PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
It seems an interminable wait for North West, Preston, Lancashire based noisemongers WARD XVI to unleash their upcoming studio album, Id3ntity via Earache Records but fear not as on Friday, July 11th, 2025, it will follow their well received second studio album Metamorphosis from 2020 . They have also released a third single taken from it , ‘We Are Legion’, that follows ‘Blood Is The New Black’.
My thoughts of the single is that it’s a statement of intent, not just a song as they riff hard and heavy for future circus or circle pits. When they lock in tight here, it’s like being swept up in the eye of a storm from raging thrash metal and a drum driven pummel. Prominent keyboard swathes wrap around the melee, and it’s all pinned down by a harrowing lead vocal.
Armed with an intense drive to push artistic boundaries, WARD XVI, draw from heavyweights such as Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper, to modern heavyweights, Ghost and Skindred. WARD XVI are recognised as a formidable act in the rock and metal scene and are evenly skilled at producing their stage show to the club circuit and key venues such as the London Roundhouse and larger festival stages parallel to Bloodstock. Continuing from the triumphs of their last album, Metamorphosis, which received extensive approval and secured many accolades, WARD XVI are now poised to release their much anticipated new album, Id3ntity, which is the last piece of a trilogy of releases.
Past single, Blood Is The New Black, was premiered by Kerrang! Radio, picked up a number one chart position at Primordial Radio, and has been widely praised by fans and media alike. Now loaded with a new single, We Are Legion, which has also just been premiered by Kerrang!, and with a glut of live shows and festival appearances on the way, WARD XVI’s calling is growing stronger and stronger by the day……
WARD XVI live this October: Saturday 18th – Hidden, Dundee; Sunday 19th – Ivory Blacks, Glasgow; Monday – 20th The Cluny, Newcastle; Tuesday 21st – Yardbird, Grimsby; Wednesday 22nd – Nighttrain, Bradford; Thursday 23rd – O’Rileys, Hull; Friday 24th – Firebug, Leicester; Saturday 25th – Brickmakers, Norwich; Sunday 26th – Cart & Horses, London; Monday 27th – Levels, Swindon; Tuesday 28th – The Cobblestones, Bridgwater; Wednesday 29th – The Bunkhouse, Swansea; Thursday 30th – The Station, Cannock; Friday 31st – Blitz, Preston.
WARD XVI Album launch with Red Method at Manchester Academy 2 on Friday 25th July. For details and tickets, see: https://www.manchesteracademy.net/order/tickets/13376508/ward-xvi-id3ntity-manchester-academy-2-2025-07-25-19-30-00 |
Identity album track listing :- 1. Regeneration; 2. Into The Wilderness; 3. What’s In The Box?; 4. Macabaret; 5. Interlude; 6. Blood Is The New Black; 7. At The Window; . 8. I Spit On Your Grave; 9. Interlude 2; 10. Darkest Desire; 11. Amoeba Of Madness; 12. Interlude 3; 13. We Are Legion.
WARD XVI are: Psychoberrie- vocals, programming, keyboards/ synth; Doktor Von Stottenstein- guitars, vocals; Wolfy Huntsman- bass, vocals; Bam Bam Bedlam- drums; Rico Rameres- vocals / theatrics; Nurse Betty- theatrics.
Ward XVI band info, including a pre-save/stream links to Id3ntity are here :- linktr.ee/wardxvi
