Blue Medusa to release new single “Checkmate” this Friday

It appears that Blue Medusa will release their first official song, “Checkmate,” this Friday, March 20, as per theprp. Frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz (formerly Arch Enemy) has recently posted several previews for the song on social media, which you can view below. Additionally, onerpm.link/checkmate has started a pre-save for the single. Earlier this month, Alissa formally launched the band and recruited Dani Sophia (formerly Lindemann) and Alyssa Day (Mindscar/In Absentia) to play guitars with her. Although those three will be the band’s key members, drummer Delaney Jaster (These Fading Visions) and bassist Alicia Vigil (DragonForce, Vigil Of War) will round out the lineup for live performances.

Together with Chris Kells and Danny Marino, White-Gluz founded The Agonist (formerly called “Tempest“) in Montreal in 2004. As their lead vocalist, she put out three albums with them. In the spring of 2014, White-Gluz was let go from The Agonist after accepting an offer to sing for Arch Enemy and expressing her desire to work simultaneously with both bands. Arch Enemy announced in a press statement in March 2014 that White-Gluz would take Angela Gossow’s place as their new vocalist. She put out two live albums (“Tokyo Sacrifice” and “As the Stages Burn!”) and four studio albums (“War Eternal”, “Will to Power”, “Deceivers”, and “Blood Dynasty”) with Arch Enemy.

After serving as the band’s frontwoman for more than ten years, Arch Enemy announced her departure on November 23, 2025. In 2016, White-Gluz inked a contract with Napalm Records to release her solo album, “Alissa”. She revealed in a 2017 interview with Duke TV that her album would include collaborations with Kamelot members and that it would sound “pretty different” from Arch Enemy.

White-Gluz declared her intention to leave Arch Enemy and begin a solo career on November 23, 2025. “The Room Where She Died” is the lead track from her first upcoming solo album, which was released that day. All of the vocals for the track were written, recorded, and delivered by White-Gluz. She also declared that the album would be released under the name “Alissa” with this release, saying that she wanted to “keep it simple” and “make it very clear who it is and what it is.”