[Cover Photo credit to Jason Adams]

Charleston, West Virginia long-running Metal band Byzantine will release their new full-length album, Harbingers, on June 13th, 2025 via Metal Blade Records. Produced by Peter Wichers (Soilwork, All That Remains, Nevermore), Harbingers was created by what is now a five-piece band. Featuring frontman Chris “OJ” Ojeda, alongside former guitarist Tony Rohrbough, bassist Ryan Postlethwait, veteran guitarist Brian Henderson, and drummer Matt Bowles, Byzantine delivers their seventh album to date.

Notes founding frontman Chris “OJ” Ojeda:

After twenty-five years of riding the struggle bus, we’re ready to show the rock and metal world what we’re truly about.

The album cover, designed by mixed-media artist Ashley Hoey, depicts Irene of Athens, the mother of Emperor Constantine and the first female empress of the Byzantine Empire. This focus on a maternal ruler ties into the album’s title, Harbingers, which means “ones who usher in great change.”

The record’s first single, “Floating Chrysanthema,” envisions “a bleak dystopian future where artificial intelligence becomes sentient and overpowers mankind, essentially enslaving us all.”

Ojeda says:

Our bassist Ryan brought this song to the band, and we thought it hit like a sledgehammer making it the perfect introduction to our new music. Peter Wichers had a big hand in helping craft this song into its final iteration.