Bloodred Hourglass wrap album cycle with 4 new tracks and share video for 'Heartstrings' • GRIMM Gent

Finnish modern metal force Bloodred Hourglass release their new EP After the Burial on May 28th via Out Of Line Music. A four-track collection closing out the We Should Be Buried Like This album cycle, the EP pairs two newly unveiled studio tracks with live recordings from the band’s acclaimed collaboration with St. Michel Strings, and features acclaimed Finnish blues guitarist and vocalist Erja Lyytinen on focus track “Heartstrings.”

After the Burial was born from the same sessions that produced We Should Be Buried Like This, the band’s seventh studio album, which debuted at #2 on the Finnish charts in October 2025. Two songs emerged from those sessions that carried a lighter, more luminous tone than the album’s otherwise unflinching darkness, and rather than leave them behind, the band chose to give them their own space. Live recordings from the band’s St. Michel Strings collaboration complete the package, lending the EP a sense of continuity and closure.

“Following the dark and hopeless themes of ‘We Should Be Buried Like This,’ ‘After the Burial’ slightly turns its gaze toward the light,” the band explains.

The centrepiece of the EP is “Heartstrings,” a track that showcases the full dynamic range of Bloodred Hourglass‘s sound – moving from something ethereal and spacious into heavy, melodic death metal drive. The song marks a landmark collaboration with Erja Lyytinen, winner of the European Blues Awards’ “Best Guitarist” title and ranked #2 on Total Guitar Magazine’s “10 Best Guitarists Now” poll. Lyytinen delivers both lead vocals and slide guitar across the track, making this the first metal recording in her career to feature her as lead vocalist.

“We knew from the very beginning that we wanted a female vocalist to bring the right kind of soulfulness and depth, and to highlight the full range of contrasts within our music,” says the band of the collaboration.

“When I was asked to join, I knew the level and quality with this band would be high,” adds Lyytinen. “The song immediately felt like a world-class hit: the production is massive and grand, and the story is striking, moving between something ethereal and clear into a heavy, dark metal drive. It was a pleasure to add multiple guitar parts throughout the track. The song has it all: emotion, drama, storytelling, dynamics, and some of the finest elements of metal music, topped off with slide guitar.”

The EP’s two live tracks – “God Has Favourites” and “Mirage,” both recorded with St. Michel Strings – previously appeared in a different form on the bonus disc of the double-CD edition of We Should Be Buried Like This, but find new context here as the natural closing chapter of the cycle. Bloodred Hourglass have a packed live schedule ahead, including appearances at Tuska Festival in Helsinki and Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany.

Tracklist:

Walk on Water
Heartstrings (feat. Erja Lyytinen)
God Has Favourites – Live with St. Michel Strings
Mirage – Live with St. Michel Strings

Upcoming Live Dates
26.06.2026 – FI Helsinki, Tuska Festival
03.07.2026 – FI Lahti, Sibeliustalon Metsähalli
04.07.2026 – NL Achtkarspelen, Surhuzum Open Air
10.07.2026 – FI Kotka, Dark River Festival
11.07.2026 – FI Turku, Metallivuori
07.08.2026 – FI Koria, Koria Roll
12.08.2026 – FI Jyväskylä, Lutakon Lippa
15.08.2026 – DE Dinkelsbühl, Summer Breeze Open Air
27.11.2026 – FI Joensuu, Unholy Winterfest28.11.2026 – FI Jyväskylä, John Smith Rock Frozen

Bloodred Hourglass (BRHG) are a melodic death metal band from Mikkeli, Finland, formed in 2005. Known for merging the ferocity of thrash and groove metal with the melodic depth of the Gothenburg school and modern metalcore sensibilities, the band have built a devoted international following across seven studio albums. Their 2025 release We Should Be Buried Like This debuted at #2 on the Finnish charts and was supported by a headline European tour alongside Luna Kills. The band have toured with The Halo Effect and Pain, and have been twice nominated for Metal of the Year at the Emma Gaala awards. For fans of Insomnium, Amorphis, In Flames, and Children of Bodom.