Cloud Nothings are back. The indie rock legends have returned today with the announcement of their strikingly heavy new album, What Kind of Hell Did You Survive?, arriving 29th January 2026 via Pure Noise Records.
For 17 years Cloud Nothings have earned their reputation as one of the most reliably phenomenal bands in guitar music. The band’s prolific and impressive career has been full of captivating sonic twists and turns, but none have been as stark as Cloud Nothings latest chapter with What Kind of Hell Did You Survive?. The ferocious nine song set is the group’s most flat out aggressive work to date, a metal-influenced powder keg of blown-out riffs and mind-boggling drumming that still somehow manages to maintain Cloud Nothing‘s undeniable knack for melody and memorable hooks. It’s a one-of-a-kind release from a one-of-a-kind band.
To mark the album’s announcement, Cloud Nothings have shared What Kind of Hell Did You Survive?‘ ripper first single “Death Keeps Me Alive” a pummeling cut of searing guitar work and throat-shredding vocals that sounds like nothing else the band have ever made. Vocalist/guitarist Dylan Baldi discussed the new song and the direction of What Kind of Hell Did You Survive? saying:
“Lyrically ‘Death Keeps Me Alive’ is from the point of view of a lurking evil power that never gets fully defeated in the world and feeds off of death, war and hate, which is kind of a fun generically ‘metal’ thing to sing about. I hope people hear this song and get excited for what the rest of the record could possibly sound like, and recognise that this is going to be a new version of Cloud Nothings that didn’t really have a precedent prior to this recording.”
Watch the “Death Keeps Me Alive” music video:
Stream “Death Keeps Me Alive” everywhere – HERE
Pre-order What Kind of Hell Did You Survive? – HERE
What Kind of Hell Did You Survive? follows 2024’s Final Summer which drew praise from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, Paste, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, FLOOD Magazine, and more, and proves exactly why Cloud Nothings are still such a vital force after nearly two decades of making music.
Produced/engineered by Seth Manchester (Battles, Lightning Bolt, The Body) What Kind of Hell Did You Survive? is unabashedly heavy and metallic, drawing on a technical skill that’s always been hinted at in Cloud Nothings work but now is on full display. “The album is our attempt to pay homage to the heavy rock music we’ve been listening to over the last few years,” Baldi explains. “Some pretty direct and popular musical influences on the tracks are Queens of the Stone Age, Motorhead, Earth, and Electric Wizard. We were feeling a little pigeonholed in the indie rock world and wanted to make a change in our sound that revealed a different facet of our interests and abilities.”
These are properly shredding songs full of galloping drums, breakdowns, and real palpable rage. “Lyrically I was inspired by a lot of more political metal and hardcore,” says Baldi. “The songs deal with cruel governments, the importance of community, and occasionally a general rage at the state of the world.” Cloud Nothings take on all of the frustration, absurdity, and dread of our current moment, wrapping that disillusionment in some of the most urgent music you’ll hear this year.
What Kind of Hell Did You Survive? track list:
1. World Destroyer
2. You and I
3. That’s Life
4. Terror Multiplies
5. Death Keeps Me Alive
6. Part of Something More
7. You Do The Killing Too
8. Die In Piece
9. This World Is Shit
