Supergroup Deadland Ritual Announce European Tour

UK appearance at Download Festival

Deadland Ritual, the supergroup of bassist Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), vocalist Franky Perez (Apocalyptica, Scars on Broadway), drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and guitarist Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Top Gun soundtrack) have announced a European tour for June.

The band promises the live shows will be something special, mixing the original material with deeper cuts from their collective past. “Not the typical songs you would expect,” according to Matt Sorum. With more dates to be announced the confirmed European tour dates so far are –

Tues 4th June 2019 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen DENMARK
Wed 5th June 2019 – Rockefeller, Oslo NORWAY
Thurs 6th June 2019 – Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg SWEDEN
Mon 10th June 2019 – Kesselhaus, Berlin GERMANY
Tue 11th June 2019 – Markthalle, Hamburg GERMANY
14th to 16th June 2019 – Download Festival, Donnington UK
Mon 17th June 2019 – 013, Tilburg THE NETHERLANDS
Tues 18th June 2019 – Trianon, Paris FRANCE
Wed 19th June 2019 – Z7, Pratteln SWITZERLAND
21st to 22nd June 2019 – Azkena Festival, Vitoria SPAIN
21st to 23rd June 2019 – Hellfest Festival, Clisson FRANCE

Late 2018 saw the band release their debut single, “Down In Flames” which has been A listed on Planet Rock radio in the UK for six weeks and counting.

Sorum’s longtime friendships with Stevens and Perez helped to form the initial core of the lineup, but it was a pivotal moment when Butler agreed to join. Butler admits there was a lot to think about when he got the invitation. “I had to get used to the idea of starting from scratch again, which is good,” he says. “But I really liked the music I was hearing. It’s not your typical hard rock or metal stuff.”

For Stevens, it was a revelation the first time he found himself recording with Butler. “There’s a lot of times in the studio as a guitar player, you get a guitar sound and you’re trying to make it work, tweaking it,” Stevens says. “There was none of that bullshit. It just fit against his bass sound and it was really exciting to me. I get to hear my guitar against a bass guitarist that I’ve idolised forever.”

Drawing inspiration from the ritual symbolism of desert badlands paired with Sorum’s love of the idea of a ‘ritualistic forgotten space,’ the name Deadland Ritual felt appropriate for the darker tone of the music the group was making. “Obviously we’ve been through some stuff,” Perez says. “If you’re being honest artistically, all the turmoil of love, loss, happiness and pain in life makes its way into the music.”

Deadland Ritual are taking their time with recording new material, favouring a quality over quantity approach, so expect more music and tour dates soon.