Track By Tracks: Iron Kingdom - Shadows And Dust (2026)

About The Album (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): I find this album plays in quite a dark realm of topics, lots of death and hardships. It speaks of some very low points in human emotions, but I also think that’s exactly what will make this album accessible to people going through tougher times, and hopefully a place of hope, and to help them see that they are not alone. The music, I believe, shows hope for a positive way out, and hopefully offers the listener the will to fight on.

I think this is a fantastic collection of songs that will really open up our live sets and offer a plethora of great new tunes to our fans and followers. It comes from a little bit more of a rock n roll edge overall, but there are so many elements hidden within, and I think it will be a real journey to experience it front to back.

Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

1. Defenders:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): Telling the story of the Battle of Gdansk. Brave Polish soldiers stood against the Nazi invaders for 7 days. The Germans expected the fight to take a couple of hours at most.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): Even though this song is fast and heavy, with great riffs, I find it very emotional as well, and I think it speaks to the courage of those who defend their families, their friends, and their way of life. I think the music shows strength and sadness, but with a strong will to carry on at all costs. I personally found a lot of inspiration from acts such as Tyran Pace and Primal Fear. 

2. Line of Fire:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A perspective of a guy in a firefight trying to get away, knowing that if he stops, he dies.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): Megan came into the jam space with just a ripping riff; it felt like something off of an old Megadeth album, so we knew we needed to do something thrashy and just gut-punching. It was all about fast riffs and ripping leads.

3. Eternal Emperor Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): About a cursed emperor, who returns to life every time he is killed, more powerful but with a more tenuous grip on his sanity.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This one we took on more of a harmonic minor scale approach, sort of like what we did with ’Egypt (The End is Near)’, or ‘The Veiled Knight’, it felt just kind of more eerie, and it allowed for some pretty aggressive vocals.

4. Dreamless Sea:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A song about regret, lost love, and the impermanence of life. Uses imagery of a decaying garden and a deadly ocean.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This one has a few twists in it musically; there’s some very melodic guitar passages, some even get a little bit progressive, the verse is very DIO, to me, and I tried to give the voice a lot of movement across the song.

5. Deadhouse Gates:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A mystical gate hidden in a deadly house can allow mortals to ascend to godhood. Based on the Malazan books by Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esselmont. Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This one is just a total rock n roll song, some great leads and melodies, and just overall, I think very catchy!

6. Blood and Steel:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A story about a soldier who finds himself far away from home after a long and seemingly never-ending campaign. Think of a soldier in Alexander the Great's army surviving all the way to India.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): Musically, we wanted this song to sort of sound like a march. We went very bass and drum heavy for the verses, and then just added some layering on top with the guitars in strategic spots. It’s a very different song for us, and I think it will add something very special and unique to our live sets.

7. Shadow of Time:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A story about an entity that stands outside the flow of time, witnessing events unfold on earth and debating the consequences of getting involved.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This one was one of the first songs we wrote for this album; in particular, I found influence from the act, Praying Mantis; it’s a mid-paced rocker with some very NWOBHM vibes.

8. Dark Demands:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A cabal of nefarious warlords prey on the desperate, promising much and delivering little.

The song was written to sort of warn against signing a bad record deal, haha, but it’s not about any particular experience, just the idea of the ‘man’, kind of coming in and taking his cut, but it's far bigger a cut than you ever expected.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): Musically, this song was Megan’s brainchild, haha, she wanted something evil and dark, and it just hit as a Judas Priest tune from Painkiller. I feel like she succeeded.

9. Starlight:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): A story about Gil-galad from ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, the last High King of the Noldor. He died at the hands of Sauron during the Last Alliance of Men and Elves. Without Gil-galad, the defeat of Sauron would not have been possible.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This one came from an interesting angle. Max really wanted to do something reminiscent of Iron Kingdom’s beginnings; he took a lot of inspiration from Amanda (For those who don’t know, she was our drummer from the first 3 albums + the live EP). And I think Megan was listening to a lot of Angel Witch, haha, so it kind of blended together into what is now ‘Starlight’.

10. Sacred Fire:

Leighton Holmes (Bass Guitar): About the need for compassion, empathy, and for people to embody higher ideals. Especially in dark times.

Chris Osterman (Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar): This is possibly my favourite track on the album; it feels like an epic without actually being all that long of a song (to us). There’s a sort of timeless energy to this one, and the riffs are just cool. Lots of DIO and Iron Maiden vibes, and I think it’s going to be an awesome live tune. I think we will be able to play around with the arrangement a bit live as well, I’m pretty excited about it!

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