Born With A Hammer

Ward Records put out the Japanese edition of Born With A Hammer on 18 September 2026 as GQCS-91779, the same day earMUSIC release it everywhere else. The album proper runs to ten songs; the Japanese pressing carries two more, Kai Hansen's own mixes and masters of "Born With A Hammer" and "Wonderland", and it comes with a Japanese booklet and translated lyrics. Two songs reached listeners ahead of the album: "Feeding The Beast" in June 2026, with an official video, and "Welcome To Life" in August, with a lyric video. Behind the record is the band Hansen assembled for XXX - Three Decades In Metal ten years earlier: Eike Freese of Dark Age on guitar, Alexander Dietz of Heaven Shall Burn on bass and Carcass drummer Dan Wilding, with Hansen himself singing and playing guitar. His son Tim Hansen, of Induction, played bass on a single track last time and is a full guitarist here. Freese, Hansen and Dietz share the production credit. BURRN! count it as Hansen's second solo album, released under the Hansen name, and note that the date falls one day before Helloween close their fortieth-anniversary world tour in Sao Paulo. Twelve songs.