ARTILLERY Drummer Announces His Departure

Danish thrash metal veterans ARTILLERY will perform in the U.S. for the first time ever next month.

ARTILLERY will play gigs in May in New York and at the Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore. They will then move to South America to perform in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. At the end of the year, ARTILLERY will return to U.S. to play on the Barge To Hell cruise ship from Miami, Florida to the Bahamas.

Year 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of ARTILLERY. A celebration party will be held on May 4 at Kings And Lions in Copenhagen, Denmark, with some special guests and prizes. The gig at Lions And Barrels will also be ARTILLERY's last Danish gig with drummer and founding member Carsten Nielsen, who has decided to leave the band for personal reasons.

Commented Nielsen: "For personal reasons, I have chosen to leave the Danish thrash metal band ARTILLERY. It's something I've thought about for a long time and I have already informed the guys in the band and I can announce that the last shows I'm playing with ARTILLERY will be in South America. And to all the nice people I have met during my time in ARTILLERY, I will just say a huge thank you to; I will never forget the good reception and response I have received.

"After the last show, I will take a little break and then I'll probably go back to my roots and try to find some guys in the Copenhagen area who want to play some good old-fashioned punk rock together with me..."

ARTILLERY U.S. tour dates:

May 25 - Baltimore, MD - Maryland Deathfest
May 26 - New York, NY - Saint Vitus Bar

ARTILLERY's "Warrior Blood" video can be viewed below. The clip was filmed in February 2011 with Morten Madsen as producer. According to ARTILLERY vocalist Søren Adamsen, the song's lyrics were written "about fighting. Soldiers, prize-fighters, people who are struggling with deadly diseases."

"Warrior Blood" is the first single/video from ARTILLERY's sixth album, "My Blood", which was released in Europe on March 21, 2011 via Metal Mind Productions (April 5 in the U.S. through MVD and March 9 in Japan via King Records). 14 songs were laid down during the sessions at Medley Studios in Copenhagen — 10 brand new tracks, a remake of "Ain't Giving In" (from 1992's "Mind Factory" demo) and three bonus tracks which are all new versions of timeless classics from the 1985 album "Fear Of Tomorrow" ("The Eternal War", "The Almighty" and "Show Your Hate"). The cover artwork was created by well-known Polish graphic designer Graal, who has previously worked with VITAL REMANS, SINISTER, SOLITUDE AETURNUS and BULLDOZER. Graal was also responsible for the covers of ARTILLERY's "Through The Years" box and "When Death Comes".