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Freak Valley 2022 Adds The Atomic Bitchwax, Endless Boogie, DVNE & More

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

My flight is booked and I’m beyond excited to say that after years of longing to do so even before the covid-19 pandemic, I’ll be attending Freak Valley Festival for the first time in June. I’m not sure yet where I’m staying or how I’m getting to the actual event from the airport, let alone back afterward, but you know, a flight isn’t nothing and I’m honored to have that like I’m honored to see a logo for The Obelisk on the poster. I wrote the announcement below — composed it in the back end of this very post, as it happens — and I’ll drop a hint and say that I know who the special guest is if you can make a fantastic getaway to get to see them. Actually that’s way too vague a hint. Sorry, I can’t think of anything else. If you have your head keyed into early aughts Nasoni Records releases, maybe you’ll come up with it. If not, sorry.

In any case, to say I’m looking forward to this — seeing Geezer and The Atomic Bitchwax on foreign soil, seeing friends in and out of bands, seeing IAH and Temple Fang and Villagers of Ioannina City and Duel and Supersonic Blues and The Midnight Ghost Train‘s reunion and Planet of Zeus and Pelican — well, hot shit, to say I’m looking forward to it borders on laughable. In my head, I’m already there.

Here’s that announcement:

freak valley 2022 poster square

Freaks!

Spring has come to Freak Valley, and somehow the universal image of the season meaning new life manifests for us in an especially killer lot of band announcements. Hey, we don’t judge. Don’t you either.

Did we mention BAND ANNOUNCEMENTS?

Good. Here they are:

THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX

More than 20 years on from their legendary debut album, The Atomic Bitchwax are the train of riffs that wouldn’t stop anyway if it could. They are nothing less than stoner rock royalty and we’re thrilled to welcome them to our lineup. Top frickin’ shelf rock and roll.

ENDLESS BOOGIE

The New York City jammers are nothing if not aptly named. If you’re not familiar, check out last year’s ‘Admonitions’ LP and we know you’ll find it stunningly easy to get on board. When these guys play they’re in their own world. We look forward to getting a glimpse of that.

DVNE

We’re just going to assume that, yes, you heard ‘Etemen Ænka’ when DVNE released it and so you don’t need us to tell you how excited we are to welcome these progressive metallers to the Freak Valley stage. Duh, right? We thought so. Years from now you’ll brag about seeing this band.

TYLER BRYANT AND THE SHAKEDOWN

Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown’s 2020 album, ‘Pressure,’ was a high point of a shit year, and we knew immediately we had to have this Nashville-born blues rocking outfit to our stage. They’ve toured with the likes of Guns ‘n’ Roses and AC/DC, and their swagger is backed up by chops. You will not regret being here for this one.

MADMESS

Hell yes. That fuzz. That drift. That vibe. For a good time, call Madmess’ 2021 LP, ‘Rebirth.’ These Portuguese heavy psychedelic expansionists cast a warmth that’s cosmic and earthy in kind. Their jams are memorable and organic, and they deliver with an energy that’s raw power. Oh it’s gonna be so good. You don’t even know.

DJIIN

That’s not a typo. These French heavy proggers put out their ‘Meandering Soul’ album last year, and we’re still tripping on it. Ambitious landscapes of sound and scope meld fluidly with thoughtful songcraft and gorgeous vocal melodicism. They’re retro enough to be from the future, so it must be the sound of right now. We stoked to meet it in-person.

SPECIAL GUEST!!

Luckily we will also be able to sell some returned full festival tickets soon.

Also Wednesday Tickets for those who already own 3 Day tickets are still available.

Please buy them now!

Rock on – your Rock Freaks

Freak Valley Festival // No Fillers – Just Killers

Freak Valley Festival.

June 15-18 2022

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The Atomic Bitchwax, Scorpio (2019)

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Freak Valley 2022: The Midnight Ghost Train Join Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 14th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Since the last post about The Midnight Ghost Train coming back for shows in Europe in 2022, the Kansan trio have made it clear that they’ll only be doing nine select dates and are not, in fact, returning to any greater activity at this time. No US tour, no new material, etc. A week-plus abroad and that’s it.

Of course, you never know, right? Maybe they’ll be so inspired by the kickass response to their coming back they’ll want to do more. Or maybe not. Never say never as regards bands getting back together.

Today we find out that the first show The Midnight Ghost Train will play will be at Freak Valley Festival 2022, set for next June in Siegen, Germany. Seems like a good beginning to what one hopes will be a killer stint.

