70000 Tons of Metal, the original heavy metal cruise and still the biggest, has revealed the first 30 of the 60 bands sailing in January 2027, and tickets are on sale now.
The 2027 voyage sails from Miami to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and back, from 14 to 18 January 2027, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. Only 3,000 tickets are available.
Arch Enemy, Exodus, HammerFall, Moonspell, Evergrey and Primal Fear lead the first wave. Rhapsody will play as part of their final shows, which makes this one a must for power metal fans. Guitar legend Uli Jon Roth joins them, along with Equilibrium, Enforcer, Warbringer, Obscura, Origin, Naglfar, Melechesh, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter and Ye Banished Privateers.
The rest of the first wave is Abigail Williams, Æther Realm, Avaland, Battlelore, Brainstorm, Brymir, Exmortus, Famous Strangers, Mors Principium Est, Sinister, Talia Hoit, Thulcandra and Wolfheart.
Finnish winter metal band Wolfheart have something special planned. They’ll give their forthcoming album its world live premiere on board, and footage from the set will feature in an upcoming music video. Tuomas Saukkonen said: “It is an absolute honor to step on the deck of the mighty 70000TONS OF METAL for the 3rd time, on one of the most majestic metal events in this universe. This time we are bringing something special with us: the world live premiere of our forthcoming album!!!”
Every band plays twice across four stages, including the pool deck stage, which the organisers say is the biggest open-air stage structure ever to sail the open seas. Hot tubs are built right into it. There are no VIP areas, every ticket includes meet and greets with each band, and fans can join the bands on artist-escorted shore excursions. The famous “Jamming in International Waters” all-star jam returns too.
We can’t think of many better ways to spend a January than watching Arch Enemy from a hot tub in the Caribbean. With 30 more bands still to come, the line-up is only going to get bigger.
