Amaranthe guitarist Olof Mörck has checked in with the following message celebrating a milestone in his career: Dragonland's 2001 debut album, The Battle Of The Ivory Plains

"Twenty years have passed.. and a day. It still seems near in time, but it is far away enough that I listened to the first mix of this album on a cassette. I had never been in a professional recording studio when it was time to enter Los Angered studios courtesy of Anders 'Andy Laroque', and I clearly remember the nervous anticipation together with a feeling that it was long overdue for me to record a real album - Jon Nödveidt of Dissection had recorded his first album at age 16, I was getting very old at 18 (according to my sentiment at the time).

I quickly felt at home in the studio environment, but it was rather daunting when it was finally time for my guitar recordings - King Diamond guitar hero Andy was tracking me, and at the end of the very first riff he asked me 'are you supposed to play that?' after poorly executing a diminished arpeggio. The novelty of the situation and too much coffee had proved a bit much for me, but luckily the recordings went swiftly after that. A good thing, since we had but two-three weeks all in all to record the thing.

I did not perform a great deal of rhythm guitars on this album (3-4 songs if I remember correctly) since Nicklas, Elias and Jonas had generously asked me to join the band a couple of months earlier, and I was still fresh to the band, and indeed, the entire power metal genre. I got more into my element when it was time to record solos, on a small 4-track portable studio set up in Nicklas' apartment. Those solos from 20 years ago don't display great maturity, but where they lack in sophistication, they excel in enthusiasm. 

The Battle Of The Ivory Plains will always be were my journey started, and without it I don't know where I would be today: but probably somewhere else entirely. Happy 20th birthday, you weird, wonderful thing!"

Amaranthe recently checked in with the following update:

"We're pleased to announce two UK co-headline shows for January 2022 with Beyond The Black:

18.01.2022 – UK - Manchester, O2 Ritz
19.01.2022 – UK - London, O2 Forum Kentish Town

Our show together with Sabaton at Wembley in London last year was one of the very last before the lockdowns, and with such a phenomenal experience and reception we are looking forward beyond words to these two shows in the UK! With a package loaded with a full evening of energising melodic metal you are sure to forget restrictions ever existed! See you soon UK!

Tickets went on sale Friday March 12th here. See you there!"

The die is cast: 2021 won't be the year Amaranthe and Beyond The Black unleash their monster of a tour to take Europe by storm. The European co-headline tour of the Swedish modern metal heroes and Germany's melodic metallers has been pushed back to 2022.

Amaranthe issued the following statement: "We are absolutely crushed, but unfortunately not surprised that we will have to postpone our European tour with Beyond The Black once again. We were so very much looking forward to finally be on stage to play the new Manifest songs for you! However, we feel very hopeful about doing this tour in 2022 instead - let time fly by quickly, and see you again on stage again before you know it!"

Beyond The Black vocalist  Jennifer Haben adds: "By rescheduling this tour we believe to create the safe and high quality live experience our fans all over Europe deserve! And be sure: after this hard period of restriction Beyond The Black and Amaranthe will come back even more intense and louder than ever!"

Purchased tickets remain valid for the new dates. For refunds, please contact your ticket seller.

The new schedule is as follows:

January 2022
5 - Munich, Germany - Zenith
7 - Leipzig, Germany - Haus Auensee
8 - Offenbach, Germany - Stadthalle
9 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
11 - Bordeaux, France - Rock School Barbey
12 - Madrid, Spain - Sala BUT
13 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz II
15 - Lyon, France - Ninkasi Kao
16 - Paris, France - Elysee Montmartre
18 - Manchester, UK - O2 Ritz
19 - London, UK O2 Forum Kentish Town
21 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle I
22 - Ludwigsburg, Germany  - MHP Arena
24 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Metropole
25 - Zurich, Switzerland - Komplex
26 - Milano, Italy - Live Club
28 - Budapest, Hungaery - Barba Negra
29 - Vienna, Austria - Arena  
31 - Warsaw, Poland - Progresja  

February 2022
1 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle  
2 - Hamburg, Germany - Sporthalle  
4 - Zlin, Czech Republic - MOR Cafe
5 - Geiselwind, Germany - Event Hall 
6 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli Ronda
8 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
10 - Göteborg, Sweden - Pustervik
11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Klubben Fryshuset 
12 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene