GEEZER BUTLER REVEALS ‘DEADLAND RITUAL’ PROJECT, FEAT. MATT SORUM, STEVE STEVENS AND FRANKY PEREZ- SELECT LIVE DATES IN JUNE

Posted on by Oran


Former Black Sabbath bassist launches new project ‘Deadland Ritual’. Get full info below as well as a first listen to their first single/video ‘Down In Flames’, streaming below;

DEADLAND RITUAL, 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) are delighted to announce a series of European tour dates in June 2019.

Deadland Ritual 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
14thto 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
21stto 22nd June 2019                                Azkena Festival, Vitoria SPAIN
21stto 23rd June 2019                                  Hellfest Festival, Clisson FRANCE

To purchase tickets and for further updates visit this link.

Late 2018 saw the band release their debut single, “Down In Flames” (via Sonik Riot Recordings / AWAL powered by Kobalt). Produced by Greg Fidelman (Black Sabbath, Slipknot, Metallica), “Down In Flames” features the lush and powerful vocals of Perez, alongside Stevens’ signature thundering guitar conjugating with the hard-driving tribal rhythm section of Butler and Sorum. The single 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 idolized 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.”

The initial recordings are only the beginning of what fans can expect in the coming months. The band is focused on quality vs. quantity and letting the muse carry them in the appropriate direction. With festival appearances booked and headline dates now announced, they’ll use the time leading up to that trek to continue writing and recording

Oran O’Beirne

www.overdrive.ie 2019

Photo – Jonas Akerlund ©2019