French progressive metal band Klone are back with “Unchained,” the first single from their new album The Moon Is Witness, out March 12, 2027 via V2 Records. Fierce and melodic, the song brings back the crushing guitars of the band’s heavier roots while keeping the atmosphere and huge choruses of their recent work.
“Both fierce and immersive, powerful and unifying, Unchained delivers raw, incisive energy driven by a cathartic chorus. Through organic and animalistic imagery, the lyrics explore the journey from captivity to complete liberation. A quest for emancipation that is both personal and collective.”
Yann Ligner, vocals
Guitarist and songwriter Guillaume Bernard explains that the song’s working title was “Élan,” French for momentum or drive. “That’s exactly what the music evoked for me: a sense of movement, energy and freedom,” he says, adding that the band played with contrasts and can’t wait to bring it to the stage.
The Moon as Witness
Across nine tracks, the album looks at humanity’s impulses, vulnerabilities and contradictions through the silent gaze of the Moon, touching on love, death, fear, hope and the traces we leave behind. Klone reunited with producer Francis Caste, who worked on 2019’s Le Grand Voyage, recording, mixing and mastering at Studio Sainte-Marthe in Paris.
Guests include harpist Arnaud Roy on “Wavering,” “Mirage” and the instrumental “Moonlight,” Leprous collaborator Raphael Weinroth-Browne on cello on “Mirage,” and Coroner guitarist Tommy Vetterli on “Molt.”
A New Chapter
After several years with Kscope and the release of The Unseen via Pelagic Records, Klone now join V2 Records. Since the early 2000s they have toured Europe, the US, Mexico and Australia with Gojira, Devin Townsend, Leprous, King’s X, Pain of Salvation, Riverside and Voyager, and have played Hellfest four times, twice on the main stages.
- November 13: Châteaufort, FR, Festival Foud’Rock
- November 15: Sittard, NL, Volt
- November 16: Nancy, FR, M.A.I
- November 17: Ittre, BE, Zik Zak
- November 18: Oberhausen, DE, Zentrum Altenberg
- November 19: Rüsselsheim, DE, Das Rind
- November 21: Grudziądz, PL, ProgRockowy Akcent
- November 22: Berlin, DE, BiNuu
Our Take
Klone have always been the thinking person’s heavy band, and “Unchained” finds a great balance between the weight of their early records and the atmospheric beauty of Le Grand Voyage. With Caste back behind the desk and guests like Vetterli and Weinroth-Browne, The Moon Is Witness is one of the most promising prog albums of early 2027.
Klone are: Yann Ligner (vocals), Guillaume Bernard and Aldrick Guadagnino (guitars), Enzo Alfano (bass), Morgan Berthet (drums), Matthieu Metzger (saxophone, keyboards).
