another vocalist, Todd La Torre, under the name "Rising West", playing material from the first five Queensrÿche albums.
[15] Tate subsequently started his own version of the band featuring former Queensrÿche guitarist and producer Kelly Gray, guitarist Glen Drover (Eidolon, King Diamond, Megadeth), bassist Rudy Sarzo (Blue Öyster Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake), drummer Bobby Blotzer (Ratt) and keyboardist Randy Gane.
[31] Ultimate Guitar Archive asserts that the predominantly negative reactions to the recordings may have prompted the label to pull the album stream.
[25] Randy Gane wrote "The Weight of the World" in response to suffering a heart attack on December 26, 2012,[32] explaining: "that was a very difficult piece to produce and to arrange, 'cause I was going through some recouping and that song was quite autobiographical for me.
"[36] Tate said that the writing process "started out with a group of core writers, and we wrote a bunch of songs, and then we had invites out to a lot of different people to play on it.
"[27] This writing team was composed of four members:[37] Tate, Slater, Lukas Rossi and Gane; additionally Martín Irigoyen and Chris Cox were credited.
[36][38] Tate had met Rossi during the Shiprocked tour of 2012: "We were having a couple of drinks talking music and the next thing I know we're back at the hotel writing songs.
[2] According to Tate, “the idea of having guest appearances evolved from the time constraints we had imposed on the project.”[2] Later, he did comment that "[it] was really fun... from an artistic standpoint.
Tate's daughter Emily and stepdaughter Miranda sang backing vocals on the re-recorded version of "Silent Lucidity".
[45] However, Cleopatra Records would later announce the release of a deluxe edition that included a bonus disc of Sherwood's complete reimagining of the album.
[26] The first batch of CDs that had the original mixes have been released in the United States, but Cleopatra has offered to send customers a replacement CD containing the remixes upon showing their receipt.
[52] The submission deadline was set for May 10,[52] and a 4-minute video was released on May 11 that showed a compilation of rant snippets and footage of Tate "raising an intimidating eyebrow to some of the responses and laughing along to others".
Thom Jurek of Allmusic was mixed in his verdict, praising songs such as "Cold" for having "an enormous Locicero riff that recalls the band's glory days", describing the songs "Life Without You", "Fallen", and "The Weight of the World" as "well-crafted prog metal tunes" and "Slave" and "Running Backwards" as "killer rockers (...) but their barely present vocals and muddy guitar sounds kill their impact.
"[54] Jurek on Tate's vocals, says "he's still got a hell of a voice from what we can hear of it here", but he concludes that "[a]s a whole, Frequency Unknown suffers from subpar, muddy sound, which basically mars the entire record", and that "[t]he re-recordings of classic tracks were totally unnecessary.
"[54] Sputnikmusic staff writer Trey Spencer disagrees with Jurek, stating: "Frequency Unknown is not heavy or progressive, and it actually sounds less like a Queensryche album than Dedicated to Chaos.
[59] Although Spencer describes how this album "was doomed from the start" due to all the controversy around it, he admits: "I truly hoped that all of the drama would be enough to light a fire under Geoff Tate’s ass and make him enter the studio with something to prove.
"[59] A more supportive review for the album was provided by Lou Vickers from Ultimate Guitar Archive, who said of the change in sound: "This dramatic change in sound is an upgrade from the mostly bland, pop-rock style showcased in such recent outings as Dedicated To Chaos and American Soldier, but for those fans looking for a strong return to form, you should probably look elsewhere," because "although it is admittedly better than the past decade of Queensryche albums, [it] still falls a short.
"[60] William Clark from Music Enthusiast Magazine similarly gave a positive review, saying "“Frequency Unknown” is a-roller-coaster-ride-of-an-album", singling out the tracks “Cold”, “The Hands of God”, and “The Weight Of The World” as "songs that shows the band embracing their progressive metal side, and contain some strengthy elements of the classic Queensrÿche vibe".
He finds the mix "spot on" and calls the original songs " a pretty decent rock album (...) In fact, THIS is the kind of stuff he should have been releasing as solo material all along!"
"[56] Christa Titus from Billboard asserts that several songs "deserve praise for their melodies and journey-like pace, but nothing on Frequency Unknown sounds like the finely crafted rock he designed with his former bandmates.
"[55] The remainder of her review takes on a highly critical tone, in which she describes the re-recordings as "sonic embarrassments", and concludes with the words: "Despite his resolve to flip off the haters, the only person he screws with F.U.
"[55] In 2014, Cleopatra Records released a deluxe edition that includes the original album plus the first ten tracks remixed by Billy Sherwood.