News Round-Up: Therion, Arch Enemy, Van Canto, Nightwish, Evanescence

Lots of news this week, so let's get it rounded up!

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THERION ANNOUNCE ALBUM AND TOUR

Therion are one of the symphonic metal genre's longest standing giants, and fans have long been waiting with bated breath for a follow up to 2010's Sitra Ahra (their 2012 release, Les Fleurs Du Mal, was a covers album). The delay had a good reason - the band were in the process of recording an epic rock opera.

Today the band took to Facebook to finally announce a date for the 3 and half hour rock opera. Titled Beloved Antichrist, it will be released on January 26th 2018.

The apocalyptic concept album is loosely based on A Short Tale Of The Antichrist by Vladímir Soloviov and contains 29 different characters. Familiar voices such as Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti will be present alongside new ones.

The band also announced a European tour for 2018 (with the possibility of bringing the entire production to the stage) including the UK and Ireland. The dates are as follows:

Thursday 01/02 Germany - Turock Essen

Friday 02/02 Holland - Melkweg Amsterdam

Sunday 04/02 UK - Rebellion Manchester

Friday 09/02 UK - Corporation Sheffield

Saturday 10/02 Ireland - Limelight Belfast

Sunday 11/02 Ireland - Tivoli Dublin

Wednesday 13/02 UK - Bierkeller Bristol

Friday 16/02 France - Trabendo Paris

Tuesday 20/02 Spain - Santana 27 Bilbao

Wednesday 21/02 Portugal - Hard club Oporto

Thursday 22/02 Portugal - Lisboa Oa Vivo Lisboa 

Friday 23/02 Spain - Sala Custom Sevilla

Saturday 24/02 Spain - Sala But 2 Madrid

Sunday 25/02 Spain - Razzmatazz 2 Barcelona

Thursday 01/03 Italy - Circolo Colony Brescia 

Friday 02/03 Italy - Orion Rome

Saturday 03/03 Italy - Zona Roveri Bologna

Sunday 04/03 Slovenia - Kino Siska Ljublijana 

Monday 05/03 Croatia - Tvornica Zagreb

Tuesday 06/03 Serbia - Dom Omladine Belgrade

Thursday 08/03 Greece - Principal club theatre Thessaloniki

Friday 09/03 Greece - Poraeus 117 Academy Athens 

Saturday 10/03 - Bulgaria Mixtape5 Sofia

Sunday 11/03 - Romania Arenele Romane Bucharest

Tuesday 13/03 Hungary - Barba Negra Budapest

Wednesday 14/03 Slovakia - Majestic Music Club Bratislava 

Thursday 15/03 Czech Republic - Meetfactory Praha

Friday 16/03 Poland - A2 Wroclaw

Saturday 17/03 Poland - Progresja Warsaw

Sunday 18/03 Poland - B90 Gdansk

Tuesday 20/03 Lithuania - Rock River club Vilnius

Wednesday 21/03 Latvia - Melna Piektdiena Riga

Tuesday 03/04 Germany - Backstage München

Thursday 05/04 Germany - F Haus Jena

Saturday 07/04 Holland - 013 Tilburg

Tuesday 10/04 Israël - tba Tel Aviv

Supports are Imperial Age and Null Positiv. Keep an eye on the venues for tickets. Therion's official website can be found here.

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ARCH ENEMY TO TOUR UK & EUROPE WITH WINTERSUN

Melodic death metallers Arch Enemy will be bringing their new album Will To Power to stages in the UK and Europe in 2018. Wintersun will also be joining them for the ride, alongside Tribulation and Jinjer (Europe only).

The dates are as follows:

12.01.2018 DE - Munich, Tonhalle

13.01.2018 DE - Stuttgart, LKA Longhorn

14.01.2018 CZ - Prague, Forum Karlin

15.01.2018 CH - Zurich, Komplex

17.01.2018 IT - Milano, Alcatraz

18.01.2018 FR - Lyon, Transbordeur

19.01.2018 ES - Barcelona, Razzmatazz 

20.01.2018 ES - Madrid, La Riviera

22.01.2018 FR - Toulouse, Le Bikini

23.01.2018 FR - Paris, Bataclan

24.01.2018 BE - Antwerp, Trix

26.01.2018 DE - Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle

27.01.2018 DE - Geiselwind, Music Hall

28.01.2018 NL - Tilburg, O13

29.01.2018 DE - Hamburg, Große Freiheit

31.01.2018 SE - Malmö, KB

01.02.2018 NO - Oslo, Rockefeller

02.02.2018 SE - Stockholm, Arenan

03.02.2018 SE - Gothenburg, Trädgarn

05.02.2018 DE - Berlin, Huxleys

06.02.2018 DE - Wiesbaden, Schlachthof

07.02.2018 DE - Saarbrücken, Garage

09.02.2018 UK - Glasgow, O2 ABC*

10.02.2018 UK - Nottingham, Rock City*

11.02.2018 UK - London, Koko*

13.02.2018 UK - Manchester, O2 Ritz*

14.02.2018 UK - Bristol, O2 Academy*

*without Jinjer

Tickets go on sale August 15th, 2017. Ticket links for all shows will be available here.

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SLY LEAVES VAN CANTO

The world's biggest "a capella" metal band Van Canto have announced the departure of their lead singer and founding member of the band, Dennis "Sly" Schunke. 

The parting is on good terms. Sly commented:

"It was a hard decision to reach, I also had to make due to private changes. The spirit in every Van Canto fan and musician, will remain in my heart for eternity. I will not die in Battle.

As far as new Van Canto projects are concerned, I wouldn't say no to a guest appearance. It's all just a question of time management, how much I can be involved, and of course what the band's vision is.

I wish Van Canto and everyone involved all the best for the future, and fingers crossed that they have lots of new surprises and wonderful moments"

The band wished him the best and said they would be glad to have him back for guest appearances. Their new line-up will be announced on August 18th. You can read the full statements here.

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NIGHTWISH HEADLINING LEYENDAS DEL ROCK

Another headline festival date has been added to the list for Nightwish, this time at Leyendas Del Rock 2018 in Spain. The line-up will also feature a return for Doro's Warlock and Sonata Arctica among many others. Full details can be found on the festival's website.

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EVANESCENCE ANNOUNCE SYNTHESIS US TOUR

Evanescence recently announced Synthesis - an album that reworks their old tracks (plus two original compositions) with orchestral and electronic elements. This week they have revealed that they will be going on tour across the US with the record. Those who buy tickets for the shows will get a download code for the album, and receive some tracks early. There are also two tiers of VIP tickets available, that include such things as a pre-show experience, front row seats, meeting the band and signed merch.

You can find the full details and tour dates here. Synthesis is due to be released in autumn this year.

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EDIT: Despite the date on the poster, Therion will apparently be appearing on the 13th of February in Bristol (probably to avoid clashing with Arch Enemy). The list of dates has been updated to correct this.