Bloodbath have announced some May 2022 North American shows with Xael. Here’s the dates:
05/22 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
05/23 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
05/24 Montreal, QC – L’Astral
05/25 Toronto, ON – Opera House
05/27 Baltimore, MD – Maryland Deathfest (no Xael)
Bloodbath have announced a North American tour with Necrot and Tragedy Of Mine. Here’s the dates:
05/22 Baltimore, MD – Maryland Deathfest (Bloodbath only)
05/23 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
05/24 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
05/25 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
05/26 Toronto, ON – Opera House
05/28 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
05/29 Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre (Bloodbath only)
05/31 Los Angeles, CA – The Regent (Bloodbath only)
Joakim Karlsson has announced his departure from Bloodbath. For now, Tomas Åkvik (LIK) will be handling live guitar duties for the band.
Karlsson commented:
“I am putting away my Bloodbath vest for good.
To be honest, I’ve never really considered myself a guitarist – at least not a particularly good one – just someone who plays guitar out of necessity because I wouldn’t be able to write my music otherwise. Bloodbath needs a lead guitarist; someone who can pull off these fast, evil solos and whatnot, and to be completely honest, that guy simply isn’t me. Bloodbath needs someone who can do it justice.
I have had pretty much only good moments with the band, and I’m glad to have been a part of it for the last year and a half, but now I’ll do other things. (I vaguely remember having a main band which hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves during the last year. I think I’ll focus on that for a while.) Alright… Later, Bloodbath fans. I hope I at least managed to trick some of you into listening to Craft.
By the way, some of you were making guesses about what songs I wrote for TAOSID. I wrote ‘Wayward Samaritan‘ (music/lyrics), ‘Only the Dead Survive‘ (music, together with former Craft guitarist John Doe), ‘Ride the Waves of Fire‘ (music/lyrics) and ‘Wide Eyed Abandon‘ (music).”
The group added:
“We’d like to thank Joakim for his time in Bloodbath, his contributions to TAOSID and we urge you all to submit to his continual work with black metal masters Craft. Live guitar duties will proceed with Tomas from LIK – Sthlm.”
Macquarie University’s music lab has conducted a new study in which 32 death metal fans and 48 non-fans were shown innocuous images in one eye and violent images in the other, while listening to either Bloodbath‘s “Eaten” or Pharrel Williams‘ “Happy.“ After the test, researchers found that the death metal fans were not desensitized to violence and that listening to the music actually brought them feelings of joy and empowerment.
Prof Bill Thompson told BBC the following:
“[Death metal] fans are nice people. They’re not going to go out and hurt someone.
The dominant emotional response to this music is joy and empowerment. And I think that to listen to this music and to transform it into an empowering, beautiful experience – that’s an amazing thing.”
Nick Holmes (Bloodbath, Paradise Lost) also talked a bit about the study, in part saying:
“The majority of death metal fans are intelligent, thoughtful people who just have a passion for the music. “It’s the equivalent of people who are obsessed with horror movies or even battle re-enactments.”
You can read more HERE.
Bloodbath have premiered a new video for their new song “Chainsaw Lullaby.” This track is from the band’s new album, “The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn,“ which will be released on October 26. Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström commented:
“I wanted to keep it really simple and uncomplicated whilst retaining an evil groovy drive to make the song engage in headbanging action and sing along exercises. Having started a ‘red’ thread, I then locked in the chainsaw concept as a dual tribute to the Boss HM-2 guitar pedal sound as well as my love for the horror slasher genre and had both the music and lyrics going at the same time. I’ve always been a fan of lyrical paradoxes and the song title was just waiting to happen.”
Bloodbath have premiered a lyric video for their new song “Bloodicide.” This track features Jeff Walker (Carcass), Karl Willetts (Memoriam/ex-Bolt Thrower), and John Walker (Cancer) and it will appear on the band’s new album, “The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn“ (out October 26).
Bloodbath‘s Nick Holmes (also of Paradise Lost) said the following:
“The lads play a part in representing the backbone of the old school British Death Metal scene, which has also been a big influence on Bloodbath since the beginning.”
Jeff Walker also commented:
“I owed Nick a tenner, so he told me instead of sending the bailiffs round he would kindly let me pay off my debt by contributing vocals to his new album. Imagine my great disappoint when I found out it wasn’t for THAT band but, was in fact for Bloodbath. I have great faith in him that my vocals will be lower than his in the mix.”
