On 25/04/1915 the SS River Clyde, Britain’s “Wooden Horse”, grounded at V Beach Gallipoli, disgorging British troops into a hurricane of Turkish bullets. This disastrous opening to the “forsaken” Gallipoli campaign inspired our song ‘Ulysses, 1915’.

Last year, Chris was lucky enough to visit V Beach, and took the chance to sign a few copies of ‘Valour - Part I’ right on the spot where Edward Unwin, our “Ulysses”, saved seven wounded men and earned his Victoria Cross.

To raise money for the production of ‘Valour - Part II’, we are raffling off three of these signed CDs, and you can get your ticket RIGHT NOW over at our official webstore.

You can buy as many tickets as you like. The last day to enter will be 15/05/26 and the winners will be announced the following week.

Good luck!

Forlorn Hope are excited to announce that they will be headed back into Whitewood Studios once more this December, to record the second part of their Valour project “Valour Pt. II”.

The upcoming EP will be releasing in 2026, and will feature five more songs about recipents of the Victoria Cross, from the well known to the more obscure. The band are very eager to sink their teeth into this EP. It will also feature Kray Smith on the drums for the first time.

Stay tuned here and on the band's social media channels for more updates.

Today marks the release of Forlorn Hope's latest EP, ‘Valour - Part I’, the first instalment of the band's second full length album ‘Valour’. ‘Valour’ tells the stories of fifteen VC actions from Crimea to the Second World War; stories of sacrifice, determination and derring do on land, sea and in the air. It is a saga in equal parts thrilling, horrific and heart-breaking that explores not just the exploits of these extraordinary men, but the myriad and diverse conflicts in which they fought. This first EP features the brave actions of Sgt. Luke O'Connor, Flt Lt. James Brindley-Nicolson, Pte. William ‘Billy’ Mcfazdean, Cpt. Edward Unwin and Lt's Coghill and Melvill. For information about their daring actions and to go further than the songs, please visit our history section or take a peek inside the EP's booklet!

'Valour - Part I' features the following songs:
-The Fusilier
-Down in Flames
-Ulysses, 1915
-Greater Love Hath No Man
-The Last Ride

Long time fans will be eager to hear a familiar and firm setlist staple in ‘The Last Ride’ and can look forward to anthemic tracks, full throttle tracks and even our first fully instrumental track!

'Valour - Part I' is available right now on all major streaming platforms and physical digipak copies, as well as other wonderful accompanying merchandise, can be purchased from our storefront.
 

Forlorn Hope have just released a new single, ‘The Last Ride’. This song has been long-awaited by fans, due it first debuting in the band's live shows in 2019, and becoming a firm fan favourite ever since. The track is the second and final single to be released from the band's upcoming EP ‘Valour - Part I’ which release this Friday (30/08). The single is accompanied by another lyric video by Very Metal Art, who fans may remember from the ‘Down in Flames’ lyric video, as well as the lyric videos for previous singles ‘Redcoat’ and ‘To The Bitter End’, all of which are available to watch right now on the band's official Youtube channel and are available to listen to on all major streaming platforms.

'The Last Ride' is a galloping, heroic anthem that tells the story of Lieutenant's Coghill and Melvill's actions in the aftermath of the battle of Isandlwana, during the Zulu Wars. The Lieutenant's led a desperate attempt to save the regiment's colours from falling into enemy hands, pursued heavily by Zulu forces, and eventually pitching a doomed last stand, which would ultimately claim both of their lives and earn them both posthumous Victoria Cross awards.

You can dive into the incredible history behind the song right now in our history section.

Those who pledged to our ‘Valour - Part I’ crowd-funder will be gaining exclusive access to a deeper dive into this story with episode 6 of The Forlorn Hope Podcast, which will make its way out to backers over the next few weeks.

Forlorn Hope have just released a new single, ‘Down in Flames’. The track is the first single to be released from the band's upcoming EP ‘Valour - Part I’. The single comes accompanied by a new lyric video by Very Metal Art, who fans may remember from the lyric videos for previous singles ‘Redcoat’ and ‘To The Bitter End’, which is available to watch right now on the band's official Youtube channel and is available to listen to on all major streaming platforms. The single also comes along with new artwork from long time collaborative artist Mitchell Nolte, which you can see at the bottom of this article. ‘Valour - Part I’ will release on August 30th, 2024 and comprises the first of three parts that make up Forlorn Hope's second full length release ‘Valour’.

'Down in Flames' is a blazing, full-throttle anthem that tells the story of Flight Lieutenant James Brindley Nicolson's actions during the Battle of Britain, which earned him the only Victoria Cross awarded to Fighter Command during the Second World War.

The band had this to say about the new single:
"Strap in, folks - your first taste of 'Valour - Part I' is just around the corner! Our first single 'Down in Flames' will hit digital platforms this Friday (03/06/24), along with a stunning lyric video from Very Metal Art.
We spent so long working on this track, and we cannot wait to finally share it with you!"

You can dive into the incredible history behind the song right now in our history section.

