Enslaved
Enslaved (photo by Roy Bjørge)

Metal tours announced: Inter Arma, Om, Enslaved (Fire in The Mountains), more

Tons of shows get announced every week, and it can be hard to keep up. Here are all the heavy music (metal, hardcore & more) tours, shows & fests that we posted on BV this week, and some new ones too…

FULL OF HELL

UPDATE: Full of Hell had to drop off the ongoing Cattle Decapitation/Atheist tour, due to theft.

OM (with EMEL MATHLOUTHI, then WOVENHAND)

Since their initial tour announcement, Om and Wovenhand have added a show happening at Hamden, CT’s Space Ballroom on March 7, right around the time they make other Northeast stops in Philly, Boston, Providence, and Pittsburgh. Still no NYC show, but Om play their own NYC show at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works on December 14, and the great Emel Mathlouthi was recently added to that show. All North American dates here. Om were also just announced on Hellfest

HELLFEST

The 15th anniversary edition of France rock/metal festival Hellfest goes down June 19-21 with Faith No More, Deftones, System Of A Down, Incubus, Korn, Mastodon, Opeth, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, The Offspring, Infectious Grooves, The Darkness, Down, Obituary, Death DTA (the Death tribute featuring members of Death), At The Gates, Entombed AD, Sacred Reich, Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Mayhem, Abbath, Rotting Christ, Primordial, The Great Old Ones, Wardruna, The Hu, Taake, Watain, Alcest, Borknagar, Gaahl’s Wyrd, Electric Wizard, Baroness, Om, Witchcraft, Black Mountain, Elder, ASG, Envy, Mono, John Garcia & the Band of Gold, High On Fire, Pelican, Killing Joke, Perturbator, Life of Agony, 3TEETH, Inter Arma, Body Count, Suicidal Tendencies, Youth of Today, Slapshot, Jesus Piece, Higher Power, Social Distortion, Anti-Flag, Agnostic Front, Reverend Horton Heat, Grade 2, Code Orange, and much more.

FAITH NO MORE

Faith No More announced their first shows in five years in the form of European festival appearances, including Hellfest and the first edition of Ireland alt-rock festival Sunstroke since the ’90s. Since the initial announcement, they were also announced on Spain’s Mad Cool Festival.

ENSLAVED HEADLINING & CURATING FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS

Wyoming metal festival Fire In The Mountains returns in 2020 on July 11 & 12 at Heart Six Ranch, and it’s been revealed that Norway’s Enslaved will headline the festival with an exclusive North American appearance, and that Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson will be the festival’s first-ever guest curator. “Our Northern hearts rejoice as we are part of this announcement for Fire in the Mountains 2020!,” Ivar says. “To come to these beautiful parts of good ol’ Vinland and headline an outdoor festival is nothing short of a dream come through. We will present a very special show and cannot wait to share this weekend with the other artists, audience and the hard working folks behind the festival! To the mountains!!’

DECIBEL METAL & BEER FEST LA SET TIMES

The 2019 LA edition of Decibel Metal & Beer Fest is just a few weeks away (December 13-14 at The Observatory) and the set times have now been announced. Friday has Possessed, Nails, Gruesome, Intronaut, Evoken, Gatecreeper, and Graf Orlock; and Saturday has Carcass, Vio-lence, Schammasch, Xibalba, Spirit Adrift, Visigoth, and Mortuous. Full set times here. Tickets here. Also, Decibel Metal & Beer Fest Philly 2020 is coming in April.

ABBATH CANCELS MORE DATES

Former Immortal frontman Abbath Doom Occulta recently cut an Abbath show short after reportedly being drunk on stage, and then cancelled the remainder of the Abbath tour due to “health issues.” Now, he has issued a statement saying that he’s been battling addiction and will be going to rehab, and needs to cancel the December tour with his Motörhead tribute band Bömbers as a result.

INTER ARMA

Inter Arma, who released the great Sulphur English earlier this year, have announced their first round of US dates for 2020, with more TBA. So far, they’ve got February shows happening in Wilmington, NC; Savannah, GA; Raleigh, NC; and Atlanta, GA. They’re also on the stacked lineup for France’s Hellfest. All US dates here.

RIPPIKOULU / CHTHE’ILIST / NUCLEUS (FUNERAL LEECH added to NYC show)

Finnish death doom vets Rippikoulu recently announced a North American tour with Finnish-death-metal-influenced Canadian band Chthe’ilist (who will be touring for the first time ever in their decade-long career) and Chicago’s Nucleus, and it was even more recently announced that NYC death doom newcomers Funeral Leech will provide local support at the Saint Vitus show on April 11 (tickets). Listen to their 2018 track “The Void”:

BLOOD INCANTATION

Speaking of Finnish death metal bands and those influenced by them, hopefully you weren’t sleeping when Blood Incantation’s stacked NYC show was announced, because it sold out in less than a day! Dysrhythmia and Artificial Brain are also on the bill, and the band have since said:

“The Valentine’s Day weekend at Saint Vitus is our only East Coast appearance planned in 2020 – depending on schedules we may be able to do one or two more one-off dates throughout the year, but we are not touring the US at all. In addition to the NY dates we have one West Coast appearance in May. After that, Euro demons only.”

