UK post-hardcore favourites Svalbard have announced their impending break-up.
The Bristol/London quartet will split in 2026, but will be prolific during their final months. They’ll play their final UK tour in November, supported by Cage Fight and Knife Bride, and have plans for later Japanese and European shows, plus the release of one last song.
See the scheduled stops on the band’s farewell run below.
In an exclusive statement to Metal Hammer, singer/guitarist Serena Cherry explains that Svalbard are splitting to try and avoid a creative decline after releasing four critically acclaimed studio albums. She describes the break-up as amicable and expresses pride in the band’s achievements.
Her words read in full: “You know when a band you love starts churning out less-inspired, repetitive music that totally plays it safe? And you find yourself longingly reflecting on the magic of their previous albums, wondering if they will ever be able to reignite that creative fire again? Well, I know that feeling too. There’s loads of bands I adore who I wish had stopped writing music after four or five albums.
“From a musician’s perspective, it’s very hard to walk away from unlikely success that required so much work and sacrifice to achieve. It’s a daunting and depressing prospect – to lose the band you poured your entire life into.
“Some bands turn that fear of loss into fuel, marching onwards making albums that sound like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. We don’t want to do this. Svalbard does not want to plod on in the name of half-hearted musical compromise.
“We've always been an all-or-nothing band. And even though it’s utterly heartbreaking, we have accepted that our musical journey together is reaching its end. We have one song left within us as a band. We want to finish on a decisive high, having released four albums that we are 100 percent proud of.
“There is no animosity between band members and we wanted to give the band a proper send-off, with a final UK tour and final shows all over the world coming in 2026. It means a lot to us that we can give Svalbard one last year before we musically go our separate ways.”
Cherry co-founded Svalbard with guitarist/vocalist Liam Phelan in 2011. They released their debut album, One Day All This Will End, in 2015. The band became known for their distinct fusion of post-hardcore, post-metal and black metal, as well as their outspoken, principled lyrics, which have tackled such topics as rape culture, mental health and corporate greed.
Cherry spoke about her forthright writing style in a 2023 interview with The Guardian. “It was a very deliberate choice to be as lyrically direct as possible,” she said. “You could listen to a song by most metal bands and it might be about depression or something political but, dressed up in prose and poetry, that message becomes obscured. If you say something as concisely as possible, you can reach as many people as possible.”
Metal Hammer called Svalbard’s third album – When I Die, Will I Get Better? – “the most important British metal record of 2020”, and their final album, 2023’s The Weight Of The Mask, was met with similar goodwill.
Svalbard have toured with the likes of Enslaved, Alcest and Cult Of Luna and graced the stage at such festivals as Hellfest, Arctangent, Summer Breeze and 2000 Trees. The band are booked to play their first-ever set at the UK’s blockbuster Download festival on Friday, June 13.
Svalbard 2025 UK farewell tour dates:
Nov 19: Glasgow Slay
Nov 20: Manchester Rebellion
Nov 21: Newcastle Think Tank
Nov 22: Bristol Thekla
Nov 23: London Oslo Hackney
