Track By Tracks: Stormborn - Zenith (2024)

We see it as our debut 2.0. Album one was us finding our feet - jumping around, trying to work out what music falls out of us. Zenith though, is the top of the mountain we've been scrambling up to see what we can do. The album is a journey through time, space and emotion! As no doubt most bands will say, this album is the sort of music WE wanted to listen to.

1. Call of the Void:

An instrumental opener that sets the stage and is designed to blow open the doors and show old fans (and new fans) that we are back and we mean business. It's big, moody, and heavy, and it'll blow your face off.

2. Land of the Servant King:

An explosive opener that starts with intense double bass and a blisteringly fast twin guitar part before Chris kicks in and weaves a story about a splintered society that would subjugate themselves to a charlatan. There's political commentary there but you won't have to dig too deep to find it.

3. Fear of a Monster:

The first single from the album and it is another fast one about battling the demons that lay within us all. In a quite literal sense, this song was about that unceasing hunger to make music at a time when the band was on hiatus. It was the first song we put together when we decided to reform and make this album.

4. The Unending Night:

A moody and atmospheric instrumental piece to set the stage for the next song…and to give the listener a moment to catch their breath!

5. Dawn Will Come Again:

A riffy, moody, and intense number about being lost and isolated. It's all about that feeling we have when we're at our lowest and darkest, and we wonder whether the light will ever return.

6. Out in the Weird:

Back to the thinly veiled political and societal commentary. This one is dynamic but huge, with massive thematic melodies, stripped-back brooding verses, soaring choruses, and even an obligatory acoustic bridge. Laurence absolutely lets rip with his solo on this one whilst Chris tells a tale of people who couldn't bear the changing surface and delved deep beneath the earth to fester and rage.

7. Serpentine:

Inspired by the Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb, this one a more straightforward power metal romp with another high-flying chorus. This one features a face-melting guest solo from past Stormborn guitarist Dan Smith

8. Death Incarnate:

Probably the oldest song on the album which was originally from our very first band, but it has been completely re-worked and released here for the first time. The song is about an incredible scientific breakthrough that is met with the horrifying realization that it may also bring about the end of the world as we know it. We should point out that the song was written before the release of Christopher Nolan’s film. We were here first!

9. Echo:

A melancholy yet fittingly powerful epic to close. This one's about the failing mind, and the struggle some of us have with drifting memories - either directly or through proximity to fading loved ones. In the end, this song is really about grief, acceptance, and savoring each moment while it lasts.