I wrote this announcement this morning. Actually I was up half the night phrasing it in my head, but I finally got there. Hope you dig:

The midnight ghost train freak valley 2022

Freaks!

Time for our next announcement!

It is with love in our hearts we announce that The Midnight Ghost Train will begin their nine-show European tour at Freak Valley Festival 2022!

Few bands have a reputation for relentlessness so well earned. Who does heavy blues with more heart? The Topeka, Kansas, trio recently announced they’d do a handful of select shows across Europe, and we’re honored to bring you their first performance since their breakup four years ago.

After a rampaging decade-long career that included a stop at Freak Valley 2014, The Midnight Ghost Train called it quits in 2018, ending their run at that year’s Maryland Doom Fest with a riotous blowout worthy of their legacy. In making a return, guitarist/vocalist Steve Moss and company bring to life a band who carved their own place in underground lore, and whose sound and style none could hope to duplicate.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure, you know their live shows are ragers through and through, and if you haven’t, get ready for something special. The band has made it perfectly clear that this isn’t a full-on return to activity — just a few dates to celebrate… life, probably — and we’re honored to have them on our stage.

Lineup Freak Valley Festival 2022:
FU MANCHU
HIGH ON FIRE
WITCHCRAFT
THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN

Still many many more to come!

Freak Valley Festival // No Fillers – Just Killers

Freak Valley Festival 2022 IS SOLD OUT.

New date: June 15-18 2022

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The Midnight Ghost Train, Cypress Ave. (2017)

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Freak Valley Festival 2022: High on Fire Join Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

More surprising than High on Fire being announced for Freak Valley next year is the fact that they’ve never played it before. The two entities have shared existence for long enough that you would’ve thought they’d run into each other sooner or later, but if there has to be a first time 2022 works just as well as any. As previously announced — an announcement I wrote and somehow didn’t post here, oddly — Freak Valley 2022 will run an additional day with ticket-purchase optional for those who’ve already got passes to the main fest, which is and has been sold out. Witchcraft will headline that extra day, and Fu Manchu‘s delayed 30th anniversary will feature at the fest-proper, along now with High on Fire and a universe of others still to be added.

Get stoked and stay stoked for this one. I am. I don’t care what it takes, 2022 is my year to get to Siegen. If the pandemic has taught me anything it’s that life is too short and too precious to screw around.

Here’s High on Fire‘s announcement, which again, I wrote for the fest:

freak valley 2022 high on fire square

Freakiest of Freaks!

Bear witness as the legends HIGH ON FIRE join the lineup for Freak Valley 2022!

If you’re reading these words, then in all likelihood, High On Fire need no introduction. Formed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike six months after SLEEP originally disbanded, the band would go on to become one of heavy music’s most essential acts, bridging thrash, doom and classic metal into a marauding style all their own and influencing a generation of bands in the process.

Records like ‘The Art of Self-Defense,’ ‘Death is This Communion,’ and ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’ are landmarks, but if you know High on Fire, you know they never do anything without utterly killing it. With Pike and longtime bassist Jeff Matz saying goodbye to founding drummer Des Kensel in 2019, the band recently enlisted Coady Willis (Big Business, ex-Melvins) to take on the role and are back to doing what they do best in blasting out some of the most intense and righteous heavy you’ve ever heard.

This will be High on Fire’s FIRST TIME on the Freak Valley stage and we know it will be a union to remember. Can’t wait to see you here in Netphen!

Lineup Freak Valley Festival 2022:
FU MANCHU
HIGH ON FIRE
WITCHCRAFT

Still many many more to come!

Freak Valley Festival // No Fillers – Just Killers

Freak Valley Festival 2022 IS SOLD OUT.

New date: June 15-18 2022

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High on Fire, “Blood From Zion” live in Austin, TX, June 19, 2021

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The Flying Eyes to Play Last Show at Freak Valley 2018

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 16th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

Gonna miss these guys. Like far too many, Baltimore’s The Flying Eyes go out never having really received the acclaim they deserved. I thought their 2017 album, Burning of the Season (review here), might finally get the job done with Ripple Music standing behind it, but I guess now we won’t even really get to know how it plays out. The Flying Eyes are done.

I don’t know if they ever toured the US completely, and even if they did the coasts, it was nothing like the road time they put in abroad. Regular fixtures in Europe and South America, it’s only fitting that their last show should be on European soil, and only fitting that they should also be the final band announced for the Freak Valley 2018 lineup.

