The members of Swedish heavy metal band SABATON are proud to announce the North American release party for their upcoming sixth studio album, Carolus Rex. Their ”Swedish Empire” Tour launches on April 10th in Tampa, Florida; their new album will be out in May; and the official album release party will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd in Hollywood, California at the famous Key Club. ”It feels great to do something special and unique in America for once,” states SABATON bassist & founding member Pär Sundström. ”In the past we have had all our release parties in Europe, but this time we’re happy to say that we will be celebrating this new chapter in SABATON’s history with all you American fans.” Supporting 2010’s fifth studio album Coat Of Arms, SABATON introduced themselves to North American audiences via special performances at South By Southwest, Atlanta’s annual ProgPower Festival, and the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. Coat Of Arms debuted at #124 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #87 on the Top Hard Music chart and was achieved Gold status in Poland for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. Worldwide first-week chart entries for Coat Of Arms included: Sweden #4; Poland #9; Finland #17; Germany #19; Switzerland #33 and Austria #71. The band‘s first live album, World War Live: Battle of the Baltic Sea, was released in September, 2011. Last year, SABATON toured as main support for Accept in North America and also performed with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, & Scorpions in Europe. They continue to play at almost every major European festival. Since 2007, they’ve operated their own 3-day open air festival in Falun, Sweden and sell-out their annual ocean cruise with over 2,000 SABATON fans on board. Their 2011 World War Live tour took them to over 30 countries to play 200 concerts at mainly sold out venues. In Summer 2012, SABATON will headline Masters of Rock (a 25,000+ capacity festival) and the famous Metalcamp festival in Slovenia. The band has won many awards including a Golden Gods Award from Metal Hammer U.K., various Swedish Metal awards including a Swedish Radio P4 Award, Radio Bandit Award, and two Swedish Grammy nominations. Dates for SABATON’s upcoming North American “Swedish Empire” tour are: 04/10/12 Brass Mug - Tampa, FL 04/12/12 Scout Bar - Houston, TX 04/13/12 Trees - Dallas, TX 04/15/12 Backstage Live - San Antonio, TX 04/17/12 Wreckers - Lubbock, TX 04/18/12 Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO 04/19/12 The Beaumont Club - Kansas City, MO 04/20/12 Spicoli´s Grill and the Reverb Rock Garden - Waterloo, IA 04/22/12 The Firebird - St Louis , MO 04/23/12 The Rave - Milwaukee, WI 04/25/12 The Casbah - Charlotte, NC 04/27/12 Bogie´s - Albany, NY 04/28/12 Broadway Joe´s - Buffalo, NY 04/29/12 Peabody´s - Cleveland, OH 04/30/12 Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA 05/02/12 The Loft - Poughkeepsie, NY 05/03/12 The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA 05/04/12 The Gramercy Theatre – New York City, NY 05/05/12 The Palladium - Worcester, MA 05/07/12 Petit Campus - Montreal, QC – CANADA 05/08/12 Imperial de Quebec - Quebec City, QC - CANADA 05/10/12 Wreck Room - Toronto, ON - CANADA 05/11/12 Music Hall - London, ON - CANADA 05/12/12 Alrosa’s Villa - Columbus, OH 05/13/12 Blondie´s - Detroit, MI 05/15/12 Station 4 - St Paul, MN 05/16/12 Reggie Rock Club - Chicago, IL 05/18/12 Vernon Club - Louisville, KY 05/19/12 Kingdom - Richmond, VA 05/20/12 Soundstage - Baltimore, MD 05/21/12 Jaxx - West Springfield, VA 05/23/12 Key Club – Hollywood, CA *OFFICIAL RELEASE PARTY* 05/25/12 Circo Volador - Mexico City, D.F. - MÉXICO Fans are encouraged to vote for SABATON in the “Best Group/Artist” & “Best Live Act” categories in Sweden’s Bandit Rock Awards poll here. Voting ends January 25th,