Maryland heavy-rock veterans Clutch have announced their fourteenth studio album, Wasted Lands, due January 22, 2027 on the band's own Weathermaker Music. The title track arrives with an official music video directed by Dan Winters.

The single follows "The Drifter Returns", released in August, and keeps the band in their signature bluesy Southern-rock pocket: Neil Fallon's gravelly vocals ride a metallic backbone from Tim Sult's guitar, Dan Maines' bass and Jean-Paul Gaster's drums. Fallon says the lyric was sparked by an online dispute over a promised T-shirt and dinner — "I thought, screw it, no half-measures. You want a monster? Let's give you one." Gaster adds a deliberate bass-drum accent on the phrase "man or beast" that producer Gene 'Machine' Freeman initially questioned but the band kept for its live impact.

Recorded at the group's Doom Saloon studio in Frederick, Maryland, Wasted Lands runs twelve tracks across 48 minutes, including the earlier single "The Drifter Returns" and epics like the nine-minute "Chestburster". Clutch launch a US tour with Slomosa and Blood Vulture in October 2026. Pre-orders for vinyl variants, CD and cassette are open via the band's webstore.