Featuring Stephen McSwain — Out October 24, 2025
The Portland-based music collective Rooftop Screamers return with their most evocative and socially charged release to date — “Forsaken”, a cinematic rock powerhouse featuring the raw vocal fire of Stephen McSwain. Set for release on October 24, 2025, the track delves fearlessly into the dark realities of colonization, invasion, and exploitation — both historical and modern — revealing the uncomfortable truths that still echo through today’s world.
Driven by an unrelenting sense of urgency, “Forsaken” unfolds like the soundtrack to a rebellion — its soaring guitars, thunderous percussion, and rich, immersive production building a world where power and morality collide. The song is a meditation on the weight of history, capturing the moment when self-interest crosses the line into destruction, and when human greed erases empathy in pursuit of dominance.
At its core lies the unmistakable voice of Stephen McSwain, whose commanding, emotive performance channels equal parts rage, sorrow, and introspection. His delivery is cinematic in scope — at times intimate and broken, at others soaring with defiance — embodying the conflict between guilt and redemption that defines the song’s emotional core. The pairing of McSwain’s vocals with Rooftop Screamers’ meticulous instrumentation results in a sound that is both epic and human, intense yet intricately layered.
Thematically, “Forsaken” invites listeners to confront uncomfortable questions. What happens when a civilization builds its progress on the suffering of others? How do generations bear the legacy of violence, resource plundering, and cultural erasure? And what, if anything, can redemption look like in the face of irreversible damage? The track doesn’t offer easy answers — instead, it captures the tension of these questions in sound. Its haunting verses trace the echoes of conquest, while its explosive chorus erupts like a collective cry for reckoning.
Musically, Rooftop Screamers channel the spirit of modern cinematic rock, blending the raw energy of alt-rock with the atmospheric layering of post-grunge and the storytelling depth of progressive sound design. The production is sweeping yet precise: distorted guitars burn through a backdrop of reverb-drenched ambience, while pounding drums and atmospheric synths expand the track into widescreen territory. Every note feels purposeful — a storm of sound designed to mirror the chaos and gravity of the song’s themes.
“Forsaken” is not just another protest song; it’s an emotional exorcism — a work that acknowledges the shadows of history while asking what it means to be human in a world built on contradiction. It’s the kind of track that doesn’t just play through speakers — it inhabits a space, fills it, and lingers long after the music stops.
For Rooftop Screamers, this single represents a creative evolution — a widening of scope and ambition that turns personal introspection into collective commentary. Known for their dynamic collaborations and cinematic storytelling, the group continues to push the boundaries of what modern rock can be, using sound as both catharsis and confrontation.
“Forsaken” is a call to awareness, an acknowledgment of the pain that built the present, and a reminder that the act of reflection itself is a form of rebellion. Turn it up, let it hit hard, and allow it to haunt you — because that’s what truth does.
🎧 “Forsaken” — Rooftop Screamers ft. Stephen McSwain
Available October 24, 2025, on all major streaming platforms.
