Black Tusk Announce One New Zealand Show

American heavy metal outfit Black Tusk are will be hitting New Zealand in August for one show before they launch into a tour of Australia. The thundering trio are coming downunder off-the-back of releasing  Pillars Of Ash earlier this year, which is the final album to be laid down with bassist Jonathan Athon before he died in a tragic motorcycle accident in 2014. Black Tusk's current line-up consists of original members Andrew Fidlar and James May, who are now joined by Corey Barhorst (Kylesa, Niche). Here are the details for their show on these shores...

Black Tusk
Wednesday 3rd August, Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland

Tickets available right HERE at UTR

Here's the video for 'Truth Untold' lifted from their 2013 EP Tend No Wounds...

And here's the full album stream for their latest offering Pillars Of Ash...

PRESS RELEASE:

BLACK TUSK
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND TOUR
AUGUST 2016

LIFE IS NOISE is supremely excited to announce the first ever Australia/New Zealand tour of Black Tusk this August. The Savannah, Georgia trio will be bringing their sludge-filled show to Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

With a killer one-two combo of dirty punk and riff-fueled metal, Black Tusk combine pounding drums, churning guitars, roaring bass and devilishly howled tripartite vocals to shape a sound perfectly self-described as "swamp metal”.

The band may toss an occasional nod to Slayer ("Born of Strife") and Motörhead ("Bleed on Your Knees"), but there's no cribbing of influences here. Rather, Black Tusk's combination of sludge, rock, hardcore, and death metal remains fluid, fertile, and most importantly, full of life, in spite of the tragedy that threatens to define it. - Pitchfork

Nobody would have blamed Black Tusk if they’d decided to call it a day. The trio were just about to release a new album in late 2014 and were weeks from their biggest tour yet when a motorcycle accident claimed bassist Jonathan Athon’s life. After weeks of contemplation, the remaining members decided to continue on, with the last record featuring Athon, Pillars Of Ash, proving to be a memorial, a rallying point, and a simply stunning album in its own right.

The record as a whole recalls classic Kylesa and Baroness, a punked-up Mastodon, or even Motörhead stalking through the murk of the American south. - Consequence Of Sound

The band's live experience works best when combined with sticky floors, sweaty bodies and a whole lot of volume. Black Tusk are everything heavy music should be: stripped of the superfluous and left with something raw, loud, vicious, primal, and visceral… an ear-splittingly loud night out.

It's a pleasant experience listening to Pillars of Ash, and as it is with many life experiences, it's not really fun unless you get a little dirty in the process. Grab a cheap beer, have a smoke, and sit out in the sun shirtless to get the full effect of this swamp metal. - Metal Injection

Catch Black Tusk on the following dates:

Auckland - Kings Arms - August 3
Melbourne - Reverence Hotel - August 4
Melbourne - Ding Dong Lounge - August 5
Sydney - Bald Faced Stag - August 6
Brisbane - Crowbar - August 7

Tickets from lifeisnoise.com, oztix, the venues and undertheradar.co.nz for Auckland.