We’re counting down to the 2024 edition of 70000 tons of Metal! This is by far one of our personal favorite metal cruises where every artist is a headliner. Metalheads from around the globe share an insane experience of four days with very little to no sleep of nonstop metal shows. From big pool deck experiences to the intimate Star Lounge, there’s something for all metalheads regardless of subgenre, and we love it all. 2023 marked a significant return for the cruise after all cruises generally faced a halt due to the pandemic. The event’s future was uncertain, but it returned, giving sixty unique artists a go. This year we saw a number of acts having their first experience on the boat to artists having some notable silver-to-gold member status returns. We managed to capture all sixty bands, and as we countdown to the 2024 edition, we will share artist spotlights from the 2023 expedition leading up to the 2024 voyage. Artist Number 26: God Dethroned.
No strangers to the metal seas, God Dethroned marked their fourth appearance in 2023, with the first in 2012, followed by the second in 2015, and the third in 2019. These Dutch blackened death metallers faced the bright sunlight at 11:30 AM for their initial set on Day 2, January 31, 2023, on the Pool Deck. By Day 3, February 1, 2023, their second set presented a complete turnaround in the intimate Star Lounge at the stroke of midnight, 12:45 AM.
We managed to squeeze into the Star Lounge just in time for their second set and were glad we did. There’s always an extra appreciation for smaller-club spaces where you’re right in front of the artist. With the limited photo space for this stage, you feel, at times, that you’re sharing the stage with them, and being in front of the artist takes on a literal meaning. We were in for a treat as they delved into the brutal track “Hating Life” from 2006’s The Toxic Touch, along with exploring their newer material, including songs such as “Spirit of Beelzebub” from their latest effort, 2020’s Illuminati. Overall, it was a thrilling dose of extreme, blistering darkness.
What’s next for God Dethroned? Well, they have a few shows lined up for this month and into next year, following a series of festival performances they appeared in throughout the 2023 summer European festival season. As for new music, buckle up – their upcoming album, as guitarist Dave Meester recently described, promises to be “heavy, atmospheric, and awesome.”
God Dethroned
Hopefully, 2024 will be a busy year for them, with the possibility of a new album ready by then via Atomic Fire Records. Check out Dave’s message below:
70000 tons of Metal will return on January 29th, setting sail from Miami, FL to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and back on February 2nd with another batch promising sixty bands to perform twice throughout the waves of adventure. The announcements have been moving fast this year as tickets have already gone on sale, and, well no updates since our last post but, in case you missed it, 36 bands out of 60 have been revealed thus far:
2024 70000tons of Metal artists:
Aborted
Angra
Blind Guardian
Blood Red Throne
Crypta
Dalriada
Depressive Age
Draconian
Dynazty
Epica
Equilibrium
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Grave Digger
Heidevolk
Infected Rain
Iotunn
Kataklysm
Legion of the Damned
Lord of the Lost
Marduk
My Dying Bride
Mystic Prophecy
Nanowar of Steel
Nervosa
Nile
Omnium Gatherum
Saor
Scar Symmetry
Serenity
Sodom
The Halo Effect
Tygers of Pan Tang
Unleashed
Victory
Warkings
Wind Rose
2023 Artist Spotlight:
