With a little bit more than three months left before the release ofCLUTCH‘s highly anticipated new studio effort, “Earth Rocker”, the Maryland rockers have unveiled the album’s artwork and has announced the initial dates for the first leg of the North American “Earth Rocker”world tour.

The artwork was created by Nick Lakiotes, longtime CLUTCH art director, who has worked on previous efforts, including “Robot Hive/Exodus” and“Strange Cousins From The West”.

“Earth Rocker” will be released in March 2013 via CLUTCH‘s ownWeathermaker Music label. The CD was produced by Machine (LAMB OF GODFOUR YEAR STRONGFALL OUT BOY) and is described byCLUTCH guitarist Tim Sult as “the heaviest and fastest CLUTCH album to date.”

On October 17, CLUTCH played a “super-secret” party to celebrate the completion of “Earth Rocker”. Check out footage from the event below.

CLUTCH‘s North American dates kick off March 8 in Cincinnati, Ohio and are currently slated to run through March 24 in Anaheim, California. Support on the trek will come from ORANGE GOBLINLIONIZE and KYNG. Tickets for fan club members go on sale today via Pro-Rock.com and tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 21. Look for more dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Before they hit the road for their annual holiday run, CLUTCH will headline the KBPI “When Hell Freezes Over” event on December 21 at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado.

CLUTCH‘s holiday dates kick off December 26 in Washington, D.C. and conclude with a special New Year’s Eve performance in Worcester, Massachusetts at The Palladium. The show originally scheduled for December 30 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey has been moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania at Crocodile Rock due to damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net