Alissa White-Gluz has made a total power move by premiering the first official single with her new group, Blue Medusa. Banded together, they’ve unleashed a game-changing banger dubbed “Checkmate.”
The new song finds the extreme metal vocalist and former Arch Enemy frontwoman leaning into her strengths from the jump, as shredded, squealed and savage sounds from guitarists Alyssa Day (Absentia) and Dani Sophia support monstrously identity-strengthened howls from the band leader (“I choose what’s real, I choose my name”).
Blue Medusa’s chess-themed battle anthem also clears the board with metal melody, gnarly solos and pawn-powning swagger (“You forgot the queen holds the most power”).
“This is a song where everything just clicked,” White-Gluz said in a statement. “’Checkmate’ is an extremely cathartic song for me. It was created in one of those flow states where the lyrics and melodies and rhythms just write themselves and you get the feeling that you’re onto something powerful. It’s probably the heaviest thing I’ve written in terms of lyrics, and probably the lightest of what we have cooking in terms of sound.
“I wanted to share the intensity of these feelings with fans and give them something to hold onto. I’m so happy to see so much support for Blue Medusa already; fans can look forward to more dark, heavy, brutal and haunting music very soon.”
As previously reported, White-Gluz has called Blue Medusa “the next evolution of everything I’ve been building toward for years.” White-Gluz has been working on music behind the scenes with Day and Sophia, while the live band will feature drummer Delaney Jaster and DragonForce bassist Alicia Vigil.
Blue Medusa make their live debut later this year, appearing at both the Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals in the coming months.