The writeup below was written by me (see if you can spot the Star Trek reference!) and posted by Freak Valley on the social medias thusly:

the flying eyes freak valley 2018

This is it, Freaks!

It’s been a long road, but we’ve finally reached the last band for the bill at Freak Valley 2018, and it couldn’t possibly be more special to us.

Please welcome THE FLYING EYES to the lineup!

The Baltimore, Maryland, nomads are no strangers to those who dwell in Freak Valley after multiple European tours, but getting them to play in 2018 was a necessity once we heard they were breaking up. That’s right – after their best album yet, 2017’s ‘Burning of the Season,’ they’re calling it quits. Taking their blues rock toys and going home.

The Flying Eyes leave us at the absolute top of their game, and we know their Freak Valley 2018 set will be a special, must-see one for all you loyal Freaks out there.

“We are really honored to play our final gig at the legendary Freak Valley Festival,” says drummer Elias Schutzman. “We weren’t planning to come back after our last European tour, but festival creator Jens Heide (an old friend) made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. And we realized it would be the perfect place to say goodbye, especially since Germany has always been so important to us.”

We’re sorry to see them go, but we know we’ll love watching them one last time on the Freak Valley stage. These guys were truly something unique, and they’ll be missed. Come celebrate everything that The Flying Eyes was with their last set ever!

Freak Valley Festival 2018 // No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2018:
OM, Russian Circles, Candlemass, Karma To Burn, My Sleeping Karma, The Flying Eyes, MY BABY, Mars Red Sky, SUMAC, LUCIFER, Wolf People, Yuri Gagarin, Dýse, The Freeks, SACRI MONTI, Steak, Black Bombaim, Year of the Cobra, Purple Hill Witch, Ouzo Bazooka, Ruff Majik, Toke, Humulus, KALEIDOBOLT, Rage of Samedi, Nap, No Man’s Valley, Mountain Dust.

That’s it! Lineup is complete!

Have a freaky time – your Rock Freaks

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The Flying Eyes, Burning of the Season (2017)

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Freak Valley 2018: Candlemass, Steak, Wolf People, Mountain Dust & No Man’s Valley Join Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 26th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

freak valley 2018 banner

Time marches on and the lineup for Freak Valley 2018 only grows more substantial. I won’t take anything away from Wolf People (whose Ruins album currently sits in my Amazon cart awaiting purchase) or Steak or No Man’s Valley or Mountain Dust here, who’ve all joined the ranks, but the highlight here has to be the addition to doom legends Candlemass to the Freak Valley 2018 melange. If you haven’t seen them in the last few years, the Swedish innovators are absolutely dead-on on stage, and though it’s coming up on six years since they released their last full-length, they still do nothing but kill when it comes to delivering a set.

I wrote the announcement for them and everyone else that you’ll find below, as posted by Freak Valley on the social medias:

freak valley 2018 candlemass

Freaks, assemble!

Gather ‘round – it’s time for the next round of adds to our already-sold-out, already-massive 2018 incarnation of FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL! It’s got legends with ancient dreams and upstarts with tales of red rains, but before we dive in, we’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for making Freak Valley 2018 a sell-out months in advance. It warms our freaky hearts to know you feel as passionately about this as we do, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone to Freak Valley 2018 on May 30!

Alright, enough mushy stuff. Time to welcome Candlemass, Wolf People, Steak, Mountain Dust, and No Man’s Valley to the lineup!

CANDLEMASS

Since Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, nobody has doomed quite like the Swedish legends in Candlemass. Bassist Leif Edling has spent decades conjuring riffs that have become classics, and from that first album in 1986 through the new EP House of Doom coming in May, they’ve never failed to deliver Sabbath-worthy vibes and a groove all their own. There’s only one Candlemass and we couldn’t be more stoked to have them as part of Freak Valley 2018!

WOLF PEOPLE

In 2016, UK psychedelic four-piece Wolf People released their third album, Ruins, and told a tale of an earth without people. The buzz and the spaciousness through which the band created these unpopulated soundscapes were gorgeous, and still somehow tied to a folkish pulse. They’re not to be missed when they take the Freak Valley stage, and if you think you know the reaches of psychedelia, think again.

STEAK

As meaty as their name, these UK riff aficionados have been dominating Britain and beyond for years now, and their welcome to Freak Valley can only be called overdue. Their second album, No God to Save, came out on Ripple Music last year and absolutely blew us away with in following up 2014’s desert homage Slab City, as Steak came more into their own and their groove became even more lethal.

