Posted in audiObelisk on August 8th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
I was fortunate enough to catch a few of these bands at Roadburn 2016, among them Hills, Blind Idiot God and Peter Pan Speedrock (seen above). As an American traveling abroad — though I’ll say that eight Roadburns deep, there’s a big part of me that feels like going to Tilburg in April is a homecoming as much as foreign travel — it was particularly thrilling to watch Dutch natives Peter Pan Speedrock round out my second night of the fest (review here), their boot-to-the-ass thrust seeming to be in direct contradiction to their stated intent to retire. From Sweden, Hills‘ jammy psychedelics were also thoroughly welcome and somewhat less performative than Goat, which is made up in some measure or other of the same players.
And what to say about Blind Idiot God? Performance art. I might liken it to the first time I saw Cynic after they got back together in that the New York trio were so utterly assured of what they were doing that they managed to carry the audience in the revamped Green Room along their bizarre, oddly-timed path. It was jazz with metallic arrangement, essentially, but the people in front of the stage to see it were rapt the entire time and the level of appreciation was palpable and well justified. They were nothing short of incredible.
Of course, the same could be said for Roadburn 2016 as a whole. “Incredible” is just kind of how it goes. This latest round of streams also featured Behold! the Monolith, Blood Ceremony, a solo set from CHVE of Amenra and Of the Wand and the Moon.
Please enjoy:
Behold! the Monolith – Live at Roadburn 2016
Blind Idiot God – Live at Roadburn 2016
Blood Ceremony – Live at Roadburn 2016
CHVE – VERMAPYRE – Live at Roadburn 2016
Hills – Live at Roadburn 2016
Of The Wand and The Moon – Live at Roadburn 2016
Peter Pan Speedrock – Live at Roadburn 2016
Thanks as ever to Walter for letting me host the streams. To hear the first batch of Roadburn 2016 audio streams, click here, to hear the second one, click here, to hear the third one, click here, and for all of this site’s coverage of Roadburn 2016, click here.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Much good news coming out of the Roadburn 2016 camp today, and multifaceted. First, tickets will be on sale on Oct. 2. That’s a good one to know. Second, Becky Cloonan has been announced as the official artist of Roadburn 2016, and her poster for the fest, which you can see below, rules. Would and probably will look very cool on a t-shirt. Third, the lineup has grown even richer and broader, from neofolk to death metal to proggy extremity with the likes of Of the Wand and the Moon, Amenra, The Skull and Green Carnation added.
The Skull being added isn’t much of a surprise after the initial announcement of their Spring 2016 European tour last month, but confirmation is always nice anyhow, and a return from Amenra is most welcome. I always dug those Green Carnation records too, so hopefully Tchort brings out some of that stuff from his weirdo prog-death outfit. There’s a lot, and I mean a lot to get to, so I won’t delay.
To the PR wire:
ROADBURN FESTIVAL: ticket on sale date confirmed; new additions to the bill; official artist announced
ROADBURN 2016 tickets will be on sale from October 2.
New additions to the festival line up: AMENRA, THE SKULL, GREEN CARNATION, LA MUERTE, DER BLUTHARSCH AND THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND, OF THE WAND AND THE MOON, LYCHGATE, and CHAOS ECHOES.
ROADBURN FESTIVAL is proud to announce renowned illustrator and comic book creator, BECKY CLOONAN is our official poster artist for 2016.
TICKETS
Mark the date in your diaries – we can now confirm that Roadburn tickets will go on sale on October 2, 2015.
Three-day (Thursday – Saturday) and four-day (Thursday-Sunday) will be available to purchase via Ticketmaster.nl for €165 and €185 respectively. Day tickets for Sunday only will be available, priced at €39. A limited number of individual day tickets for the remaining days will be released for sale at a later date.
