MAN WITH A MISSION set December release for The Circus as Firestarter video lands
MAN WITH A MISSION have announced their eighth studio album, The Circus, which will arrive on 23rd December via Sony Music and Century Media.
The Japanese rock outfit have marked the announcement with the video for new single Firestarter, a high-energy track that also serves as the theme song for forthcoming anime series The Vermillion Mask. Watch the video here.
A surreal dose of spice
The video takes an offbeat route, following a man whose day is thrown into chaos after consuming a mysterious spice. The band appear as that spice inside his body, turning the concept into a knowingly surreal visual for the song’s explosive riff-driven charge.
The Circus is MAN WITH A MISSION’s first original full-length release in around four and a half years, following 2022’s Break and Cross the Walls II. Its tracklist draws together several songs released across the past year, including Kizuna no Kiseki, the band’s collaboration with milet, which was used as the opening theme for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Swordsmith Village Arc.
Elsewhere, The Animals featured as the theme for film Beasts Clutching at Straws, while ONE was created as an anthem for J.League football side Cerezo Osaka. The album’s broad slate of tie-ins reflects a record built from sharply contrasting material rather than a single fixed mode.
Chris Lord-Alge joins the new record
Mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge has worked on several tracks from The Circus. His previous credits include Green Day, Madonna and My Chemical Romance, with his involvement set to bring additional punch to the album’s rock-heavy production.
The album title points towards a collection designed to shift between different musical settings, with the band framing the record around the succession of changing acts and spectacle associated with a circus.
Japanese dates to follow
MAN WITH A MISSION have also confirmed plans for an extensive domestic tour in support of The Circus. The run will visit all 47 prefectures of Japan, taking in both live houses and concert halls, with guest bands due to join the bill at each show.
International dates are expected to be announced separately.
More MAN WITH A MISSION on Punkinfocus: MAN WITH A MISSION unleash new single <em>ONE</em> (September 2026)
