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Czar (ex-Acumen Nation) touring in April (dates)

By Doug Moore

Czar at Irving Plaza, 2013 (more by Fred Pessaro)

At five years old, Chicago’s Czar are a comparatively new band. Their roots run deep, though; founder Jason Novak is also responsible for the long-running industrial metal band Acumen Nation, which explains why this comparatively under-the-radar band was able to land an opening slot on Killing Joke’s North American tour last year. Czar themselves are substantially different from their predecessor band — they draw equally on contemporary, Mastodon-ish sludge and the weirdly artsy alternative rock of the late ’90s/early ’00s. (Think Failure or the ‘cool’ parts of Deftones’ catalog; Hum, whose Matt Talbot produced both of their albums, figure here too.) You can stream their 2013 album, No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive, below.

Czar are heading out on a short North American tour of their own in April. Their run briefly intersects with Godflesh‘s rescheduled US tour for a 4/15 Chicago show at Metro (tix here) before reaching NYC for a headlining show at Saint Vitus on 4/17. Support is TBA, but tickets are on sale anyhow.

Stream No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive and take a look at Czar’s complete list of announced dates below…

Czar – 2014 tour dates:
Apr 10 – Champaign, IL @ Error Records
Apr 11 – St Louis, MO @ Firebird
Apr 12 – Kansas City, MO @ Davey’s
Apr 13 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Maidstone
Apr 15 – Chicago, IL @ Metro (w/ Godflesh)
Apr 16 – Springfield, VA @ Empire
Apr 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
Apr 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Northstar Bar
Apr 19 – Albany, NY @ Bogies