Canadian power metal band BLACKGUARD are proud to announce their return to Europe, supporting KAMELOT on their upcoming European tour beginning November 2nd in Eindhoven, Netherlands. See a full list of tour dates here.
Vocalist Paul Zinay comments “We had a blast conquering North America with Kamelot and now it’s time to conquer some new territories. We are very honored that we were asked to join them on this tour and we’d like to give our deepest thanks and gratitude to Thomas and all of the Kamelot crew for extending us this invitation. This will be the last tour supporting our latest album Firefight and we can’t imagine ending on a higher note than this.”
BLACKGUARD is currently in the studio completing their forthcoming album STORM, out Spring 2013. They will begin a month long headlining tour starting October 7th in New York City and then join EPICA on tour starting October 23rd. Watch their most recent video “Firefight” here and view a complete list of tour dates here.
The Canadian epic metal outfit, Blackguard, are back stateside for what is promising to be the metal tour of the summer. Returning from their recent European run, Blackguard joins Symphony X and Powerglove to melt faces across the country. The success of the band’s recent release, Firefight, has gotten people talking, and it’s no wonder; Blackguard has proven they can hold their own with the likes of Deicide, Belphegor, Epica, Nevermore, Suffocation and many more of metal’s heavyweights. This tour is sure to continue their brutal live performance legacy.
Apr 21 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Apr 22 New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater Apr 23 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium Apr 25 Montreal,QC @ Métropolis Apr 26 Quebec City, QC @ Salle Albert-Rousseau Apr 27 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House Apr 29 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s Apr 30 Detroit, MI @ Blondie’s May 01 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge May 02 St Paul, MN @ Station 4 May 04 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre May 06 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox May 07 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre May 08 San Francisco, CA @ Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center May 09 Las Vegas, NV @ Cheyenne Saloon May 10 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues May 11 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre May 13 Dallas, TX @ Tree’s May 14 Houston, TX @ Scout Bar May 15 San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live May 17 Orlando, FL @ Club at Firestone May 18 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room May 19 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade May 20 Raleigh, NC @ Volume 11 Tavern May 21 Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall May 22 West Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
Earlier this month, epic metal masters BLACKGUARD performed their single “Firefight” on Fuel TV’s ‘The Daily Habit’. With their Victory debut right around the corner, the exclusive performance of “The Fear Of All Flesh”, an unreleased track off of the band’s forthcoming album Firefight, is now available.
‘The Daily Habit’ performance can be seen here (and below):
What more can you ask for in a metal video than fire, apocalyptic warfare, speakers stacked to the ceiling, and more shredding than you’ll know what to do with? Nothing? Then you are in for a treat with Blackguard’s new video for ‘Firefight’. The Canadian metal lords (and lady) have released the video for the title track off the hugely anticipated album Firefight, out March 29th on Victory Records.
With the impending release of the highly anticipated album Firefight, Blackguard is here to empower the masses. The gradual leak of album and song teasers is getting metal heads stoked worldwide. The latest album teaser gives you yet another taste for what’s approaching on March 29, 2011.
Blackguard will be making their overseas debut as they hit the road for the “Firefight Over Europe” tour. The tour is set to span the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic. (dates below)
The band says, “After so many years, we are finally making it overseas for our debut European tour in support of Firefight. We cannot wait to see all the places, perform for the fans, and make our lasting mark in Europe. Once again, without the help from our label Victory Records and the team behind us, this would never have been possible. We’re coming!”
Firefight, the band’s debut album on Victory Records will be released March 29, 2011 in North America and April 1 for the rest of the world. You can pre-order order Firefighthere.
Blackguard has unveiled a clip of the title track from their upcoming album Firefight. The clip can be heard here and on the band’s MySpace.
Fri 25.03.11 Hamptons, Southampton, UK.
Sat 26.03.11 Area81 Rock Club, Bristol, UK.
Sun 27.03.11 Academy 3, Birmingham, UK.
Mon 28.03.11 Ivory Blacks, Glasgow, UK.
Tue 29.03.11 Corporation, Sheffield, UK.
Wed 30.03.11 Satan’s Hollow, Manchester, UK.
Thu 31.03.11 Old Bell, Derby, UK.
Fri 01.04.11 Haymakers, Cambridge, UK.
Sat 02.04.11 Academy 2, London, UK.
Sun 03.04.11 Luxor, Cologne, Germany.
Mon 04.04.11 Nachtleben, Frankfurt, Germany.
Tue 05.04.11 Sägewerk, Neukirchen, Germany
Wed 06.04.11 Hafenklang, Hamburg, Germany.
Thu 07.04.11 Comet, Berlin, Germany.
Fri 08.04.11 TBC, Stuttgart, Germany.
Sat 09.04.11 Gildenzaal, Diest (Schaffen), Belgium.
Sun 10.04.11 Modrá Vopice, Prague, Czech Republic.
Words and pictures by Kyle Moore, the Metal Magnus
I acquired a taste for Epica only recently, having finally been swooned by their latest effort DESIGN YOUR UNIVERSE. What really got my attention was seeing their live show earlier this year at New York’s Gramercy theater – their music truly explodes to life when experienced in the flesh. Naturally I was utterly elated that they would be returning and that I would have the opportunity to photograph the show! Read the rest of this entry »
Since their announcement of joining the Victory Records family, Blackguard has been touring non-stop and gearing up for their next record.
