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Rival Sons announce Darkfighter Tour Across UK and Europe in Support of New Album

Rival Sons will embark on their UK and Europe Darkfighter Tour later this year. The 30-date tour starts at London’s Roundhouse on 13 October and runs through to Finland on 21 November. This tour is to support their Darkfighter album, due on 2 June 2023, with a companion album Lighbringer set for later this year.

“Dear friends on the other side of the pond, Darkfighter is coming for you,” guitarist Scott Holiday said. “And Lightbringer is coming for you too. We’re finally able to come back to you and bring you NEW music! Music that has been firmly situated in our hearts. Nothing makes me happier than to think about experiencing these albums together and making them into something entirely new and different every night. Let’s make something symbiotic and alive that we’ll want to remember forever.”

Rival Sons, UEA, Norwich. 27 June 2022
Rival Sons, UEA, Norwich. Photo: steve Ritchie/MetalTalk

Tickets are available on general release from 14 April 2023 with meet and greets, where possible, available through the Rival Sons app. Pre-sale available from Thursday 13 April.

october

13oct7:00 pmRival Sons | LondonRoundhouse

14oct7:00 pmRival Sons | NewcastleNX

16oct7:00 pmRival Sons | GlasgowBarrowlands

17oct7:00 pmRival Sons | BirminghamO2 Academy

18oct7:00 pmRival Sons | ManchesterAcademy

20oct7:00 pmRival Sons | CambridgeCorn Exchange, Cambridge

21oct7:00 pmRival Sons | BristolO2 Academy

22oct7:00 pmRival Sons | SouthamptonGuildhall

Three visual instalments have been released from Darkfighter to date. The series tells the story of a double-cross and a heist gone wrong and stars the band themselves as a gang of crooks.

Jay Buchanan stars as Preacher who throws dynamite in verse in the Nobody Wants To Die video and features the band’s vintage cars [Scott’s 1956 Pontiac Chieftain and Jay’s 1982 Mercedes 300SD] while stunt-driving across the California desert. The film was directed by Eli Sokhn.

Bird In The Hand, directed by Kurt Kubicek, was written by Jay Buchanan and Scott Holiday and is a prequel to Nobody Wants To Die. The film, directed by Kurt Kubicek, shows Rival Sons with a large dose of humour and a devil-may-care attitude.

Hella Rock Festival

Rapture, below, was the first single released and has a film directed by Kurt Kubicek. “It’s been a great time writing and producing these videos along with great directors and crew,” Jay Buchanan said. “With video production, we’re really at that sweet spot where we don’t know the rules, so we’re not afraid of breaking them. We’ll see where it goes from here.”

With Darkfighter set for release on 2 June 2023, a companion volume Lightbringer will be released later in the year. This is the first new music from Rival Sons in more than four years, following 2019’s critically acclaimed GRAMMY® Award-nominated sixth studio album, Feral Roots.

Rival Sons. Peoria Civic Center.
Rival Sons. Peoria Civic Center. Photo: Ben Tschetter/MetalTalk

“In comparison to our previous records, we certainly took our time both writing and recording this collection,” Jay Buchanan said. “When we set out, the intention was mostly to dig as deep as possible. Even in the beginning, before the body had formed, we agreed to throw the map away and chop our way through the woods to make a new path. Then lockdown hit, and it felt like the whole damn country decided to throw the map away too.

“For myself, 2022 was like an eight-stage rocket of life-changing events, so every time I thought I was finished writing, a new bull would come tearing through the clothesline, and I’d have to illustrate it in some way.

“By the end, there were really two different sides to the same story being told. On one side, you’re fighting the darkness, and on the other, you’re bringing your own light to where there is none. One side in a corner, on the ropes, and the other advancing, cleaning the ring. Without an intermission, a refractory period, the collection would be too big a bite, so splitting it in two was the only way to do it.”

Rival Sons - Darkfighter UK/Europe Tour 2023 poster
Rival Sons – Darkfighter UK/Europe Tour 2023

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