Gerrit Thomas and the rest of Funker Vogt will be coming to the United States in April for their Warzone Tour. The 13 scheduled dates will take the electro-industrial act to every corner of the country, but there’s a lot of space in between the cities so you may still have to travel a few hours to get to see them depending on where you live. If you pay attention to this style of music, you know it will be worth it, though.

Funker Vogt has been around for nearly 15 years and has produced many great albums, gaining them quite a following around the world, even to the point where their CDs have been sold in some mall chain stores like FYE and Hot Topic. If they have somehow managed to slip under your radar, you should really give them a listen. Here’s one of their more popular songs, “Gunman”:

You can also listen to more Funker Vogt on their Myspace page, and find their albums (including their forthcoming, first ever 2-disc live album Warzone K17) for sale in the Metropolis Mailorder site at very good prices.

Funker Vogt’s Warzone Tour Dates
(dates updated again, as of Feb 27)

April 2 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
April 3 - Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker
April 8 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
April 9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas
April 10 - Denver, CO - Tracks
April 11 - Scottsdale, AZ - Zombie Ball @ The Venue
April 12 - Detroit, MI - TBA
April 13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Pegasus
April 14 - Northampton, MA - The Haven
April 15 - Richmond, VA - Fallout
April 16 - Allentown, PA - The Sterling Hotel
April 17 - New York, NY - Stimulate (event name, venue TBA)
April 18 - West Palm, FL - Respectable Street
April 20 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
April 23 - Austin, TX - Elysium
April 24 - Dallas, TX - The Lizard Lounge

De/Vision and Seabound are currently touring North America together. So far, the tour has been a real success, with everyone who has been to one of the concerts so far saying how much they enjoyed it. There are only a few dates left, so don’t miss your chance to see these two great synthpop bands performing live.

If you didn’t get the opportunity to go to one of their recent concerts, don’t worry. You can still watch one live right from your computer. Tonight’s dual-headliner concert at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, California, will be streamed live on the venue’s website. Be sure to check it out at DNALounge.com/webcast.

Breaking news from the Nilaihah Records newsletter sent out just minutes ago: Unheilig is crossing the Atlantic to play their first, and so far only, American concert! They will be playing at the March edition of Dracula’s Ball in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They will be supported by The Azoic, an American electro-industrial/EBM band also on Nilaihah Records.

The concert will take place on March 21st at the Shampoo club, which is on the corner of 7th and Willow in Philadelphia, and begins at 9 PM. Tickets are $15.50 and are on sale now at Isotank.com.

Since Kreator’s inception a generation ago in 1982 in Essen, Germany, the band has become legends of thrash metal. They have continually gained fans and fame worldwide as they remain at the forefront of the genre. Their latest album, Enemy of God, proved to be their most successful, reaching spot 19 in the German album charts… quite good for a band that’s so far away from the popularity contest where most mainstream musicians battle it out. But Enemy of God is now 4 years old and has already been re-released, so it’s time for something new.

Enter Hordes of Chaos, Kreator’s new album for 2009. The 10 tracks it contains were recorded earlier this year during July and August, and are expected to be a bit more organic sounding, given the relative simplicity of the live setting and analog tape method that was used to record them. This is the first time in 20 years the band has recorded this way, according to the band’s singer Mille Petrozza. The length of the album is different also, in that it’s more than 15 minutes shorter than Enemy of God, coming in at under 40 minutes. Don’t expect the quality to suffer, though. A quick listen to the sample of the song “Warcurse” won’t let you down.

Are 4 different versions enough?
Hordes of Chaos will be released in 4 different formats. First, the standard version will just have the 10 songs on a CD in a normal jewel case. Second, the limited edition will contain the CD plus a bonus DVD with a “making of Hordes of Chaos” video, 2 videos of songs performed live, and the music video for the album’s title track which was influenced by the movie 300. Third, the “ultra deluxe edition” will contain the CD, an extended version of the bonus DVD, a Kreator T-shirt, and a book. And finally, there will be an LP version of the album which will feature alternative artwork not available on any of the CD versions. All the versions will be released on January 13th in North America, January 16th in Germany, and January 19th in the rest of Europe.

