The Welsh boys The Blackout are back. The sextet will be exclusively releasing the first single off their Epitaph debut, ‘The Best In Town’ as a free download available only on Kerrang.com

The single, STFUppercut which is a hard-hitting rock n roll anthem, will be available to download on 25th and 26th March on the website. STFUppercut will then go on general digital release the following Monday, 30th March for those that missed it!

The single has already debuted on XFM and getting plays on Radio 1, Radio 6 and at specialist!

The Blackout will also be playing a very special gig that week for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, alongside Bullet for My Valentine & Fightstar on Saturday 28 March.

More live dates below:

17 April London Brixton Academy GIAN London
19 April Manchester Academy GIAN Manchester

12-14 June Download. Alongside Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, koßn and more!

Playing a hot-wired mixture of metal, punk and indie rock with melodies that only increase the music’s impact velocity, The Blackout are six young men hailing from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Featuring Gavin Butler and Sean Smith on vocals, James Davies and Matthew Davies on guitars, Rhys Lewis on bass and Gareth Lawrence on drums, the Blackout came together in 2003; they cut a three-song demo EP, Pull No Punches, in 2004 and within two years they became a name to be reckoned with on the UK club circuit. In 2006, the Blackout were signed to Fierce Panda Records, one of London’s leading independent labels, and quickly released the single “Hard Slammin’”. A six-song EP, The Blackout! Blackout! Blackout, followed later that year, which featured the single “I’m A Riot? You’re A F—-ing Riot”. In the fall of 2007, the Blackout released their first full-length album, We Are The Dynamite, and the band was soon sharing stages with the likes of Funeral For A Friend, Avenged Sevenfold and Thrice as well as playing the 2008 Give It A Name festival in London and Sheffield alongside Paramore, Thirty Seconds To Mars and Alkaline Trio.

www.myspace.com/theblackout

Funeral for a Friend’s energized blend of emo, metal, and post-hardcore is created by vocalist Matt Davies, guitarists Kris Roberts and Darran Smith, bassist Gareth Davies, and drummer Randy Richards. The Welsh quintet first appeared in 2002 with a series of EPs and singles, including Between Order and Model, Four Ways to Scream Your Name, and Juneau. Such releases helped land the group on the cover of Kerrang! magazine, a recognition of the band’s growing hype that, in turn, earned a record deal with Warner Music. Funeral for a Friend’s debut full-length, Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, was then issued in October 2003. It was not given a concurrent U.S. release; instead, the seven-track mini-CD Seven Ways to Scream Your Name (collecting non-album tracks from the earlier EPs) appeared domestically via the New Jersey indie label Ferret. Meanwhile, Funeral for a Friend embarked on a series of high-profile touring engagements, including a series of European dates opening for Iron Maiden.

Touring continued through summer 2004, and the =Spilling Blood in 8mm DVD appeared in September with live footage, videos, and a band documentary. Funeral for a Friend returned in June 2005 with Hours, their second full-length; more touring followed, including the band’s first stint on the Warped Tour. The guys also picked up that year’s Kerrang! award for Best British Band. Back at home by the end of 2005, Matt Davies utilized some downtime from touring to work on material for his first side project, the alt-country-inspired the Secret Show, whose debut album was released in February 2007. Three months later, Funeral for a Friend issued their next album, Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, subsequently jumping on the road for headlining dates in the U.K. and U.S. before spending summer on the Warped Tour. Memory and Humanity followed shortly thereafter, arriving during the final quarter of 2008 and featuring the band’s familiar mix of emo-influenced songcraft and anthemic rock uplift.

Welsh rockers FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND release ‘Rules And Games’, the new single to be taken from their smash hit ‘Memory And Humanity’ album, on March 23 2009. Released on their own label, Join Us Records, it will coincide with a UK tour.

Currently touring the world in support of the album (the band are Stateside for six weeks, then visiting Mexico, Japan, Asia and Australia - where they tour for a week with the Soundwave Festival), they will return to the UK in March for a string of dates.

The band will also hit the road to support the release.

Catch them live at one of the following:

Mon 23 Mar PONTYPRIDD Muni Arts Centre
Tue 24 Mar DERBY University
Wed 25 Mar GLASGOW QMU
Fri 27 Mar LEEDS Rios
Sat 28 Mar LONDON ULU
Mon 30 Mar SHEFFIELD University Foundry
Tue 31 Mar NORTHAMPTON Roadmender

We Are The Ocean (www.myspace.com/wearetheoceanuk) will be main support. Opener tbc shortly.