MOUNTAIN DUST

With cuts like “Evil Deeds” and “Tale of the Red Rain,” Montreal’s Mountain Dust proffered organ-laced blues across their 2016 debut, Nine Years, and blew away listeners and critics alike with the force and soul of their delivery. They’ve got a new record in the works for this year and will hit Freak Valley as part of their first-ever European tour, so don’t miss on these up and comers while you’ve got the chance to catch them now!

NO MAN’S VALLEY

Few first albums hit us as hard as the heavy blues of No Man’s Valley’s Time Travel upon its release in 2016. Like The Flying Eyes and All Them Witches before them, the interplay of keys and guitar and tales of witches gave a classic atmosphere to the Netherlands outfit’s work, and their memorable songwriting only made even more of an impression. We’re keeping our fingers crossed they show off some new material!

Freak Valley Festival 2018 // No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2018:
OM, Russian Circles, Candlemass, Karma To Burn, My Sleeping Karma, MY BABY, Mars Red Sky, SUMAC, LUCIFER, Wolf People, Yuri Gagarin, Dýse, The Freeks, SACRI MONTI, Steak, Black Bombaim, Year of the Cobra, Purple Hill Witch, Ouzo Bazooka, Ruff Majik, Toke, Humulus, KALEIDOBOLT, Rage of Samedi, Nap, No Man’s Valley, Mountain Dust

More tba soon

Have a freaky time – your Rock Freaks

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Candlemass, Live at Rock Hard Festival 2017

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Freak Valley 2018: Karma to Burn, The Freeks, Toke, Ouzo Bazooka Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

freak valley 2018

How do I know the following announcement from Freak Valley 2018 is awesome? Well, for starters I wrote the frickin’ thing. That might put me in something of a position of authority on the subject, but even if not, you don’t really need to look any further than the bands themselves to realize there’s righteousness afoot. Karma to Burn — always greeted as liberators — will make an appearance, and L.A.’s The Freeks will head to Germany supporting their yet-to-be-released new album.

I wasn’t as familiar with Ouzo Bazooka, though I’d seen the name (and once you see that name, you remember it), but checked out their stuff and found it wanting nothing in its blend of psychedelia and classic surf, but I think it’s Toke who are really going to surprise a lot of people when they take the Freak Valley stage. I’ve said before that the North Carolina trio are the inheritors of a Southern sludge legacy going back to Buzzov*en and other such early/mid-90s noisemakers, but they deliver their sound with a next-generation energy and have toured hard the last couple years to refine their attack. I would not be surprised if they come back from Europe a significantly bigger band.

Just my thoughts. Here’s that announcement, which, again, I wrote, as posted by the fest on the social medias:

Freaks, gather!

The time is coming ever closer, and we’ve already announced so many killer acts from OM and Yuri Gagarin to Russian Circles, Nap, and Year of the Cobra. We could not possibly be prouder of the fact that Freak Valley 2018 is already sold out, and we thank you so much for your support both this year and in festivals past. It’s the community of freaks that lets this thing happen year after year and keep getting bigger, so thank you!

Four new bands to welcome today and they’re awesome, so pay attention! Please say hi to Karma To Burn, The Freeks, Toke, and Ouzo Bazooka!

KARMA TO BURN

Led by founding guitarist Will Mecum, KTB are pioneers of instrumental heavy rock and roll. Yeah, the first album had a singer, and they’ve brought in guests in the past – some dude named John Garcia, etc. – but as they are today, Mecum, bassist Eric Clutter and drummer Evan Devine have never been such a force from the stage, and after years and years of lineup changes, bad luck, more lineup changes and worse luck, it finally seems like Karma to Burn are ready to take their place among the top league of riffers worldwide.

THE FREEKS

Welcome to Freek Valley! Los Angeles classic heavy rockers The Freeks – with none other than Ruben Romano (Nebula, Fu Manchu) behind the kit – recently announced they’ll release a third full-length this year through Heavy Psych Sounds. Could we wait to hear what was in store after loving their 2016 offering, Shattered, so much? Obviously not. We booked them, didn’t we? Get ready for punk-funk-psych-boogie-blues like none other, because – hey, big surprise – The Freeks feel no need to fit in with the expected fare.