NEW LINEUP ADDITIONS
With a sonic arsenal behind them that covers a broad spectrum of emotive intricacies, AMENRA are perfectly placed to showcase their diversity at Roadburn 2016. The performances at Roadburn are currently the only planned live outings for AMENRA in 2016: an acoustic set, with an expanded band of musicians, immediately before Neurosis on the Saturday, and again taking to the main stage on the Sunday night to play an electric set. To find out more about AMENRA at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
Breathing new life into one of doom’s most enduring legacies, THE SKULL will also play Roadburn 2016 twice. On Thursday, April 14 THE SKULL will perform songs from For Those Which Are Asleep (out on Tee Pee records), plus classic Trouble, 90s era tracks. The following day, the band will hark back to Trouble’s Metal Blade years, only playing songs from Psalm 9, The Skull and Run To The Light. To find out more about THE SKULL at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
Norwegian avant-garde progsters GREEN CARNATION will perform Light of Day, Days of Darkness in its entirety on Sunday, April 17. 2016 marks the fifteen year anniversary of this epic, prog, avant-metal masterpiece. “The people involved in this are all buzzing”, says founder / guitarist Tchort, “Light of Day, Day of Darkness is a very special album in many different ways for so many people, and we are looking forward to start rehearsing this beast live.” To find out more about GREEN CARNATION at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
We’re elated to announce the international return of Belgium’s legendary riders of the apocalypse, LA MUERTE, at Roadburn 2016. LA MUERTE’s massacre thrashed Europe and the UK in the 80’s, resulting in a John Peel Session at the BBC, full pages of interviews in Melody Maker, and, infamously, bomb threats in Paris by extremists French Catholics for the track Ecoute cette Prière, before eventually disbanding in 1994. They will make their highly anticipated return at the 013 venue, for eager fans at Roadburn. To find out more about LA MUERTE at Roadburn 2016, click HERE
Denmark’s OF THE WAND AND THE MOON has become a leading staple of contemporary neofolk; albums such as 2011’s The Lone Descent are widely regarded as masterpieces. Heavily thriving on Nordic mythological influences, with lyrics mainly in Danish and English, Kim Larsen’s melancholic, often acoustic take on the genre paints devastating portraits of irreconcilable loss, love and death in a traditional romantic sense. OF THE WAND AND THE MOON will play Incubate Festival in Tilburg this month. To find out more about their performance at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
Over the past two decades DER BLUTHARSCH AND THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND’s Albin Julius found his alchemical, musical perfection: parts krautrock, psychedelia, and dark experimentalism. Theatrical and tense, sonically dark and perverse, ritualistic and confusing – don’t miss out on Albin Julius’ mushroom aesthetics on Thursday, April 14, when DER BLUTHARSCH AND THE INFINITE CHURCH OF THE LEADING HAND will celebrate their 20th anniversary. To find out more about their performance at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
Uncompromising, unsettling, utterly confounding, and heavily funeralizing Black Metal, London’s LYCHGATE – with Esoteric’s Greg Chandler on vocals – know how to craft a vibe. Let LYCHGATE drag you deeply down the rabbit hole on Friday, April 15, when they play An Antidote for the Glass Pill in full, and employ the church-organ to full effect on stage for the first time ever. To find out more about LYCHGATE at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
CHAOS ECHOES create an aesthetically complex body of work that sweeps death metal into a black hole of deconstructed improvisations. To find out more about their performance at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
BECKY CLOONAN
We at Roadburn are ecstatically proud to unveil the official artwork for Roadburn 2016, lovingly wrought by acclaimed comic-book illustrator BECKY CLOONAN – who will be following in the illustrious footsteps of such predecessors as Michel Langevin, Costin Chioreanu, and Arik Roper.
CLOONAN’s mix of clean, bold lines mixed with subtle intricacies, Manga-influenced angularity and artful use of chiaroscuro and colour has marked her out as an artist to pay serious attention to. Having provided stunning illustrations for a new edition of Bram Stoker’s immortal Dracula, collaborated with My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way on the art for his Dark Horse miniseries The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoy, and become the first woman to draw DC’s Batman – CLOONAN has already left an indelible mark on the comic book world
Her intricate linework, art-deco sensibilities and dark psychedelic edge make her the perfect match for Roadburn, with her comics background providing a fresh edge to the Roadburn aesthetic. She’ll be providing the official poster art for Roadburn 2016 along with four individual day posters – yet to be revealed – and taking part in the official exhibition of art at Projectspace Tilburg – Gust van Dijk.
To read more about BECKY CLOONAN at Roadburn 2016, click HERE.
Roadburn Festival takes place between 14 – 17 April 2016 at the 013 venue, in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Ticket announcements will follow in due course.