Via First Fragment :
"This is quite a long one to read so bear with us. Rags to riffage / Thunder In The East 2023 tours are a wrap. This surreal & crazy run changed our lives and we are still processing what we have experienced, seen & felt on this amazing yet perilous journey.
The first two weeks of this run presented the most difficult set of challenges we have ever had to face as touring musicians. Some of these challenges are of a more private nature, and the other ones you already all know about by now. We definitely cheated death a few times out there. Despite the black ice accident, the hospital trips, technical problems on stage, destroyed tires, busted transmissions and becoming stranded in unknown cities, we decided to not give up no matter what life threw in our way. The moment we adopted this mindset, our luck started turning around in a positive way. The more we pressed on, the more amazing this tour turned out to be.
If anything, we feel like these experiences strenghtened the bond between ourselves and made us feel more appreciative of the good times and amazing shows we've had throughout the entirety of this tour. It made us more grateful of the opportunities given to us and the new friendships we formed as well.
We would like to thank our amazing tourmates in INFERI, Summoning The Lich, Tómarúm as well as Invicta for being outstanding & supportive people as well as being so fun to tour with.
We would also like to thank Matthieu Dhani once again for lending his voice to fill in for David AB, as well as our soundman Dug. We would like to thank the local bands whom shared the stage with us, the promoters and staff that welcomed us in their venues, everyone who offered us a place to sleep in their homes, the photographers that immortalized the shows we played and all the mechanics that ensured we could remain on the road.
A massive thank you to all our fans for being the best fans we could ask for. Whether you are an old, new or casual fan, we thank you all the same. Thank you for lending us an hand when the situation was dire, thank you for attending the shows in great numbers, thank you for taking the time to listen to our music and thank you for spreading the word about us.
We will have leftover tour merch available this month. Keep your eyes peeled on our webstore at loudtrax.com and Productions TSO. We are also finalizing the bass tabs for our 3 albums which we will sell ourselves digitially. We have also recently been given the green light to put together the instrumental versions of Dasein & Gloire Eternelle. Both will be available in digital format next year.
We are currently looking for an European booking agent so we may work towards obtaining tour offers in Europe and the UK in 2024 & 2025 to continue promoting Gloire Éternelle. It's been 4 years since we last toured Europe. It's time to return."
A full video of the band's performance in LA can be heard here :