Apex

Apex, released on 28 March 2025, is the fifth album, honed around melodic rock that holds AOR smoothness, hard rock push and a Nordic clarity together. Five years had passed since the last record, sixteen since the debut. The guitars ring thick, but the songs belong to the voice and the choruses, and the climb toward each hook is unmistakable. Erik Mårtensson produced once again. And here, for the first time, the T of the name is doubly satisfied: Talisman's drummer Jamie Borger joined. Robert Säll and Andreas Passmark from Work of Art, Mårtensson and Magnus Henriksson from Eclipse, Soto and Borger from Talisman — at last a line-up in which every letter of the name is fully accounted for. On “What Are We Fighting For,” Soto and Mårtensson trade lead vocals; Soto said they were making use of the fact that the band has two singers, the way Queen, Styx, Journey and the Eagles did. An expressive voice wraps the songs whole and builds, as the title says, a drama climbing to a summit.