The tour announcement follows the February release of Cult of Luna’s latest album, The Long Road North, on Metal Blade Records earlier this year.  The release made it to No. 14 on the German albums chart.

The band have been releasing music for over two decades, and the new album is no exception to their dense, dynamic sound.  In a recent press release, vocalist/ guitarist Johannes Persson opened up about the group’s direction on The Long Road North, saying “It’s a big and cinematic-sounding album. I think one of the reasons why we have been able to be so productive the last couple of years is that we have been consistently writing from the heart. We have let our instincts guide us, and I think it’s getting clearer where we are heading”.  Persson went on to describe the new album as a “long road home”.

Reflecting back on the band’s 2022 tour and looking forward to the upcoming one, he said, “not knowing what to expect when we got out from our unexpected and involuntary hiatus, we were blown away by the numbers of people that came to see us. The love we received was truly moving and it felt like the tour just started when it was over. But time moves quickly and soon it’s time to get out again. In these chaotic conditions that the world is in right now, we can’t do much than trust in music as a rewarding constant. A tool of power and comfort. We hope to see you out there next year”.

Check out footage from the band’s 2022 tour here:

The Long Road North also features appearances from Mariam Wallentin of Swedish duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz of French pop-rock band Phoenix, and Composer Colin Stetson.

Tickets for the upcoming tour are now available to purchase here.

Dates and venues are:

17/03/2023 – Store Vega – Copenhagen, DK
18/03 – Huxley’s Neue Welt – Berlin, DE
19/03 – Kulturzentrum Schlachthof – Weisbaden, DE
20/03 – Tivoli Ronda – Utrecht, NL
21/03 – AB – Brussels, BE
22/03 – L’Olympia – Paris, FR
23/03 – Im Wizemann – Stuttgard, DE
24/03 – Les Docks – Lausanne, CH
25/03 – Kino Siska – Ljubljana, SO
27/03 – Arena – Grobe Halle – Vienna, AT
28/03 – Muffathalle – Munich, DE
29/03 – Roxy – Prague, PL
30/03 – Klub Studio – Krakow, PL
31/03 – Progresja – Warsaw, PL

Speaking on social media, Cult of Luna said regarding the announcement: “Now that almost all the lights are in the green, it’s time to bring you the show we’ve dreamed of for so long, and what a great honor to be joined by Russian Circles and Svalbarduk for this.”

The ever-prolific Cult of Luna recently released their ninth full-length studio album in February The Long Road North, which follows along from 2020’s The Raging River. The album was well-received by fans and critics alike, with Metal Injection saying in a glowing review that the record is: “more mature, nuanced and consistent than their 2019 masterpiece, A Dawn to Fear.”  You can listen to “Into the Night” from the record down below.

Co-headliner Russian Circles have also been busy lately, having just announced a new album entitled Gnosis, which will mark their eighth full-length record. The band has released a single “Conduit” alongside the album announcement; a tune that explores the grittier, heavier side of the band’s sound, which can range from thoughtful and placid to crushing and dissonant. Awash with grimy tremolo picked guitars and a thick distorted bass sound that growls and bellows in the background, the song sets the tone for a dark, noisy metal record. Take a listen down below.

Support act Svalbard are an excellent genre-blending group who any metal fan should know about. The outfit, comprised of guitarist and vocalist Serena Cherry, drummer Mark Lilley, bassist Matt Francis and guitarist Liam Phelan have been at it since 2011, and released their third studio album When I Die, Will I Get Better? in 2020. The record has since been named the 5th best metal album of 2020 by Metal Hammer. You can listen to the record on all streaming services, and you can also listen to it on YouTube, via the link below.

A complete list of dates for Cult of Luna’s EU tour with Russian Circles and Svalbard can be viewed down below.

17/03/2023- -Store Vega- Copenhagen, Denmark
18/03- Huxleys- Berlin, Germany
19/03- Schlachthof- Wiesbaden, Germany
20/03 -Tivoli Ronda- Utrecht, Netherlands
21/03- AB- Brussels, Belgium
22/03- Olympia- Paris, France
23/03- Wizzemna- Stuttgart, Germany
24/03- Les Docks- Lausanne, Switzerland
25/03- Kino Siska- Ljubljana, Slovenia
27/03- Arena- Vienna, Austria
28/03- Muffathalle- Munich, Germany
29/03- Roxy- Prague, Czech Republic
30/03- Studio- Krakow, Poland
31/03- Progresja- Warsaw, Poland

The band released their sixth studio album, ‘Guidance’, earlier this year to rave reviews and completed a month and a half long tour of the US in October. The band are purely instrumental and they seem to be keeping up the habit of not speaking out with this announcement, as they have not commented on the news. However, in an interview with Reverb earlier in the year, drummer Dave Turncrantz hinted at the excitement the band will feel to be able to play new songs live after touring with ‘Memorial’, the band’s fifth album, for several years. He said, ‘Oh man, it’s been about three years since the record was released, so we’ve been on and off touring for the past two and a half years, which is a lot. We played all stuff from Memorial on our last time through Europe, our third or fourth time, so we’re glad to be playing some new stuff now.’ He added, ‘I’m really excited to tour again, play new songs, and I think we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. We have a good system, the next record will probably come out in a few years, we’ll do a tour, write some, and keep going. We also have some other stuff up our sleeves for me next year, but it’s too early to really comment on that. I’m just looking forward to doing this until people stop coming to our shows. We’re going to be that depressing band in our 50s that people are going to be like, “Ugh, Russian Circles is coming to town again.’ [laughs]

Cloakroom, a band who dabble in various genres of rock and come out of Northwest Indiana, will provide the support for the gigs. Cloakroom currently have only one studio album, ‘Further Out’, which was released in 2015.

The full European and UK Dates are shown below, with the UK dates coming at the end of the schedule:

18/2 – 013 – Tilburg, NL

19/2 – Gebäude 9 – Cologne, DE

20/2 – Knust – Hamburg, DE

21/2 – Voxhall – Arhus, DK

22/2 – Vega – Copenhagen, DK

24/2 – Forum – Bielefeld, DE

25/2 – Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE

26/2 – Strom – Munich, DE

28/2 –  Spielboden – Dornbirn, AT

01/3 – Locomotiv – Bologna, IT

02/3 – Monk – Rome, IT

03/3 – The Cage – Livorno, IT

04/3 – Santeria Social Club – Milan, IT

05/3 – Rote fabrik – Zurich, CH

06/3 – Kalvingrad / Usine – Geneva, CH

08/3 – Bikini – Barcelona, ES

09/3 – 100% Psych Shoko – Madrid, ES

10/3 – RCA Club – Lisbon, PT

11/3 – Hard Club – Porto, PT

13/3 – Atabal – Biarritz, FR

14/3 – Krakatoa –  Bordeaux, FR

15/3 – Stereolux – Nantes, FR

16/3 – Trabendo – Paris, FR

17/3 – Botanique – Brussels, BE

18/3 – The Haunt – Brighton, UK

19/3 – The /3ble Factory – Bristol, UK

20/3 – Gorilla – Manchester, UK

22/3 – Whelans – Dublin, IE

23/3 – Empire Music Hall – Belfast, IE

24/3 – Stereo – Glasgow, UK

25/3 – O2 Institute2 – Birmingham, UK

26/3 – Heaven, London, UK