Rival Sons aren’t here to tell you what to think or what to feel, but they’ll give you one hell of a ride if you let them. That ride twists and turns like never before on DARKFIGHTER, from the punk-like rage of “Nobody Wants to Die” to the glam stomp of “Bird In The Hand,” and the power ballad rapture of…well, “Rapture.”

DARKFIGHTER will be accompanied by the companion volume LIGHTBRINGER, expected later this year. Both records are produced by longtime collaborator Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell). It’s the first new music from Rival Sons in more than four years.

“In comparison to our previous records, we certainly took our time both writing and recording this collection,” says Rival Sons vocalist Jay Buchanan. “When we set out, the intention was mostly to dig as deep as possible. Even in the beginning before the body had formed, we agreed to throw the map away and chop our way through the woods to make a new path. Then lockdown hit and it felt like the whole damn country decided to throw the map away too. For myself, 2022 was like an eight-stage rocket of life changing events, so every time I thought I was finished writing, a new bull would come tearing through the clothesline and I’d have to illustrate it in some way. By the end, there were really two different sides to the same story being told. On one side, you’re fighting the darkness and, on the other, you’re bringing your own light to where there is none. One side in a corner, on the ropes, and the other advancing, cleaning the ring. Without an intermission, a refractory period, the collection would be too big a bite, so splitting it in two was the only way to do it.”

Rival Sons mark the arrival of DARKFIGHTER with a truly epic live schedule, including a special guest run on Smashing Pumpkins’ The World Is a Vampire Summer 2023 North American Tour, also featuring Stone Temple Pilots and Interpol. In the meantime, Rival Sons are currently on their own extensive North American headline run, The DARKFIGHTER Tour, with special guests the Black Angels and the Record Company, with Starcrawler also appearing on select dates.

On their way to the top, Rival Sons have built a critically acclaimed catalog of classic yet current rock including Pressure & Time, Head Down, Great Western Valkyrie, Hollow Bones, and most recently 2019’s Feral Roots. The latter represented a creative and critical high watermark, scoring a pair of Grammy Award nominations in the categories of Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance for the single “Too Bad.” Elevating the band to another level, “Do Your Worst” vaulted to No. 1 at Rock Radio as their biggest hit to date, tallying north of 60 million streams and counting. Along the way they’ve shared stages with everyone from Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, and AC/DC to Guns N’ Roses and Lenny Kravitz.