coldrain have announced their eighth full-length album, OPTIMIZE = OPTDEMISE, set for release on 25th September 2026 via Century Media Records. The Nagoya alt-metal quintet marked the reveal with new single ‘Ex-Humanity’, their first fresh material since the OPTIMIZE EP arrived in October 2025.
‘Ex-Humanity’ is the sixth track to surface from the record, following ‘Incomplete’, ‘Chasing Shadows’ and ‘Free Fall’, all of which appear on the album. Vocalist Masato describes the song as one built on contrast, pairing energetic, powerful music with lyrics that are deliberately simple, static and heavy with despair. He frames it as a question asking whether the track is a cry for hope or a requiem for humanity, and hoping it proves to be the former.
That tension runs through the whole album. The title reads as a warning, a caution against a world where the rise of AI has come to mirror our growing confusion over what it means to be human. Rather than a blunt “against technology” argument, coldrain reach for something closer to a plea for the liberation of the soul, a response to a world they see steadily losing its colour.
OPTIMIZE = OPTDEMISE runs to twelve tracks and features a pair of notable guests, with The Used’s Bert McCracken appearing on ‘Poison’ and Crossfaith’s Kenta Koie featuring on ‘Savior’. Formed in 2007, coldrain built their reputation blending nu metal and emo influences into something both heavy and endlessly melodic, and the new record leans hard into that identity.
The band back the release with a busy run of dates, including their OPTIMIZE = OPTDEMISE Japan tour from October to December 2026, a slot on Electric Callboy’s Tanzneid World Tour across Australia in September 2026 alongside Ice Nine Kills, and a spread of Japanese festival appearances through the summer.
We love coldrain’s knack for balancing brutality and hooks, and on this evidence OPTIMIZE = OPTDEMISE could be their most pointed record yet.
coldrain are Masato (vocals), Y.K.C and Sugi (guitars), RxYxO (bass) and Katsuma (drums).
