The band's primary composer Chad Gilbert has explained that the title is a direct reference to the medical procedure
radiosurgery, where a patient is treated by
x rays or
gamma rays to remove a
tumor or growth from the brain. Gilbert used the
analogy that if it was possible, the same procedure could be used to remove memories from the brain, noting that after a severe break up, a person can be left "going crazy." He revealed that since the band last wrote new material in 2008 (for
Not Without a Fight), one member suffered a "very, very severe" separation. Though he refused to reveal who, he added, "It’s for them to talk about, not me. Someone pretty much lost their mind [and] did a lot of things that were pretty scary for all of us. We’ve all been through that. I wrote about it on our website, certain things sort of haunt you in your life. That’s where the title [
Radiosurgery] comes from, it’s like a brain surgery." In the same video, primary lyricist Steve Klein can be heard joking that "you're gonna need radiosurgery to get these songs out of your head!" ==Music==