70,000 Tons of…
Oh my God, Holy shit
Part II
Last week I looked at Bloodbath, Insomnium, Carach Angren, At the Gates, Tyr, Turisas, My Dying Bride, Delain, Belphegor, and Sodom. This week I look at ten other bands that I am excited to see (and by now already have!) on the cruise. I would definitely insist that you check out part one last week if you haven’t had the opportunity.
VADER (POLAND)
I was fortunate enough to catch Vader for $18 in Oakland once in 2013. It was a really good show. After 30 years, these guys are still bringing it hard and I am extremely excited to see what they offer on the ship.
ELUVEITIE (SWITZERLAND)
A good ol’ Celtic band is something that every 70,000 Tons of Awesome should have and Eluveitie has been selected. I saw them in 2012 with Children of Bodom (also on the cruise) and I was really blown away by their performance, especially the fact that they perform all of the folk instruments live (including flute and hurdy gurdy).
ICED EARTH (UNITED STATES)
It’s definitely a bummer that Blind Guardian was on last year which means we won’t get to see a Demons & Wizards performance (probably). I saw Iced Earth in 2011 with Symphony X and I really enjoyed the way they play. They don’t always have a consistent singer but Jon Schaffer makes sure shit gets done and songs are written to be entertaining. I am always thankful for that and I think their boat show will be very good.
KATATONIA (SWEDEN)
Katatonia is a band I’ve seen twice. 2012 and 2013, both times with Opeth. It’ll be interesting catching both Katatonia AND Bloodbath as three of the members of Katatonia are part of Bloodbath. This almost guarantees that I can see their sets (as they won’t overlap and I won’t have to choose). I wonder how far back in the catalogue they will go when they perform.
SAMAEL (SWITZERLAND)
I used to keep a list of all the bands that I was interested in and Samael just happened to be entry number 1000 once upon a time. This is a band that I think would have a lot of energy live. It’s a name that many people haven’t really been exposed to in a long time but I am quite excited to see what they have to offer.
RHAPSODY OF FIRE (ITALY)
With the passing of Christopher Lee, it seemed inevitable that Rhapsody of Fire would be included in the cruise’s lineup. Sure enough, not long after his death, Rhapsody of Fire was announced. We can expect one of their sets to probably be entirely dedicated to him.
THYRFING (SWEDEN)
Thyrfing is a band like Einherjer that I was exposed to early on but never really went back to. I think they would pretty awesome to see live. A lot of folk and Viking metal this year.
KRISIUN (BRAZIL)
I wrote about seeing Krisiun once on this site so I won’t gush about them too hard here. I can tell you that Krisiun, Bloodbath, and Vader were all announced on the same day and I was ecstatic to hear the news. Krisiun is definitely a favorite of mine.
EPICA (NETHERLANDS)
Epica is probably my favorite female fronted band, but that is definitely a contentious topic within my head. I’ve seen them twice and I have a total crush on Simone Simons. I would probably divorce my nonexistent wife for just her. Epica had to cancel their last tour and this time around they won’t be hitting my state so seeing them on the cruise will be very nice.
ROTTING CHRIST (GREECE)
This is a band that I am recently checking out even though they’ve been around forever. They came with Mayhem and Watain but I missed that show. I think their live set would be absolutely killer and I totally stoked to check them out.
Well, there you have it. 20 bands. There are still 16 bands to be announced as of 13 January 2016 so who knows what will transpire! See you next week with in depth coverage of day 1 (part of a four week series)!
-Ryan