Wailin Storms announce new album »The Arsonist« on Season Of Mist and premiere music video for title track!
Durham, North Carolina based southern gothic rockers Wailin Storms have announced their new album, »The Arsonist«, which will be released on July 10th, 2026 via Season Of Mist.
Watch a music video for the first single and title track »The Arsonist« below!
Tracklist:
01. Dead End
02. Heart Of Mine
03. You Never Answered
04. The Arsonist
05. Never Rest
06. Saved
07. Patient Night
08. The Wind
09. It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used To Be
Courtesy of Season Of Mist:
With their bluesy riffs, swampy rhythms and haunting vocals, Wailin Storms are one of the hottest bands in Southern gothic rock. The Durham, North Carolinians have received high praise from NPR, The Needle Drop, Brooklyn Vegan, Decibel and Metal Hammer. Thunderous applause has greeted them on both sides of The Atlantic during shows and tour dates with everyone from City Of Caterpillar and This Will Destroy You to Acid Bath and EyeHateGod. Now, with their upcoming fifth album, »The Arsonist«, the band are fanning their flames with reckless abandon.
Today, Wailin Storms are announcing »The Arsonist« with a music video for the album’s simmering title track. While slowly engulfed in flames, amidst their new single’s fiery throes of passion, the band howl like the hounds of hell.
“»The Arsonist« was forged in the fires of our hearts,” Wailin Storms vocalist and guitarist Justin Storms says. “The title track was the initial spark for the album. It’s about the fear of losing the person you love most in life, a love that is so consuming that it takes on many forms: a car crash, a tumultuous sea, vines wrapping around a tree, a house fire.”
Watch the music video for »The Arsonist« on the Season Of Mist YouTube channel.
Photo credits: Kent Corley
»The Arsonist« comes out July 10, 2026 on Season Of Mist. Pre-order & pre-save HERE.
Available formats:
• Digital download
• CD digipack
• 12” Vinyl Gatefold (Black)
• 12” Vinyl Gatefold (Yellow, red and white marbled)
• 12” Vinyl Gatefold (White with crusher effect in black and pink)
Wailin Storms are igniting the stage this summer with a headline U.S. tour. The band will perform songs off »The Arsonist« for the first time, along with crowd favorites from across their critically-acclaimed discography.
Wailin Storms 2026 The Arsonist U.S. Tour:
July 17 – Durham, NC @ Stanczyk’s [Album Release Show]
July 29 – Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway
July 30 – Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
July 31 – Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light
August 1 – Cincinnati, OH @ Motr
August 2 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl
August 3 – Columbus, OH @ Dirty Dungarees
August 4 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Government Center
August 5 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
August 7 – New Hope, PA @ John and Peter’s
“I’ve always been fascinated with fire,” says Storms, who was raised by a church pianist and a Baptist preacher. As a child, growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, he came dangerously close to accidentally burning his family’s house down. “I was young and made a stupid mistake, but I was also being destructive as a way to escape. Fire speaks to our inherent attraction to danger and annihilation, but also, our hope for transformation.”
»The Arsonist« can also be traced back into Wailin Storms’ past. Recorded by Matt Talbott of Hum in full analog, the album rekindles the band’s roots in raw-to-the-bone blues punk. The title track simmers over a shivering riff and oily slide guitar before bursting into a noisy seance that rages deep into the night.
“Some of these songs are more primitive and stripped down, hearkening back to the four-track recordings that the band started with,” Storms says. “The title track was the first one written for album. I started playing the opening riff and the rest just flowed right out of me.”
Wailin Storms throw heavier splashes of surrealism into the fires of »The Arsonist«. David Lynch and René Magritte were both wellsprings of inspiration, but the album is inflamed by real life anxieties. Its cover art, which is heavily shadowed except for a tiny house gone up in flames, was painted by Storms himself. “Our homes burn every night,” he croons as the title track’s gentle sway shifts into a torrential gust of flames. “We burn so bright.” The thunderous climax surges with such feverish intensity that it threatens to send the night of passion up in smoke.
“»The Arsonist« is a very intimate song, about love and heartbreak and loss,” Storms concludes. “It’s romantic, but also scary. I was so obsessed with fire back in the day that I worry me and my partner are going to die in a flaming car crash or in a house fire together.”
The video for »The Arsonist« was directed and edited by Reid Haithcock.
Wailin Storms are:
Justin Storms – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Ben Melton – Lead Guitar, Backup Vocals, Rhodes Organ, Piano
Steve Stanczyk – Bass
Mark Oates – Drums
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well