TOKE

These North Carolinian sludge bastards are pucking up the next generation of a legacy for filth-coated riffing and heavy-ass-those-bass-cabinets groove begun by the likes of Buzzov*en, Eyehategod, and Sourvein. Yes, that’s the league of bands we’re talking about. Their Orange LP was released earlier this year, and you might not know it yet, but Toke are very quickly getting ready to conquer every stage onto which they set their collective foot. Don’t miss the opportunity to see them prove the power of truly unhinged sludge riffing.

OUZO BAZOOKA

Look. We’re not saying you’re going to watch about 30 seconds of Ouzo Bazooka’s set and then immediately decide you need to hit the merch table as soon as they’re done and purchase everything they have for sale – but yes, that is exactly what’s going to happen. The Tel Aviv-based psych-surf four-piece issued their latest EP, Songs from 1001 Nights, at the start of 2018, and further refined their blend of Western and Middle Eastern influences to sound like nothing else out there – nuanced but familiar like a dance in some lost otherworldly dream.

Freak Valley Festival 2018 // No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2018:
OM, Russian Circles, Karma To Burn, My Sleeping Karma, My Baby, Mars Red Sky, Sumac, Lucifer, Yuri Gagarin, Dýse, The Freeks, Sacri Monti, Black Bombaim, Year of the Cobra, Purple Hill Witch, Ouzo Bazooka, Ruff Majik, Toke, Humulus, Kaleidobolt, Rage of Samedi, Nap
More tba soon

Have a freaky time – your Rock Freaks

www.freakvalley.de
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https://twitter.com/FreakValley

Karma to Burn, Live in Paris, Dec. 23, 2017

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Freak Valley 2018 Adds My Sleeping Karma, Yuri Gagarin, Dÿse, Rage of Samedi and Nap to Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 6th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

freak valley 2018 new banner

Freak Valley 2018 stormed out of the gate early last month with its first announcement, that it would be headlined by Om, and with five more band additions today, the Siegen, Germany-based festival immediately sets itself to the task of building a diverse lineup. From the progressive stylings of My Sleeping Karma and newcomers Nap to the dudeliness of Rage of Samedi, the psychedelic Swedes-in-space Yuri Gagarin and the weirdo experimentalist duo Dÿse, there’s a sense here that the fest has just begun to establish what will become its foundation in heavy and to jut outward from there in terms of actual scope. This is an exciting time in watching these things start to take shape, and whatever else comes, frankly, My Sleeping Karma and Om in the same lineup should be enough to have you booking travel plans.

Not gonna hide it: I wrote this announcement, so if you note some language similarities, that’s why. Here it is as posted by Freak Valley on the social medias:

freak valley 2018 my sleeping karma

Freak Valley 2018 – My Sleeping Karma, Yuri Gagarin, Dÿse, Rage of Samedi & Nap

Calling all Freaks!

After the rousing success of announcing OM as the first headliner of FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2018, the time has come to let you know about more bands for next year’s bill!
One of the things we strive to do with Freak Valley each year is build a festival that looks at different styles and embraces artistic variety as much as fuzzy riffs and heavy grooves. The underground is a rich and diverse place and it’s our hope this round of groups brings that to mind – you know, while also kicking ass.

So here we go. Please welcome My Sleeping Karma, Yuri Gagarin, Dýse, Rage of Samedi, and Nap to the lineup!

MY SLEEPING KARMA

Do they really need an introduction at this point? The forerunners of instrumental tantric heavy psych explorat MY SLEEPING KARMA – OFFICIAL unveiled their first live album, Mela Ananda – Live, earlier this year via Napalm Records and reaffirmed how utterly vital they’ve become. If you’ve never seen them before, their live presence is as incredible as their music is immersive and they could not possibly be more welcome on the Freak Valley stage! We can’t wait!

YURI GAGARIN

The time has come for Yuri Gagarin to ascend to the stars, and among the acts we’ve so far confirmed for Freak Valley 2018, these Swedish up-and-comers are definitely poised to make a huge impression on the Freaks lucky enough to catch their set. Expect huge multiple-AU washes of space rock gorgeousness and an interstellar propulsion all their own. Meet the new order of cosmic prog!

DŸSE

It’s a big planet, but there’s only one DŸSE Band Official to be found anywhere on it. The German duo make an experimental noise unlike anyone else, and while we could sit here and tell you all about it – it’s heavy, it’s weird, it goes wherever it wants, whenever it wants and does whatever it wants when it gets there – the best thing to do is show up and witness the spectacle for yourself. Really. You might be confused at first, but you’ll be a better person for it.

