The 2012 Carnival of Madness lineup has been announced and with female fronted bands Evanescence and Halestorm leading the charge, the annual tour is chock full of girl power. But there's room for the gents, too, as Chevelle and New Medicine round out the bill, serving up a stellar lineup of today's best acts in modern hard rock.

The tour is set to kick off on July 31 in Springfield, Ill., and run through the rest of the summer and into early September, crossing the United States; check out the full list of dates and locations below.

All four bands have new music to bring to the stage. Evanescence released their self-titled disc at the end of 2011 and have been road warriors ever since. Halestorm recently wrapped up their Mass Chaos tour run with Godsmack and Staind and just dropped their latest album ‘The Strange Case of...’ in April. Chevelle’s ‘Hats Off to the Bull' came out in December of 2011, and the newest band on the bill, New Medicine, released their debut disc in 2010.

It was just recently that Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee was singing the praises of Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale. And now Lee offers her excitement about being on the same bill as Halestorm and Chevelle: "We're really looking forward to the Carnival of Madness tour this summer. We love Chevelle and haven't hit the road together in years, and I'm really stoked to finally be playing some shows with Halestorm. Naturally, I'm a fan of strong women in music and Lzzy's voice is spectacular."

Ticket pre-sales kick off on Tuesday, May 22, with radio pre-sale tickets available first. Carnival of Madness fan club members can begin purchasing tickets Wednesday, May 23 and artist fan club pre-sales start Thursday, May 24. General public on-sale begins June 1. To purchase tickets, click here.

2012 Carnival of Madness Tour Dates:

7/31 - Springfield, Ill. - Prairie Capital Convention Center
8/1 - Columbus, Ohio - LC Pavilion
8/3 - Atlantic City, N.J. - House Of Blues
8/4 - Chester, Pa. - Harrah's Chester Downs
8/6 - Boston, Mass. - Bank of America Pavilion
8/7 - Baltimore, Md. - Pier Six
8/8 - Charlotte, N.C. (**) - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
8/10 - Atlanta, Ga. - Aaron's Amphitheatre atLakewood
8/11 - Gulfport, Miss. - Jones Park
8/13 - Belton, Texas - Bell County Expo
8/14 - Laredo, Texas - Laredo Energy Center
8/15 - Midland, TX Midland Horseshoe Arena
8/17 - Lubbock, Texas - Venue TBA
8/18 - El Paso, Texas - Don Haskins Center
8/20 - Sioux City, Iowa - Venue TBA
8/21 - Milwaukee, Wis. - (*) Eagles Ballroom
8/23 - Grand Rapids, Mich. - (**) Rock The Rapids – Downtown
8/24 - Detroit, Mich. - DTE Music Theatre
8/26 - Chicago, Ill. - Toyota Park
8/28 - Pittsburgh, Pa. - (**) Stage AE
8/29 - Holmdel, N.J. - PNC Amphiteatre
8/30 - Uncasville, Conn. - (**) Mohegan Sun
9/2 - Buffalo, N.Y. (**) - Venue TBA
9/5 - Evansville, Ind. - Venue TBA

(*) Show features Evanescence and New Medicine with very special guests
(**) Show features Evanescence and Chevelle with very special guests

More From Loudwire