Sweden's HAMMERFALL have announced their fall tour European Outbreak 2011 and confirmed American metal icons RIOT as special guests on the first leg of dates. The new Swedish metal sensation AMARANTHE is also confirmed as support for the whole tour. HammerFall frontman Joacim Cans comments:

"For thirty years I have been a true and devoted Riot fan. Albums like Fire Down Under and Thundersteel have inspired me immensely, both as a singer and a songwriter, and the honest truth is that I would probably not be here today if it wasn't for Riot. As a homage to the band we also covered their classic song 'Flight Of The Warrior' on the album Masterpieces in 2008. I am totally psyched about having Riot as our special guest for the first leg of the European tour and I can assure you that I will be in the audience banging my head and singing along in every song...every single night! Hell yeah!"

Riot founder/guitarist Mark Reale is equally enthusiastic: “This tour is going to blow a lot of cobwebs away. We’ve been dying to get the band back over the Europe where we’ve always had such a loyal following. This is like a dream come true for all of us, and the timing, with the new album ready to roll, couldn’t be better.”

This will be the first time the legendary Thundersteel and The Privilege Of Power line-up of Tony Moore (vocals), Mark Reale (guitar), Mike Flyntz (guitar), Don Van Stavern (bass) and Bobby Jarzombek (drums) has played in Europe on a full tour, after the band's celebrated one-off show at Sweden rock festival in 2009. Having signed with SPV worldwide - except for Japan, where they are signed to Avalon Marquee - Riot are currently finalizing their new album Immortal Soul, which is due in October. The dates with HammerFall will therefore also be an opportunity for fans to hear new material from the band´s upcoming – and long-awaited – fourteenth album.

Newcomers Amaranthe recently released their debut album which charted #1 in Japan is set as main support at European Outbreak 2011. Olof Mörck, founder of Aamranthe comments:

"All of us in Amaranthe are mighty proud to go tour with our metal brothers from Gothenburg, the legendary HammerFall! To take part on this huge tour that will take us to every corner in Europe is sure to be a pleasure, and we hope their fans will receive us kindly. We are sure to do our best to deliver as good of a show as possible, every single night from October through November. See all of you on tour this fall!"

The tour schedule is as follows:

October (with Riot and Amaranthe)

28 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Lisebergshallen
29 - Stockholm, Sweden - Arenan
31 - Hamburg, Germany - Große Freiheit

November (with Riot and Amaranthe)

1 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
2 - Filderstadt, Germany - Filharmonie
4 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle

5 - Paris, France - Bataclan

6 - Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - Rockhal
7 - Zurich, Switzerland - Volkhaus
9 - Vienna, Austria - Arena
10 - Graz, Austria - Orpheum
11 - Milan, Italy - Magazinni Generali
12 - München, Germany - Theaterfabrik
15 - Warzaw, Poland - Stodola
16 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys
17 - Tilburg, Netherlands - 013
18 - Köln, Germany - Essigfabrik

November (with Amaranthe)

27 - Trencin, Slovakia - Piano
28 - Budapest, Hungary - Petöfi Hall
30 - Bucharest, Romania - Hard Rock Café

December

1 - Belgrade, Serbia - SKC
2 - Zagreb, Croatia - Boogaloo
3 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Siska
4 - Passau, Germany - Dreiländerhalle
6 - Barcelona, Spain - Salamandra 1
7 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Heineken
8 - Seville, Spain - Fanatic
9 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club
10 - Bilbao, Spain - Santana 27 Gold