Skillet Releases New EP 'After The Storm'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — October 9, 2026
Multi-Platinum rock band Skillet today unleashes its highly anticipated new independent EP, After the Storm, a six-song collection that finds one of the world’s biggest rock bands delivering some of the heaviest, most vulnerable and hopeful music of its nearly 30-year career. Leading today’s release is focus track “Grave Stomper,” a hard-hitting anthem that embodies the fighting spirit at the heart of After the Storm. The EP arrives amid a remarkable period of momentum for Skillet, including 30 million RIAA-certified units across 21 titles, 11 newly awarded certifications led by the career-defining “Monster” soaring to 7X Platinum, more than 12 million monthly Spotify listeners, a wave of national media attention and a U.S. headline tour already selling out in multiple markets.

Produced by David Cowell (Sleep Theory) and the band’s own Korey Cooper, After the Storm marks both a return to Skillet’s heavier musical roots and one of its most personal creative statements to date. The project brought frontman John Cooper back to his hometown of Memphis to record for the first time since Skillet’s 2003 album Collide.

Inspired by seasons of betrayal, grief, anger and depression—and the perseverance, faith and hope that emerged on the other side—the EP finds Cooper writing from one of the most vulnerable places of his career.

“This EP is special to me,” says Cooper. “It reignites what Skillet was always meant to be—which is music that helps lift people out of dark times. I wrote these songs because I needed to be lifted out of my darkness.”

At the center of today’s release is “Grave Stomper,” a ferocious anthem that channels the heavier side of Skillet and the spirit of resilience running throughout After the Storm.

“I was being slandered, but I knew those untrue words didn’t have any power over me. You can’t live in lies very long; the truth will come out. I can stand strong on that as a ‘Grave Stomper’.”

“Grave Stomper” follows previously released tracks “Scream” and “Lift Me Up,” which first introduced the intensely personal season behind After the Storm, and combined have surpassed 12 million global streams.

Together with “Grave Stomper,” the songs set the tone for an EP that wrestles openly with betrayal, anger, depression, suffering, perseverance and the decision to hold onto hope.

The new music arrives as Skillet’s remarkable catalog continues reaching new milestones.

Last month, the band celebrated 30 million RIAA-certified units across 21 titles, including 11 newly awarded certifications. Among the latest honors, “Monster” reached 7X Platinum, “Hero” 4X Platinum, and both “Awake and Alive” and “Feel Invincible” 3X Platinum.

“Monster” has also surpassed 5 billion global streams, claimed a place in Spotify’s Billions Club and became the first song by a Christian artist to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.