After an 18-year silence on the album front, CLAWFINGER are finally back – louder, sharper, and more defiant than ever! Known for their pioneering fusion of metal, rap, and unflinching social commentary, the Swedish-Norwegian powerhouse returns with their brand new record, Before We All Die, that will rekindle the fire which made them one of Europe’s most groundbreaking crossover acts. This long-awaited comeback marks not just a return, but a reinvention – proof that true intensity never fades.
Before We All Die arrives February 20, 2026 on PERCEPTION – A Division of Reigning Phoenix Music.
The first album appetizer “Scum” (listen here) debuted July 2nd and managed to cross the threshold of 100k streams within 2 weeks, a great start after a long absence. Even with a recent live performance of their hit ‘Biggest & Best’ currently going viral on Instagram, CLAWFINGER are being rediscovered by a new generation of metal fans — showing that their music remains as powerful and relevant as ever, nearly two decades after their last album. Now, CLAWFINGER strike back with their new single “Ball & Chain”!
With “Ball & Chain”, the band unleashes a track that fuses relentless riffs and raw energy with frontman Zak Tell’s unflinching honesty. The single, captured in a fiery live video from this summer’s festival stages, reflects on identity, change, and the struggle to find meaning in a chaotic world — all with the band’s trademark mix of power, grit, and tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. It’s CLAWFINGER at their most direct and human: heavy, urgent, and impossible to ignore.
Watch here:
“This is me trying to be deep, my emotional reflections and my personal struggle, the search for some kind of meaning, the ongoing identity battle and existential doubt”, singer Zak Tell reveals about the new single. “It’s about trying to make sense of the world and my place in it. It’s about going through changes, looking at yourself and trying to figure out what the point of everything is. We all go through good and bad experiences and they shape us and help us move on. Life in general is a stupid fucking game so it’s interesting how much time we waste worrying about what other people think and about things we can’t change regardless. There is no such thing as making everyone happy so focus on trying to make yourself happy and the rest will come to you.”
Loud, furious, darkly humorous and brutally honest, CLAWFINGER’s Before We All Die is everything you forgot you needed – and exactly what you’d expect from a band that never cared much for subtlety.
“This isn’t about finding peace,” Zak says. “It’s about telling the truth – even when it’s ugly. Especially then.”
From environmental collapse to political hypocrisy, personal disillusionment to collective denial, this is CLAWFINGER at full volume – still pissed off, still sharp as ever, and still refusing to shut up while the world pretends it’s all fine.
“This album is part protest, part therapy, and part middle finger,” the band adds. “We’re not offering solutions. We’re screaming because silence is surrender.”
CLAWFINGER are considered pioneers of European rap-metal. Formed in Stockholm in the early 1990s, the Swedish-Norwegian band made an explosive debut with Deaf Dumb Blind [1993], blending aggressive guitar riffs with politically charged lyrics and rap vocals. The album sold over 600,000 copies worldwide – more than 250,000 in Germany alone – and won a Swedish Grammis award in the hardrock/metal category.
CLAWFINGER’s follow-up Use Your Brain [1995] continued their success with chart placements across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden. Over the years, they released seven studio albums including A Whole Lot Of Nothing, Zeros & Heroes, Hate Yourself With Style, and Life Will Kill You, selling over 1.5 million records worldwide.
Known for their direct, riff-driven sound and strong political stance, CLAWFINGER address topics such as racism, political delusion, drug policy, environmental destruction, and social inequality. In the 1990s, they toured intensively with acts like ALICE IN CHAINS, MEGADETH and FAITH NO MORE and appeared at major festivals including Rock am Ring, Roskilde, and Monsters of Rock in South America.
After a brief hiatus, the band returned in 2014 and has since released new singles like “Save Our Souls” [2017] and “Environmental Patients” [2022]. In 2025, CLAWFINGER signed a new label deal with PERCEPTION, with more music on the way – still as loud, sharp, and uncompromising as ever.
Metal Planet Media 