I’ll admit to carrying more than a bit of jealousy in my heart for those who’ll be in either London or Berlin at the end of the month when Desertfest gets underway in both towns. Either city is a trek I’d gladly make if I had cash for the flight, and I suppose if being broke has any upside, it’s saving me from having to choose one over the other. Poor consolation for not getting over there, but frankly I’ll take what I can get at this point.

A video trailer back Stubb‘s Jack Dickinson surfaced for the London fest about a week ago, and today Berlin followed suit in posting a trailer for the fest there. Again, either way you go, you can’t really lose. Whether you’re seeing Causa Sui and Stoned Jesus in Berlin or Pombagira and Borracho in London, you’re in for an amazing weekend you won’t soon forget and an experience of a community coming into its own even as it continues to discover what that means. This is a very cool year for Desertfest. So was last year. The one before that wasn’t half bad either.

You get the point though, and the point is me, unemployed and sulking. I’m sure I’ll have more about Desertfest before it actually launches, but I wanted to post these clips together just to give a sample of the vibe of both festivals and what they have to offer the discerning gormandizers who might hit them up. Desertfest Berlin runs April 24-26 at Astra Kulturhaus in Berlin, Germany, and Desertfest London picks up April 25-27 at various venues in Camden Town. Info in the clips and at the links.

Desertfest Berlin 2014 trailer

24th, 25th, 26th April 2014 : DESERTFEST BERLIN

THURSDAY 24th – Spirit Caravan Official – Sleepy Sun – Siena Root – ASG – Sixty Watt Shaman – Pet The Preacher – ANCIIENTS – The Midnight Ghost Train – Cojones
—–
FRIDAY 25th — Kvelertak – Causa Sui – Church of Misery Official – Elder – Huata – HULL – GOZU – BLACK RAINBOWS – Prisma Circus – The Moth – Red Stoner Sun – MANTAR
—–
SATURDAY 26th — Clutch – Radio Moscow – The Machine – The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic – Stoned Jesus – THE GRAVIATORS – Sasquatch – Radar Men from the Moon – SardoniS – Castle – Metal Band – Powder for Pigeons – DoctoR DooM

Desertfest Berlin website

Desertfest London 2014 trailer

Desertfest 2014 is heavier than before & Taking over Camden, London during the 25-27th April.With over 60 bands from the underground stoner / doom and sludge scene peforminng this years fesitval is not to be missed, Headliners are Spirit Caravan / Kvlertak & Boris, plus weedeater, church of misery, ASG, blues Pills and many more…for the full line up please click below.

Desertfest London website

Tomorrow night, March 22, Baltimore heavyweights Sixty Watt Shaman will take the stage at the Windup Space as headliners for the Moving the Earth 2 festival. It’s a bill they share with a host of others loyal to the Doom Capitol in geography or spirit including Iron Man, Black Lung, Kingsnake and Wasted Theory, among others, and the beginning of a reunion some years in the making. Sixty Watt Shaman called it quits after the release of 2002’s Reason to Live on Spitfire Records, arguably as they hit their peak of notoriety. As bassist Rev. Jim Forrester elucidates, however, it wasn’t so simple as that. To be fair, it rarely is.

Moving the Earth 2 is the first of several fests at which Sixty Watt will appear in the coming months. They’ve been confirmed for Desertfest in both London and Berlin at the end of April, and May 3 will find them at the top of the bill at The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Granted, they’ve played intermittently over the last decade, but it speaks to the continued relevance of Sixty Watt Shaman‘s studio albums that their work precedes them after all this time. Before Reason to Live served as their swansong, 2000’s Seed of Decades and 1998’s Ultra Electric positioned the Marylanders among the forerunners of what was then still a pretty deep underground. They’re a band whose influence has seeped into a lot of East Coast heavy rock, and the response to their return has been appropriately loud.

