Blackened clouds are gathering overhead, and it’s all our fault. North America’s premier heavy metal magazine is launching the maiden edition of its annual earth-scorching tour this April. The inaugural Decibel Magazine Tour will feature not just the long-awaited stateside return of Polish blackened death metal overlords Behemoth, but support from Swedish black metal provocateurs Watain, Dutch prog mystics the Devil’s Blood and Swedish old-school occultists In Solitude.
Beginning in April and laying waste through a gargantuan 26-date run, the Decibel Magazine Tour (presented by Metal Blade Records, IndieMerchStore.com, FYE, ESP Guitars and Good Fight Entertainment) not only offers four diverse European artists hand-picked by the magazine, but doubles as Behemoth’s first U.S. tour since vocalist/guitarist Adam “Nergal” Darski’s well-documented battle with – and triumph over – leukemia.
Gruesome visual evidence of this tour package is forthcoming: We went all the way to Sweden to capture the frontmen and women of all four bands for our special Decibel Magazine Tour cover story, streeting in April. “Considering the fact that we’ll be sharing the stage with the most evil and uncompromising bands around – Watain, the Devil’s Blood and In Solitude – this already makes it a legendary bill that you can’t miss out on!” promises Nergal. “Watch out. We won’t show up – we will ARRIVE with all the strength and might!”
“Part of Decibel‘s mission is to push the boundaries of what a metal publication is capable of doing,” adds Decibel editor-in-chief Albert Mudrian, the tour’s principal curator. “By bringing bands like Watain, the Devil’s Blood and In Solitude to larger stages in the U.S., we create an additional vehicle to help raise their profiles. It’s another way to infect the mainstream with the power of the underground.”
It only makes sense that Decibel would present a tour package with a sense of integrity, purpose and history. “It is a joint force of artistic adversity and sinister creativity,” assures Watain frontman Erik Danielsson, “which makes me think of the glorious days when bands like Venom, Metallica, Exodus and Slayer toured together like a great middle finger raised towards their sheep-minded contemporaries.”
More details, including tour dates, venues and ticket info, will be announced at www.decibelmagazinetour.com on Tuesday, January 24th.
Get psyched!
