Metal Allegiance is back. The New York-based metal supergroup has released “Black Horizon,” their first original track since 2018 and the opening shot of a new era for the band. Eight years is a long time, and this song arrives with the weight of that absence fully intact.
“Black Horizon” is a slow-building apocalypse. Alex Skolnick (Testament) opens with roaring riffs that set a desolate scene, while William DuVall (Alice In Chains) delivers ominous, howling vocals that chronicle a desperate flight for survival. Gloomy, minimalistic verses give way to thunderous choruses, with Mark Menghi (King Ultramega) anchoring the low end and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) keeping the dread coiled and ready to detonate. Systems fail, shadows fall, and the doomed cry for salvation. This is heavy music with genuine atmosphere and weight.
The quotes from the band say everything. Menghi reflects, “Who would have thought we’d be here 12 years later with new MA music,” adding that DuVall’s presence “opens up a new era for MA.” Skolnick describes the track as “a gift from the ghost of MA past, salvaged from a stockpile of riffs we’d started long ago but never quite finished.” DuVall calls it an honor, and Portnoy is simply “stoked they finally get to see the light of day.” Metal Allegiance is not revisiting the past. They are building something new from its bones.