Comprised of Forrester, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Todd Ingram (who replaced Joe Selby), returned drummer Chuck Dukehart III (also of Foghound), who left in 2000, and guitarist/vocalist Daniel Soren, the reinvigorated Sixty Watt Shaman has hinted at new material of one form or another to come this year, and reissues of their past albums are in the works, though details remain to be solidified. Wherever they head after these fests, as Forrester describes in the interview that follows, the four-piece are taking a more mature, “grown-up” approach. So no, it seems they won’t be crashing on your couch this time around.

This interview was conducted a little while back, but Rev. Jim — whose involvement in post-Sixty Watt projects like Angels of Meth, Soaphammer, The Devil You Know and Serpents of Secrecy as well as his reputation as an all-around good guy precedes him — was kind enough to shed some light on how the Sixty Watt Shaman reunion came about, how it’s been getting back to work with the band, and where he thinks it might all be heading.

Please find the Q&A after the jump, and enjoy:

Read more »

We’re knee-deep in prime festival-add time now, and Desertfest 2014 in both London and Berlin continues to tack on bands at an alarming rate. One struggles (and apparently fails) to keep up. A few more announcements have come out today, but for the ease of the reader and also my poor brain, here’s a quick rundown of the latest additions to both locales first:

London: Bright Curse, Radio Moscow, Borracho, 11Paranoias, The Cosmic Dead.

Berlin: Sasquatch (!), Radio Moscow, Doctor Doom, The Moth, Castle.

Kvelertak will play in Berlin and London, and in case you missed the exclamation point, it fucking rules that Sasquatch will join their labelmates Gozu in Berlin. European tour dates together, maybe? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Meantime:

DesertFest 2014 Tunes into Radio Moscow

Next to join the annual DesertFest juggernaut are San Diegan blues-psych power trio, Radio Moscow; a band who manage to both chill you the fuck out and wake you the fuck up at the same time.

Part of that ‘70s revival scene that has invaded Europe in recent years – see Graveyard, Horisont, Gentlemans Pistols and Kadavar – Radio Moscow prove that the throwback vibes can be mastered on the more Western side of the Atlantic too. Starting out life as the duo of the multi-instrumentalist mainstay Parker Griggs and bassist Serana Andersen, Radio Moscow have been laying down the fuzz infused southern stomp since 2003 with their self-titled debut full length dropping in 2007. Three full lengths – including the absolutely stunningly swaggering sophomore, ‘Brain Cycles’ – and several bassists and drummers later, Radio Moscow have cemented their sound around the aching-heart blues strut of Parker Griggs, and a touch of distortion.

Definitely one to bring the foot-stomping and head-bopping to any swarm of onlookers, Radio Moscow are sure to slay in Camden this April. You stay bluesy San Diego.

Kind Words: Tom Geddes

DesertFest 2014 Takes the Bright Curse

Citizens of the world, Bright Curse have been kicking up a right old stink in our very own London since their acid and angst infused inception during the summer of 2012.

The trio, who hail from France, have been daring and dastardly enough to produce something that is all too rare nowadays: original music. Now, that doesn’t mean to say there aren’t echoes of inspiration in there in abundance. From Queens of the Stone Age to Graveyard to Dozer, they’re all present and accounted for yet buried so deep beneath the soil of Bright Curse’s smoky, solo-laden, shadow dwelling brand of rock it’s near impossible to put your finger on a dominant influence.

Their EP track ‘The Hermit’ is somehow both mesmerising and monstrous all at once; haunting whispers one moment lead into a crushing war-cry of composed fury the next that has Vikings racing away in retreat. Complete with obligatory badass artwork adorning their t-shirts Bright Curse could well have been designed with DesertFest in mind. Witnessing the prophecy unravel will be a mind-bending experience, for sure.

Kind Words: Dan Grigg

** DESERTFEST BERLIN 2014 – SASQUATCH CONFIRMED **

We are thrilled to announce that Los Angeles Rockers SASQUATCH are confirmed for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2014 !

SASQUATCH was formed in Los Angeles in 2001 by Philadelphia transplant Keith Gibbs (Guitar, Vocals) and Detroit natives Rick Ferrante (Drums) and Clayton Charles (Bass). After bursting onto the stoner rock scene with, not one, but two, closely packed studio albums (conveniently named Sasquatch “I” and “II”) in 2004 and 2006, the power trio went subterranean until 2010 before resurfacing with a new lineup (upon Clayton’s departure in 2007, the guys recruited Chicagoan Jason Casanova to join the fold) and a third opus (entitled, you guessed it… “III”), to the relief of many impatient fans.

This career-establishing trilogy managed to seduce listeners and critics by beginning with the debut’s roaring-down-the-highway riffs, hypnotic grooves and occasional forays into southern rock ; continuing with the sophomore LP’s increasingly focused, hook-laden hard rock classicism ; and culminating in the third album’s heightened states of fuzz-distortion and earth-rumbling power chords.

All the while, SASQUATCH steadily brought their advanced heavy rock “theories” to the people, as they demolished stages across the globe alongside the likes of Blue Cheer, Nebula, Unida, Solace and Fatso Jetson, to name a few. Most recently, the band was sighted marauding across Europe with Small Stone label mates Roadsaw & Dixie Witch.

In September 2013, the band returned with a brand-spanking new album titled “IV”. Drawing on influences from 70’s hard rock mixed with a dash of metal and an unmistakable undercurrent psychedelia, a clear songwriting approach keeping the focus on the hook, the band delivered their most mature, inspired and diverse song-set to date, chunked with compositional twists, both heartwarmingly familiar and totally unexpected, plus thundering power chords, sizzling solos, shrewd melodic flights and even super-trippy moments…

Wreaking havoc with this forth Small Stone release, SASQUATCH lead the way with their fiery brand of rock n’ roll, and we are really happy to have them playing at DESERTFEST BERLIN 2014 !

http://www.desertfest.de/
http://www.thedesertfest.com/london/

Sasquatch, IV (2013)

I guess sometimes we all need a little jump-up-and-down thrash in our lives, and Norwegian triple-guitar six-piece Kvelertak seem only too ready to provide. The band, which released their second album, Meir, in 2013 as their Roadrunner Records debut, will headline the Berlin edition of the 2014 Desertfest and have signed on to play London as well.

Word just came in this morning from across the Atlantic:

EXCLUSIVITY : THIRD HEADLINER… KVELERTAK (NOR)

Today is a fucking great day for DESERTFEST BERLIN (and of course for all of you who support us)! We are soooo thrilled to introduce to you our third headliner, the tripply-guitared Norwegian outfit KVELERTAK!!

KVELERTAK is the band which made sensation in 2010 with their first album out from nowhere, one-of-a-kind blend of Punk-Hardcore and Black Metal boosted with a Rock n Roll energy! Actually, at their best, KVELERTAK register as 40-plus years of aggressive-rock history crammed into one filler-free highlight reel.

In 2010, their first album stayed 30 weeks in the Norwegian charts! With such radical music, that should have been done! KVELERTAK piled-up tours with the biggest names of the underground scene : Coliseum, Converge, Toxic Holocaust, Torche and Kylesa, and finally recorded their second long-awaited album last spring!

On their second album “Meir” (which reached the 2nd rank on Rolling Stone “20 best Metal Albums of 2013”), Stavanger six-piece KVELERTAK haven’t exactly refined the formula that made their success; rather, they’ve bottled it, destroyed the recipe and knocked back gallons of the stuff like Vikings at a post-pillage feast.

To support “Meir” the Norse wild-men played more than a hundred of shows all over the world (Europe, Japan, Australia…), and ended some weeks ago a month of tour with monsters High on Fire!

Well, that is all we can say… KVELERTAK is not a band you talk about, it’s a band you see LIVE! Because you just have to bring KVELERTAK on stage to ensure the most delightful mayhem! Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon

Kvelertak, Live at Øyafestivalen 2013

Both of these are pretty badass and I didn’t figure anyone would complain, so I thought I’d put up the posters for Desertfest next year. Both London and Berlin have come out in the last couple days — you’d almost think it wasn’t a coincidence! — and though each has its own personality like the fests themselves, I think looking at either you know you’re getting a heavy show. Maybe I’m biased.

