SAMAEL Aiming To Release A New Album In 2026 With "A Lot More Guitar" On It

Many of us have been eagerly awaiting a new Samael album, which is no surprise when we think back to the fact that Hegemony was released in 2017. Now, according to frontman Michael "Vorph" Locher, the wait might soon be over—although the band is still finalizing the production process.

"The album is pretty much recorded. It's done, but Xy's still doing some adjustment with editing," Vorph recently shared in an interview with Chaoszine. "We are looking for the mix. I mean, we were supposed to start mixing in January, but it didn't happen. So, it's gonna be before the summer, I will imagine, then mastering. So our plan is to release one song this year at least, and most probably the album next year then. It's not in the stone, but, yeah, that's the plan so far."

While we may need to exercise patience, the new material promises to maintain the essence of Hegemony while pushing the band's sound in a slightly different direction. "Well, it will have a strong bond to Hegemony, but it's not the same," Vorph explained. "I mean, we kind of try to take advantage of the fact that we've done different things throughout the years. So we got some space that people will accept that this is Samael. So we kind of try to enjoy that space."

For those wondering whether Samael will take a more experimental approach, Vorph clarified that while the album won't introduce radical changes, it does emphasize a heavier, guitar-driven sound. "Some of the crowd, they enjoy when a band sticks to a formula – you know what you're gonna get. With us, it's a bit different, but it won't be a total surprise," he said. "There is no experimentation of things that we've never, ever done before, but the mix is different, and there is a lot more guitar. It's a lot more guitar-oriented. So, yeah, that's one of the differences, I would say."

As for live performances, Samael is taking a measured approach in 2025. "We haven't planned any tours this year. It's just gonna be standalone shows," Vorph revealed. "We do this festival in Texas in March, and we go to Brazil. We've got three shows in Brazil, we've got two shows in Greece, and some little festivals. But, basically, what we wanna do this year is finish the album. That's very much the priority. Let's hope it will happen."

The extended timeline for the album's completion is partly due to the writing process taking place during the pandemic, which allowed the band to refine their ideas over time. "It took us forever, but it happened during COVID, so we had a lot of time," Vorph explained. "We were listening to the stuff together. So it was like a  – I will not say a group material, because Xy's still doing all the music, but we were discussing it together, so I think it had the time to mature and to reach the point where it should be."

However, spending too much time on an album can sometimes backfire. When the interviewer pointed out that endless fine-tuning can be risky, Vorph agreed. "It is. It definitely is," he admitted. "I mean, all the work that Xy's doing now, for me it is not that important. Because he will play me the song and I'll say, well, 'Oh, the break there with the drums, that was not [there before], ah, it's cool, but does it make the song really better?' Ah, maybe very little, but for him it's very important, especially because it took him so long, so he doesn't wanna miss one little thing… I'm a bit more, 'Let's do it.' He's really picky about everything."