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 36: Keep of Kalessin.
Norwegian melodic black/death metal outfit Keep of Kalessin embarked on their second journey on the metal seas, the first taking place in 2014 and the second occurring nine years later in 2023. During this cruise, the band treated attendees to the live debut of their first new album in eight years, titled Katharsis, which officially released nearly two months later, on March 24, 2023. Their initial performance on Day 2, January 31, 2023, at Studio B – Ice Rink Theater at 10:00 PM primarily featured highlighted tracks from throughout their catalog. In contrast, for those still awake, their second set on Day 3, February 1, 2023, at 3:45 AM, served as a special introduction to their new music. We were lucky to make it for the live debut of the follow-up to 2015’s Epistemology. And man, we were in for a treat. There’s nothing more authentic than hearing new beats live, and multiply that experience by listening to it at the witching hour surrounded by metalheads under the stars over international waters on the Atlantic ocean. It was, simply put, incredible. Live debut tracks included: “Katharsis,” “Hellride,” “The Omni,” “War of the Wyrm,” and “Throne of Execration.”
Keep of Kalessin
Now that 2023 is coming to a close, Keep of Kalessin have ultimately made just a few appearances throughout the year. They wrapped things up by revealing their latest offering marks their most personal record to date, and a long time in the making. Hopefully, we will see more from them as we move into 2024. While thousands of albums were released this year, Katharsis is a must-listen.
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:
