Returning after a 27-year hiatus, Lodestar have released the new single Surrender To The Tide, taken from their forthcoming album Zonen, set for release on 17 May 2024. The song captures the dark, heavy, and monumental sound of Tony Iommi. That is not a criticism. This is a fantastic track and sure to sound immense live on the quartet of shows the band have booked.
“The song’s lyrics describe personal struggle suggested by the oppressive scale of the guitars,” Lodestar told us. “The crashing tidal wave of the chorus riff implies powerlessness in the face of elemental forces.”
Lodestar were originally formed in 1996 by three members of the legendary British rap-rock band Senser [Heitham Al-Sayed, Alan ‘Lord Hagos’ Haggarty and John Morgan] to fulfil their hunger for a heavier musical palette.
They would release two singles and an eponymous album, described by NME as “a modern Metal masterpiece. After touring with Tool, the band ground to a sudden halt in 1997.
The original trio are now joined by bassist Charlie Beddoes and Surrender To The Tide hints at the beautiful, brutal and esoteric mix of doomy grooves, gutsy onslaughts and eccentric wanderings through a sweetly sinister landscape to follow.
This is a band still inspired by prescient visions, occult symbolism and subtle sensuality. “The idea behind the video was to make something that was hypnotic and trance-like, enigmatic, stark and with gravitas, that gradually built tension to suit the pace of the song,” the band said.
“The shadows and the lighting were almost more important than the band. We wanted to show performance, but in a non-typical way so it’s the opposite of the usual fast-cut performance video. The imagery is inspired by cults and the occult, film noir, old psychological horror films, Lynchian-style lighting and ’70s music footage that was filmed using analogue effects.
So it’s kind of trippy in a slightly bleak and disturbing way.”
Lodestar plays London and Brighton in April and Southampton in May. You can also see them at Desertfest on 19 May.
For more details of album, single and ticket links, visit linktr.ee/lodestarband.