Priest share ‘Python’ ahead of ‘Altered State Police’
Swedish dark synthpop trio Priest release “Python” on August 21 via Blue Nine, first single from fifth album “Altered State Police,” out October 23.
Priest press photo for "Python" single, by Pablo Salamone
Swedish dark synthpop trio Priest will release the single “Python” on August 21 via Blue Nine, the first taste of their fifth studio album, “Altered State Police,” due October 23 on the same label. The announcement follows the band’s US tour supporting Stabbing Westward.
“Python” turns surveillance and data collection into subject matter, built around relentless electronics, industrial textures and flashes of ’90s big beat. The track includes a spoken sequence cataloguing a listener’s data: “Terms accepted. Surveillance initiated. Facial data: stored. Iris response: logged. Voice patterns: catalogued. You are now a consumer profile. Thank you for agreeing.” Priest describe it as one of their most direct and danceable songs to date, addressing “what happens when we’ve accepted being watched without even noticing.”
“Altered State Police” is designed as a continuous listening experience rather than a loose collection of songs, built around surveillance, political distrust, technological dependence and the boundary between human and machine, with songs written to answer questions raised elsewhere on the record. Neither the single nor the album has surfaced yet on Bandcamp, YouTube or Spotify; Priest’s official site, priestnexus.com, currently carries the “Python” and “Altered State Police” announcement and upcoming tour information.
The single follows Priest’s run on the Wither ReWired Tour, the 2026 US trek on which Stabbing Westward re-recorded “Wither Blister Burn + Peel” for its 30th anniversary, with Priest and Acumen Nation as support.
Priest ‘Python’: release details
“Python” arrives August 21 via Blue Nine as the first single from “Altered State Police,” out October 23 on the same label. No tracklist, credits or formats for the album have been confirmed at the time of writing.
About Priest
Priest is a dark synthpop trio from Stockholm, Sweden, formed in 2017 by former members of Ghost: vocalist Mercury (previously the bassist known as Water in Ghost) and keyboardist Salt (previously the keyboardist known as Air in Ghost), later joined by keyboardist and programmer Sulfur. The band’s sound draws on 1980s sci-fi synth textures, gothic soundscapes and industrial and cyberpunk elements, distinct from Ghost’s horror-rock theatrics.
Priest released its debut album, “New Flesh,” in 2017, followed by the “Obey” EP in 2019 and the album “Cyberhead” in 2020. The band signed to Cleopatra Records in 2021 and released the single “A Signal in the Noise” that December. Further releases include the “Chaos EP,” the live album “Live in Hollywood,” the studio album “Dark Pulse” and, in March 2026, “Body Machine.” Priest has since moved to the label Blue Nine, which issues “Python” and the forthcoming “Altered State Police.”
Priest has toured internationally in support of its releases, most recently opening for Stabbing Westward’s Wither ReWired Tour across the United States in 2026. “Python,” out August 21, and “Altered State Police,” out October 23, mark the band’s next chapter under Blue Nine.
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