There’s a certain thrill when a veteran band doesn’t just age gracefully but ages like gunpowder.
With “Freedom,” the first single from the forthcoming album A New World Rising (out September 26 via SPV/Steamhammer), Rage throws down a clear signal: this isn’t about legacy—it’s about breaking patterns. A New World Rising isn’t a tribute to what was—it’s a demand for what should be.
For over 40 years, Peavy Wagner has fronted Rage through changing lineups and shifting landscapes. Now joined by guitarist Jean Bormann and drummer Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos, the trio has emerged with a clarity that slices deeper than ever before. Freedom is not polite. It doesn’t whisper. It doesn’t flatter. It howls, shoves, and dares you to push back.
Sonically, it’s a thrasher’s fever dream—tight, sharp, and volatile. Bormann’s solo doesn’t just dazzle—it shreds down to bare conviction. Maniatopoulos delivers an assault of precision that feels ritualistic. But it’s Peavy’s voice, ragged and resolute, that lights the fuse. There’s no studio sheen or AI trickery here—just a band putting every ounce of muscle and grit on tape, daring the world to disagree.
The music video keeps that same stripped-down integrity. It’s just Rage. No CGI, no props, no narrative metaphors. It’s raw performance, captured like a documentary of defiance. Each frame feels like a fist to the censorship age, a refusal to be boxed, blurred, or muted. Rage isn’t performing for your approval. They’re performing because they must.
The lyrics? No riddles, no riddance. “Keep my freedom and peace” is a line meant to be screamed back at walls and regimes alike. It echoes with the kind of truth that corporate systems can’t patent. Freedom doesn’t just belong on a playlist. It belongs on a protest sign.
And this is only the beginning.
Freedom is track four on A New World Rising, an album Wagner says is their most diverse and positive to date. Rage fans can expect a powerhouse of sonic resistance across its 13-song lineup:
A New World Rising Tracklist:
- A New World Rising
- Innovation
- Against The Machine
- Freedom
- We’ll Find A Way
- Cross The Line
- Next Generation
- Fire In Your Eyes
- Leave Behind
- Paradigm Change
- Fear Out Of Time
- Behind The Shield Of Misery
- Straight To Hell ‘25
Available September 26 worldwide (except Japan) in the following formats via SPV/Steamhammer:
- CD DigiPak
- LP Gatefold, 140g black vinyl with colored insert
- Digital Download / Streaming
- Exclusive CD/LP + shirt bundles (Steamhammer shop)
- Exclusive colored LP edition (Napalm shop)
PRE-ORDER “A NEW WORLD RISING” HERE
I’m Drew, the founder and editor of Front of the Stage. I have a strong love for music and photography, which started at a very young age. There’s just something I love about experiencing live music and capturing memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s how Front of the Stage came to be.
