We Speak Rock

EMPATH, Built From Volbeat, Rising And Anti-Ritual Members, Drop Their Self-Titled Debut Album

Published

16 hours ago

November 14, 2026

EMPATH's four members in a black and white portrait against a dark background

Copenhagen has a new heavy rock band with serious pedigree. EMPATH, formed by members of Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual, have released their self-titled debut album today, November 13th, on Indisciplinarian — a dark and dreamy take on heavy rock built on atmosphere, melody and crushing dynamics.

EMPATH is the sound of a new, dark and dreamy heavy rock band from Copenhagen, Denmark — one that revolves around atmosphere, presence and empathy. The constellation may be new, but the four members carry solid experience from bands such as Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual.

In a digital and efficiency-driven age, where humanity is increasingly giving way to mechanical coldness, EMPATH — as the name suggests — is about presence, empathy and humanity. This ethos runs like a common thread through the band’s self-titled debut album, released today, November 13th, 2026, on LP, CD, cassette and digital formats via Indisciplinarian.

Across nine songs, EMPATH blends elements of progressive metal, doom, sludge and post-rock into a sound that is as dreamy and melodic as it is heavy and riff-driven. The music was recorded live with producer Lasse Ballade (Halshug, Slægt, Eyes) at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen, with vocals tracked at Grapehouse Studios by Morten Grønnegaard. Ballade also handled mix and mastering, while the artwork was created by illustrator Jon Gotlev (Nohr).

The album was first introduced by the single “Waves,” followed by “Vessel,” both pointing toward the band’s balance of melodic clarity and dense, riff-driven weight. EMPATH plays its debut show on December 11th at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen.

EMPATH Track Listing

1. In Absence
2. Waves
3. Vessel
4. In Formation
5. In Bloom
6. In Thought
7. In Dissent
8. In Memory
9. In Return

Before forming EMPATH, guitarist/vocalist Morten Grønnegaard played with Volbeat on the albums Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies and Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie. Bassist Christian Qvortrup played in the epic doom metal band Rising, while drummer Jakob Krogholt toured and recorded with Anti-Ritual.

Nate Bergman Opens His Hardcore Americana Era With “The Butcher,” Featuring Members of Clutch, Terror and Thursday

Published

16 hours ago

November 14, 2026

We Speak Media

Nate Bergman standing outdoors at dusk in a black T-shirt, with tattoos visible on both arms

Nashville singer-songwriter Nate Bergman is leaning into the world that raised him. His new single and video “The Butcher” pairs his Americana songwriting with guest turns from Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch, Scott Vogel of Terror and Geoff Rickly of Thursday, opening what he calls his hardcore Americana era.

Nate Bergman today launches his Hardcore Americana era with the release of his new single and video “The Butcher.” The track features Jean-Paul Gaster from Clutch on drums, Scott Vogel from Terror and Geoff Rickly from Thursday.

With his powerful vocals and weathered pen, Bergman writes about what he knows — love, loss, and the working class. “The Butcher” is a metaphorical and physical representation of a butcher slicing away at everything, trying to take everything from you.

Bergman comments: “It was an amazing opportunity to get to play with a rhythm section I really admired. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would get the guys from Clutch and Terror to play on the same record. They both really loved it, and the fact that I have a relationship with both of them is really wild.”

He continues: “It was actually really easy for me to go from doing acoustic stuff to this, because I have a foundation in playing hardcore and punk my entire life. I’m not faking anything. I’m really just going back to what I started doing in the first place. This is my roots. The Americana songwriting is still there — these are songs with lyrics about real life, the kind of stuff I write in Nashville. I’m just presenting it with the energy and aggression of the hardcore bands I grew up on.”

An accomplished singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Bergman is best known as the frontman of Lionize, the Maryland reggae and hard rock outfit that spent years on the road with Clutch, CKY, Galactic and Steel Pulse. In recent years he has also become a go-to interpreter of classic songs, with covers of Neil Young’s “Old Man,” “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac and “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Prince. His work has been praised by American Songwriter, Glide, Brooklyn Vegan and many others.

With “The Butcher,” Bergman bridges the two sides of his musical life: the storytelling of Nashville and the fury of the hardcore scene that raised him.