Photos: POLYPHIA Release Fifth Studio Album BE NOT AFRAID

Instrumental rock band Polyphia has released their fifth full-length studio album BE NOT AFRAID with Rise Records. Alongside the release, the band put out a new music video directed by Caleb Young at Hand Crank Films for the track 'LET THERE BE LIGHT.'

''LET THERE BE LIGHT' is one of those beloved tracks that stuck with us throughout the writing process for the entire record. Being one of the first ideas that kickstarted the style for this album, it has seen every part of this record as it was being written - we've added and taken away many parts of the song, and we still feel like we could have kept going on it,' shares guitarist Scott LePage.

Earlier this year, Polyphia teased their new chapter with the release of their first single in over four years, 'CAN YOU FEEL IT,' pushing boundaries in ways the band never has before with a hybrid of metal and dance music. Following that, they released 'POWER IN THE BLOOD' and 'WITH EYES TO SEE,' showcasing powerful visuals that lay the foundation for what listeners can expect of the new record.

'We turned the record in a couple months ago, but we love this record so much that we continued working on it all the way up to a week before its release. We were blessed to be able to work with the choir members who sang on Ye's Sunday Service which is a bucket list item for me as I listen to them all the time,' shares Tim Henson.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, Polyphia worked together in various locations in Miami, Los Angeles and Dallas alongside co-producer RJ Pasin and guitar phenom Spiro Dussias. Guitarist Tim Henson took a different approach to composition, initially singing lines aloud and then translating them onto guitar, creating a process that encouraged the entire band to build on each other's ideas in real time. More than anything, the sessions were defined by how much fun they were having creating music together. By the time the album was finished, they had reached a point where they could let go of any expectations about what would happen next and simply enjoy what they had created together.

The collective thread together a three-dimensional offering of otherworldly metal, future-facing prog, and pulsating house sealed tightly with carefully curated samples, inventive beat-craft, and the guitar eloquence that Tim and Scott remain renowned for. This time around, the instrumental push-and-pull invokes the polarity of the ultimate extremes: good and evil.

When speaking on the themes of the record Henson adds, 'The album takes you through the extremes of two different worlds / moods: one being very uplifting and triumphant, the other being spine-chilling and terrifying. There are moments on the record that legitimately scare me when I listen to them.'

Polyphia will be on tour this fall in the UK and Europe, before heading out on the North American leg of their World Tour in early 2027. RJ Pasin will support every date worldwide. North American shows will feature Ladrones, with select dates including Intervals. Perturbator will join all UK and European dates, which remain unchanged for Nov/Dec 2026. For more information and to purchase tickets visit Polyphia.com.

Polyphia have always said what they need to say with their instruments. Since their emergence in 2010, the Texas-bred outfit—Tim Henson [guitar], Scott LePage [guitar], Clay Gober [bass], and Clay Aeschliman [drums]—have organically progressed across a series of acclaimed albums, including Muse [2014], Renaissance [2016], New Levels New Devils [2018], and Remember That You Will Die [2022]. The latter bowed at #1 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums Chart and cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. Tallying hundreds of millions of streams, it established the band as rare outliers equally suited to collaborations with either pop singer Sophia Black, multiplatinum rapper SNOT, guitar hero Steve Vai, or iconic Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. Beyond headlining sold-out tours, the group incited the applause of Wired, Revolver, and Rolling Stone, who described Tim as 'reinventing the instrument for more than a decade.'

North America Tour Dates 2027 w/ Ladrones & RJ Pasin (* w/ Intervals, # No Ladrones)

February 5 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre

February 6 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues

February 9 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium

February 10 - San Diego, CA – SOMA #

February 11 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues

February 14 - San Francisco, CA - The Masonic

February 17 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre

February 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

February 20 - Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium

February 23 - Minneapolis, MN - Uptown Theater

February 24 - Milwaukee, WI - Landmark Credit Union Live

February 25 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom

February 26 - Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room at Old National Centre

February 27 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit

March 2 - Toronto, ON - Great Canadian Toronto *

March 3 - Montreal, QC – L'Olympia *

March 5 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore Philadelphia

March 6 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount

March 7 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway

March 9 - Washington, DC - Echostage

March 10- Raleigh, NC - The Ritz

March 12 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore Charlotte

March 13- Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live

March 14 - St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Live

March 16 - Atlanta, GA - Coca-Cola Roxy

March 17- Birmingham, AL - Avondale Brewing Company

March 18 - Nashville, TN - The Truth

March 20 - Dallas, TX - South Side Ballroom

August 6 - Houston, TX- Daikan Park (with Slipknot and Bring Me The Horizon)

Europe/UK Tour Dates w/ Perturbator & RJ Pasin

Nov 18 – Zurich, CH – Halle 622

Nov 19 – Lyon, FR – Le Radiant

Nov 20 – Toulouse, FR – Interference

Nov 22 – Barcelona, ES – Razzmatazz

Nov 23 – Madrid, ES – Sala La Riviera

Nov 25 – Milan, IT – Alcatraz

Nov 27 – Munich, DE – Zenith

Nov 28 – Prague, CZ – SaSaZu

Nov 29 – Warsaw, PL – Progresja

Nov 30 – Leipzig, DE – Haus Auensee

Dec 2 – Hamburg, DE – Docks

Dec 4 – Copenhagen, DK – Amager Bio

Dec 5 – Berlin, DE – Tempodrom

Dec 6 – Oberhausen, DE – Turbinenhalle

Dec 7 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique

Dec 8 – Amsterdam, NL – AFAS Live

Dec 9 – Paris, FR – Zenith Paris

Dec 11 – Birmingham, UK – 02 Academy Birmingham

Dec 12 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy

Dec 15 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy Leeds

Dec 16 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton

Photo Credit: Anna Lee