Leicester’s riff-worshipping titans Mage are back — and they mean business. The UK Stoner/Doom outfit have just dropped the official video for “Devil Be Damned,” the second track from their brand new fifth studio album, “Hymns for the Afterlife,” self-released on 22 November 2025.
Watch the official video for “Devil Be Damned” via the YouTube player below:
Celebrating fifteen years of existence, “Hymns for the Afterlife” marks the band’s fifth studio album and a powerful statement of intent from a group that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. It’s been six long years since the Leicester stoner titans last dropped a record, making this return feel like a long-overdue seismic event.
“Devil Be Damned” captures Mage at their most dynamic and hook-driven. The track flirts with a Thin Lizzy-style twin-guitar swagger that injects a classic rock energy into the mix — it grooves hard, the riffs roll thick, and there’s that infectious Mage knack for turning a song into a ride you don’t want to get off.
The album itself is a seven-track journey through the full spectrum of heavy: from the hammer-to-the-skull opening of “Soil for the Worm” to the monolithic Sabbath-inspired lurch of “Witch’s Hollow”, the cosmic psychedelia of the epic “Odin’s Eye”, and the fuzzy, filthy low-end assault of “Vino Bambino.” The closing epic “The Hill” brings the album to a fittingly creepy conclusion.
Over their 15-year career, Mage have built a reputation for blending fuzz-drenched riffs with a groove-laden backbone and vocals that drift effortlessly between power and restraint. Hymns for the Afterlife delivers on every front.
“Hymns for the Afterlife” is available now on transparent blue vinyl (limited to 300 copies), digipak CD, and digital download via Bandcamp and the band’s official webstore.