Vancouver’s Iron Kingdom have been carrying the traditional heavy metal torch since 2011, and ‘Shadows and Dust’ makes the strongest case yet for why this band matters. The sixth studio album arrives June 6 via Steel Shark Records, and its second single “Blood and Steel” is out now with a lyric video that locks into the record’s central themes of endurance, sacrifice, and mortality.
“Blood and Steel” draws from two sources: Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen and the visceral reality of a soldier in Alexander the Great’s army, thousands of miles from home and deep into a campaign with no clear end. Bassist Leighton Holmes puts it plainly, connecting that exhaustion to life on the road in a touring band. It’s a concept that gives the track real weight, and the arrangement backs it up. Holmes and drummer Max Friesen anchor the verses hard before guitarists Chris Osterman and Megan Merrick layer in with precision. It marches, and it hits.
Osterman describes the album as playing “in a dark realm,” but frames that darkness as a pathway rather than a dead end. Ten tracks covering death, hardship, and impermanence, ‘Shadows and Dust’ is built for people navigating difficult stretches, and the band knows it. The EU edition through Steel Shark Records adds a limited double-CD run of 300 copies pairing the full album with a best-of collection from Iron Kingdom’s previous five releases, plus a third vinyl colour limited to 100 copies for European fans.
The album release show goes June 5 at Vancouver’s Rickshaw Theatre, one night before the record drops, and it doubles as the launch of the True North Strong And Heavy Canadian Tour with W.M.D. The routing is genuinely ambitious: from Vancouver Island through the Yukon, into the Northwest Territories, across the Prairies, through Ontario and Quebec, and all the way out to Newfoundland before looping back. Festival slots at Armstrong Metal Fest and Loud As Hell Open Air Festival round out the summer run.
Iron Kingdom have shared stages with Night Demon and Blaze Bayley, toured Canada, the US, Europe, and Brazil, and built a following that understands what this band represents. ‘Shadows and Dust’ is their most emotionally direct album yet, and “Blood and Steel” is exactly the kind of track that earns a permanent spot in a live set.
‘Shadows and Dust’ Track Listing:
- Defenders
- Eternal Emperor
- Dreamless Sea
- Deadhouse Gates
- Line Of Fire
- Blood And Steel
- Shadow Of Time
- Dark Demands
- Starlight
- Sacred Fire
True North Strong And Heavy Canadian Tour:
June 5 – Vancouver, BC – The Rickshaw Theatre
July 2 – Nanaimo, BC – The Globe
July 3 – Victoria, BC – Lucky Bar
July 4 – Cumberland, BC – The Waverley
July 5 – Powell River, BC – The Carlson Loft
July 17 – Armstrong, BC – Armstrong Metal Fest 2026
July 21 – Prince George, BC – Knox Performance Centre
July 23 – Whitehorse, YT – Lefty’s Well
July 24 – Dawson City, YT – The Pit
July 25 – Dawson City, YT – The Pit
July 26 – Whitehorse, YT – The 98 Hotel
July 28 – Yellowknife, NT – The Underground
July 29 – Fort Smith, NT – Dirty O’ Fergie’s
July 30 – Edmonton, AB – Starlite
July 31 – Drumheller, AB – Loud As Hell Open Air Festival 2026
August 1 – Winnipeg, MB – Park Theatre
August 2 – Thunder Bay, ON – Bloom Bar + Lounge
August 3 – Sudbury, ON – The Lounge 390
August 4 – London, ON – Supply & Demand
August 5 – Waterloo, ON – Maxwells
August 6 – Ottawa, ON – Dominion Tavern
August 7 – Toronto, ON – Bovine
August 8 – Montréal, QC – Foufounes Électriques
August 9 – Sherbrooke, QC – Le Murdoch
August 11 – Woodstock, NB – Monteith Manor
August 12 – Halifax, NS – Gus’ Pub
August 14 – Corner Brook, NL – TBD
August 15 – St. John’s, NL – The Rockhouse
August 17 – Truro, NS – Marigold Cultural Centre
August 18 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti
August 19 – Hamilton, ON – Doors Pub
August 21 – Saskatoon, SK – Black Cat Tavern
August 22 – Calgary, AB – Dicken’s
August 23 – Kelowna, BC – Jackknife Brewing