Denver quartet Dreadnought released their sixth album Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light on 11 September 2026 through Vesperian. Recorded with production by Julius Mauranen (Oranssi Pazuzu), the record shows sharper focus and more direct songwriting than its predecessors while retaining the band's signature blend of progressive metal, folk and atmospheric expanse.

The nine-minute opener "Tiamat's Gate" sets the tone: Kelly Schilling's operatic vocals over synth textures give way to blast beats and Ryan Sims's blackened howl, then drift into a medieval passage before fading out on piano and strings. "The Archive" — the lead single with an official video — condenses the group's self-described "World Building Metal Etherea" into four and a half minutes of precision. "Colors of Our Broken Hearts" moves into cosmic territory with spoken word and jazzy percussion, "Serpents of the Moon" builds from clean guitars into black-metal fury, "Aeonwar" juggles piston beats and heavy grooves, and the closing "The Twilight Protectorate" weaves folk flutes, a synth solo and black-metal intensity.

Echoes and Dust reviewer Geoff Topley notes the album falls short of Blood Incantation's Absolute Elsewhere but matches it in vision and depth, calling the seamless fusion of styles a feat of rare musicianship with Schilling's vocals and synths as the binding thread. Vesperian describes the record as the most focused and reinvented chapter of the band's career. The album is available digitally, on vinyl and CD via the Vesperian store and Bandcamp.