CLUTCH Announce New Album “Wasted Lands”

Clutch are heading into 2027 with a new album, a new song and an Australian return ten years in the making.

The Maryland rock veterans have announced “Wasted Lands”, their 14th studio album, due out January 22, 2027. The following night, the band will begin their first Australian headline tour in a decade, starting at Metropolis Fremantle before moving through Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Alongside the announcement, Clutch have released the album’s title track, ‘Wasted Lands’, accompanied by a new music video.

Recorded at the band’s Doom Saloon studio in Frederick, Maryland, the 12-track album brings producer Machine back into the room for the first time since 2015’s “Psychic Warfare”. The record follows 2022’s “Sunrise On Slaughter Beach” and was shaped around a particular live concern: how to make the songs work onstage without sanding away the unpredictable side of the band.

That instinct seems particularly appropriate for ‘Wasted Lands’, a song whose origin story starts with Facebook drama, an alleged free T-shirt and a stranger who refused to believe they had been scammed.

According to Neil Fallon, he was told that someone had been publicly complaining about him online after apparently being promised a free T-shirt and dinner. The catch was that Fallon had never made the offer.

“Apparently, I had reneged on a free t-shirt and dinner. I think it was a prize in a pay to play contest,” Fallon explained. “Not to overstate the obvious, but it was a load of horse hockey.”

The person had apparently been communicating with someone impersonating Fallon. Even after others tried to explain that they had been dealing with a fake account, they remained convinced that the real Fallon was responsible.

“Many people tried to explain to this person that it was not me and that they had been hustled. But they simply would not believe it,” Fallon said.

His response was less concerned with correcting the record than turning the entire mess into material.

“So I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let’s give you one.”

That sense of escalation carries into the album’s broader approach. Clutch say the sessions were built with the stage in mind, while leaving enough space for songs to develop once the band gets inside them in front of an audience. It is a balance between structure and instinct that has long been part of their live identity, and “Wasted Lands” appears to have been recorded with that tension deliberately intact.

Australia will get an early opportunity to hear the results.

Clutch will launch their tour with Corrosion Of Conformity at Metropolis Fremantle on January 23, 2027, followed by shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The two bands will then finish the Australian run at Adelaide’s Froth & Fury Festival on January 30.

“Wasted Lands” arrives January 22, with Clutch hitting the Australian stage the following night.