As previously mentioned, one of those European dates (the only one announced so far?) is the Cophenhell fest, and the band previously said that their next hometown Denver show is in 2021 which is consistent with their new statement. Meanwhile the hype train keeps rolling, as Pitchfork gave the new album “Best New Music” today.

BEYOND THE GATES FESTIVAL w/ MERCYFUL FATE & more

Heavy metal legends Mercyful Fate recently announced that they’d be playing their first shows in 20+ years in 2020, and so far that includes European festivals Copenhell, Wacken, Mystic Festival, Rock The Night, Sweden Rock, Graspop Metal Meeting, and now the just-announced Beyond The Gates festival that happens August 19-22 in Norway. It’s Mercyful Fate’s first-ever Norway show and their exclusive Norway appearance for the year, and they’re promising songs from Melissa, Don’t Break the Oath, and “some brand new songs written specifically in that very same style.” The Beyond the Gates lineup also includes Tribulation, Darvaza, Idle Hands (who just toured with Mercyful Fate singer King Diamond), and more TBA. Tickets are on sale, and this is already enough to have us wanting to book plane tickets…

TRIBULATION

Tribulation are without a doubt one of this decade’s greatest metal bands and one of the greatest live metal bands. That is a huge reason the above-mentioned Beyond The Gates fest already seems so amazing. You can currently catch them on tour in Europe with Ghost (dates listed below). Still no upcoming North American dates from this Swedish band, but their recently released live album and DVD Alive & Dead at Södra Teatern is a nice substitute meanwhile to tide us over. You can find it on a streaming service near you to hear it immediately, and here are two clips from the DVD:

Tribulation comments: “As the title suggests, we left shore and headed into uncharted waters with this one, and it ended up being one of the most Romantic and Gothic songs to-date. We actually almost scratched it completely before we got through the recording! Luckily the stars aligned, we mustered through it and made it work! As if heading into uncharted territory wasn’t enough, it was also the first – and so far only – time we’ve played the song live. We’re all glad we did since it’s a song that we’ve had requested countless times since the release of ‘Down Below’, and now everyone who so wishes can partake in that very performance – and who knows, we might play it again. Don’t you hear the distant howling of the wolf?”

Alive & Dead At Södra Teatern track-listing:
AKT I:
1. The Lament
2. Nightbound
3. Lady Death
4. Subterranea
5. Purgatorio
6. Cries From the Underworld
7. Lacrimosa
8. The World
9. Here Be Dragons
AKT II:
1. Trollens Brudmarsch
2. Melancholia
3. The Motherhood of God
4. Rånda
5. Ultra Silvam
6. Guitar Solo
7. Strange Gateways Beckon
8. Strains of Horror

Tribulation 2019 tour dates
w/ Ghost, All Them Witches
Nov. 28 – Helsinki (Finland) – Hartwall Arena
Nov. 30 – Katowice (Poland) – Spodek
Dec. 1 – Prague (Czech Republic) – Universum
Dec. 3 – Budapest (Hungary) – BSA
Dec. 4 – Ljubljana (Slovenia) – Orto Bar *
Dec. 5 – Mantova (Italy) – PalaBam
Dec. 8 – Barcelona (Spain) – St. Jordi
Dec. 10 – Lisbon (Portugal) – Sala Tejo
Dec. 11 – Madrid (Spain) – Vistalegre
Dec. 13 – Strasbourg (France) – Zenith
Dec. 14 – Zurich (Switzerland) – Hallenstadion
Dec. 15 – Munich (Germany) – Zenith
Dec. 17 – Luxembourg (Luxembourg) – Rockhal
Dec. 18 – Nantes (France) – Zenith
Dec. 19 – Toulouse (France) – Zenith
*= Tribulation headline off-date

Tribulation live 2020:
Jan. 17 – Moscow (Russia) – Glastonberry
Jan. 18 – St. Petersburg (Russia) – Mod
June 18-21 Dessel (Belgium) – Graspop Metal Meeting
July 9-11 – Gävle (Sweden) – Gefle Metal Festival
August 19-22 in Norway – Beyond the Gates

For more metal tours, browse Upcoming Metal Tours. Browse our Tour Dates category for even more tours you may have missed. Also browse our Metal category and Invisible Oranges for more metal news.