Posted in Whathaveyou on October 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Here be the second announcement from Roadburn 2024. The first one, made just over three weeks ago, brought skin-crawl legends Khanate as the first confirmtion, and really — I’m just being honest here — that was probably enough. Yeah, one band for a festival that’s like 10 days long now or something is probably a little light in terms of a general bill. But Khanate, you get one whole day to see them play three songs and then like five or six days to recover while you meander Tilburg in a stupor. Perfect plan.
This, along with irrelevance, poor networking skills and a general lack of utility, is perhaps a fraction of why I don’t book Roadburn. The groundbreaking Netherlands-based festival continues to push boundaries in their annual celebration of progressively-defined heavy. 2024 will make half a decade since I was last there — which I’ll tell you flat out is longer than I ever in my life wanted to again go, and while we’re honest I’m a little sad about it — but I carry a decade-plus of vivid and wonderful memories of the precise sort that I know those fortunate enough to witness it in 2024 will be making.
The lineup announcement came through the PR wire:
Roadburn announces first names for 2024 including The Jesus and Mary Chain, Chelsea Wolfe, Lankum and clipping.
Having already announced KHANATE for the 2024 edition of the festival, Roadburn has today made its first broader line up announcement, including THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, CHELSEA WOLFE, LANKUM, and CLIPPING. Roadburn 2024 will take place between 18-21 April in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Roadburn’s artistic director, Walter Hoeijmakers, comments:
“With this announcement, we are diving straight into the heart of what Roadburn 2024 is about. These artists that we are proud to unveil today are all of great significance for what the festival has become in recent times. We feel these artists represent the broad scope of Roadburn. With the first of the commissioned music projects also being revealed, we are as always, looking firmly into the future as well, presenting entirely new music. This is the start of many great things to come.”
—
It’s simply not possible to capture the true essence of THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN within a few words. They are a band who have made such an impact on the world within which Roadburn operates, their legend feels outsized, too large to fully comprehend. The Jesus and Mary Chain offer up a heady blend of fuzz and melody as a transportation device; whisking us a way to a different time and place of rose-tinted romance, wistful existentialism and just the right dose of hedonism.
Alongside the announcement of a new CHELSEA WOLFE album, we’re thrilled to reveal plans for her return to mainland Europe – at Roadburn 2024. In the twelve years since her first Roadburn appearance, this already remarkable artist has blossomed into an unstoppable force. As a songwriter and consummate creative entity incorporating evocative songwriting and unparalleled artistic vision, Chelsea Wolfe wraps the entire package in an ethereal, shimmering bow.
To witness LANKUM live is an intimate experience – no matter the size of the room. The four Irish musicians on stage play a dizzying array of instruments between them and possess a deep understanding of traditional folk, an appreciation of heaviness and deft hand for putting a twist on what has gone before them in the folk genre.
Experimental hip hop trio CLIPPING will make their Roadburn debut in 2024. A force to be reckoned with in the live arena, their minimalist onstage aesthetic belies the sonic complexities that they effuse. Experimenting with confrontation and heaviness within hip hop is part of what makes Clipping so exciting, and to our ears, makes them a band that belongs at the heart of what we do at Roadburn.
The first commissioned performance of 2024 to be announced will be crafted by the hand of MAT MCNERNEY. Music for Gloaming: A Nocturne by the Hexvessel Folk Assembly will be an entirely original composition, written and performed exclusively at Roadburn 2024. Evoking night-time mysticism, a realm where daylight bows to advancing darkness, unraveling both the external twilight tapestry and the internal landscapes of memory and thought, this commissioned work promises to be something truly special.
Additionally, HEXVESSEL will perform their latest album, Polar Veil in full at Roadburn 2024. On this striking release, a majestic shroud of black metal grandiosity is overlaid upon heaving doom and psychedelic flourishes that capture what is at the heart of Hexvessel.
Los Angeles based ecstatic black metal group, AGRICULTURE, will make their European debut at Roadburn, flying in for an exclusive one-off performance.
Mysterious Dutch black metal band, FLUISTERAARS will play their second ever show – their first in mainland Europe – at Roadburn, showcasing what has made them such an integral part of the underground black metal scene for so many years.