“This is going to be our most dynamic release to date. We’re going to have a few slower songs on this album; more head banging tunes. We’re also going to be introducing some new elements to our song to mix things up a bit. Not to sound too cliché but we definitely don’t want to write the same record over and over again and this record is going to be a great step forward for us.” Says vocalist Paul Ablaze.
Set for an early Spring 2011 release date, Blackguard have been, and will be on tour, keeping their name and their music familiar, ensuring not to disappoint. Currently, the band is on tour with Epica, Scar Symmetry and the Agonist. They have ecently announced their involvement in the Symphony X tour slated to kick off April 21st in Philadelphia, immediately after their return from yet-to-be-announced European dates.
“It is a dream tour. Our band has spent the better part of the last 2 years on tour to get to this point. We very much look forward to seeing old friends, making new friends and being a part of what will be the supreme springtime event. We want to thank everyone involved for giving us this opportunity and we will not disappoint.”
We received big news from two of our scouting parties: Our North American scouts wanted to enter Canada and were taken into custody by a BLACKGUARD. Meanwhile one of our German scouting parties crossed the Rhine river and when they reached the city of Krefeld, they were greeted by a BLIND GUARDIAN!
70000TONS OF METAL, The World’s Biggest Floating Heavy Metal Festival: 34 out of 40 and counting…
The 34 out of 40 confirmed bands are:
Agent Steel
Amon Amarth
Blackguard
Blind Guardian
Cripper
Dark Tranquillity
Death Angel
Ensiferum
Epica
Exodus
Fear Factory
Finntroll
Forbidden
Gamma Ray
Iced Earth
Korpiklaani
Marduk
Moonspell
Nevermore
Obituary
Rage
Raven
Sabaton
Sanctuary
Saxon
Sodom
Sonata Arctica
Swashbuckle
Testament
Trouble
Týr
Uli Jon Roth
Unleashed
Witchburner
70000TONS OF METAL will sail Monday, January 24, 2011 aboard the Royal Caribbean “Majesty of the Seas” from Miami FL to Cozumel, Mexico and will not return you to the real world for four days until Friday, January 28, 2011.
Make no mistake, 70000TONS OF METAL is not your grandma’s cruise. It’s also not one of the cruises that share the ship with normal cruise guests. This is an all heavy metal cruise! Can you imagine that? A whole luxury cruise ship full of metalheads? And since there is no backstage area you will have the opportunity to mingle side-by-side with the artists in this incredibly fan-friendly scenario that has no comparison. It’s like everyone has a backstage pass!
Ticket prices start at US$666 plus US$249 taxes and fees per person and include all on-board entertainment, all meals, non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages at the dining rooms, most on-board restaurants and 24 room service!
What are you waiting for? You might even need a vacation from this vacation when all is said and done! Check out http://www.70000tons.com/ for more information and book your cabin NOW!
Earlier this week, Montreal’s BLACKGUARD announced their pairing with VICTORY RECORDS.
The band has released this statement regarding the signing, the departure of a member, and their non-stop touring plans well into 2011.
We are very pleased to announce our signing to Victory Records!
At first (and second) glance this might seem like an odd pairing, but Victory is a very hard working label that we are all 100% behind. The Victory Staff has welcomed us with open arms and is committed to pushing our next release to its full potential. It’s no secret that we’ve been touring extensively this past year and a half, and it’s comforting to know we have a label backing us that is willing to work and put in as much effort as we have for the release of our 3rd record (2nd under the name BLACKGUARD).
That being said we are hard at work completing our next record which has a tentative release date for April . The release will coincide with a North American tour that isn’t announced yet, but when it does it’s going to turn heads.
Now for a bit of sad news…
For those of you who have seen us play recently with Leaves Eyes and on the Nevermore tour, you have no doubt noticed the absence of our Keyboardist Jo. We’re sad to say that Jo has officially left the band to pursue other endeavors.
There’s no drama here, and we’re all still good friends. Jo simply felt his time with the band had come to an end and we have amicably parted ways.
BLACKGUARD will remain a 5 piece for the foreseeable future.
We’re currently having a blast on the Nevermore tour! There have been some great shows and sharing the stage with so many great bands has been a pleasure thus far. Hatesphere , Warbringer and Nevermore are bringing it every night so this is not a tour you want to miss.
Our run on this tour goes all the way to Nov 5th so check our tour dates and come out.
After this we go right back at it again with our good friends EPICA, Scar Symmetry and The Agonist all the way to mid Dec.
Then we get to kick off the New Year with Deicide, Belphegor, Neuraxis and Pathology from Feburary 15th to March 10th.
Take care everyone, and we’ll see you on the road!
Interview with Blackguard vocalist Paul Ablaze and drummer Justine "Juice" Éthier
Interviewed by Kyle Moore, the Metal Magnus
Before a recent gig in the Big Apple, I had a chance to catch up with Blackguard who were about to start the 3rd date on their North American tour with Epica. I’d had the pleasure of seeing Blackguard about 6 weeks prior on their tour with Finland’s Ensiferum, and their show impressed me so much that I just had to grab an interview with frontman Paul Ablaze and drummer Justine "Juice" Éthier.
