L.A. alt-metal sensation Butcher Babies have just announced the title and release date of the sixth studio album. Entitled Nightbloom, the hotly anticipated album is the follow-up to their 2023 double-album, Eye for an Eye... / ...'Til the World's Blind. Set for release October 2nd, Nightblooms marks the band's first album with Judge & Jury Records, the label co-founded by Grammy-winning megaproducer Howard Benson (Hoobastank, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry) and Three Days Grace drummer Neil Sanderson. The album is produced by Benson and Sanderson along with drummer/producer Joe Rickard (Red, In Flames) and the Butcher Babies guitarist Henry Flury.
In the time since Butcher Babies' last album, vocalist Heidi Shepherd has undergone significant changes, both professional and personal, chief among them going to therapy. She put out the following statement about how these developments led to the cathartic creation of Nightbloom:
A couple of years ago, I found myself in a web of darkness that I couldn’t shake. A vicious cycle of self-loathing and doubt, all while my support system did everything in their power to remind me of who I am. I desperately wanted to see in myself what they saw in me. I needed a way to look in the mirror and find love for who was looking back at me. So, I shut off social media, and for the first time in my life, I started therapy.
Therapy sent me down a rabbit hole that I didn’t know existed. Over the course of a year, I was flooded with memories of trauma and emotions that I had suppressed. I started to feel that in this overwhelming darkness, these memories needed a way out. So, I started writing. I wrote about my failure of a ‘perfect’ marriage over 20 years ago. I wrote about the stormy canyon road that sent us to divorce.
I wrote about watching the love of my life fall in love with someone else in front of me. I wrote about a one-night stand that has haunted me for decades. I wrote about a former boyfriend who took his own life. I wrote about Mormon religion ostracizing me while their members, and my neighbors shamed my family for supporting me. And even more currently, I wrote the abandonment of losing a best friend of 20 years. I wrote about moments that I didn’t realize held so much weight on my heart until we tore that fucker open in therapy.
While reliving and experiencing some of my darkest moments, I started to finally bloom. These songs grew and took on life in the dark. In writing these songs, I was able to turn negative experiences in my life into something positive, which in turn gave these memories a new place to live. Moments that I can look at and think ‘Wow, I survived that. I bloomed in the darkest moments of my life.. My ‘Nightbloom’.
This new album isn’t about the suffering; it’s about the survival. These songs were born from memories of heartbreak, uncertainty, betrayal, and pain. But they’re not just about those subjects, they’re more about what grew because of them. This album, ‘Nightbloom‘, is a reminder that not everything beautiful needs perfect sunshine to flourish. Sometimes the most meaningful parts of life begin in the darkest seasons.
Flury had this to say about the album's guiding theme:
Writing with purpose. That was the overall theme of this album. Each part, layer, lyric was crafted with purpose and focus. Nothing was unimportant. Every detail was created to tell a story with a singular voice. ‘Nightbloom‘ is our most important work we’ve ever done in Butcher Babies.
Coinciding with this announcement is the release of the official music video for their fiery single "Blame It On The Wind." Where the previous music video was animated, resembling a 2D mobile game, this new version showcases bassist Sean Violet performing alongside Shepherd and Flury on location at Castle of Bathory in Las Vegas. Shepherd directed both videos.
And when the lights come on / We'll forget what we did / But you know that's a lie/ No / You won't get off that easy / Oh / You're like a song / That's been stuck on repeat
In addition to "Blame It On The Wind," Nightbloom includes previous singles "Lost In Your Touch," "Sincerity," and "Black Dove," with the next single, "Leaving California," arriving August 28th. Nightbloom is available for pre-order at butcherbabies.com.
Nightbloom track listing:
01. Lost In Your Touch
02. Sincerity
03. Blame It On The Wind
04. Broken & Beautiful
05. Are You Waiting Up?
06. Black Clouds Over Georgia
07. Fever In My Neck
08. Songbird
09. Leaving California
10. Black Dove
Tomorrow, August 19th, Butcher Babies will be performing live at the 26th Annual Gathering Of The Juggalos (whoop whoop!). And starting August 28th, the band will join country-metal outfit Devil's Cut as support for Mudvayne and Hellyeah lead singer Chad Gray's Chad Gray: 30 Years of Madness Tour. Tickets are on sale now.
Check out dates and the official music video for "Blame It On The Wind" below.
Butcher Babies' Eye for an Eye... / ...'Til the World's Blind is out now on Century Media Records.
Chad Gray: 30 Years of Madness Tour
08/28 Bloomington, IL @ The Castle Theatre with * ^
08/29 Kansas City, MO @ VooDoo Lounge with * ^
08/30 Des Moines, IA @ Wooly's with * ^
09/01 Saint Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall * ^
09/02 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre * ^
09/03 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater with * ^
09/05 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave / Eagles Club * ^
09/06 Chicago, IL @ Outset * ^
09/08 Cadillac, MI @ The Venue *
09/09 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland * ^
09/11 Boston, MA @ Big Night Live * ^
09/12 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount * ^
09/14 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of The Living Arts * ^
09/15 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza * ^
09/17 Mckees Rocks, PA @ Roxian Theatre Presented by Citizens *
09/18 Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life 2026
10/02 Sacramento,CA @ Aftershock Fest
10/04 Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether * ^
10/05 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues San Diego * ^
10/06 Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory * ^
10/07 Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club * ^
10/10 San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre * ^
10/11 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall * ^
10/12 Dallas, TX @ The Studio at the Factory *
10/14 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues New Orleans * ^
10/16 Clearwater, FL @ OCC Road House & Museum *
10/18 Charlotte, NC @ The Underground * ^
10/19 Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
10/20 Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville * ^
* with Butcher Babies
^ with Devil's Cut
Additional Dates
08/19 Macks Creek, MO @ The Gathering of The Juggalo's 2026
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