Fresh off a successful stint on this year's Summer Slaughter Tour, Finnish folk metallers ENSIFERUM will kick off an American headlining tour with support from Nuclear Blast recording artists HYPOCRISY and EX DEO as well as Sumerian recording artists BLACKGUARD.

Said ENSIFERUM guitarist Markus Toivonen: "We had a great time on this year's Summer Slaughter tour. Thanks to all the bands involved, and to all the fans that came to see us. We're very excited to come back to [America] in November to support our new album, 'From Afar'. HYPOCRISY, EX DEO and BLACKGUARD are great bands. It should be great fun for everyone!"

HYPOCRISY will be touring in support of its soon-to-be-released and highly anticipated new album, "A Taste Of Extreme Divinity". The record will mark the band's their first full-length since 2005's "Virus".

Commented frontman Peter Tagtgren: "We're happy [with the new CD] so far; it's got everything a HYPOCRISY album should have in our own point of view. We will release it October 23 (Europe) and November 3 (North America)."

Roman-themed death metal troop EX DEO, featuring members of KATAKLYSM, MARTYR and BLACKGUARD, will be touring in support of their recently issued debut, "Romulus".

"I would like to thank everyone from the ENSIFERUM camp for this generous invitation," said mainman Maurizio Iacono. "We cordially accept the offer, but make no mistake: Rome bows to no one and our American legions are growing rapidly. We come for blood and we shall take no prisoners and in the great words of Caesar, 'Vini, Vidi, Vici,' and this is what we intend to do in November.”

The folk-influenced progressive metal act BLACKGUARD are currently celebrating the release of their debut, "Profugus Mortis". Vocalist Paul Ablaze stated, "We had such a blast with our Finnish brothers ENSIFERUM on the Summer Slaughter tour that a second round seems appropriate. Magnified by the legendary HYPOCRISY and our friends in the Roman legion of EX DEO, this will be the show to see this late fall."

The dates are as follows:

Nov. 06 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)
Nov. 07 - Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)
Nov. 08 - Volume 11 - Raleigh, NC
Nov. 09 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
Nov. 10 - Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Nov. 11 - AKA Lounge (part of the Anti*Pop Music Festival) - Orlando, FL
Nov. 13 - Meridian - Houston, TX
Nov. 14 - Emo's - Austin, TX
Nov. 15 - Ridglea Theatre- Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
Nov. 17 - Galaxy Theatre - Santa Ana, CA
Nov. 18 - Key Club - Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 19 - DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA
Nov. 20 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR
Nov. 21 - Studio Seven - Seattle, WA
Nov. 22 - Rickshaw - Vancouver, BC
Nov. 23 - Warehouse - Calgary, AB
Nov. 24 - Starlite - Edmonton, AB
Nov. 26 - The Zoo - Winnipeg, MB
Nov. 27 - The Rock - Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 28 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 29 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
Nov. 30 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
Dec. 01 - Opera House - Toronto, ON (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)
Dec. 02 - Imperial - Quebec City, QC (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)
Dec. 03 - Medley - Montreal, QC (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)
Dec. 04 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA (w/ SWASHBUCKLE )
Dec. 05 - Irving Plaza - New York, NY (w/ SWASHBUCKLE)

Quality video footage of ENSIFERUM's August 2, 2009 performance at the Global East Fest in Kiev, Ukraine can be viewed below (courtesy of Darkside.ru).

ENSIFERUM will release its fourth album, "From Afar", on September 9 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced by Tero Kinnunen (NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS) and Janne Joutsenniemi ('Victory Songs' producer) and was mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, SENTENCED, AMORPHIS).

The track listing for the album is as follows:

01. By The Dividing Stream
02. From Afar
03. Twilight Tavern
04. Heathen Throne
05. Elusive Reaches
06. Stone Cold Metal
07. Smoking Ruins
08. Tumman Virran Taa
09. The Longest Journey (Heathen Throne Part II)
10. Vandraren (limited-edition bonus track; NORDMAN cover)

Check out audio samples:

* "Smoking Ruins": Audio
* "Twilight Tavern": Audio

ENSIFERUM recently shot a video for the song "From Afar". The clip will make its online debut at the end of August.