NORTHTALE, the new Swedish-American power metal band featuring guitarist Bill Hudson (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, I AM MORBID, ex-U.D.O./ DIRKSCHNEIDER), vocalist Christian Eriksson (ex-TWILIGHT FORCE), and drummer Patrick Johansson (ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-W.A.S.P.) — has inked a deal with Nuclear Blast. The group, which is completed by bassist Mikael Planefeldt and keyboardist Jimmy Pitts, will release its debut album, "Welcome To Paradise", this summer.
Formed in late 2017, NORTHTALE delivers a load of (largely) fast-paced anthems, imbued with Eriksson's soaring vocals, which will not only please fans of titans such as HELLOWEEN, SONATA ARCTICA, GAMMA RAY and STRATOVARIUS, among others, but draw new fans to the genre too.
NORTHTALE's very first gig will take place at SABATON's open-air festival in August and will be followed by two concerts in Tokyo, Japan as part of the Evoken festival.
Listen to the band's 2018 version of the song "Shape Your Reality" here. The track is also available on Spotify, iTunes and other digital music platforms.
Bill Hudson and Christian Eriksson said in a statement: "We are beyond thrilled to announce that we have signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records. Growing up listening to records they have put out has greatly influenced music and the way we look at it. It is beyond humbling to be able to have our first album out on such an influential record label, one that has from the very beginning embraced us as family. Being a part of the Nuclear Blast family will allow us to put our music in front of every single heavy metal fan willing to listen, as well as give us the opportunity to play for them live. We cannot wait to play as many shows as we can and bring our music out on tour with us. See you on the road."
Nuclear Blast A&R/head of promotion Markus Wosgien said: "We've been following NORTHTALE since their formation as we've always had huge power metal fans in our company. Of course, we expected nothing but irresistible tracks from the group — just take a look at the amazing pedigree of their lineup… How can you expect anything else? And we were not only proven right, the result easily exceeded our hopes! Since the arrival of 'Welcome To Paradise', we've been spinning them endlessly. We're happy to introduce NORTHTALE to the metal world and to be able to unleash their refreshing debut album upon the world very soon."