SOILWORK/MNEMIC/THREAT SIGNAL -READY FOR TOUR
"The first time we came over to the States," shares SOILWORK singer Bj?rn "Speed" Strid, "it was shocking for the simple fact that the conditions were so different compared to Europe, but the crowd was totally great, and that's all that's important. Now we're headlining in America again. It says a lot about how much we've achieved."
Strid is, of course, referencing the seemingly endless list of accolades Sweden's SOILWORK have garnished. These Ozzfest 2005 graduates - who have sold close to 50,000 copies of 2005's Stabbing The Drama and have been lauded as "One of The 25 Most Important Bands in Metal" by Alternative Press Magazine - are embarking on their second headlining North American tour with labelmates MNEMIC & THREAT SIGNAL plus Darkest Hour. The Decibel Magazine-sponsored tour is set to launch on October 5th in West Springfield, Virginia, ending in Detroit, Michigan on November 11th. SOILWORK has even managed to secure an official endorsement as a band that is "taking metal forward with its cutting-edge metal" from The Metal God himself, Judas Priest's Rob Halford!
"You have to tour more than once for a record in order to keep your name up. I mean, you really can't 'over-tour' in the States, but how could anyone pass up the chance of seeing different places, and experiencing new cultures?" continues Strid. "I always make it a point of getting up early and looking around every town where we play. MNEMIC are a cool band. We like their music, and I heard that we're a major influence on THREAT SIGNAL. We have a strong bill and it's all about having fun and putting on a good show. I think this tour will really get the crowd pumped up!"
MNEMIC's guitarist Mircea has revealed plans to debut the new song "Shape Of The Formless" from the band's upcoming 2007 album, titled Passenger. Regarding the debut of the band's new lead singer, he states: "He is the member that was always supposed to front MNEMIC. To me, he's like a mini-Devin Townsend, only French and with hair on his head, with lots of energy that will grab the audience by the throat!"
THREAT SIGNAL also have their own debut to unveil. Lead vocalist Jon Howard shares: "Our new bassist Pat Kavanagh is an amazing player, and has a ridiculous amount of energy on stage. You can tell he is loving every second of it. It's easy for everyone watching - including ourselves - to feed off his enthusiasm and energetic stage presence and totally get absorbed into the music." For these young Canadian musicians who are avid SOILWORK fans, the upcoming North American trek is a daydream come true.
For fans of perfectly executed, richly textured, melody-infused aggressive metal, The Last Stab tour will be one for the history books.