Wailin Storms release ‘The Arsonist’, their first album for Season of Mist
Wailin Storms released their fifth album “The Arsonist” on 10 July 2026 through Season of Mist, recorded in full analog by Matt Talbott of Hum. Nine tracks.
Wailin Storms, the southern gothic rock quartet from Durham, North Carolina, released their fifth album “The Arsonist” on 10 July 2026 through Season of Mist. The nine-track record was recorded by Matt Talbott of Hum in full analog and is the band’s first for the French label, which announced the signing on 22 April 2026.
The album is out on digital download, CD digipak and three 12″ vinyl editions: black, a yellow, red and white marbled pressing, and a white pressing with a black and pink crusher effect. Justin Storms painted the cover art himself, taking René Magritte as a starting point: a heavily shadowed field broken by a single small house on fire.
The title traces back to Storms’s childhood. He explained the image the album is built on:
“I’ve always been fascinated by fire. It speaks to our inherent attraction to danger and annihilation, but also, our hope for transformation.”
How Wailin Storms recorded ‘The Arsonist’
Talbott tracked the album entirely to analog tape, and the band used the format to strip several songs back toward the four-track recordings they began with. Storms described what that meant in practice:
“Some of these songs are more primitive and stripped down, hearkening back to the four-track recordings that the band started with. The recordings contain flaws but remain human in all the right ways. They could be a murder ballad or an old folk song that’s sung around the campfire.”
Ben Melton’s Rhodes organ carries “Heart of Mine”, and the record’s reference points run through Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Old Regular Baptist hymns and David Lynch, whose film “Wild at Heart” Storms named as a source for the lyrics. Opener “Dead End” moves from a drum rattle into the line “Calm night / Birds keep plucking out our eyes”.
The full tracklist runs: “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) and “It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be” (6:30). The album was preceded by two singles, “You Never Answered” on 27 May 2026 and “Dead End” on 23 June 2026.
The video for ‘It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be’
On 22 July 2026 the band released a video for the album’s closing track, “It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be”. It was filmed in one take at Eno House in Hillsborough, North Carolina, recorded live with no editing.
Storms traced the song to a building he passed on tour in Europe:
“‘It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used To Be’ is about coming to terms with the realization that death comes for us all. I started writing this song when I was in Belgium, after I saw an old church that looked like a skull. It’s the last song on The Arsonist and is very spare and sad, but there’s also a sliver of hope. Life is temporary and that’s where its beauty lies.”
Wailin Storms played the album live for the first time on a US East Coast run between 29 July and 8 August 2026, opening at The Hideaway in Johnson City and closing at Cobra Cabana in Richmond. One further date is confirmed: on Saturday 5 September 2026 the band play Eulogy in Asheville, North Carolina, alongside Messa, at a free show billed as the official after party for the Acid Bath, Neurosis, Melvins and Kylesa concert at Hellbender.
About Wailin Storms
Justin Storms formed Wailin Storms in his home state of Texas, then moved the project through New York City before settling in Durham, North Carolina. The son of a Baptist preacher and a church pianist, Storms has credited an older brother with steering him toward outsider music. In 2014 he was joined by drummer Mark Oates, also of Bats & Mice, and bassist Steve Stanczyk. Guitarist Ben Melton completed the current line-up after the fourth album, and also plays Rhodes organ and piano and sings backing vocals.
The debut full-length “One Foot in the Flesh Grave” arrived in 2015, followed by an East Coast and Midwest tour and the band’s first appearance at The Fest. “Sick City” followed in 2017 and “Rattle” in 2020. Fourth album “The Silver Snake Unfolds” came in 2022, after which the band shared stages and tour dates with City of Caterpillar, pageninetynine, This Will Destroy You, Acid Bath, Eyehategod and Young Widows.
Season of Mist confirmed the signing in April 2026 and issued “The Arsonist” three months later. The label’s roster has covered the darker end of the spectrum for years, including Christian Death’s ‘The Dark Age Renaissance’ CD box collections, issued in 2021.
“The Arsonist” is the band’s first release since 2022 and their first with label distribution behind it. It is available on Bandcamp and through the Season of Mist stores.
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