Returning after an eleven year absence, one of the UK’s most exhilarating death metal-infused sludge bands TRUDGER are back with their brand new album, VOID QUEST. The Yorkshire-based quartet made quite a strong name for themselves in the UK’s heavy underground scene, being the first band to have a full-length album out on (now defunct) extreme label COF Records (previous home to Caïna, Wode, Esoteric Youth, Swinelord, Monolithian and more). Trudger quickly became fearsome contenders on the UK’s live circuit, bringing a raucous hardcore energy to their hard-edged progressive sound, and going on to tour Europe alongside Dvne in support of their 2014 debut full-length Dormiveglia. Trudger leave behind an impressive live legacy from their original phase of activity, performing across the UK with the likes of Oathbreaker, Conan, Downfall Of Gaia, Bongripper, Bismuth, Slabdragger, Boss Keloid, Coltsblood and Undersmile. Their last show to date saw Trudger opening for Primitive Man and Sea Bastard in Manchester, back in April 2015.
Trudger didn’t officially disband, but merely drifted apart when life got in the way and band members veered away from their Barnsley hometown to follow different creative pursuits. Now the tides of fate have brought the same line-up back together to make their much overdue second album, and Trudger pick up right where they left off to drag listeners into a blisteringly intense high-concept metal record. Each track channels a deep frustration and tension with the way that greed, war and invention has corrupted society, whilst positing questions around the existence of God or intelligent, hostile life in the universe. Never opting for the easy route, VOID QUEST is overwhelming, unwieldy, and absolutely captivating.
Vocalist Chris Parkinson has this to say about our premiere, ‘Occupied Frequency’:
“Lyrically, ‘Occupied Frequency’ is a rumination on humankind’s potentially naïve desire to make contact with intelligent life in the universe, and to abandon our earthly restraints. Inspired by the sudden spike in UAP sightings and credible news sources reinvestigating historic alien encounter accounts, the track depicts humankind’s first encounter with extra-terrestrial life in the album’s narrative. [The] ‘Occupied Frequency’ music video incorporates real-life UAP footage captured by military aircraft and recently declassified by the Pentagon, as well as archival footage from NASA.”
VOID QUEST is released in all formats on August 29 2025 via Floodlit Recordings and can be pre-ordered HERE and HERE.
Video directed and edited by Jack Kavanagh.