RAGE OF SAMEDI

Zweibrücken five-piece Rage of Samedi released their second album, Children of the Black Sun, last Fall through Voodoo Chamber Records, blending metallic aggression, doomed atmospherics, and a heavy Southern groove to their twisted purposes on songs like “Never Obey” and “Flagg,” calling to mind Down and bands like Crowbar while forging their own path in burly, chugging riffs, brutal rasp and heavy stomp. Sure to leave bruises by the time they’re done.

NAP

We’ve been delighted with the work of progressive heavy psych rockers Nap, and after their debut album, Villa, last year and their split earlier in 2017 with Black Lung from Baltimore, we knew the time had come to invite them to Freak Valley 2018. This will be the Oldenburg natives’ first time taking the Freak Valley stage, and we know their deeply textured and forward-thinking craft will make friends and turn heads in kind. Another one not to be missed.

Freak Valley 2018 runs May 30-June 2. Ticket presales will start at the the Tuber & Papir & Kalamata live at Vortex Surfer, Siegen show (Hardtickets).

Online ticket sales will start Nov. 12, 15 pm cet!

Freak Valley Festival 2018 // No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2018:
OM, My Sleeping Karma, Yuri Gagarin, Dÿse, Rage of Samedi, Nap

More tba soon

Have a freaky time – your Rock Freaks

www.freakvalley.de
https://www.facebook.com/freakvalley
https://www.facebook.com/events/738782742996668/
https://twitter.com/FreakValley

My Sleeping Karma, “Prithvi” official video

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Freak Valley 2018 First Announcement: Om to Headline

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Freak Valley 2018 takes place between May 30 and June 2 in Netphen, Germany, and the venerable festival announces today that no less than Om will serve as the first of its headliners. There’s been no solid word of a new Om album for next year — though a return trip abroad in Spring is bound to fuel speculation — and 2018 will make it a full six since the 2012 release of Advaitic Songs (review here), though when you issue what continues to resonate and thrive as one of the best records of the decade, you more than earn the right to take your time on a follow-up. Yes, I mean that. If it’s not Advaitic Songs and YOB‘s Clearing the Path to Ascend duking it out in your mind for the top spot right now, you’re fucking up as regards taste.

Om have two shows currently booked in Europe for 2018. Freak Valley and a date in Greece put together by Smoke the Fuzz Gigs. Details on that are below.

I’m proud to say I wrote the following announcement and it’s looking like I may finally get to attend Freak Valley next year. Stay tuned for more lineup updates to come, since as you can see, this is just the beginning:

Om-Freak-Valley-2018

Call to Prayer: OM to Headline Freak Valley Festival 2018

Freaks rejoice!

Every year, Om are one of the most requested bands to join the Freak Valley lineup, and as the first band to be revealed for Freak Valley 2018, we couldn’t be more thrilled to finally welcome Om as a headliner!

Led by bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, Om are the band who turned “heavy” into a spiritual movement. They began in 2003 after the dissolution of Cisneros’ prior outfit – a little band called Sleep; maybe you’ve heard of them – and their earliest works, 2005’s Variations on a Theme and 2006’s Conference of the Birds, are nothing short of modern classics. It was with their fifth and latest album, 2012’s Advaitic Songs, however, that Om most fully embraced their own breadth and the mystical visions their sound could conjure.

Cisneros, together with drummer Emil Amos (also Grails, Holy Sons) and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (also Lichens) cast forth five lush, beautiful and meditative soundscapes, spiritual without being dogmatic, groundbreaking without being pretentious, and more adventurous in their arrangements of piano, table, strings, keys, flute and vocals than Om had ever been.

While it’s true we’re still waiting for a follow-up, we’d be lying if we said Advaitic Songs still didn’t offer something new every time we listened to it. Seriously. If you haven’t already, you should put on “Gethsemane” immediately. You know we’re right.

Om’s headlining appearance at Freak Valley 2018 will be an exclusive and one of only two shows so far announced that the band will play in Europe next year. The other will be June 2 at the Piraeus 117 Academy in Athens, Greece, presented by Smoke the Fuzz Gigs.

This is just the start for Freak Valley 2018! Stay tuned for more bands, ticket presales and much more info to come!

www.freakvalley.de
https://www.facebook.com/freakvalley
https://www.facebook.com/events/738782742996668/
https://twitter.com/FreakValley

Om, Advaitic Songs (2012)

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