Swedish prog rock legends The Flower Kings have released the official video for “The Gods Of Rome, Pt. 2”, taken from their new album HOPE, out October 23 on InsideOutMusic.
Pre-order HOPE here.
“This is one of several parts of an epic piece of music that has been swirling around for some years. I reworked bits and wrote some new lyrics that now have the backdrop of ancient Rome – but act more as a metaphor for modern day powerplay.”
Roine Stolt
A Return to the Side-Long Epic
The follow-up to 2025’s LOVE, HOPE sees the band return to side-long epics, with tracks running 18 and 28 minutes. Written by Stolt and keyboardist Lalle Larsson, the album reflects on a divided time without turning into overt political commentary, offering hope as its central message. Its centerpiece, the nearly half-hour “The Gods of Rome”, grew out of orchestral ideas from over a decade ago and almost became the basis for another Anderson & Stolt project before landing with The Flower Kings.
“Like I said 37 years ago – ‘This is the band I will be in for the rest of my days’ – but I wouldn’t dream of us making one of our finest albums ever in 2026!”
Roine Stolt
Stolt and Larsson are joined by vocalist Hans Fröberg, bassist Michael Stolt and drummer Mirko DeMaio, plus several special guests. Also watch the video for “In A World of Fools” here.
HOPE will be released as a limited CD + Blu-ray digipak with Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes by Rich Mouser (a first for the band), a standard CD, a gatefold 2LP and digitally.
HOPE Tracklist
- World Spinning – The Final Curtain (18:45)
- In a World of Fools (5:35)
- Mars & Minerva (4:40)
- The Gods Of Rome (28:15)
