It’s 2019. LA-based all-rounders IN VIRTUE publish the video for their single “Purgatory”. It will be the first single of an album that’s to be released no less than 6 years later, after a producer ghosting them with 10% of the album left, a global pandemic getting in the way, and two more successful video singles seeing the band swing into the trajectory that they were aiming for from the get-go.

Call it ironic but life can show funny ways of lashing out at us – and sometimes it doesn’t stop at imitating art itself. Turning the process of creating a concept album about Sisyphus into a Sisyphean task in and of itself? Check! Fast-forward to today and IN VIRTUE have broken free from their very own purgatory, just like Sisyphus in their story, and everything has finally clicked into place.

All the more reason for the band to massively celebrate the release of their third album “Age of Legends” and make the day even more special with a final album single release – featuring a very special guest appearance by Dutch symphonic metal legend Charlotte Wessels (ex-Delain) in “Karma Loop”.

“Karma Loop” is the perfect final taste of the long-awaited album. As the last track written for “Age of Legends”, it gives us an idea of the band’s path since that first album single back in 2019. All songs on the album show great stand-alone potential and are inevitably products of certain moments in time with an album so many years in the making. Yet it’s undeniable how they all fit into the overall concept of the album, flawlessly merging into one big picture – following the cathartic journey of a character based on the terrible tyrannical king Sisyphus and processing ideas of suffering, eternal punishment, and, ultimately, (self-)forgiveness. The Catalyst, who as a character has been brought to life peerlessly by Charlotte Wessels in this duet, gives Sisyphus a reason to want to try and break free, to feel worthy of a life free from his eternal punishment.

Stream the song here: https://www.submithub.com/link/karma-loop

Following the releases of the heavy yet slow “Gunslingers of the New American Desert” and the powerful “Desolation Throne”, “Karma Loop” serves as another proof why IN VIRTUE will never just meet any genre clichés, as singer and composer Trey Xavier puts it: “’Karma Loop’ is a groovy, melodic banger that’s more than meets the ear. It’s a powerful conversation between a condemned man and the woman trying to convince him that he’s worth his own redemption. It’s a song that asks the question – are we really just going around and around, dying and being reincarnated again and again, stuck in a Karma Loop? Do we really have free will if we’re slaves to this endless cycle? How can we avoid the mistakes of our past lives with no memory of them? Soaring vocals, harmonies to die for, darkness and light, chaos and consequences.” But “Karma Loop” is more than a dialogue between Sisyphus and The Catalyst. It’s nothing short of the fight for a person’s very own soul, a fight that requires the conviction to be worth it, to deserve redemption – perfectly mirrored in the haunting energy Trey and Charlotte deliver and that makes this final single release of the new album an even more special one, as the IN VIRTUE singer underlines: “Charlotte brought so much energy and beautiful harmony to the song that it wound up becoming my favorite.”

IN VIRTUE’s third album “Age of Legends” is out now; stream it on all platforms: https://orcd.co/agofle

Tracklist

1. Ascent Glorious
2. Sisyphus Awakening
3. Karma Loop
4. Push That Rock
5. Purgatory
6. Exposed
7. SCREAM
8. Where The Edges Meet
9. Gunslingers of the New American Desert
10. Desolation Throne
11. Thoughts in Freefall
12. The River
13. Tempus Fugue
14. Descent Limitless

n album that’s been a good six years in the making? The Devil’s in the details, but this is quite a stretch even for tinkerers like IN VIRTUE, as Trey explains:  “We started tracking this album on January 2nd, 2019, and got most of the way done with it when the pandemic hit. That, coupled with a series of setbacks, postponed its completion until 2024. Some of the songs were ideas that were written over 10 years ago, so as you can imagine, we’re very excited for it to see the light of day.” Three songs on the album have already been released in the meantime – “Purgatory” (2019), “Where The Edges Meet” (2020), “SCREAM” (2023), “Gunslingers of the New American Desert” (2025) and “Desolation Throne” (2025), proving the band’s variety and why it’s not easy (if not impossible) to put them into any kind of genre.