Malleus handled the London poster, and Ammo, from Belgium, the Berlin one. For Malleus, these are pretty regular themes — their affection for redheads goes way back and here brings to mind some of the exploits of Fanny Jo Stingray, may she rest in piece — and with Ammo’s the pencil grays and insane level of detail bring to mind a black and white take on Earth‘s The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, though obviously the color/lack thereof makes a huge difference.

Check them out and see what you think:

Desertfest London 2014 Poster by Malleus

We are pleased to be able to unveil Desertfest 2014’s awesome limited addition screen print poster, created by the equally awesome Malleus. Malleus is a poster art trio featuring Poia and Urlo of UFOMAMMUT and we just couldn’t help get them involved again. The prints will be available next week to pre order at £20 and of course will be available at the festival.

We are also excited to be announcing the Human Disease/When When Planets Collide stage on Thursday. Expect a heavy underworld line up…

https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon

Desertfest Berlin 2014 Poster by Ammo

We are thrilled to unveil our official poster for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2014, made by the Brussels-based guy AMMO!! We really dig it, and we hope you too!

You will discover more about AMMO through an interview that will be published soon, but meanwhile, you can check his past work on http://ammoamo.blogspot.fr/!

https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin

In news you care way less about, I’ve been made a press partner with both the London and Berlin Desertfests again and I’m proud and happy to be continuing this site’s relationship with the expanding and continually impressive festivals. In news that’s a little more holy-shit-pardon-me-while-I-pick-up-my-jaw, Spirit Caravan — guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, bassist Dave Sherman and drummer Gary Isom — have reunited and will be among the headliners for both Berlin and London in 2014. I’m floored.

Rumors have been going around of a Spirit Caravan reunion for years and escalated recently, but this is the first official word of a reunion from the legendary trio, whose 1999 debut, Jug Fulla Sun, remains one of the finest American heavy rock records ever released. Keep an eye out for more to come on the reunion and more from the London and Berlin Desertfest. Other confirmed acts for Berlin are Gozu, Elder, Black Rainbows, Causa Sui, Prisma Circus, Huata and Sardonis.

The PR wire makes it official:

SPIRIT CARAVAN (USA) – EXCLUSIVE REUNION SHOWS AT BOTH DESERTFESTS

Here we are ! First headliner confirmed for both DESERTFEST LONDON & BERLIN is… the cult band SPIRIT CARAVAN, finally back after 12 years !!!

When The Obsessed folded in 1995 Scott “Wino” Weinrich moved from California to his native Maryland to create the band Shine. After a demo entitled “Powershine” and a 7″ EP “Lost Sun Dance” release during 1997 Shine became SPIRIT CARAVAN as he was joined by bass player Dave Sherman and drummer Gary Isom.

A 7″ single shared with Sixty Watt Shaman in 1999 was their first release together and several others followed : their first full-length album “Jug Fulla Sun” in 1999, a second EP intitled “Dreamwheel” later the same year, and after an extensive U.S. and European tour, their sophomore effort, “Elusive Truth” in 2001.

While SPIRIT CARAVAN’s sound isn’t drastically different from the aforementioned The Obsessed, who welded the foot-stomping organic qualities of Grand Funk Railroad with no-frills American roots punk like The Dictators, all the while observing Black Sabbath, SPIRIT CARAVAN injected a healthy dose of cryptic psychedelia to their mix. Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s guitar tone evinces the slow burning wisdom derived from many decades of hard living and touring in the underground music community.

The band received a lot of praise from the doom/stoner community but, unfortunately, SPIRIT CARAVAN split-up in May 2002… But as he showed many times in the past, Wino is like a phoenix ! And now it’s time for SPIRIT CARAVAN to be reborn !!

Let´s celebrate SPIRIT CARAVAN´s EXCLUSIVE Reunion shows at DESERTFEST LONDON & BERLIN !! Order now your tickets to attend this amazing event by sending an email at TICKETS@DESERTFEST.DE

Spirit Caravan, Jug Fulla Sun (1999)