Swedish post-hardcore innovators Refused have announced details of their forthcoming fifth album War Music.
The follow-up to 2015’s comeback album Freedom will be released on October 18 via new record label Spinefarm/Search And Destroy.
The first single, Blood Red, will be released next week on August 2, which is said to be “a straight forward declaration of the band’s unwavering political and musical philosophy.”
Along with today’s announcement, Refused have issued a statement about the state of the world in 2019 that ties into the upcoming single.
“In the present moment, we who believe in the equal distribution of wealth in an egalitarian, ecological direct democracy, we who use gender-neutral pronouns and words like solidarity, moral responsibility, intersectionality and class warfare, we who believe in the Marxist dictum, “from each according to ability, to each according to need” are on our back foot, on our backs, backed up against the wall, surrounded by enemies, our movement curtailed, our rights violated. It’s been clear for some time: the sun is setting on our beliefs.
“But we still believe that capitalism is cancer and we still believe it can be cured. We still believe that the patriarchy is cancer and we still believe it too can be cured. We still believe in the power of art to transform and expand the mind. And last but by no means least: We still believe in the total violent obliteration of the one percent. Blood red until we’re fucking dead. Let’s go.”
Check out a teaser for Blood Red below.