And if you want an even deeper dive into this story, make a pledge of any size to our crowdfunder before the end of June to gain access to all ten episodes of the Forlorn Hope Podcast! ‘Down in Flames’ will be covered in episode two of the podcast.
 

Forlorn Hope have launched their crowdfunding campaign for their upcoming EP, ‘Valour - Part I’. In addition to this, the cover artwork has finally been unveiled and the release date announced. ‘Valour - Part I’ will be releasing on 30/08/24. Regarding the campaign for the upcoming EP, vocalist Chris Simpson had this to say:

"Part I of our new album ‘Valour’ will be released on 30 August 2024*. It’s been a long time coming, but now we need your help to get it over the finishing line. The tracks are done and dusted, but artwork, graphic design, promotion, distribution, merch and all the other backstairs activities that make a new release happen aren’t free, and can put a massive financial strain on a small, independent band. So, for the first time, we are asking for your help to make this release happen and giving you the opportunity to be a part of ‘Valour - Part I’ for as little as £5.

“What’s in it for us?”, we hear you ask. Well, in addition to the satisfaction of helping to bring more epic, historical heavy metal into the world, we have some fantastic rewards planned for our supporters.

All supporters, whatever the size of their contribution, will receive regular newsletters (featuring updates and historical and behind the scenes content), membership to our private Supporters’ Facebook group (featuring plenty of content not featured on our regular social feeds), access to our exclusive podcast series exploring the history behind ‘Valour - Part I’, and will have their names entered into a private, supporters-only artwork raffle and enshrined on our online Roll of Honour.

For those looking to make a bigger contribution, we have music in digital and physical formats - the latter coming in the form of a lavish CD digipak with exclusive, limited edition cover art and your name in the sleeve notes - as well as our trademark massive merch bundle and, for those big spenders who really want to go crazy, a few rare and historic gems to add to your collection.

We firmly believe that the songs on ‘Valour’ are the best we’ve ever written. Please help us make this release a reality."

You can find details for the crowdfunding campaign itself, as well as pledge to the various tiers on offer by following the link here.

And below you can see the beautiful cover artwork, once again created by long time artist for the band, the talented, Mitchell Nolte.

 

Forlorn Hope have released the title and subject matter of their long awaited second album.

‘Valour’ is a collection of stories of the Victoria Cross; Britain’s highest military honour since 1856, awarded for “most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour of self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy”.

The album will tell the stories of fifteen Victoria Cross actions from Crimea to the Second World War; stories of sacrifice, determination and derring do on land, sea and in the air. It is a saga in equal parts thrilling, horrific and heartbreaking that explores not just the exploits of these extraordinary men, but the myriad and diverse conflicts in which they fought.

‘Valour’ will be released in three parts (as three five-track EPs), with the first coming in Summer 2024.

To raise funds for their new release, Forlorn Hope have today opened their first Christmas raffle.

The grand prize is a ‘Redcoat’ battle map signed by Chris on the field at Waterloo earlier this year, with a complete CD discography and set of enamel pins also up for grabs.

Tickets can be purchased here.

The raffle is open until midnight on 29/12/23, with the winners to be announced on Facebook on 01/01/24.

Forlorn Hope will return to the studio this month to record five new tracks, to be released in the first half of 2024.

Former drummer and founder member Danny Kelly has returned to drumming duties on a part-time basis to make this new release a reality.

Danny made the following statement on social media:

“This came together faster than a shot from 95th Rifleman. I’ve always remained close friends with the rest of the band. Messaging Chris one day asking how it was going with Forlorn Hope and he said they were ready for the studio but needed a drummer. I didn’t hesitate for a second to offer to step in and record a new E.P with the band. Chris, Ali and John all accepted my offer and here we are! Haha. Practices have been great and the new songs are sounding amazing! Can’t wait to get in the studio and record the songs. I guarantee yous are going to love the E.P.”

The band followed with their own statement:

“Having Danny back in the practice room has been an absolute delight. We were already very proud of these new tracks, but Danny’s drum-work has injected more power into them than we dared hope for. We remain immensely grateful to Danny for stepping in and helping us make this new release a reality; a feeling we know you’ll share when you finally hear these tracks.”

Details of the new project will be released in the coming weeks. Keep watching the Forlorn Hope social media channels for the latest updates.

Forlorn Hope will no longer be playing this year’s Warhorns Festival in Yorkshire. The band released this statement on social media -  

“We are immensely sorry to announce that we have had to withdraw from Warhorns Festival 2022. 

Due to entirely unforeseen personal reasons, our stand-in drummer is no longer able to play this show. These reasons are not ours to disclose, but we entirely understand and support their decision. 

Unfortunately, finding another stand-in was not possible, so we have had to postpone our return to the stage for the time being. 

We can only apologise for any disappointment caused, and would like to thank Glyn and the Warhorns team for the opportunity and for their understanding. 

We will be taking a step back to regroup and resume our search for a permanent drummer. Rest assured, this is only a delay; once our ranks are once again full, we will return to the fray.”