Swedish melodic death metal outfit After Earth unveil new video ‘Skinwalker’

Swedish melodic death metal outfit After Earth have unleashed their brand-new video for “Skinwalker”. “Skinwalker” is taken from the band’s imminent second album Dark Night of the Soul, arriving this Friday, September 26th. The follow-up their critically acclaimed debut The Rarity of Reason released in 2023, sees After Earth diving deeper into their signature sound, a ferocious collision of crushing heaviness, melodic depth, and feral intensity, cementing their place as one of Sweden’s most promising new forces in melodic death metal.

The band had this to say about the new track and video: 

“‘Skinwalker’ is about a darker kind of transformation. The Navajo legend that inspired this song is about witches who through dark deeds gain the ability to take on the form of an animal to perform their malevolent will. They don’t see what they’re doing as something bad or evil, instead it’s just a new form of power, even though from our perspective what they’re doing is horrifying.”

The song is both heavy and melodic, perfectly suiting the theme of the legend and the transformation itself. ‘Skinwalker,’ unlike many of our other songs, is not meant to be inspiring—instead it plays with the thought of giving in to your darkest desires.This is also reflected in our music video for this song, which is our modern take on this legend.”

Previously, the band debuted the video for the title track via Heavy Blog Is Heavy, who praised it as: “The heart of After Earth’s sound is pure Gothenburg groove enriched with symphonic flourishes that make ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ feel like a head-banging gallop through the forest. Cinematic chants erupt into hefty buzzsaw guitars, anchoring a fantastical atmosphere with heavy energy.” Watch it here. 
They dropped a video for the track “Throe” via No Clean Singing, who hailed it as “high-octane mosh fuel, red meat for ravening pit-wolves. A hammering percussive gallop propels the song, and it’s fronted by furious lyrics expelled through scorching howls. The riffing is a heavy, crashing charge, grim and mean, but with a surging pulse you can feel in your own veins.” Watch it here.

Tracklist:

1. Shivelight
2. The Lucent Sun
3. Skinwalker
4. Dark Night of the Soul
5. Destitution
6. King From Within
7. Throe
8. Serfitude
9. The Queen Who Wept
10. ‘Til Daylight Dies
11. From the Ashes

Formed in 2017 in Skövde, Sweden, After Earth have carved their way through turbulence and transformation. Their 2020 self-recorded debut EP Before It Awakes introduced a band brimming with potential. By 2022, they sharpened their sound with the single From Age to Aeon, a heavier, more mature step forward.

The release of their first full-length, The Rarity of Reason (2023), solidified their status as rising stars in the Swedish metal scene. The band toured extensively, including their first European tour with fellow Swedes Mara, and welcomed guitarists Jonathan Ahlin and Ludvig Andersson as permanent members.

Relentless writing and performing throughout 2024 and 2025 led to their most cohesive and strong material to date and in March 2025, the band entered Obsidian Recording Studios with long-time collaborator Robert Marcko at the helm to record the new album over three intense weeks. This time, Marcko also handled mastering, bringing a unified sonic punch to the record.

Clocking in at nearly 52 minutes, Dark Night of the Soul is a sweeping, genre-bending journey through the band’s darkest and most imaginative territory yet.