The Swiss black metal band Gravpel has been invited to join a joint tour of Botswana and South Africa from 28 October to 12 November 2022 with two preeminent local metal bands, Overthrust (Botswana) and Pyre of Gods (South Africa).

The tour kicks off at Vulture Thrust Metal Fest in Rakops, Botswana – an annual charity event to benefit disadvantaged children in the Boteti region. The festival is organised by Tshomarelo Mosaka aka Vulture Thrust. With his band Overthrust, a 4-piece old-school death metal band, Vulture Thrust has played an active role building the metal scene in Botswana and is responsible for organising many concerts and events. Overthrust have fans all over the world, and the band has performed on extensive tours in Europe.

The South African leg of the tour is organised by Riaan Els, drummer for Pyre of Gods and prominent figure in the South African metal scene. The schedule will be anchored with a performance at Johannesburg Deathfest, a major event in the local metal calendar.

In addition to connecting with the local metal scenes and deepening their relationship with Overthrust and Pyre of the Gods, Gravpel is pleased to be lending their support towards a cause that is important to the band: “With Gravpel, we attach great importance to setting a sign against rejectionism, racism and other forms of discrimination. For us, this is a central component also in our lyrics. That’s why we are especially happy to be able to play at a benefit event with the Vulture Thrust Festival, which this year is themed Disability Empowerment. It is also important to us to support the Botswana metal scene, a movement in which women play an active and central role, more than is the case with their western counterparts.”

https://youtu.be/Np2hgYwz4_w

ABOUT THE BAND

The black metal band Gravpel was founded in 2019 by musicians from the Basel music scene. All the members have been active in various bands in the region for many years and have extensive live and studio experience. The band quickly found their sound after the formation and shortly thereafter released a split EP with the Zurich band Holzerhurd. The band’s sound is inspired by raw black metal of the early 90s and the drive of punk and hardcore on the other. The band has from the beginning established an elaborate stage performance. The urgency of the sound is reflected in the stage design, light show and performance. Gravpel performs in the corpse paint typical of the genre. Thanks to this stage show, the project met with a lot of approval in a very short time and caused quite a stir. The band’s debut album was named Black Metal Album of the Year by Cvlt Nation at the end of 2021. Since its release, the album has been featured and reviewed internationally in various magazines, blogs, podcasts and vlogs. The debut album thus generated an unexpectedly large response and international attention for the band, resulting in invitations to play festivals and shows around Europe, and now southern Africa.