Nails have signed a record deal with Closed Casket Activities and released "Fear Based Life", a two-song preview of their fifth full-length, which is due in summer 2027. The songs are streaming now; a vinyl edition arrives on 9 October through the label.
According to the band, the signing formalises an arrangement that has existed informally since 2011, when they began consulting Justin Louden of Closed Casket Activities on touring and business decisions. "There hasn't been a more instrumental asset to Nails than Closed Casket Activities in the past 15 years," the statement reads, adding that the band has "never had a bad label".
For a band of Nails' size, fifteen years of unpaid advisory work turning into a contract is the industry's version of a long engagement: the label has already done the job, and the deal mostly changes who is named on the back of the record.
The two tracks were written in November and December 2025, recorded by Andrew Solis and mastered by Nick Townsend. Cover art is by Jef Whitehead (Wrest), with inner artwork by Cavan Hoover, photography by Duran Levinson in Berlin, and layout by Martin Stuart.
Source: Sonic Perspectives