Montreal-based extreme metal juggernaut, The Agonist, will release their new album, Orphans, on September 20 via Rodeostar Records. Vocalist Vicky Psarakis recently spoke with Rock Confidential about the album. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Psarakis: "We had a really hard time releasing it (the album). If things would have went our way, this album would have been out in 2018."

Q: What are some of the hurdles you had to jump to get the record out?

Psarakis: "So, basically, the main thing is that we didn’t have a label at the time. And that is for reasons aside from the music. A lot of things happen that I personally don’t deal with at all. I don’t even wanna deal with it. I’m just here to write music and sing. Some people out there didn’t want us to release this album and we just kept really, really pushing and pushing and we almost considered just releasing it on our own – which isn’t a smart business decision. But we were, I think after six months, we were frustrated and sitting on this album that’s so good and we couldn’t do anything about it. And then finally, Napalm reached out to us and proposed to release it under a sub-label of theirs called Rodeostar. And as far as we’re concerned, we’re using all the same resources from Napalm – the same team of people, same social media outlets. So we were like “Okay, let’s do it."

Q: I’ve read that you write lyrics based on real life events and experiences. Is there anything you can elaborate on for the new material?

Psarakis: "Yeah, I do that. Sometimes I write based off of stories. Fiction too, as well. It’s all about what the song calls for. I’ll get the track, listen to it and try to get into the mood and see what stories fit. Since you mentioned 'Mr. Cold', that one is based off of the ghost sightings of the Mothman that were happening in the ’60s. As soon I heard that song it had a very eerie, ghost-y vibe to it, and it’s just really big. 'Blood Of My Guide' is based off of a war story. I didn’t wanna write specifically about World War II or anything like that. I was inspired about a specific battle that happened in Greece, but I just made it a little more general. It’s about the repercussions of war and why people go to war and fight but I also wanted to throw in the metaphorical sense of that as well. You’re fighting to stay alive, but you’re also fighting for your blood, your family, for the things you believe in."

Go to this location for the complete interview. Pre-order Orphans here.

A teaser video for the album's title track can be seen below:

Says vocalist Vicky Psarakis: "When I heard the first instrumentals for Orphans, I was a bit shocked and confused. The music was really dark and heavier than anything we've done in previous albums and I wasn't quite sure how I'd be able to match that emotion. But then you know all it took was writing one full song to get the ball rolling and 2-3 months later everything was done!

"With every new album, we love to experiment and dip our toes into new territory, but there's also a lot of elements here that are reminiscent of the earlier days. You can expect a lot of hard hitting, fast-paced madness and many many blast beats! Vocally, there's a wide range of styles, some of which I tried out for the first time, and the lyrics are mostly inspired from horror stories and real-life tragedies. Events that I felt a lot of people can relate to.

"Orphans is my third album with The Agonist and I can't wait to show the world what we created! We're excited to finally share the first taste with all of you... Get ready for 'In Vertigo'!"

Since the band's formation in 2004, The Agonist quickly established themselves as the torchbearers of a new generation in extreme modern metal. On their sixth studio album, Orphans, The Agonist have unleashed a true monster feeding on melodic death metal and almost rocking moments. In between beautifully anthemic metal sound walls, pounding grooves and fierce riffs, charismatic front vocalist Vicky Psarakis showcases her impressive range that covers everything from rock diva all the way to sick death metal growls. The result is a flickering, iridescent and varied masterpiece nestled in between sheer brutality and melodic frailty - simply incomparable!

Orphans tracklisting:

"In Vertigo"
"As One We Survive"
"The Gift Of Silence"
"Blood As My Guide"
"Mr. Cold"
"Dust To Dust"
"A Devil Made Me Do It"
"The Killing I"
"Orphans"
"Burn it All Down"

"Blood As My Guide" teaser #1:

"Blood As My Guide" teaser #2:

"Mr. Cold" teaser:

"Burn It All Down" video:

"In Vertigo" video: