New York hardcore legends Madball are coming back hard with their tenth studio album, *Not Your Kingdom*, dropping July 24 via Nuclear Blast *. The fourteen-track record was tracked at The Boneyard Studios in Nashville with producers Andrew Baylis, Aiden Thompson, and Grady Saxman, while Lee Rouse handled the final mix and master *. The band's already unleashed the first single, "Rebel Kids," which frontman Freddy Cricien and videographer Dave Causa co-directed and filmed themselves *. What makes "Rebel Kids" especially cool is that it was actually the very first song written for this album—roughly two years before the announcement—giving fans an early taste of where Madball's head has been at *, †.
The new material blends classic rock vibes into Madball's trademark hardcore fury while offering sharp commentary on the current state of the world and the human condition †. It's a bold move for a band that's been crushing it since the late '80s when they started as an Agnostic Front side project *. The current lineup features Cricien on vocals, guitarists Mike Gurnari and Mike Justian, and bassist Paul Delaney, who stepped in after longtime four-stringer Jorge "Hoya Roc" Guerra departed in August 2023 *. This marks their first full-length since 2018's *For The Cause*, which saw Tim Armstrong of Rancid jump in as co-producer *.
If you want to catch Madball live, they've got a packed schedule ahead with European dates running from May through August, plus appearances at Vans Warped Tour Montreal on August 21-22 and Louder Than Life in Louisville on September 19 †. The album cover itself is a statement piece, featuring photography by the legendary Cornell Capa courtesy of Magnum Photos and the Cornell Capa Estate *.