MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS have announced their sixth studio album, ‘Iwaou’ (‘Let’s Celebrate’), their first in four years. The record arrives digitally worldwide on August 14th, one week before the Kobe trio return to the UK for ArcTanGent 2026.
The self-produced album follows 2022’s ‘Awakening:Sleeping’, four years in which the band have grown from underground cult favourites into one of Japan’s most dependable international touring acts, with tours across North America, Europe, and Asia. According to the announcement, the six songs draw on inspiration gathered on the road alongside changes in the members’ personal lives, pairing the band’s lyrical delicacy with an unwavering sense of momentum.
“We believe we have made an album that will permeate every corner of the world”, the band wrote on their official site.
In recent years, the band’s back catalogue has found a second life on streaming and TikTok, where fan edits of songs like 2009’s ‘Aoi, Koi, Daidaiiro no Hi’ have pulled a younger generation of listeners into the fold, many of them now filling out the crowds at their overseas shows. By late July 2026, they had surpassed 1.27 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
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Recording and mixing were handled by Yusuke Shinma of Studio REIMEI, with mastering by Tsubasa Yamazaki of Flugel Mastering, who previously worked on 2018’s ‘No New World’. The cover illustration comes from long-time collaborator and manga artist Ai Kozaki, with design by Masaya Shimizu.
The album’s title track has already appeared live, with audience footage and fan-maintained setlists placing it at shows on the band’s 2024 North American tour. Its fourth track, ‘Dareka ga kizu wo ou sono shunkan wo’, made its live debut the following year on their 2025 UK and European tour.
The rollout begins with a shop-exclusive CD pre-release on August 12th through FLAKE RECORDS in Osaka and LIKE A FOOL RECORDS in Tokyo, ahead of the worldwide digital release. The physical CD goes on general sale in Japan on September 11th through FLAKE SOUNDS.
The release lands just before MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS play the main stage at ArcTanGent on Friday, August 21st, four years after making their UK live debut at the festival’s 2022 edition.
MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS
祝おう (Iwaou)
Digital Release: 14/08/2026
CD Release: 11/09/2026
Label: Self-released (digital) / FLAKE SOUNDS (CD)
Pre-save/Stream: Spotify
