Orange County’s Finest are back with full force: The long-awaited eighth album by Social Distortion, "Born To Kill", will be released on May 8, 2026, via Epitaph Records!
"Born To Kill" is more than the conclusion of a 15-year wait between Social Distortion albums; it is a revelation: 11 songs of pure, unadulterated rock 'n' roll rage, joy, and catharsis, all infused with the characteristic blend of defiance and world-weariness that band founder Mike Ness has embodied for over 40 years as a poet and sage of the disenfranchised. To celebrate today’s announcement, the band is also releasing the title track of the album with a moody video.
The link to BORN TO KILL is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kCv95gBJOk
The first Social Distortion album since Ness' recovery from cancer, "Born To Kill" brims with aggressive optimism.
The album gives the listener no time to know where their heart beats, with its title track and its manifesto containing references to Lou Reed ("Rock 'n' Roll Animal gonna come your way!") and Iggy and the Stooges ("The agenda is yeah to Search and Destroy"), and a tribute to David Bowie ("It’s a Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide") a few songs later in "Partners In Crime". This is a man, a band, and an album that proudly showcases their influences while creating timeless anthems and ballads that both highlight Social Distortion's path forward and celebrate their tumultuous past: "Tonight" and "The Way Things Were" are emotionally charged retrospectives in the style of classics like "Story of My Life" from the band's breakthrough album of 1990 and "I Was Wrong" from "White Light, White Heat, White Trash" from 1996, the latter containing a powerful essence of the Social D ethos: I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got shit.
Co-produced by Ness and Dave Sardy, featuring guest appearances by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams, as well as collaborative cover artwork by Ness and Shepard Fairey, "Born To Kill" is the latest addition to a remarkable catalog that spans nearly three generations, including Mommy’s Little Monster (1983), Prison Bound (1988), the RIAA Gold-certified Social Distortion (1990), and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1992), White Light, White Heat, White Trash (1996), Sex, Love and Rock ’n’ Roll (2004), and Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011).
Social Distortion are excited to perform "Born To Kill" this summer on an extensive European tour. The tour kicks off on June 3 in Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway, and brings the band’s signature sound to stages in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. All relevant tour dates for us are listed below.
SOCIAL DISTORTION EUROPEAN TOUR 2026
06.06.2026 Nürnberg, Rock Im Park
07.06.2026 Nürburg, Rock Am Ring
09.06.2026 Berlin, Columbiahalle
12.06.2026 AT-Nickelsdorf, Nova Rock Festival (Ö)
24.06.2026 CH-Zürich, Halle 622
26.06.2026 Münster, Vainstream
30.06.2026 Hamburg, Docks (Sold Out!)
04.07.2026 Dresden, Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion (w/ Broilers)
"Born To Kill" is more than the conclusion of a 15-year wait between Social Distortion albums; it is a revelation: 11 songs of pure, unadulterated rock 'n' roll rage, joy, and catharsis, all infused with the characteristic blend of defiance and world-weariness that band founder Mike Ness has embodied for over 40 years as a poet and sage of the disenfranchised. To celebrate today’s announcement, the band is also releasing the title track of the album with a moody video.
The link to BORN TO KILL is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kCv95gBJOk
The first Social Distortion album since Ness' recovery from cancer, "Born To Kill" brims with aggressive optimism.
The album gives the listener no time to know where their heart beats, with its title track and its manifesto containing references to Lou Reed ("Rock 'n' Roll Animal gonna come your way!") and Iggy and the Stooges ("The agenda is yeah to Search and Destroy"), and a tribute to David Bowie ("It’s a Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide") a few songs later in "Partners In Crime". This is a man, a band, and an album that proudly showcases their influences while creating timeless anthems and ballads that both highlight Social Distortion's path forward and celebrate their tumultuous past: "Tonight" and "The Way Things Were" are emotionally charged retrospectives in the style of classics like "Story of My Life" from the band's breakthrough album of 1990 and "I Was Wrong" from "White Light, White Heat, White Trash" from 1996, the latter containing a powerful essence of the Social D ethos: I wrote a song with a stolen riff / If you ain’t got a song you ain’t got shit.
Co-produced by Ness and Dave Sardy, featuring guest appearances by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lucinda Williams, as well as collaborative cover artwork by Ness and Shepard Fairey, "Born To Kill" is the latest addition to a remarkable catalog that spans nearly three generations, including Mommy’s Little Monster (1983), Prison Bound (1988), the RIAA Gold-certified Social Distortion (1990), and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (1992), White Light, White Heat, White Trash (1996), Sex, Love and Rock ’n’ Roll (2004), and Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011).
Social Distortion are excited to perform "Born To Kill" this summer on an extensive European tour. The tour kicks off on June 3 in Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway, and brings the band’s signature sound to stages in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. All relevant tour dates for us are listed below.
SOCIAL DISTORTION EUROPEAN TOUR 2026
06.06.2026 Nürnberg, Rock Im Park
07.06.2026 Nürburg, Rock Am Ring
09.06.2026 Berlin, Columbiahalle
12.06.2026 AT-Nickelsdorf, Nova Rock Festival (Ö)
24.06.2026 CH-Zürich, Halle 622
26.06.2026 Münster, Vainstream
30.06.2026 Hamburg, Docks (Sold Out!)
04.07.2026 Dresden, Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion (w/ Broilers)
