THE 2003 METAL GODS TOUR: Lineup Announced!

March 14, 2003

Former JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford's forthcoming U.S. tour, The 2003 Metal Gods Tour, will be a multi-band package featuring Rob's blazing quintet HALFORD, co-headliners TESTAMENT, IMMORTAL, SYMPHONY X, DARK TRANQUILITY, AMON AMARTH, CARNAL FORGE and more.

The 2003 Metal Gods Tour is set to kick off April 25 in Chicago, and will wrap up on the west coast by mid-June. This will be Rob's first full-length tour of North America in nearly three years.

"The tour is quite remarkable," Halford said. "Over the last decade, hard rock and heavy metal have fragmented into all these unique sub-genres, so we felt it would be ideal to put some of the best metal bands from the various genres together on the road. Today's Gods of Metal, if you will.”

The Metal Gods Tour will feature U.S. Bay Area thrash metal kings TESTAMENT. Also, New York-based progressive metal act SYMPHONY X. Rob Halford has often professed his affinity for bands of a darker nature, so the inclusion of black and death metal bands were an obvious way to round out a lineup.

Norway's black metal kings IMMORTAL are sensational, with their current release sitting solidly as the best in the genre. And it's no coincidence that three acts from Sweden have been asked to take part in the unique tour, as DARK TRANQUILLITY, AMON AMARTH and CARNAL FORGE are among the best from this Scandinavian hotbed of metal.

"It will be enjoyable to watch Metal fans of all types mix together with their enormous enthusiasm," said Halford. "Often fans of death and black metal bands won't go see some of the other acts co-headlining The Metal Gods and vice versa. We're accomplishing a lot together. I'm certain the bands are going to enjoy themselves as we roll around the U.S. and Canada, so the fans are certainly going to experience the best each act has to give. When done, the tour will be remembered as something rare."

The Metal Gods will take nothing for granted. They'll move briefly around the Midwest and then into Canada by early May. The Metal Gods will then visit the Northeast section of the U.S. and head down the coast into Florida and across Texas, hitting many western U.S. cities before surveying the landscape.

Tour dates, ticket and band information, etc. will be available shortly. Doors will open approximately 5 p.m. with performances beginning at 6 p.m. All venue times and band on-stage times will be available online just prior to the commencement of the tour.

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