Swiss modern metal outfit ILLUMISHADE has released a new single, "Heatwave," featuring guest vocals from Adrienne Cowan of SEVEN SPIRES, following up on the band's May single "Paralyzed" with a darker, more electronic-tinged sound.
Fronted by ELUVEITIE vocalist Fabienne Erni and guitarist Jonas Wolf, ILLUMISHADE built "Heatwave" around a claustrophobic, pitch-bent riff and glitchy, fractured guitar work that grows more unstable as the track builds. Erni's clean vocals carry most of the song before Cowan's guttural performance enters for a jarring contrast, with the pair trading the track's central themes of guilt, false hope and self-destruction. The song is out now on all streaming platforms with an accompanying music video.
Erni praised her guest vocalist's range: "Adrienne's versatility never ceases to amaze me. Her powerful screams, expressive clean vocals, and unique artistic voice made this collaboration something truly special. We felt that this song needed exactly the kind of intensity and character that only she can bring." Cowan, for her part, called the track a highlight of the band's catalog: "ILLUMISHADE cooked a feast of many of my favorite modern metal flavours with 'Heatwave,' and the pleasure of being Fabienne's dark counterpart at the end of the world was the cherry on top. They're all such wonderfully skilled and hardworking musicians, and I'm very happy to be part of this song."
Founded in Zürich in 2019 by Erni and Wolf, ILLUMISHADE built its early sound around the cinematic orchestration of film composer Mirjam Skal, who also plays keys in the band alongside bassist Yannick Urbanczik and drummer Marc Friedrich. The band's debut album, "Eclyptic: Wake Of Shadows," arrived in 2020, followed by 2024's "Another Side Of You," which took the band on tour across Europe and the U.S.
Now operating as a fully independent band, ILLUMISHADE positions "Paralyzed" and "Heatwave" as a blueprint for what's ahead — melancholic, hard-hitting material built around the band's increasingly distinct sonic identity.