‘Foundations of Decay,’ New My Chemical Romance Song, Has Fans Amazed

Gerard Way’s band, My Chemical Romance—MCR to fans—has released its first song in eight years, “Foundations of Decay.”

The song was first announced by the band on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday afternoon with an image of the single’s cover, and the new cut is available on Spotify and YouTube.

“We’re not okay!! My Chemical Romance just released their first song in a decade. The Foundations of Decay is a 6 minute masterpiece,” Spotify tweeted, referring to the band’s hit “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” from its second album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.

The clip of the six-minute tune to YouTube is a simple visualizer with a closeup of a swarm of flies, similar to the single cover. The song is on the heavier end of the band’s music, and features a reference to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The chorus is similarly dark: “May your amnesty forever in the morning race / And as the vermin crawls / We lay in the foundations of decay”. On the outro, background vocalists sing “Yes, it comforts me much more / Yes, it comforts me much more / To lay in the foundations of decay” as Way shouts “Give up coward”.

The band planned a North American reunion tour in 2020, which sold out in under six hours. The tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the band is still planning to play live. On Wednesday, they were one of three headliners for this year’s Riot Fest, scheduled for September 16-18, alongside Nine Inch Nails and the Misfits.

My Chemical Romance, shown here at the 2012 Melbourne Big Day Out festival, has released their first cut in eight years, “Foundations of Decay.” Martin Philbey/Redferns/Getty

Fans were overjoyed by the surprise release of “Foundations of Decay.”

“THE AUDACITY TO DO THIS WHEN I HAVE AN HOUR OF WORK LEFT,” @AndrewSoup tweeted.

“paramore and mcr coming back. we are truly in the emo golden age,” @prxphecygirl wrote.

“this is the greatest day of life, not even joking omg,” @sexyassmofos wrote.

“EVERYONE SHUT THE F**K UP RIGHT NOW. UNFOLLOW ME NOW THIS IS THE ONLY THING IM TWEETINT ABOUT IVE WANTED THIS FOR YEARS F**K WHAT THE F**K,” @chloepriceisgay excitedly tweeted.

Though My Chemical Romance has been mostly quiet since its 2013 breakup, bandleader Gerard Way hasn’t been resting on his laurels. In addition to the well-received solo album Hesitant Alien in 2014, he’s also had his graphic novel The Umbrella Academy adapted into a hit Netflix series, and co-founded the DC Comics Young Animal imprint.

The other members have also kept busy. Guitarist Frank Iero has released multiple solo albums, with his most recent, Barriers, named one of the top 50 rock albums of 2019 by Loudwire magazine. Lead guitarist Ray Toro also released a solo album, Remember the Laughter, and bassist Mikey Way has followed his brother into the comics industry, co-writing Collapser, as well as becoming a voice actor in Transformers: Power of the Primes.

Newsweek reached out to Warner Records for comment.