Following the acclaimed singles “Designed Despair”, “Darkest Self” and “Frameworker”, Danish modern metal visionaries RAUNCHY unveil “Frostbite”, the fourth single and video from their long-awaited new album, “Prisoner”. Blending crushing riffs, cinematic electronics and soaring melodies with the band’s unmistakable dual-vocal attack, the track showcases another side of the album’s emotional depth, exploring the devastating cycle of emotional abuse and the addictive pull of toxic relationships. Dark, immersive and intensely melodic, “Frostbite” once again demonstrates why Raunchy remain one of metal’s most distinctive and forward-thinking acts.
““Frostbite” portrays the haunting cycle of abuse in the form of a love that is both intoxicating and destructive”, the band comments about the song. “One becomes emotionally desensitized as the self is trapped in patterns of hurt, numbness, and longing for the warmth of connection that is never fully realized. Ultimately, this song illustrates the curious addiction to a bitter paradise, where suffering becomes familiar, and the heart remains frozen between desire and despair”.
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There’s a particular kind of silence that follows a band when nobody’s quite sure if they’re done or just sleeping. For Raunchy, that silence lasted the better part of a decade – and now it’s broken.
“Prisoner”, the seventh studio album from the Danish genre-benders, lands in summer 2026 via Mighty Music, the same label that first put them on record back in 2001. A full-circle moment, and the band knows it.
“It feels right being back at Mighty,” says drummer Morten “Molle” Toft Hansen. “We’ve been around the block – Nuclear Blast, Lifeforce, Massacre – and there’s something about coming home to the people who believed in us first. They get what this band is”.
For longtime fans, that’s almost the entire story right there. Raunchy have always been the band that belonged everywhere and nowhere: too melodic for death metal purists, too heavy for the radio crowd, too synth-driven for the metalcore kids, and too riff-forward for anyone trying to file them under industrial. “Prisoner” doesn’t try to resolve that contradiction. It leans into it.
Drum tracking began as far back as 2021 – a Facebook clip of Molle behind the kit was the first sign of life in nearly seven years. From there, the album came together slowly, piece by piece, squeezed in between day jobs, family life, and a pandemic that wasn’t doing anyone any favors. “This album took the time it needed” says keyboardist and vocalist Jeppe Christensen. “We had no deadline. No label breathing down our necks. We just wrote until the songs felt right and threw out everything that didn’t. I think you can hear that – there’s no filler on this one”. Producer Jacob Hansen, who has helmed nearly every Raunchy record going back to “Velvet Noise”, returned for “Prisoner”, and the chemistry shows. Hansen knows this band’s DNA better than anyone outside the lineup itself.
Vocalist Mike Semesky, who joined for “Vices.Virtues.Visions.” in 2014, describes the writing process as something closer to therapy than tracking sessions: “A lot happened in twelve years. People got married, people lost people, the world got weirder. “Prisoner” is about all of that: being trapped in your own head, in your own patterns, in time itself. But it’s not a depressing record. It’s a defiant one”.
If “Vices.Virtues.Visions.” was the most emotionally layered Raunchy album, “Prisoner” is the most cinematic. The synths are bigger. The hooks are sharper. The heavy parts are heavier. Lead single “Designed Despair” arrived in early 2026 and sets the tone: soaring choruses crashing into industrial breakdowns, with both vocalists trading lines in a way that feels less like duet and more like dialogue. The inspirations? Everything from the band’s early industrial loves (Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad) to modern cinematic scoring, late-period Ghost, and – Jeppe insists – “A healthy amount of 80s synth-pop we’ll never publicly admit to”.
Raunchy aren’t promising another album in two years. They’ve never worked that way. But they are promising shows, and the energy around the reunion feels different than a typical comeback cycle. “We’re not chasing anything” Molle says. “We made the record we wanted to make. If people show up, that’s the gift. And if they don’t, we’ll still have an album we’re proud of”. Twelve years between albums. Same band. No apologies.
“Prisoner” will be released on LP (gatefold splatter double vinyl, limited to 500 copies), CD and digital formats on 14.08.2026, via Mighty Music. The first 250 orders in Targetshop and Bandcamp will get a free patch.
Lineup:
Jesper Kvist – bass
Morten Toft Hansen – drums
Jesper Andreas Tilsted – guitars, keyboards
Lars Christensen – guitars
Jeppe Christensen – keyboards, vocals
Mike Semesky – vocals
Digital single: https://rnch.bfan.link/frstbt
Webshop: https://bit.ly/rnch-tgt
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