Wailin Storms Announce New Album ‘The Arsonist’

With their bluesy riffs, swampy rhythms and haunting vocals, Wailin Storms are one of the hottest bands in Southern gothic rock. The Durham, North Carolinians have received high praise from NPR, The Needle Drop, Brooklyn Vegan, Decibel and Metal Hammer. Thunderous applause has greeted them on both sides of The Atlantic during shows and tour dates with everyone from City of Caterpillar and This Will Destroy You to Acid Bath and Eyehategod. Now, with their upcoming fifth album,The Arsonist, the band are fanning their flames with reckless abandon.

Today, Wailin Storms are announcing The Arsonist with a music video for the album’s simmering title track. While slowly engulfed in flames, amidst their new single’s fiery throes of passion, the band howl like the hounds of hell.

“The Arsonist was forged in the fires of our hearts”, Wailin Storms vocalist and guitarist Justin Storms says. “The title track was the initial spark for the album. It’s about the fear of losing the person you love most in life, a love that is so consuming that it takes on many forms: a car crash, a tumultuous sea, vines wrapping around a tree, a house fire”.

Watch the music video for “The Arsonist” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.

https://youtu.be/8mYizhaRHlA?si=YD4416PsCptL5vY9

The Arsonist comes out July 10, 2026 on Season of Mist

Pre-order & Pre-save

https://orcd.co/wailinstormsthearsonist

Available Formats

Digital Download

CD Digipack

12” Vinyl Gatefold (Black)

12” Vinyl Gatefold (Yellow, red and white marbled)

12” Vinyl Gatefold (White with crusher effect in black and pink)

Wailin Storms are igniting the stage this summer with a headline U.S. tour. The band will perform songs off The Arsonist for the first time, along with crowd favorites from across their critically-acclaimed discography.

Wailin Storms 2026 The Arsonist U.S. Tour

July 17 – Durham, NC @ Stanczyk’s [Album Release Show]

July 29 – Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway

July 30 – Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar

July 31 – Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light

August 1 – Cincinnati, OH @ Motr

August 2 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl

August 3 – Columbus, OH @ Dirty Dungarees

August 4 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Government Center

August 5 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

August 7 – New Hope, PA @ John and Peter’s

“I’ve always been fascinated with fire”, says Storms, who was raised by a church pianist and a Baptist preacher. As a child, growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas, he came dangerously close to accidentally burning his family’s house down. “I was young and made a stupid mistake, but I was also being destructive as a way to escape. Fire speaks to our inherent attraction to danger and annihilation, but also, our hope for transformation”.

The Arsonist can also be traced back into Wailin Storms’ past. Recorded by Matt Talbott of Hum in full analog, the album rekindles the band’s roots in raw-to-the-bone blues punk. The title track simmers over a shivering riff and oily slide guitar before bursting into a noisy seance that rages deep into the night.

“Some of these songs are more primitive and stripped down, hearkening back to the four-track recordings that the band started with”, Storms says. “The title track was the first one written for album. I started playing the opening riff and the rest just flowed right out of me”.

Wailin Storms throw heavier splashes of surrealism into the fires of The Arsonist. David Lynch and René Magritte were both wellsprings of inspiration, but the album is inflamed by real life anxieties. Its cover art, which is heavily shadowed except for a tiny house gone up in flames, was painted by Storms himself. “Our homes burn every night”, he croons as the title track’s gentle sway shifts into a torrential gust of flames. “We burn so bright”. The thunderous climax surges with such feverish intensity that it threatens to send the night of passion up in smoke.

“‘The Arsonist’ is a very intimate song, about love and heartbreak and loss”, Storms concludes. “It’s romantic, but also scary. I was so obsessed with fire back in the day that I worry me and my partner are going to die in a flaming car crash or in a house fire together”.

The video for “The Arsonist” was directed and edited by Reid Haithcock (@reidhaithcock)

More praise for Wailin Storms

“Wailin Storms embodies its howling, ominous moniker” – Indy Week

Wailin Storms have a dark and stormy soundtrack for any occasion: the psych-up, the murder, the dismemberment, even dumping it all in a swamp at the end of the night – CVLT Nation

“The valiant heart of Wailin Storms is true and raring to batter down their deepest loneliness, their darkest despairs and their lowest torments” – Distorted Sound

“The songwriting is really catchy and memorable. What’s really the defining characteristic, however, is the lyricism and the way the words are sung” – Riff Magazine

“[…]as post-punk as cigarette ash on black denim” – Invisible Oranges

“[…a unique signature blend of southern gothic/psychedlic/doom/post-grunge/punk/rock” – Nine Circles

Dead End (4:48) Heart of Mine (5:13) You Never Answered (4:53) The Arsonist (4:52) Never Rest (4:59) Saved (4:24) Patient Night (3:22) The Wind (6:01) It's All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be (6:30)