If you want to call them progressive – that’s what they really are, combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, pop and so much more on this album. When experiencing “Age of Legends” from front to back, it’s thrilling to feel how each song also stands on its own, as tiny microcosms adding to the overall concept of the album. The obvious cathartic overall theme, embodied by the character in the story, who is based on Sisyphus, the dynamics of every track are carefully curated to build to a huge and meaningful climax – “Age of Legends” is an album that has the potential to be one of those albums that lead you through not only a certain phase in life but rather definite it. It’s an album more than worth waiting for.

“Age of Legends” features guest appearances by vocalists Charlotte Wessels (ex-DELAIN) and Chaney Crabb (ENTHEOS), as well as guitars by Dave Davidson (REVOCATION) and the already released singles “Purgatory”, “Where The Edges Meet” and “SCREAM”.

The most recently released videos for the latest singles, the postapocalyptic “Gunslingers of the New American Desert” and the powerful “Desolation Throne” both reached more than 100,000 views in less than a month.

SINGLES:
–“Purgatory”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2ZkBDMink
–“Where The Edges Meet”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v02a7vkQiuM
–“SCREAM”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoClWi8n7c
–“Gunslingers of the New American Desert”: https://youtu.be/eWYl7bdKCxo?si=tEO2I7GHxU3BP7wG
–“Desolation Throne”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXv06-7rg2w

IN VIRTUE vocalist TREY XAVIER also wrote, recorded and produced the 70000TONS OF METAL theme song on the 2024 cruise:

ABOUT IN VIRTUE

Los Angeles, California’s IN VIRTUE is a band forging a new path, abandoning outdated conceptions of what heavy music is to redefine metal for a new era. Although IN VIRTUE was initially formed in 2004 in California’s Bay Area, the band’s rebirth in 2015 is where the real story begins.
That’s when founding guitarist Trey Xavier made the difficult decision to take over lead vocals, move south to LA, and start the band over with a new lineup. This was the catalyst they needed, and the band’s final form took shape. Adding keyboardist Alex Nasla (The Mourning, ex-Witherfall), guitarist Rami Khalaf, and bassist Jamie Hush, their new sound was freed.

“I was tired of other people singing what I was writing,” says Trey (who you may know from his popular YouTube channel, formerly known as GEAR GODS). “We had some pretty good singers, but it always felt like a compromise. It was pretty scary – I was 28 and I had never seriously sung before. But all the work I put in paid off, because now I can create my music as I envision it.”

And what a vision it has become – the band’s forthcoming album “Age of Legends”, due out in 2025, tells a haunting tale of Sisyphean struggle and redemption through a modern lens. This new era of IN VIRTUE brought their first new music, 2019’s single “Purgatory”, which gave the world a brand new sound. Combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, and pop, but somehow sounding like none of the above, “Purgatory” defined the sonic future of the band.

The singles “Where The Edges Meet” and “Scream” followed soon after to expand on the story, each moving the story forward and bringing new life to the characters and their pain.
With way more to come on “Age of Legends” (release: November 21, 2025), IN VIRTUE is looking forward to the next chapter and bringing their story to the world.

Visit and follow IN VIRTUE online:
https://invirtue.band/
https://www.facebook.com/invirtue
https://www.instagram.com/invirtue
https://www.youtube.com/@InVirtue
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VhxH4MVrksulYWmp62oFU

It’s now obvious that it wasn’t just a hope, a feeling: The anticipatory excitement for LA-based all-rounders IN VIRTUE’s third album “Age of Legends” which, after years in the making, was heralded by much celebrated single releases, is high. The video for their first new video single in two years, “Gunslingers of the New American Desert”, reached over 100,000 views in less than a month – and the band won’t let fans wait for more much longer now. Their brand new single “Desolation Throne” has everything that makes IN VIRTUE one of those bands that just sink deep into your heart and memory.

As all tracks on the album, “Desolation Throne” firmly stands on its own – but it also plays an important role in the overarching story of the concept album evolving around a character based on Sisyphus, a terrible tyrannical king, and ideas of suffering, eternal punishment and, ultimately, (self-)forgiveness. “Desolation Throne” marks a climax of the story, in which Sisyphus is ascending to power, climbing upwards ever higher without even considering how high above the ground he already is. He eventually reaches the highest peak possible with nowhere else left to go, except all the way down.

“Desolation Throne” is out now on YouTube and available on all streaming platforms: https://www.submithub.com/link/desolation-throne

Singer and composer Trey Xavier goes into detail on how this tragic rise and his own, correlating vocal performance align: “In ‘Desolation Throne’, Sisyphus ascends to his throne of evil, convincing himself that he’s earned it by his suffering. I was trying to channel Russell Allen in my vocal performance, to make it sound mean and evoke a gangster-like quality similar to the Symphony X ‘Underworld’ album. I also put in a little 2005 metalcore chugging to hearken back to my days watching bands like Unearth and Killswitch Engage at small venues throughout Massachusetts. The bridge of this song is my favorite single moment on the whole album. It simultaneously shows his emotional insecurity and how small he feels, and how he reacts to that by lashing out at the world that doesn’t understand him and trying to dominate it. It also features one of my favorite guitar solos.”

Album Tracklist

1. Ascent Glorious
2. Sisyphus Awakening
3. Karma Loop
4. Push That Rock
5. Purgatory
6. Exposed
7. SCREAM
8. Where The Edges Meet
9. Gunslingers of the New American Desert
10. Desolation Throne
11. Thoughts in Freefall
12. The River
13. Tempus Fugue
14. Descent Limitless

An album that’s been a good six years in the making? The Devil’s in the details, but this is quite a stretch even for tinkerers like IN VIRTUE, as Trey explains:  “We started tracking this album on January 2nd, 2019, and got most of the way done with it when the pandemic hit. That, coupled with a series of setbacks, postponed its completion until 2024. Some of the songs were ideas that were written over 10 years ago, so as you can imagine, we’re very excited for it to see the light of day.” Three songs on the album have already been released in the meantime – “Purgatory” (2019), “Where The Edges Meet” (2020) and “SCREAM” (2023), proving the band’s variety and why it’s not easy (if not impossible) to put them into any kind of genre.

If you want to call them progressive – that’s what they really are, combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, pop and so much more on this album. When experiencing “Age Of Legends” from front to back, it’s thrilling to feel how each song also stands on its own, as tiny microcosms adding to the overall concept of the album. The obvious cathartic overall theme, embodied by the character in the story, who is based on Sisyphus, the dynamics of every track are carefully curated to build to a huge and meaningful climax – “Age of Legends” is an album that has the potential to be one of those albums that lead you through not only a certain phase in life but rather definite it. It’s an album more than worth waiting for.

“Age of Legends” features guest appearances by vocalists Charlotte Wessels (ex-DELAIN) and Chaney Crabb (ENTHEOS), as well as guitars by Dave Davidson (REVOCATION) and the already released singles “Purgatory”, “Where The Edges Meet” and “SCREAM”.
The most recently released video for the latest single, the postapocalyptic “Gunslingers of the New American Desert” reached more than 100,000 views in less than a month.

