BLOODBOUND

Abendkasse 29,00 €

vor Ort: Vorverkauf 24,00 €

Northtale

Tungsten

Rock It, MusiX and metal.de present:

TOUR OF THE DARK REALM 2023

BLOODBOUND
+ ARION
+ Northtale
+ Tungsten

BLOODBOUND sind bereits seit ihren letzten drei Alben nicht mehr aus den Charts wegzudenken. Mit ihrem aktuellen Release schafften sie es auch in Deutschland bis auf Platz 24. Die Band ist in der Szene längst zur festen Institution geworden und repräsentiert die neue Generation des Power Metal.

Dem Publikum bereits ein fester Begriff sein dürften ARION. Die Finnen, die sich 2011 gründeten, konnten bereits mit ihrer Debüt-EP und ihrem 2014 veröffentlichten ersten Album „Last Of Us“ für Furore sorgen. Ihr aktuelles Studioalbum „Vultures Die Alone“ erschien im April 2021 und enterte die finnischen Charts auf Platz 17. Die Band war im Rahmen der letzten BATTLE BEAST-Tour als Special Guest mit von der Partie und konnte Abend für Abend abräumen. „Es dauert nicht lange, bis ARION auch den letzten Anwesenden in der Tasche hat“ titulierte das Magazin powermetal.de – und die Kollegen von metal.de äußerten sich in ihrer Livekritik ähnlich positiv: „Mit ihrer Bühnenpräsenz – bei der Sänger Lassi Vääränen eindeutig die Nase vorn hat – gewinnen ARION das Publikum schnell für sich..“

2015 in Stockholm gegründet, bestechen METALITE mit neuer Sängerin Erica Ohlson und ihrem charaktervollen melodisch-modernem Metal-Sound. VEONITY stehen seit 2013 für energetischen Power Metal im Stile der späten 90er, und runden ein grandioses Tour Package ab!
Bloodbound

BLOODBOUND holen nach dem letzten Album"Rise Of The Dragon Empire" erneut zumHammerschlag aus und legen mit "Creatures Of TheDark Realm" eine Extra Schippe Epicness drauf! DieSchweden haben mit diesem Album ihrem eigenen,besonderen Stil erneut einen großartigen Schliffverliehen und eröffnen uns einen tiefen Einblick ineine musikalische Wunderwelt. Nachdem bereits dieletzten beiden Alben in DeutschlandChartplatzierungen errungen haben, ist „CreaturesOf The Dark Realm“ angetreten, um diese nochtoppen und unter anderem auch Fans von Sabaton,Powerwolf und Nightwish zu begeistern und zuBloodbound-Anhängern machen.

Arion

After skyrocketing out of nowhere to the public eye as teenagers with the Finnish Eurovision qualification program UMK and their impressive debut EP and subsequent album “Last Of Us” (2014, Ranka Kustannus) Finnish melodic metal stalwarts Ariontook their operation to next level with the internationally released sophomore long player “Life Is Not Beautiful” (2018, AFM Records)and it’s singles, including the Spotify hit “At the Break of Dawn” (featuring Elize Ryd of Amaranthe fame) . This, and astring of jaw-dropping live performances in places like Helsinki’s prestigious Tuska Open Air Metal Festival and Japan’s legendary Loud Park festival have already proved Arion has everything it takes to be an international powerhouse in melodic metal.Famous for their majestic melodies, lush arrangements and nonpareil musical chops,Arion are now gearing up for their next evolutionary leap with “Vultures Die Alone”. And what a treat it is. Now closing in ontheir 1stdecade of existence, the fabulous fivesome of Finns get punchy. Their third outing “Vultures Die Alone”(out April 21st, 2021 via AFM Records) redefines melodic metal for 2021 and beyond. Beautifully balanced, meticulously honed, and streamlined to modern metal perfection, Arion’s 3rd album “Vultures Die Alone” is an extremely addictive album. It is like a 10–round bout against a true heavyweight contender... who goes at you with kid gloves.From the fierce opening riffs of “Out of My Life” to the ending salvo of “I Don’t Fear You”, you’ll get gently pummeled to sweet oblivion with a flurry of catchy melodies.You will be breezily battered by a barrage of nimble riffs while Lassi Vääränen’s vocal delivery throws a jab after another until your ears ringwith happiness. Guitarist Iivo Kaipainen‘s frenetic fretwork dances like a butterfly and stings like a bee while you can’t but marvel the overall musical aptitudeof Arttu Vauhkonen (keys), Georgi Velinov (bass), and Topias Kupiainen (drums).Finally, the two guest appearances –by Battle Beast’s metal goddess Noora Louhimo in the album’s leadingsingle “Bloodline”,and Finland’s newestmodern pop metalsensation Cyan Kicks in “In the Name of Love” –are the combo of uppercuts that will have you on the ropes and eventually dropsyou down for the count that is the soothingly beautiful coda “Until Eternity Ends”.This triumph was achieved with the assistance of seasoned cornermen. “Vultures Die Alone”was produced with Matias Kupiainen(Stratovarius) at the helm and expertly mixed by Adam "Nolly" Getgood (Periphery).“Vultures Die Alone” is a spectacular TKO in 9th. Don’t tell me you don’t want a re-match.

NORTHTALE - Eternal Flame"With NorthTale, I wanted to start the band that I wasn't able to when I was 16 years-old."So says Brazilian-American guitarist Bill Hudson, who has made a name for himself over the past 15 years working with artists including Doro, Jon Oliva's Pain, U.D.O., Circle II Circle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and David Vincent's I Am Morbid. In spite of these achievements, it was in 2017 that Hudson was finally able to realize his dream by launching his own band, NorthTale, and releasing the debut album Welcome To Paradise two years later. All was not well in paradise, however, and the industry standard "creative differences" between Hudson and vocalist Christian Eriksson (ex-Twilight Force) brought things to a grinding halt. Rather than give up Hudson chose to regroup and treat the NorthTale debut as a demo for greater things to come in the form of a new album, Eternal Flame.It is, without question, the true beginning of NorthTale's storyAt its core, NorthTale is Hudson's solo project in the same way guitar legend Jeff Waters works under the Annihilator name, but the ultimate goal was to turn it into a real band. Heavily influenced by early Stratovarius, André Matos-era Angra, and Keeper-era Helloween, NorthTale draws heavily from their respective catalogues, all of which can be heard with scorching clarity on the new album. "When I started touring as a professional musician in 2006, nobody cared about this genre," says Hudson. "The only power metal that was around was DragonForce and the band that I was in at the time, Cellador. I've seen so many trends in metal come and go, and now I see all these bands trying to sound like an '80s or '90s throwback. I started thinking that maybe now is the time to try and do this music again, because if nothing else it will reach people like me who are old now (laughs) and remember that time fondly."It's fair to say that everything Hudson has done over the course of his career has led to this point. He readily admits the artists he has worked with have had an influence on him one way or another, largely due to the fact he had to learn how to play their songs. And in some cases it wasn't even a matter of style. For example, Eternal Flame features heavy orchestration fused with the band's power metal sound, which was inspired by Hudson's experience rehearsing with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Hudson: "When I was working with other artists I had to learn those songs, so I saw how thing were done; not only my parts but everybody else's parts as well. A lot of that found its was into NorthTale's music, for sure. The power metal that inspired me isn't riff-heavy music; the focus is often on the vocals or the keyboards, so I can attribute NorthTale's heavy sound to working with death metal bands like I Am Morbid. The heavy riffs, the seven-string guitar; NorthTale is heavier than traditional power metal, definitely."NorthTale is also heavily influenced by the rich musical culture of Hudson's Brazilian homeland, something that is most apparent on the song "Land Of Mystic Rites", which recalls Angra's

legendary song "Carolina IV". "The concept of taking inspiration from that music did come from Angra," says Hudson, "but the way I wrote it came more from more from my own influences. I can see how people will think it's inspired by them if they're not familiar with traditional Brazilian music."Adding to NorthTale's sound embracing Hudson's Brazilian roots is the addition of vocalist Guilherme Hirose, who hails from Hudson's home town of São Paulo and came on board more by fate than design. After parting ways with Eriksson, Hudson began the process of auditioning singers, opting to try and find a relative unknown rather than using one of the big names in metal on his speed dial. He eventually settled on another singer from Sweden, but as fate would have it one final audition, from Hirose, changed NorthTale's course completely. "Guilherme sent me a personal message on Facebook in Portuguese saying that he wanted to send me some material," Hudson reveals. "I'm from Brazil and I'm proud of that, but I know that it's pain in the ass to get people from Brazil to America, so I wasn't too down with it. I didn't need another geographical problem, because we're already spread out between here and Sweden, and I told him that. I told him 'Thanks but no thanks...' basically, but he wrote back asking me to give him a chance. And the stuff he told me was the exact same stuff that I told Cellador back in the day when I wanted to move to America. I decided to give him a chance and told him to send me his stuff, and he blew my fucking mind.""When I write these songs I have a very specific type of voice in mind, and the only person that was able to nail it up to that point was Christian. But, when this kid sent me the first demo I couldn't believe it. I sent him three more songs and he blew my mind with all of them. He wasn't necessarily better than the other guys that auditioned for NorthTale, but he was the right fit for what I wanted."Recording sessions for Eternal Flame were surprisingly smooth considering Hudson, his bandmates and producer Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Unisonic) were separated geographically thanks to the global pandemic. Impressed by Ward's body of work, Hudson felt he was perfect for the job and he was not disappointed. When the original plan to record in Hudson's Florida home base fell through, Ward introduced the idea of recording the album using groundbreaking Audio Movers software, which allowed them to stream audio note-for-note in real time. Ward oversaw the entire production from his studio in Germany and, according to Hudson, was involved with every note through the entire process. "My next goal is to somehow get us all to the same studio," says Hudson, "but short of that, this was the best thing that could have happened."The icing on the cake, other than a killer cover of Iron Maiden's "Judas Be My Guide", is the unexpected guest vocal performance from Helloween / Gamma Ray icon Kai Hansen on "Future Calls". As an added bonus, Hansen's son shreds his way through the guitar solo."I tried to get Kai to produce the first NorthTale album," Hudson reveals, "but he didn't have the

time. I told him I didn't care what he did on Eternal Flame - sing, play a solo - as long as I can say 'Featuring Kai Hansen...' (laughs). He suggested singing something and having his son play a guitar solo so they would both be on the same song. I didn't even know he has a son that plays guitar, and Tim did a great job."Reflecting on how far he has come with NorthTale, from being a dream to its troubled beginnings, Hudson makes no secret of how pleased he is with the final result of Eternal Flame. "I absolutely love the album, and I've probably listened to it more times now that I've ever listened to the first NorthTale album. When Welcome To Paradise came out I was super excited about it, and back then I would have said it's a perfect album. Now I can barely stand to listen to it. Eternal Flame couldn't be better. It's perfect to my ears.... at least until we make the next album.

"Line-UpGuilherme Hirose – vocals Bill Hudson – guitars Patrick Johansson – drums, percussion Mikael Planefeldt – bass guitar Jimmy Pitts – keyboards

Tungsten

Tungsten was formed in 2016 when drummer Anders Johanssonasked his sons Nick Johansson(Guitars) and Karl Johansson(Bass & Screams) if they were interested in starting a brand new band with him. Anders had listened to songs that Nick & Karl written and came up with the idea of playing metal influenced by old folk music and make a mish mash of the two genres. Anders contacted his old friend, lead singer Mike Anderssonand asked if he wanted to join the band. Tungstenthemselves describe their music to be „melodic, industrial power metal with hints of Northern Folk music“. Tungstens first album (We Will Rise) was released in September 2019 and the song The Fairies Dancehavepassed3 million streams on Spotifyalone. It’s become a true crowd-pleaser whenTungstenperforms live. About a year later, in November 2020, Tungsten released their second album called Tundra. The song King of Shadowswas choosen to be the first single for the second album and also this song have become an “anthem song“ for Tungsten when performing live on stage. Considering Tungsten couldn’t do any live gigs or tours between spring 2020 to late summer of 2021, there was plenty of time to finish writing and recording Tundraand eventually also the forthcoming album, Bliss. Tundrabecame quite popular in Tungsten‘s native country Sweden shortly after it’s release so a beer was brewed for the occasion to honor the band and the beer is simply called, Tundra IPL(India Pale Lager) which is for sale in Swedish liquor stores. Tungsten did a few shows in 2021 and their first headline show outside of Sweden was done in August 28 at a metal festival in Neckarsulm, Germany. A few gigs in Denmark and Sweden followed during autumn, 2021. On June 17th 2022 Tungsten released their 3rd album entitled Bliss which have recieved rave reviews and fans of the band praise it as their best to date. Tungsten performed at festivals in Sweden such asSkogsröjet and Sabaton Open Airand thousands of metalheads saw these shows and Tungstenhave proven themselves to be a top notch live act with lots of energy and sing-along friendly songs.