According to a press release, Black Tusk will be continuing on — at least for the time being — without frontman/bassist Jonathan Athon, who passed away last month way before his time. While it might initially seem odd that the band would choose to tour so soon after losing a key member in such a tragic fashion, the band says the tour had already been confirmed and that Athon himself was extremely excited about it:

It’s been an incredibly trying time for us over the past month and we want to thank everyone for their support. We had confirmed the tour with Black Label Society and finished the new album before Athon’s accident and Athon, specifically, had been very excited about the opportunity to tour with BLS and we feel there’s no way he’d want things to end on this note. Corey Barhorst, formerly of Kylesa and currently of Niche, will be stepping in for Athon for the time being. All of us go back over 10 years and Corey seemed the natural choice to carry on for Athon.

So that’s obviously great news; I can’t think of a more fitting way for the remaining members of Black Tusk to honor Athon’s memory than to get out on the road. I can only imagine how difficult that will be for all involved. It’s also fantastic to learn that Black Tusk were able to finish recording their new album before Athon passed; his legacy will live on in more ways than one.

Also: touring with BLS is a HUGE break for Black Tusk. Kudos! Crobot will join the trek as well.

Whether Corey Barhorst will replace Athon on any kind of permanent basis remains to be seen… but let’s take things one step at a time here.

Dates:

Feb 11 Glasgow, UK 02 ABC

Feb 12 Birmingham, UK The Institute

Feb 13 London, UK Roundhouse

Feb 14 Bristol, UK Bristol 02 Academy

Feb 15 Leeds, UK Leeds 02 Academy

Feb 17 Norwich, UK Norwich UEA

Feb 18 Nottingham, UK Rock City

Feb 19 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy

Feb 21 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg

Feb 22 Brussels, BE Ancienne Belgique

Feb 24 Frankfurt, DE Batschkapp

Feb 25 Dortmund, DE FZW Freizeitzentrum West

Feb 26 Paris, FR Le Bataclan

Feb 27 Strasbourg, FR La Laitere

Mar 01 Aarhus, DK Train

Mar 03 Oslo, NO Rockefeller Music Hall

Mar 05 Stockholm, SE Close Up Baten (Crusie)

Mar 06 Helsinki, FI Nosturl

Mar 08 Tallinn, EE Rock Cafe

Mar 09 Vilnius, LT Forum Palace

Mar 11 Gdansk, PL B90

Mar 12 Krakow, PL Studio

Mar 14 Pratteln, CH Z7

Mar 15 Lausanne, CH Les Docks