Swedish black metallers MARDUK have announced the second leg of thier "Funeral Nation Tour". The trek will be split into three parts:

* 15 dates covering mostly Eastern Europe and the Balkans, with VADER as special guests and MASTIC SCUM and SINATE in the support slots
* Four shows in Belgium and the Netherlands, with support from EDGE OF SERENITY and SINATE
* 10-date U.K./Ireland tour with ANAAL NATHRAKH as special guests and ARTISIAN and ZEBADIAH CROWE in the support slots.

For a list of dates, go to this location.

Video footage of MARDUK performing live in Ljubljana, Slovenia on October 25, 2009 can be viewed below.

"Wormwood", the eleventh album from MARDUK, sold around 650 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD landed at position No. 99 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Wormwood" was released in the U.S. on October 13 via Regain Records (September 24 in Europe). The CD was recorded at Endarker Studios in Norrköping, Sweden with engineer/producer Magnus Devo Andersson.

Following three very special U.S. appearances in August in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York (effectively breaking their streak of visa issues), MARDUK will return for a full North American headlining tour this November. The band will be joined by NACHTMYSTIUM, MANTIC RITUAL, MERRIMACK and BLACK ANVIL (on select dates).

Dubbed U.S. Plague Tour 2009, the trek will kick off on November 20 at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts and run through 21 more dates before coming to a close in New York City on December 16 at the Gramercy Theater, where the band recently played to an overwhelming crowd response.