“Think of it as the metal version of Goodbye by the Spice Girls!” Leading lights of the UK underground Svalbard have just released their final song

Departing post-hardcore favourites Svalbard have just put out their final single.

Earlier today (November 17), the Bristol four-piece released their swansong If We Could Still Be Saved, a reflection upon their 15-year career as they prepare to break up in 2026. Watch and listen below.

Singer/guitarist Serena Cherry comments: “We spend most of our lives unaware of finality. Blissfully oblivious to when those musical notes played will be our last. So, when we can see an end in sight for something, it distorts the view. Like a funeral marked in your calendar a year in advance. Appreciation shows its sheepish face and whispers: ‘Sorry I took so long.’

“This is the last time we will release a song as Svalbard. It’s a song not just heavy with riffs but heavy with sentiment, reflecting on our 15 years as a band. It's also a parting gift to all of the people who have supported us. Think of it as the metal version of Goodbye by the Spice Girls!”

The new track arrives as Svalbard gear up for their final UK tour, which kicks off at Glasgow venue Slay on Wednesday (November 19). The five-date run will feature Cage Fight and Knife Bride as support acts. See all of the dates below.

Svalbard, who were co-founded by vocalists/guitarists Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan in 2010, announced their intention to split up back in May. In an exclusive statement to Metal Hammer, Cherry explained that they’re going away to avoid a potential decline in their music, having released four critically acclaimed studio albums.

“From a musician’s perspective, it’s very hard to walk away from unlikely success that required so much work and sacrifice to achieve,” she told us. “It’s a daunting and depressing prospect – to lose the band you poured your entire life into.

“Some bands turn that fear of loss into fuel, marching onwards making albums that sound like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. We don’t want to do this. Svalbard does not want to plod on in the name of half-hearted musical compromise.”

In a separate interview, Cherry also attributed the band’s farewell to financial factors.

“The biggest challenge, being a metal band of Svalbard’s size in the UK, is balancing a day job with touring,” she said, “because we don’t make any money off of Svalbard. All the money that comes from shirts and stuff goes into van hire, petrol, printing more merch, recording albums and making music videos. A lot of it [the reason for breaking up] is financial.”

Svalbard’s debut album, One Day All This Will End, came out in 2015. It was followed by It’s Hard To Have Hope (2018), When I Die, Will I Get Better? (2020) and The Weight Of The Mask (2023). The band’s mixture of post-hardcore, post-metal and black metal earned acclaim throughout the UK scene; Hammer hailed When I Die… as “the most important British metal record of 2020”.

Svalbard have performed at such festivals as Download, Bloodstock and Arctangent and supported the likes of Enslaved, Alcest and Cult Of Luna on tour. After their farewell UK tour wraps up, they will play a number of international and standalone dates, including a slot at Arctangent in their hometown of Bristol in August.

SVALBARD - If We Could Still Be Saved (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) - YouTube

Watch On

Svalbard 2025 UK farewell tour dates:

Nov 19: Glasgow Slay
Nov 20: Manchester Rebellion
Nov 21: Newcastle Think Tank
Nov 22: Bristol Thekla
Nov 23: London Oslo Hackney