Copenhagen based metallers Pretext announce debut album and release first single and video

PRETEXT is a metal band formed by musicians drawn together by a shared ambition to create heavy music with narrative depth and political urgency, as presented on the band’s debut album ‘Riot of the Ruined’, now announced for a June 5th release via Darkside Records. At the heart of the album lies the first single and video ‘Heritage’, out now.

‘Heritage’ is a song shaped by guitarist, singer and songwriter Adel Al Haley’s personal connection to Iraq and the experience of growing up around stories of conflict and displacement. The accompanying music video reflects this background, combining narrative footage filmed in Baghdad with performance scenes shot in Denmark, visually linking personal memory with the broader themes explored throughout the record.

Adel Al Haley states:

“‘Heritage’ is one of those songs that felt like it existed long before it was ever recorded. It’s about carrying inherited suffering through life. The video captures a lost generation in a post-war reality — a mini-documentary filmed between Baghdad and Copenhagen.”

PRETEXT will play a release show at Underwerket in Copenhagen on June 6, and more shows will be announced in the coming months.

Based in Copenhagen, PRETEXT brings together musicians from across the globe, with members originating from Iraq, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark. This international background subtly shapes the band’s perspective and creative outlook, giving their music a broader cultural and thematic horizon. Each member brings a different musical background, but together they have built a sound centered on powerful grooves, atmospheric tension, and a distinctive vocal interplay between lead vocalists Adel Al Haley and Joanna Łażewska that moves between confrontation and reflection.

Formed in 2016, PRETEXT quickly developed a reputation for intense live performances across Denmark and Sweden. The band released two independent EPs, ‘The General Conflagration’ (2018) and ‘Speak No Ill of the Dead’ (2020), and appeared at events such as Roskilde Festival, Death Island Festival, South of Heaven Festival, and Kirseberg Festival in Malmö. Over the years the band refined its identity, gradually shaping the sound that now defines their debut full-length album.

The name PRETEXT reflects the band’s central artistic concept: exploring the hidden motives and narratives behind conflict, power, and history. Their music examines the forces that shape societies and individuals, often confronting uncomfortable realities rather than escaping them. From the beginning the band’s vision has been to use heavy music as a vehicle for empowerment, combining metal’s intensity with themes that question modern civilization, war, identity, and resilience.

This vision reaches its fullest expression on the band’s debut album, ‘Riot of the Ruined’. Developed over several years of writing and refinement, the record explores the contradictions of modern civilization: the glorification of war, the erosion of collective memory, and the search for meaning in fractured societies.