On November 13, Yngwie Malmsteen's new studio album, Hell Or High Water, came out worldwide: on Music Theories Recordings / Artone Label Group outside Japan and on King Records in Japan. It is his first studio album in about five years, since Parabellum in July 2021, with the live album Tokyo Live (2025) in between. The Japanese CD (KICP-4128, 3,500 yen including tax) adds a bonus track found only on that edition, "(He Is) Living A Lie (Alternate Version)", to the nine songs of the album proper, for ten tracks.

Eighty or ninety songs written over eight months, the nine strongest kept — he sings on about four, and the rest are instrumentals

Yngwie Malmsteen stayed at home and wrote for eight months, finished eighty or ninety pieces and then chose the nine strongest (Blabbermouth, August 5). Working without distractions is an approach he first tried on Parabellum. The album runs exactly 46 minutes, in his words, and was made to fit perfectly on a single vinyl LP.

He sings on about four songs, and the rest are instrumentals. The announcement names "Now Or Never", "(On The) Battlefield" and "Eye For An Eye" for their vocals, and "Am Caprice/Hell Or High Water", "Antikythera" and "Beyond Zeta Reticuli" as instrumentals, the last two named after important scientific breakthroughs and discoveries. King Records' credits list Malmsteen on lead guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, keyboards, sitar, cello and vocals, and Jay Lanncerbach on drums.

The closer, "Father", is a tribute to his late father — "I wanted to dedicate all of this to him"

"Father", the last song of the album proper, was written as a tribute to his father, who died in 2025. "I wanted to dedicate all of this to him, and that one particular track is for him," Yngwie Malmsteen says, adding: "I was proud to have him as a father, and I loved him" (Blabbermouth, August 5).

The Japanese CD has ten tracks with the bonus — a limited heavyweight double LP follows on December 11

The Japanese CD (KICP-4128) adds "(He Is) Living A Lie (Alternate Version)" to the nine songs of the album proper, for ten tracks. King Records also releases a limited-quantity heavyweight double LP on Friday, December 11.

King Records' own bonus is a sticker of the sleeve art (50 mm x 50 mm), and Tower Records adds an original A5 clear file. Both bonuses come with the CD only, not the vinyl, and end when stocks run out.

Two videos — "Now Or Never" and the instrumental "Beyond Zeta Reticuli"

Two songs from the album have music videos: "Now Or Never", released on August 5, and the second single, the instrumental "Beyond Zeta Reticuli", on October 1. Both can be watched on the album page and on the watch pages linked below.

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