Turning into a pretty busy fall for Colour Haze. Though the German heavy psych godfathers didn’t wind up making it over for Psycho Las Vegas, they did release a new live album, Live Vol. 1 – Europa Tournee 2015 (review here), and they’ll continue into autumn with appearances at Desertfest Athens 2016, Keep it Low, and now, a headlining slot at Desertfest Belgium 2016 as well.

They come to the Antwerp-based festival as a replacement for Graveyard, who recently announced their disbanding and canceled all future appearances. Of course, one could hardly find a better fill-in, and I doubt if there are many if any rock-fest stages in Europe that Colour Haze couldn’t take and find welcome, so yeah, to say it makes sense seems like understatement enough to roll with. Kudos to Desertfest Belgium 2016 for making the most of a bummer situation via-a-vis Graveyard, and to Colour Haze for stepping up to fill that spot.

Timetable and announcement from the fest follow:

We’ve hunted high and low for a suitable replacement for Graveyard after their unfortunate and most unexpected split last week, which caused them to cancel their show at our festival. With only a few weeks to go, you can imagine it wasn’t an easy task to find a band that was available, in the neighbourhood, and willing to adapt their schedule in order to fit in a last-minute gig.

The good news is: we’ve found them, and their name is Colour Haze!
The German powerhouse will appear at the festival on Saturday, so there will only be a minor shift in the schedule.

Following this news, we will grant our fans some more time to reclaim their Saturday day ticket. Send us a mail at contact@desertfest.be with your payment details and ticket number, and we’ll take care of it.
We extend this offer until after the weekend, so it expires on Monday Oct 3 at 12pm.

After that, we put this regrettable episode behind us for good, and we set our phasers on full-on ROCK! See y’all at the festival!

And then there’s this little thing called the time schedule.

You’ve been asking for it, and then you’ve been begging for it, and soon you’d be cutting throats for it… but no more!

Because here it is – the final, unmoveable (fingers crossed) and inimitable timetable for Desertfest Antwerp 2016!

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Colour Haze, “Circles”

In the words of one of the shittiest tv themes ever recorded: It’s been a long road, getting from there to here. That song was a terrible way to start a Star Trek, but it’s true nonetheless of Desertfest Belgium 2016, which after months of trickling out names a few at a time has finally confirmed the entirety of its lineup.

The Antwerp-based festival extension of the Desertfest brand spent the last month or so rolling through its headliners — Graveyard, Red Fang and Goat — and today it takes a victory lap in confirming Arabrot, Alkerdeel and Komatsu as the last three acts to join the bill. It looks like a great way to spend three days if you happen to be in that part of the world or of the means to get there. Definitely the farthest reaching Desertfest Belgium yet, and I suspect the event will only continue to grow.

Here’s the last announcement:

EXTRA BANDS ADDED TO LINEUP: ARABROT, ALKERDEEL, KOMATSU

You might have thought we had nothing more in store after the threedouble whammy of Red Fang, Goat and Graveyard, but Desertfest always has a few tricks left up the sleeve.

So with this last announcement we fill in the holes in the Desertfest program – which is not to say these bands are filler! With Arabrot and Alkerdeel, we present you with some of the most exciting and original metal to be crafted in Europe. Arabrot has most definitively made their mark on the heavy music scene, and make sure to check Alkerdeel live, as they are one of the most exciting Belgian bands you’ll hear.

Finally, the last name to make the DF Antwerp 2016 bill is the Dutch powerhouse Komatsu. Straight up stoner metal for sure – but if Desertfest is not the place for that, we don’t know what is!

And that’s a wrap. Now all you have to do is sit back and relax… no strike that: check if you have your ticket booked, travel arrangements made… and THEN sit back, relax and count the days until DESERTFEST ANTWERP 2016!

ARABROT

ARABROT has been an outsider on the Norwegian music scene since their beginning in 2001. They quietly built a reputation among music fans in Europe as a daring and uncompromising live band. They have always been described as “weird and heavy”, and on their latest album ‘The Gospel’, they’re at their weirdest and best!

ALKERDEEL

With a name that means “manure cart” in a local Flemish dialect, and a singer who keeps a collection of “weird images”, Alkerdeel is already one of Belgium’s most distinctive metal bands. Their new album ‘Lede’ does away with the sludge influence of the past, while old-school doom (Winter) and kraut-like psychedelics are pushed to the front. Live they are no less than a visceral sensation.

KOMATSU

Komatsu is a super-massive rock band from Eindhoven, the rock capital of the Netherlands. Their music is a mix of sludge, stoner rock and metal. They have toured Europe as a support alongside John Garcia and most recently Mondo Generator!

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Alkerdeel, Lede (2016)

Goodness gracious. Desertfest Belgium 2016 continues to up its stakes. I don’t know if this is the final lineup announcement, but Graveyard would definitely seem to be the final of the three headliners — they join Red Fang and Goat in doing the honors — and the Swedish retro rock trailblazers top a whole list of new lineup additions, from native Belgian groups like Moaning Cities and Dorre to UK psychedelic classicists Purson. If this is the end of Desertfest Belgium’s lineup — if it’s actually complete at this point — it’s already an impressively packed bill, but I’m not at all convinced the fest doesn’t have more tricks up its sleeve. Guess we’ll see as we get closer to October.

From the PR wire:

GRAVEYARD is the last headliner at DESERTFEST ANTWERP 2016

So here it is – the last headliner announcement! We’re relieved to finally reveal that the mighty GRAVEYARD will be headlining the 2016 edition of Desertfest Antwerp.
Joining them we have the last few names to complete the line-up: the proggy witchcraft of Purson, the equally mysterious Josefin Öhrn and the sludgers from Berlin, Earth Ship. We’re also proud to welcome Belgian sleaze legends La Muerte to our stage, as well as some Belgian heavy mainstays Toxic Shock and Moaning Cities. Finally, local young talent Black Mirrors and Dorre will get a chance to prove themselves on the Desertfest Stage.

Unfortunately, there’s also some bad news with the good: John Garcia has cancelled his European fall tour for personal reasons and will not be performing at the festival.

So now that’s it, get running for the earlybird priced tickets because in about a week, we will announce day tickets and prices will raise to regular!

GRAVEYARD

The unique psychedelic metal of Graveyard is rooted in the 70s heydays of Led Zep and Sabbath, but the success of Gothenburg’s hard rocking quartet lies in the timeless quality they bring to their riffage. We feel honoured and blessed that their steady climb through the Ranks of Rock’n’Roll now brings them to the Desertfest stage as a headliner.

PURSON

Rosalie Cunningham describes her band as “vaudeville carny psych”. Weaving together influences ranging from Cream to Deep Purple to Jethro Tull, Purson serves up a quasi-mystical pastiche of psychedelic wonder made up of fuzzed-out guitars and Wurlitzer organs. In 2016, the band released their sophomore outing, Desire’s Magic Theatre to much acclaim.

JOSEFIN ÖHRN

Josefin Öhrn and The Liberation combine a retro-chic pop sensibility with 60s psychedelia and krautrock, creating a heady mix that is all their own. The focal point is the enchanting Josefin, who radiates the aura of a lurking spirit, playfully coaxing the listener to embrace a deeper plane of consciousness.

EARTH SHIP

Behold the power of the riff in all shapes and sizes! It would be a serious understatement to simply lump Earth Ship in with the rest of the sludge rock genre. On their recent release ‘Hollowed’, these Berlins once more gracefully tackle the soft yet stronger dynamic of bands like Kylesa and Crowbar with morbid melodies that would make Alice In Chains proud.

LA MUERTE

Fuelled by vitriol, compared to such legendary gutter-dwelling sleaze-merchants as The Birthday Party, Foetus, and The Stooges, La Muerte has become a standard reference when it comes to Belgium‘s underground rock scene. Throughout the 80s and early 90s they released a string of cult-albums and EP’s which heavily resonated with those abandoned by love or devoid of hope.

MOANING CITIES

A psychedelic rock’n’roll band from Brussels blending blues roots, fuzz guitars and oriental psychedelia. Featuring a female powerduo on drums and bass, their sitar-driven groove comes into its own on the new upcoming album ‘D. Klein’.

TOXIC SHOCK

Belgian crossover thrash metal hardcore, influenced by the eighties Venice bands, Slayer, old Metallica and NYHC. Played their first show in 2011 with Black Breath, and since then played shows with Exodus, Cro-Mags, Power Trip, AF, Suicidal Tendencies, and many other trash legends.

BLACK MIRRORS

From Blues Garage Rock to Janis Joplin, with a melodic grace sustained through Qeens Of The Stone Age rythms, Black Mirrors seems to appear between shamanic evocations and spooky representations, in search of a tradition buried in the volcanic foldings of the earth.

DORRE

Dorre was born at the Rock Café in Leuven Belgium, serving up a cohesion of doom, noise, psychedelic rock, blues and stoner in long organic pieces.

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Graveyard, “Too Much is Not Enough” official video

One could hardly accuse Desertfest Belgium 2016 of playing it subtle. The Antwerp-based festival has upped its stakes considerably this year, bringing in Goat as its first-announced headliner and now adding Red Fang to the bill as the second of three with the third still TBA. Perhaps even more of a consideration are the acts built around these major-force names: Uncle Acid, YOB, Pentagram, Weedeater, Elder and so on, that really demonstrate just how far the festival has come, adding its name to the elite class in a crowded European fall fest sphere.

Red Fang will have their new album out by the time they head over to play. Weedeater, SubRosa, Duel, Black Rainbows and Giobia have also signed on. The PR wire brings details:

RED FANG COMES TO DESERTFEST BELGIUM! Weedeater and others also confirmed

We promised you whopping big news, so whopping big news is what you get!

It is a true pleasure and honour to announce the stoner rock phenomenon RED FANG will be headlining Desertfest Belgium for 2016. As one of the most exciting bands to break out of the scene and into the collective rock community, this is truly a dream come true for us.

Allow us to further blow your excitement level through the roof with another great addition to the line-up: Southern moguls WEEDEATER will be playing the festival as well, along with the oldschool-not-retro heavy heavy psych of DUEL and BLACK RAINBOWS. And with SUBROSA and GIOBIA, we add some truly progressive stoner sounds to the Desertfest mix.

And we’re still not done! We’ll return to you in August with the reveal of our last headliner… we promise it’ll be another mindblower.

RED FANG

How about this for a good omen: Red Fang’s new album ‘Only Ghosts’ drops on the first day of our festival… so what else could we do but try and do our stinking best to get them on board!

And so here they are – the Portlandian stonerockers who have been on the rise since 2005, earning their respect and fame the good old fashioned way: by consistently blowing the mind of whoever witnessed their rifftastic songs, their scorching liveshows, their hilarious videos. Headlining this year’s Desertfest Belgium – you bet your ass we’re psyched!

WEEDEATER

Another scene mainstay that needs no introduction. You know Weedeater’s got the heaviest tone in the business, you know last year’s album ‘Goliathan’ delivered another slab of grooves thick as molasses. You know Dixie Dave will toast us with whiskey and throw up halfway the set from sheer excitement, you know drummer Travis will juggle his sticks a lot. But most of all: you know the gums will be fuzzed straight off your teeth when Weedeater hits the stage.

DUEL

Duel from Austin, Texas bring a brand of stoner doom that is utterly menacing and brutally old school. Hugely influenced by the pure darker sounds of early 70’s Proto-metal, their tunes cut right to the bone with heavy deep groove and a blistering tone. Tough and Loud, Hard rock as it should be!

BLACK RAINBOWS

The Italian Black Rainbows have established themselves as one of the most active fuzz-fueled rock acts in Europe. Blending the drive and swagger of 70’s hard rock with the sun-baked thickness of 90’s stoner rock, their sound could be described as “Hawkwind, MC-5 and Nebula crashing cars in the middle of the Mojave desert”. For proof, look no further than this year’s killer album ‘Stellar Prophecy’.

SUBROSA

Subrosa brings you Ancient Magickal Doom from the bowels of Salt Lake City. Balancing a sludgy low-end and high volume with ultra-melodic folk and experimental elements, the haunting ambience of two electric violins makes this a singular trip that feels emotional, eerie, bleak, and beautiful.

GIOBIA

Hailing from Milan, Giöbia is a celebration of the authentic sixties psychedelic underground, brought to taste with strong shoegaze influences. and sitars, old organs and synthesizers as well as a shitload of effects. A real treat for true lovers of psychedelic music!

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Red Fang, “Flies”

I guess I kind of thought Uncle Acid, YOB, Pentagram, John Garcia, etc. were among the headliners at Desertfest Belgium 2016. Apparently not. The Antwerpen-based extension team of the Desertfest brand has raised the stakes by only now announcing the first of its three headliners in the form of Swedish Afrobeat psych ritualists Goat. As to who might join them at the top of the bill, I haven’t the foggiest. Like I said, I thought the headliners were already announced.

In addition to Goat, Desertfest Belgium 2016 has also added New Jersey’s own The Atomic Bitchwax, Swiss instrumentalists Monkey3, Swedish creepers Salem’s Pot, Norwegian heavy rockers Lonely Kamel and Greek forerunners-of-riff 1000mods, thereby making an already packed bill even more packed.

Dig it:

GOAT WILL HEADLINE DESERTFEST BELGIUM 2016, Atomic Bitchwax & Monkey 3 also confirmed

We promised you a trio of headliners for the summer, and today the first one gets revealed. It is with great pleasure we announce that the Swedish powerhouse GOAT will be part of the 2016 Antwerp Desertfest line-up. Their eclectic approach to rock and dance grooves and their blinding stageshow are right in tune with the open-minded vibe we want to bring to our festival, and we’re confident it will be one of the highlights of DF Antwerp 2016.

But of course, that’s not all! We have some more heavy hitters to disclose, with Atomic Bitchwax and Monkey3 both confirmed for the festival. And to round off this epic set, how about the blues jams of Lonely Kamel, the rising stars of the scene Salem’s Pot, and the killer stoner from Greece 1000mods!

You can now set your sights on the last week of July… when we drop the second headliner name, as well as a bunch of other goodies.
Until then, spread the word and the good vibes!

GOAT

Hailing from the small remote village of Korpolombolo, GOAT has managed to take the world by storm with an exuberant voodoo-inflected rock sound that is as funky as it is psychedelic. No need to introduce them at this point, and no need to tell you this will be a sweaty, dazzling, rump-shaking and genre-busting highlight of the 2016 DF festival!

THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX

The legendary true “Super Stoner Rock” band has been going at it since 1993, but still shows no sign of wear’n’tear! Last year’s album ‘Gravitron’ was another exuberant slab of hard & psych rock, and their incessant touring has made Atomic Bitchwax a much-respected darling of the stoner community. So it is an honour to announce them for the 2016 Desertfest edition!

MONKEY3

With a fifteen-year career in cosmic and psychedelic instrumental jams, Monkey3 has become a household name for every stoner rock fan who likes a little space travel now and then. The band’s now preparing the release of their next full album ‘Astrasymmetry’ in the fall, so expect them to demo new material in their live set – which effectively means: “expect everything, and nothing”.

LONELY KAMEL

Inspired by the heavy blues-legends, the Norwegian Lonely Kamel churns out classic hard rock with a distinctive touch of the blues – although you can definitely hear a myriad of other influences from ’60s and ’70s rock in their heady stew. Don’t call it retro – these are music lovers paying their respect to all their great heroes, and finding their own exciting sound along the way!

SALEM’S POT

With a name like that, there really should be no question what the band’s aesthetic is all about: doom doom doom with a side of freakshow horror and some mindbending psychedelics. Hailing from Sweden, the band has been steadily releasing tapes and vinyl to a steady growing crowd of enthusiasts. There’s shades of Electric Wizard riffage, but Salem’s Pot manage to make the sound unmistakably their own.

1000 MODS

Heavy rock from Chiliomodi, Greece with a dedication to vintage equipment, a thick and heavy analog sound and remarkably passionate stage performances. Over their career they have played over 200 live shows with bands like The Black Keys, Graveyard, and Brant Bjork, as well as recording with the almighty Billy Anderson.

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The Atomic Bitchwax, “Ice Age (Hey Baby)” official video

Starting to get crowded on the poster for Desertfest Belgium 2016, but there’s no question the latest lineup update from the Antwerp-based Oct. fest is worth making room for, with John Garcia and Black Cobra leading the charge and the likes of Scorpion Child, JOY and Black Wizard offering backup. I can’t imagine there will be anyone in attendance at the fest who won’t be familiar with Garcia‘s work in Kyuss, Hermano, Slo Burn, Unida, etc. — I actually revisited the Vista Chino record last week on a whim; it’s held up well — and of course Black Cobra‘s devastating reputation precedes them as veterans of other Desertfests and just about everywhere else at this point.

The fest sent the following down the PR wire:

Hot on the trail of our last announcement, we present you with another load of great names to look forward to. We are delighted to welcome desertrock royalty JOHN GARCIA to the DF Antwerp stage this year, for what is sure to be a mesmerizing performance like we have come to expect from the Man. We are equally happy to announce SCORPION CHILD and BLACK COBRA, two bands with an excellent live reputation who will surely set the stage on fire. Expect no less from JOY too, a jam experience that is sure to equal Harsh Toke’s blistering performance from last year. And finally, BLACK WIZARD will be appearing to bring their homemade blend of stoner doom.

Our next announcement will be a biggie, so keep watching this space!

JOHN GARCIA

The man, the myth, the legend. John already secured his place in the rock history books as the iconic singer for the band who started it all, Kyuss. After that, he has consistently delivered only the finest in desert rock, both with outfits like Slo Burn, Unida and Vista Chino and as a solo recording artist on his 2014 self-titled album which showcased his immense talents as a vocalist and songwriter. Still one of the most powerful voices in rock music period, we’re proud to present the Man at DF Antwerp 2016.

SCORPION CHILD

Hailing from Texas freak capital Austin, Scorpion Child indeed add a slightly unhinged quality to their unique combination of classic rock influences. Their 2013 self-titled debut and the subsequent “Polygon of Eyes” single established them as a force to deal with. After that, gigs with Clutch and Monster Truck on the “Lords of the Riff” UK Tour cemented a serious live reputation as well. Now with their new album Acid Roulette, Scorpion Child confidently expands their sonic palette, but the focus is still squarely on a rocking good time!

BLACK COBRA

Formed by drummer Rafa Martinez (ex-Acid King) and guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian (ex-Cavity), BLACK COBRA catapulted themselves onto the scene in 2001 with their ravenous, upbeat and ultimately unique style of punk/hardcore-fueled sludge metal. After several albums on At A Loss Recordings and Southern Lord, they have become virtually a household name to the tens of thousands of fans who’ve witnessed their flooring live performance.

JOY

The sound of JOY has been described as “a spaced-out sonic groove-ride” and “outer reach freak out.” Their kaleidoscopic flurry and full-throttle riffage is anchored by a subtle ear for detail and surprising textural depth. JOY has shared the stage with acts such as Dead Meadow, Harsh Toke, and psychedelic giants Earthless, with whom they now also share a record label. Tee Pee Records just released their new full album ‘Ride Along, another glorious slab of psychedelic boogie featuring members of Earthless, Sacri Monti and Radio Moscow.

BLACK WIZARD

Their performance is impressive, the sound is massive, the vocals are colossal and the guitar leads are seriously, seriously great. We could find more adjectives to describe the heavy heavy sound of Vancouver’s Black Wizard, but nobody put it better than the mysterious “Gord”, who is quoted on their website: “The only band in town that adds inches to your dick.” How could we follow up an endorsement like that!

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Black Cobra, Live at Saint Vitus Bar, April 1, 2016

Our friends at Desertfest Belgium 2016 might be understating it somewhat when they refer to Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats as a ‘crowd-pleaser,’ but the point still stands. The UK outfit are every bit worthy of holding near-top position on the poster for the event, next to Pentagram, and wherever they end up on the final bill, they’re a damn good get. Also joining the lineup today are UK upstarts Vodun, Germany’s Coogans Bluff, and Wolvennest and Black Swarm, assuring that Desertfest Belgium 2016 gets its due course of offbeat vibes and varying swaths of heavy. You can see the full lineup below. It already looks like a killer weekend, and I have the feeling they’re not even close to done compiling it.

From the PR wire:

DF Antwerp 2016 ADDS UNCLE ACID, COOGANS BLUFF & more!

We’ve enjoyed an overwhelming load of good vibes following our first band announcements, and we expect no less from this next fresh batch. There’s something here for everyone. You want a crowd pleaser? How’s UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS pleasing ya! You want crazy and original? COOGANS BLUFF will have you covered. You want the potential surprise exploding live hit of this year’s festival? We’re putting our bets on VODUN’s blend of metal and wailing soul vocals. And since we’re Belgian after all (and proud of it, dammit!), we’ve added heavy droners WOLVENNEST and singular metalheads BLACK SWARM to the line-up.

Are you hungry for more? You better be, because the next update’s only a few weeks away!

UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS

Ever since their debut album hit the scene in a cloud of menacing mystery, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats have been pulling an evergrowing fanbase of metal and rock fans alike into their own self-created world. Their heavy psychedelia has been likened to The Beatles, had they followed their own helter skelter down into the darkest recesses of the 1970s.
Call them the Bong Lennon or the Crack Sabbath – in essence they’re a pop band, singing of death and murder in alluring vocal harmonies.

COOGANS BLUFF

They have been called “Retro”, but can you name any other band that combines krautrock, prog, psychedelic, stoner and bluesrock in such an unusual way? Coogans Bluff is a band that knows how to combine the best of all these genres, while still showing fresh and daring ideas. The band shows a very personal sense of humor in their image. However, their highly original brand of music is played with pure dedication. All hail the tinfoil hats!

VODUN

This one’s going to blow your mind… Vodun hails from London, a power trio that delivers crushing metal riffs as a backbone for some high-energy soulful wailing. MOJO magazine describes them as “Aretha Franklin fronting Royal Blood after imbibing ayahuasca”, but even that won’t prepare you for the onslaught of dark ritual madness these three bring to the stage. Amidst the rushing screams of Mother Earth, the pounding drums of Ouidah, the markets of Lomé and the open heart of Erzulie, there exists VODUN!

WOLVENNEST

Wolvennest (that’s Dutch for “Wolf’s nest”) is a musical joint venture between Kirby Michel (La Muerte), Corvus von Burtle (Cult Of Erinyes) and Marc De Backer (Mongolito), a distinctive blend of guitar loops, repetitive beats, synthesizers keys mixed with darkened hypnotic ambient vocal sounds. The resulting glorious mess is a highly original mix of seventies Krautrock and nineties Norwegian Black Metal.

BLACK SWARM

Black Swarm entered the Belgian underground metal scene in 2011. With only 6 songs they took to the stage, and immediately started to rally a fanbase consisting in- and outside the metalhead community. Watch out for their flamboyant singer Sam De Roeck though… he’s known to give the crowd just “a little more” than they bargained for when he gets in the mood!

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Uncle Acid, “Melody Lane” official video

It’s a considerable update from the camp of Desertfest Belgium 2016, so I won’t delay too much before letting you have at it — if anyone reads this stuff anyway — but before you jump in, take special note that the following seven bands have been added to the festival as a “build-up” to its first headliner announcement. That means that while YOB, Pentagram, Torche, Elder, My Sleeping Karma, Castle, etc., will play Desertfest Belgium 2016, none of them are actually among the three-day festival’s headlining acts. Very curious to see what that first headliner announcement will bring, but in the meantime, anywhere that brings in YOB and Elder on the same weekend is the place to be that weekend.

Dig it:

The build-up towards our first headliner announcement continues with a batch of no less than SEVEN new names for the 2016 Desertfest Antwerp line-up… We’re pretty certain that the Oregon Doom Institution YOB requires no further introduction, and the formidable trio of melodic doom rockers ELDER, German Nautik Doom outsiders AHAB and sludge nihilists COUGH are sure to delight any Desertfester worth their salt. Rounding off we have Hangman’s Chair from Paris and Castle for more doom/sludge badass-ness, and the shamanic grooves of Tau throws in a fresh if deeply psychedelic vibe.

We hope you like what we have on offer here, and just remember: this is still all just the beginning of much more goodness to come!

YOB – The ethereal mists of Eugene, Oregon no doubt provide the perfect catalyst for founding member and vocalist Mike Scheidt to call up the signature of surging doom that has brought YOB to their current position as one of the most respected and revered bands in all of heavy metal. Their latest outing ‘Clearing The Path To Ascend’ (2014) was hailed as the crowning achievement for a band whose journey now nears 2 decades of creating cathartic music that demands the full attention of mind, body, and soul.

Elder – Elder melds the familiar sounds of Sleep‘s colossal riffage with an ever-evolving vision of soaring melodies and sonic soundscapes. The songs on their 3rd album ‘Lore’ cross the heavy rock and doom genre boundaries into krautrock and prog territory. Powered equally by riffs and atmosphere, Elder’s penchant for progressive songwriting and melody shines more brightly than ever, but they still hold true to their original methodology: all heavy, no filler.

Ahab – With their outsider brand of Nautik Doom, AHAB have effectively thrown out all preconceived notions of what doom metal is supposed to be. As much as they can crush the listener into submission with epic arrangements, they can just easily revert to clean breaks and contemplative whispers. Drawing inspiration from books and painting as well as music, AHAB create something that gets into your mind through all levels of reception.

Cough – Cough brings together the most savage aspects of extreme music, from crushing doom metal and grimy sludge to early black metal. We’re anxiously awaiting the June release of ‘Still They Pray’, which must be one of the most anticipated metal albums of 2016 in a production by Electric Wizard’s Jus Oborn. Rest assured that it will fulfill their long-term ambition to remain the heaviest sludge band in existence.

Hangman’s Chair – Somewhere between the dirge of grunge and the grind of doom, you will find the Paris combo Hangman’s Chair. Their world is a place of darkness and cold, but you’ll inevitably be pulled in by its eerie atmosphere. Across 4 full length albums and 3 split albums they’ve toured from Hellfest to Iceland, Russia, Benelux, Germany and Switzerland with the likes of Eyehategod, High On Fire, Crowbar, and The Devil’s Blood.

Tau – The collective project by Shaun Mulrooney (Dead Skeletons) and the Venezuelan multi instrumentalist Gerald Pasqualin was inspired by Shaun’s shamanic experiences in the magical desert of Real De Catorce. This resulted in the deeply psychedelic mind-trip EP ‘Wirikuta’ (recorded with Christoph “Tiger” Bartlett from Kadavar), providing some true Desert music that will shake your senses and spirit.

Castle – Doom-tinged metal outfit Castle will release their 4th album in July 2016. Since their inception in 2009, they have steadily climbed the metal ranks with a succession of critically acclaimed releases. Their live reputation is equally solid, having played hundreds of shows worldwide alongside The Sword, Conan, Intronaut and Pentagram and festivals like Roadburn and the London and Berlin Desertfests.

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YOB, “Marrow” live in NYC, Nov. 2015