The album will be released on November 21 and is available for pre-save now via: https://orcd.co/agofle

SINGLES
–“Purgatory”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2ZkBDMink
–“Where The Edges Meet”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v02a7vkQiuM
–“SCREAM”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoClWi8n7c
–“Gunslingers of the New American Desert”: https://youtu.be/eWYl7bdKCxo?si=tEO2I7GHxU3BP7wG

IN VIRTUE vocalist TREY XAVIER also wrote, recorded and produced the 70000TONS OF METAL theme song on the 2024 cruise:

ABOUT IN VIRTUE

Los Angeles, California’s IN VIRTUE is a band forging a new path, abandoning outdated conceptions of what heavy music is to redefine metal for a new era. Although IN VIRTUE was initially formed in 2004 in California’s Bay Area, the band’s rebirth in 2015 is where the real story begins.
That’s when founding guitarist Trey Xavier made the difficult decision to take over lead vocals, move south to LA, and start the band over with a new lineup. This was the catalyst they needed, and the band’s final form took shape. Adding keyboardist Alex Nasla (The Mourning, ex-Witherfall), guitarist Rami Khalaf, and bassist Jamie Hush, their new sound was freed.

“I was tired of other people singing what I was writing,” says Trey (who you may know from his popular YouTube channel, formerly known as GEAR GODS). “We had some pretty good singers, but it always felt like a compromise. It was pretty scary – I was 28 and I had never seriously sung before. But all the work I put in paid off, because now I can create my music as I envision it.”
And what a vision it has become – the band’s forthcoming album “Age of Legends”, due out in 2025, tells a haunting tale of Sisyphean struggle and redemption through a modern lens. This new era of IN VIRTUE brought their first new music, 2019’s single “Purgatory”, which gave the world a brand new sound. Combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, and pop, but somehow sounding like none of the above, “Purgatory” defined the sonic future of the band.
The singles “Where The Edges Meet” and “SCREAM” followed soon after to expand on the story, each moving the story forward and bringing new life to the characters and their pain.
With way more to come on “Age of Legends” (release: November 21, 2025), IN VIRTUE is looking forward to the next chapter and bringing their story to the world.

Visit and Follow IN VIRTUE online:
https://www.facebook.com/invirtue
https://www.instagram.com/invirtue
https://www.youtube.com/@InVirtue
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VhxH4MVrksulYWmp62oFU

There’s this rather old-fashioned proverb: “Good things come to those who wait.” It’s actually not 100% true in the case of Los Angeles, California’s IN VIRTUE – since they have been providing us with a constant output of new, highly-praised content over the last years. But it’s been a while now since the releases of their first two full-length albums “Embrace the Horror” (2012) and “Delusions of Grandeur” (2009). So in their case it’s more like: “Good things finally come to be another album.”

Well, the wait is finally over. The quartet of GEAR GODS Masterminds Trey Xavier (lead vocals, guitar, bass, orchestration, synthesizers, production) and Alex Nasla (The Mourning, ex-Witherfall; keyboards, vocals), Rami Khalaf (guitar), Jamie Hush (bass) – live drums being handled by Bruno Valverde of Angra – has just announced that their third album “Age of Legends” will be released on November 21, 2025.

So: What took them so long? Singer Trey Xavier explains: “We started tracking this album on January 2nd, 2019, and got most of the way done with it when the pandemic hit. That, coupled with a series of setbacks, postponed its completion until 2024. Some of the songs were ideas that were written over 10 years ago, so as you can imagine, we’re very excited for it to see the light of day.“ Three songs on the album have already been released in the meantime – “Purgatory” (2019), “Where The Edges Meet” (2020) and “SCREAM” (2023), proving the band’s variety and why it’s not easy (if not impossible) to put them into any kind of genre. If you want to call them progressive – that’s what they really are, combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, pop and so much more on this album. When experiencing “Age of Legends” from front to back, it’s thrilling to feel how each song also stands on its own, as tiny microcosms of the overall concept of the album. Trey underlines: “It’s a concept album about someone who has made poor choices in the past and is on a journey of self-forgiveness. The character in the story is based on Sisyphus, who was a terrible tyrannical king who was deserving of punishment – but is there truly anything someone can do to deserve eternal punishment? In it, this Sisyphus character decides (with a little help from a character called The Catalyst) that after thousands of years of torment, he’s done his time and that he’s going to seek forgiveness from the most important person we all need it from – ourselves.” The obvious cathartic overall theme, the dynamics of every track are carefully curated to build to a huge and meaningful climax – “Age of Legends” is an album that has the potential to be one of those albums that lead you through not only a certain phase in life but rather define it. It’s an album more than worth waiting for.

