New blood helps Xerath retain their soul

Xerath have announced they will release a new album in September.

The English metallers will drop III on Monday, September 15, through Candlelight Records and have released a teaser video, which can be seen below.

Drummer Michael Pitman praises the contribution of new guitarist Conor McGouran to the album.

Pitman says: “We branched out more and enlisted the help of various live performers, such as a live string quartet, classically trained altos and sopranos, to give this album the level of production it required.

“As we always have, we recorded at multiple studios to capture the sound we were looking for. The biggest addition to the sound this time around is Conor. The first thing we looked for in a guitarist was that he was able to keep that real, soulful element.

“Conor got this straight away and in him I think people will hear a guitarist who can give you those special moments but then floor you in an instant with savage speed and outright technique. There is a real danger to his playing.”

Xerath III album trailer

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.