Karl Willetts continued:
“I have known Nick Holmes for over 30 years – so when he asked me to do some vocals for the new Bloodbath album how could I refuse? The opportunity to do things like this in life don’t often come twice so I am really pleased to contribute in a small way to this legendary opus!”
John Walker added:
“Bloodbath is an amazing band and I’ve had the chance to do some vocals for their new, killer album along with eff Walker and Karl Willetts. It’s been a bloody honour and a lot of fun!!”
Bloodbath have announced that their new album “The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn” will be released on October 26. The effort was recorded with Karl Daniel Liden at Ghost Ward, City Of Glass, and Tri-Lamb Studios earlier this year. Notably, one track on the effort, “Bloodicide,“ features a number of special guests including: Jeff Walker (Carcass), Karl Willetts (Bolt Thrower), and John Walker (Cancer).
“The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn” Track Listing:
01. “Fleischmann”
02. “Bloodicide” (feat. Jeff Walker, Karl Willetts and John Walker)
03. “Wayward Samaritan”
04. “Levitator”
05. “Deader”
06. “March Of The Crucifers”
07. “Morbid Antichrist”
08. “Warhead Ritual”
09. “Only The Dead Survive”
10. “Chainsaw Lullaby”
Limited Edition CD Bonus Tracks:
11. “Ride The Waves Of Fire”
12. “Wide Eyed Abandon”
Guitarist Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström said the following about the album:
“What are we presenting with this album? Humanity’s unfaltering march prone towards downfall. The threat to this world isn’t from far beyond the sun, the enemy is right here, within the walls. Only the god of emptiness will survive us all. The arrow of Satan is drawn!”
“There’s no mitigating circumstances coming your way any time soon… The world is a mad place full of darkness, horror, disease and terror! Hell on Earth is real and not just limited to fiction. The dark ages transcend all frontiers, ever present but yet unseen.”
He also added the following about “Bloodicide“:
“It wasn’t deliberately planned to be just British guests, but as it randomly turned out that way, it became a really cool feat!. Nick [Holmes], Jeff, Karl and John are all legends respectively within the UK death metal scene and we’re proud to bring them all together on our little old school soiree to tribute the days of old.”
It looks like Bloodbath have officially finished their new album. The band said the following on Facebook:
“The new album is officially DONE and the master is now leaving us and heading to Peaceville! Curious about the artwork? The album title? The song titles? The number of songs on the album? The release date? The formats? The line-up? The sound and production? The fuckin’ legendary featured guests? Watch this space….”
Kreator and Dimmu Borgir have announced a European/UK co-headlining tour. Hatebreed and Bloodbath will serve as support.
Tour Dates:
11/30 Tilburg, NET – O13
12/01 Hamburg, GER – Sporthalle
12/02 Frankfurt, GER – Jahrhunderthalle
12/03 Paris, FRA – L’Olympia
12/04 Brussels, BEL – AB
12/06 Milano, ITA – Alcatraz
12/07 Munich, GER – Zenith
12/08 Ludwigsburg, GER – MHP Arena
12/09 Prague, CZE – Forum Karlin
12/10 Zurich, SWI – Halle 622
12/12 Vienna, AUT – Gasometer
12/13 Warsaw, POL – Hala Kolo
12/14 Leipzig, GER – Hause Auensee
12/15 Dusseldorf, GER – Mitsubishi Electric Halle
12/16 London, UK – Roundhouse
Bloodbath have been forced to postpone their planned North American tour, due to visa issues. The dates will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
The band commented:
“It’s with an immense mix of anger, frustration and sadness that we’re forced to announce the following news…
We will not be flying out tomorrow to begin our first North American tour we all so much looked forward to playing.
We’ve been rehearsing and preparing this for months and our gear and bags are packed ready by the doorstep, but sadly due to the US Immigration and Embassy making a mistake with our visas, they couldn’t fix it in time and reissue it.
We hoped we never would have to make this kind of announcement, we were still trusting they would issue it in time to the very bitter end, but now with less than 24hrs to go, we have to accept our fate, it ain’t gonna happen.
We’re so sorry for all of you who bought a ticket and made plans to come see Bloodbath!
On any kind of positive note, we WILL be rescheduling (nothing else is acceptable!) and prepare to play the tour as soon as possible. More news on refunds etc. ASAP.”
Metal Anarchy 
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