As the next foretaste of the forthcoming “Age of Legends”, IN VIRTUE treats us with is the postapocalyptic “Gunslingers of the New American Desert”:

Check out the single now on all platforms: https://orcd.co/invirtuegunslingers

The heaviest song from the upcoming album – and the slowest song in the entire IN VIRTUE catalog so far – musically and lyrically combines a Wild West theme of lawlessness and survival conflict with crushing riffs, electronic sounds and soaring orchestration. The band explains: “‘Gunslingers of the New American Desert’ explores a world where order is replaced by the will of the powerful, where suffering is imposed every day by tyrants who forget that the pain they inflict on others is a betrayal of their own humanity.”

“Age of Legends” features guest appearances by vocalists Charlotte Wessels (ex-DELAIN) and Chaney Crabb (ENTHEOS), as well as guitars by Dave Davidson (REVOCATION) and the already released singles “Purgatory”, “Where The Edges Meet” and “SCREAM”. The album will be released on November 21 and is available for pre-save now via: https://orcd.co/agofle

Tracklist

1. Ascent Glorious
2. Sisyphus Awakening
3. Karma Loop
4. Push That Rock
5. Purgatory
6. Exposed
7. Scream
8. Where The Edges Meet
9. Gunslingers of the New American Desert
10. Desolation Throne
11. Thoughts in Freefall
12. The River
13. Tempus Fugue
14. Descent Limitless

SINGLES
“Purgatory”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2ZkBDMink
“Where The Edges Meet”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v02a7vkQiuM
“SCREAM”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoClWi8n7c

IN VIRTUE vocalist TREY XAVIER also wrote, recorded & produced the 70000TONS OF METAL theme song on the 2024 cruise: https://youtu.be/xjiD8EczFzk?si=OA3Lr0nJMNU4bISZ

ABOUT IN VIRTUE
Los Angeles, California’s IN VIRTUE is a band forging a new path, abandoning outdated conceptions of what heavy music is to redefine metal for a new era. Although IN VIRTUE was initially formed in 2004 in California’s Bay Area, the band’s rebirth in 2015 is where the real story begins.
That’s when founding guitarist Trey Xavier made the difficult decision to take over lead vocals, move south to LA, and start the band over with a new lineup. This was the catalyst they needed, and the band’s final form took shape. Adding keyboardist Alex Nasla (The Mourning, ex-Witherfall), guitarist Rami Khalaf, and bassist Jamie Hush, their new sound was freed.

“I was tired of other people singing what I was writing,” says Trey (who you may know from his popular YouTube channel, formerly known as GEAR GODS). “We had some pretty good singers, but it always felt like a compromise. It was pretty scary – I was 28 and I had never seriously sung before. But all the work I put in paid off, because now I can create my music as I envision it.”

And what a vision it has become – the band’s forthcoming album “Age of Legends”, due out in 2025, tells a haunting tale of Sisyphean struggle and redemption through a modern lens. This new era of IN VIRTUE brought their first new music, 2019’s single “Purgatory”, which gave the world a brand new sound. Combining elements of power metal, groove, progressive metal, and pop, but somehow sounding like none of the above, “Purgatory” defined the sonic future of the band. The singles “Where The Edges Meet” and “SCREAM” followed soon after to expand on the story, each moving the story forward and bringing new life to the characters and their pain.
With way more to come on “Age of Legends” (release: November 21, 2025), IN VIRTUE is looking forward to the next chapter and bringing their story to the world.

Visit and Follow IN VIRTUE Online:
https://www.facebook.com/invirtue
https://www.instagram.com/invirtue
https://www.youtube.com/@InVirtue
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VhxH4MVrksulYWmp62oFU