God Dethroned will release their new album, Illuminati, on February 7 via Metal Blade Records. You can pre-order the album in a number of formats here, and watch a video for the title track, below.

The immutable power of the Netherlands' greatest blackened death metal band, God Dethroned, rings true on new album, Illuminati - their most varied material to date. With a cover by Polish master Michał 'Xaay' Loranc (Nile, Evocation), Illuminati is conversant in the tenets of death metal - experimental where it needs to be, and indomitable in spirit. It's the kind of album that will bestow the Dutch heroes with accolades and push them across Europe (first with Obscura - see dates below) and then the rest of the globe (planning for North and South America is under way) throughout 2020.

God Dethroned's Henri Sattler checked in with the following comment about Illuminati: "Freemasons, occultists and conspiracy theory enthusiasts pay attention! God Dethroned is back to smack you in the face with our new album called 'Illuminati'. After finishing the World War One trilogy, it was about time to go back to dark side with songs about religion, freemasonry and the occult. Song titles like 'Spirit of Beelzebub', 'Broken Halo', 'Book of Lies' and 'Satan Spawn' leave very little to the imagination as to what to expect from us from a lyrical point of view.

But those of you who expected us to go back into a raging frenzy of endless blastbeats and buzzsaw blade guitar sounds better beware. 'Illuminati' is our most varied album to date with a heavy, yet in-your-face type of production. We managed to make our sound bigger and more orchestral than ever before with the use of both atmospheric keyboard parts and many additional vocal parts such as choirs and grunt-on-tone type of vocals. There is a lot to be discovered in the songs of this album because of the many details hidden in the music that will only reveal itself after many listens, and at the same time the tunes on 'Illuminati' are catchier than ever before.

Lovers of Rhandy Roads-meets-Marty Friedman type of melodic guitar solos should definitely give Dave Meester's spectacular leads a listen. Dave was welcomed to the band's line-up during the European tour with Belphegor and Suffocation and stayed within our ranks ever since. Former guitar player Mike Ferguson however contributed greatly to 'Illuminati' by writing several stunning songs and riffs as well as recording half of all the rhythm tracks on the album. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours."

Formats:

- jewelcase-CD
- digipak-CD (EU Exclusive)
- box set (digipak CD, bonus DVD, chain necklace, photo cards, patch - limited to 3000 copies)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- clear violet blue marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- beige brown marbled vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- steel blue marbled vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- blue / green melt w/ red splatter vinyl (EU Shop exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- burgundy marbled vinyl (US exclusive - limited to 200 copies)

* exclusive bundles with shirts, plus digital options are also available.

Album cover by Michal Xaay Loranc.

Illuminati tracklisting:

"Illuminati"
"Broken Halo"
"Book Of Lies"
"Spirit Of Beelzebub"
"Satan Spawn"
"Gabriel"
"Eye Of Horus"
"Dominus Muscarum"
"Blood Moon Eclipse"

"Illuminati" video:

On the live-front, God Dethroned have just confirmed three special Illuminati album-release shows in Lingen (Germany), Hoogeveen and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), before the start of their European tour with fellow deathsters Obscura, Thulcandra and label-mates Fractal Universe. This tour will cover central and eastern Europe, the Baltic states, Scandinavia as well as Germany, to be followed by another tour across the western part of Europe. Afterwards, the Americas are on God Dethroned's agenda and several festival appearances, of which the first ones have been announced now too.

Confirmed God Dethroned live shows so far are listed below.

Illuminati release shows:

February
7 - Lingen, Germany - Alter Schlachthof
8 - Hoogeveen, The Netherlands - Het Podium
9 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Baroeg

February, with Obscura, Thulcandra, Fractal Universe
15 - Zug, Switzerland - Galvanik
16 - Bologna, Italy - Locomotiv
17 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Orto Bar
18 - Graz, Austria - Explosiv
19 - Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Palma
20 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Mixtape5
21 - Bucharest, Romania - Quantic Club
22 - Belgrade, Serbia - Bozidarac
23 - Budapest, Hungary - Dürer Kert
24 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Randal
25 - Prague, Czech Rep. - Futurum
26 - Krakow, Poland - Kwadrat
27 - Warsaw, Poland - Proxima
28 - Riga, Latvia - Melna Piektdiena
29 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tapper Club

March, with Obscura, Thulcandra, Fractal Universe
1 - Helsinki, Finland - Tavastia
3 - Stockholm, Sweden - Klubben
4 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
5 - Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
6 - Essen, Germany - Turock
7 - Landshut, Germany - Rocket Club

Festival appearances:

March
28 - Hirschaid, Germany - Braincrusher Festival

April
17 - Lichtenfels, Germany - Ragnarok Festival

May
2 - Erica, The Netherlands - Pitfest

June
5 - Montagny, France - Lions Metal Fest

July
24 - Freissenbüttel, Germany - Burning Q Festival
25 - Ottobeuren, Germany - Schlichtenfest

God Dethroned lineup:

Henri Sattler - vocals, guitars
Michiel van der Plicht - drums
Jeroen Pomper - bass, vocals
Dave Meester - guitars