Ohio progressive black/death metallers LOCUSTA will kick off their first tour of 2011 this Sunday in Richmond, Virginia with Battlemaster and War Graves. The short but ravenous trek will massacre eight more cities before winding down in Columbus, Ohio at the Carabar.
Commented guitarist Dru Silver: “After a year of absence from touring, we’re happy to announce that this coming week we will be kicking off our first tour of 2011 on the East Coast of the United States. Speaking of said absence, our drummer just became the proud father of a newborn daughter — congrats Simon! — and will be unable to join us. However this has granted us the opportunity for a very special lineup that you will only get a chance to see, as Alex Tomlin from Battlemaster will be stepping in to offer his services of tearing up the skins for us. Don’t miss it!”
LOCUSTA 2011 Summer Tour:
7/31/2011 The Triple – Richmond, VA w/ Battlemaster, War Graves
8/02/2011 The Corpse Fortress – Silver Springs, MD w/ Ramming Speed, Barn Burner, Black Rations, Spinebuster
8/03/2011 Cloud City – Philadelphia, PA w/ Nothing Is Over, Casket, Fungus
8/04/2011 Acheron – Brooklyn, NY w/ Headsnatcher, The Year Is One, So Hideous, My Love…
8/05/2011 Castlevania – Providence, RI w/ Ramming Speed, Nightbitch, David Carradine D/C/
8/06/2011 Starlab Fest – Boston, MA w/ Ramming Speed
8/07/2011 TBA – Portland, ME
8/09/2011 The White Rabbit – Rochester, NY w/ Warblade, Malformed, Ebony Sorrow
8/10/2011 TBA – Pittsburgh, PA
8/12/2011 The Carabar – Columbus, OH
LOCUSTA will be carrying a one-time only stock of limited run merchandise, which will include a home-made tape pressing of last year’s debut full-length release as well as a limited run of shirts that encompasses one the band’s newer unreleased songs entitled “Dendromorphosis.” These items will only be available at these shows.
In related news, LOCUSTA will play The Goregrowler’s Ball in San Antonio this coming November, alongside metal giants such as Suffocation, Hirax, Exhumed, Goatwhore, Aborted and many more. In conjunction with that festival appearance, the band are set to appear on a four-way split release released by Texas metal label Ossuary Industries, along with Demoniacal Genuflection, Iniquitous (featuring Mike Smith of Suffocation), HOD, and Ingurgitate. The split will feature three unreleased LOCUSTA songs as well as a cover, and will be available for purchase at the Ossuary Industries tent during the Goregrowler’s Ball. For more info, visit: http://goregrowlersballfest.com. A South/West Coast tour will be booked around the festival, and tentative plans are being made to enter the studio to record their next full-length sometime between Fall of 2011 and Winter of 2012. More tour dates and updates to come.
In the meantime, check out some live footage of LOCUSTA performing at the Newport Music hall with DRI in November:
LOCUSTA released their debut full-length via Kentucky-based Pragmatic Records upon an unsuspecting underground in 2010. The 10-track, self-titled offering was recorded/engineered by Brian Simakis at Capital City Studios, mastered by Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound Mastering and features strikingly stark cover art by local artist Stefan Hoza. Formed in the fall of 2006, LOCUSTA take their name from a female chemist from Ancient Rome regarded as the first documented serial killer. It was rumored that in A.D. 54, she may have been hired by Agrippina The Younger to kill the Emperor Claudius, possibly with a poisoned dish of mushrooms.