You can find the album anywhere
Because Kreator is such a well known band around the world, you should have no problem finding Hordes of Chaos (or most other Kreator albums) in your local CD shop. And if you’re a child of the internet age, you can easily find it on any major online retailer like Amazon.com. They’ve got most of the versions available: the standard edition, the limited edition, and the vinyl LP version, but not the ultra deluxe edition. I haven’t found anywhere you can buy that version yet. Amazon.com also has the tracks for sale as MP3 downloads, which you can buy either together as an album or as individual songs. You just have to wait for the release date before they become available.

Follow the jump and read to rest of the article, including the album track listing and Kreator’s North American tour dates.
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I just found out that Winterkälte is currently on tour in the North America. They have 5 concerts left in the United States and one more in Canada in what they are calling their Do Not Vote For Industry Tour 2008.

None of the concerts appear to be sold out yet, so you can either order tickets online and have the venue hold them for you (because there probably isn’t time for them to be mailed to you before the concert date, so use “will call”) or you can probably just show up on the night of the show and buy your ticket at the door. They are all pretty cheap, mostly ranging between $8 and $15 depending on the venue.

If you’re not familiar with Winterkälte, it is an industrial powernoise project created by Udo Wiessmann who also founded the record label Hands Promotion. Winterkälte’s music (I know a few people who would question whether it’s music at all) may be a bit hard to grasp for some of you who need a clear melody or vocals for you to enjoy it, but if you fall anywhere between a rivethead and an experimental music connoisseur, you should enjoy it. Check out some of his music on his Myspace page.

Winterkälte Tour Dates
Dec 04 - Washington, DC - Exposure
Dec 05 - Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker
Dec 07 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
Dec 10 - New York City, NY - Fontanas
Dec 12 - Lowell, MA - Down Street Cafe
Dec 14 - Toronto, ON - The Kathedral

Visit Winterkälte’s Tour Date list on Myspace for venue addresses, show times, and other details.

Seabound and De/Vision, two of the greatest and most popular synthpop bands in Germany, or anywhere for that matter, will be teaming up to tour the United States this January. Both bands toured America individually in early 2008, but now they have joined forces to create the Alliance Tour II for 2009.

The tourdates are scattered throughout the country and include a few cities where neither Seabound nor De/Vision have played before, like Denver, Colorado, or West Palm Beach in Florida. That’s a great opportunity for fans living in these regions that bands sometimes don’t visit. In addition to that, Iris, the American band that Seabound toured the U.S. with in 2008, will also be joining the bands for the two Texas dates.

Seabound and De/Vision - Alliance II North American Tour Dates
Jan 09 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Ground Zero
Jan 10 - Chicago, Illinois - The Abbey (Tickets)
Jan 11 - Detroit, Michigan - Smalls (Tickets)
Jan 13 - Toronto, Ontario - The Opera House (Tickets)
Jan 14 - Boston, Massachusetts - Machine Night Club (Tickets)
Jan 15 - NYC, New York - Don Hill’s (Tickets)
Jan 16 - Austin, Texas - Elysium (Tickets, albeit a little sketchy)
Jan 17 - Dallas, Texas - Lakewood Theater (Tickets)
Jan 21 - San Francisco, California - DNA Lounge (Tickets)
Jan 22 - Denver, Colorado - Cervantes (Tickets)
Jan 23 - West Palm Beach, Florida - Respectable Street (Tickets)

If you want to start off the new year right, be sure to see Seabound and De/Vision live in concert.

Obscenity Trial is a German synth-pop band that was already formed in the mid-90’s, but only managed to release their first album Here And Now on a record label a couple of years back. Since then they’ve made an EP and another album, which was released just this year. They have also toured with big names like Clan of Xymox and And One, and even succeeded in getting the prize for the best pop album for their debut in 2006 at the Deutscher Rock & Pop Preis event. Currently Obscenity Trial just happens to be touring the USA until December, so if you fancy yourself some great melancholic synth-pop with slight EBM and darkwave influences, you have plenty of opportunities to catch them live. The tour started on November 7th, so if you’re reading about the tour here for the first time and live in Florida, I’m afraid they already finished their business there yesterday.

You can catch lengthy samples of every single track from Obscenity Trial’s latest album That Night on the official site’s releases section, the player is to the right. Also, their MySpace offers some other material from previous releases. Alternatively, you can check out the band’s music videos in the media section of the site.

Obscenity Trial’s 2008 US tour dates

Nov 10 Dallas, TX - Reno’s
Nov 11 Austin, TX - Elysium
Nov 12 El Paso, TX - Uncle Paulie’s
Nov 13 Scottsdale, AZ - Mardi Gras
Nov 14 Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker
Nov 15 Las Vegas, NV - Vector Industrial Night
Nov 23 San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
Nov 25 US - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom
Nov 26 Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Nov 27 Logan, UT - TBA
Nov 28 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas
Nov 29 Denver, CO - Hi Dive
Dec 1 Kansas City,MO - TBA
Dec 2 Tulsa, OK - TBA
Dec 3 St. Louis, MO - TBA
Dec 4 Detroid, MI - Small’s Bar
Dec 6 Chicago, IL - Underground Lounge
Dec 7 Champaign, IL - TBA
Dec 9 Pittsburgh, PA - Pegasus
Dec 11 Washington D.C. - Club Liv
Dec 12 North Hampton - TBA
Dec 13 New York City, NY - Don Hill’s

Thanks to Dejan-X for the hint, and pardon us for not noticing it any earlier!

Fans of EBM and electronic music in North America rejoice - the German [:SITD:] has confirmed a bevy of tour dates for the New Continent! [:SITD:] and the American/Austrian Aesthetic Perfection will support the Californian industrial electronic outfit Imperative Reaction on its Minus All tour in autumn and early winter. The tour seems to be quite an extensive one and it’s implied that not all dates have yet been announced, so you’ll have plenty of chances to catch some of the most crushing electronic beats on the planet.

Check out [:SITD:]’s MySpace site for a taster of what you can expect, six full tracks are there for your listening pleasure. Samples of the other support group Aesthetic Perfection here, and the main attraction Imperative Reaction here.

Click below for a complete list of the tour dates, or here for the official announcement on [:SITD:]’s site

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Klangbad Records is the home of some of the most creative and experimental musicians in Germany. Faust is probably the most famous of them all, with a history stretching back to 1971. The label also has a number of non-German artists like the Russian experimentalists Ole Lukkøye, the folk-trance project Kangaroo Moon from the UK, and others.

Every year, Klangbad hosts a concert festival that has some of their best musicians as well as some from other labels. The Klangbad Festival is being held from August 1-3 this year, in the southern German town of Scheer. But, for the first time ever, the festival’s creators have decided to broadcast the entire 3-day performance live and free online. This is a fantastic idea that lets you check out the action even if you are simply too far away to actually attend the festival. Don’t miss it!

Who is performing at the Klangbad Festival this year? The major headliners on the first 2 days will be Mouse On Mars, one of Germany’s most influential electronic groups, and of course Klangbad’s own legend, Faust. Other big name artists include Bernadette la Hengst and Band, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jolly Goods, Pram, and Olafur Arnalds, along with dozens of other lesser-known musicians playing a wide range of musical styles. You can see the full list of artists and when they will be playing on the Klangbad Festival website.

The Viennese metal band Stahlhammer has just announced their first ever live appearance in the United States. They will be one of many bands performing at the Thunder of Gods Festival II outside of Austin, Texas, which will run from May 8-10 of 2009.

While the concert is still almost a year away, many of the details are already confirmed. It will be a 3-stage, 3-day weekend festival at RP Campground which is in the town of Dripping Springs, Texas. The pre-sale ticket price is expected to be $60 for the weekend which includes camping, and it will be BYOB.

The festival’s site will be announcing their first set of bands (and hopefully other details) in just a few days on June 30th. We’ll keep you up to date as the festival date comes closer.