CLOAKROOM will bring their particular take on interplanetary exploration to Tilburg, playing tracks from their latest album, Dissolution Wave and more.
With the promise of a new album on the horizon, melancholic black metallers DÖDSRIT will return to Roadburn this coming April.
Delivering a dose of bloodsoaked blasphemy, DEVIL MASTER will make their Roadburn debut, traveling from Philadelphia to bring their malevolent magick to the masses.
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The artwork for Roadburn 2024 has been unveiled; a striking video created by French artist, David Fitt is available to view in full via the Roadburn website. This extraordinarily talented French artist has been on our radar for some time now, and we had the great honour of hosting an exhibition of his portraits at Roadburn 2023. From there our appreciation for his work blossomed into a creative relationship that has resulted in the work that we’re thrilled to present to represent the 2024 edition of the festival.
4-day tickets for Roadburn 2024 are now on sale. Other ticket options – including single day tickets and accommodation – will follow on November 3. More artists will be announced in the coming weeks. For all information including tickets, please visit www.roadburn.com.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Yes, in fact the universe did collapse in on itself this past Spring when the long-defunct chasm of hate-filled drear that is Khanate returned from the spike-filled abyss in which one imagines they were perfectly comfortable in order to release their first record since 2009, the title-as-mission-statement To Be Cruel (review here), through Sacred Bones Records. The label — home to Zola Jesus, Thou, Boris, Marissa Nadler, Moon Duo, John Carpenter and David Lynch, among many others — has featured prominently in Roadburn lineups over recent years, so one might’ve anticipated Khanate making an appearance as well. That is, if one had anticipated Khanate making live appearances at all, which is something I genuinely didn’t expect them to do.
But, here we are, still picking up surgically removed teeth and bits of skin to reassemble ourselves in the wake of the album, and a Roadburn set has been announced. The band will also have physical reissues of their first two LPs — the self-titled and Things Viral (discussed here) out Dec. 1 on Sacred Bones. You’ll recall they originally came out on Southern Lord, which tells you Khanate have been very nasty for a very long time.
What to expect? Well, I recall seeing Khanate what was apparently the better part of two decades ago, and it’s a big universe, so let’s think for a second. You know that scene in Caddyshack where Rodney Dangerfield shouts, “Hey everybody we’re all gonna get laid!” and then the music starts and it’s a big party? Start with the opposite of that, add a supermassive black hole, and scratch your fingernails into your own face until you bleed. There you go. That’s Khanate live. Memento mori.
Here’s a picture of dudes and words from Roadburn on socials:
Roadburn will host the long awaited live return of Khanate at the 2024 edition of the festival.
In the years since Khanate were last active there have been many heavy bands that followed in their footsteps. Some are able to emulate the abject bleakness, some capture the low-end rumble, a lot of them are undoubtedly extremely heavy. But none quite capture the grotesque combination of all three components quite like Khanate. We urge all worshippers of the low and the slow to brace for impact come April. This is going to be one for the history books.
“As a collective, Khanate has been silent during our dormancy, but now we will get loud; very loud. We’ll be returning to the stage, to explore tension and the elasticity of time – at Roadburn 2024. Get dead.” – Khanate
Roadburn 2024 will take place between April 18-21 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. 4-day tickets for Roadburn 2024 are now on sale. Other ticket options – including single day tickets and accommodation – will follow on November 3.
Khanate is Alan Dubin (vocals), Stephen O’Malley (guitar), James Plotkin (bass) and Tim Wyskida (drums).
Posted in Reviews on January 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Here we are. Welcome to 2023 and to both the first Quarterly Review of this year and the kind of unofficial closeout of 2022. These probably won’t be the last writeups for releases from the year just finished — if past is prologue, I’ll remain months if not years behind in some cases; you do what you can — but from here on out it’s more about this year than last in the general balance of what’s covered. That’s the hope, anyway. Talk to me in April to see how it’s going.
I won’t delay further except to remind that we’ll do 10 reviews per day between now and next Friday for a total of 100 covered, and to say thanks if you keep up with it at all. I hope you find something that resonates with you, otherwise there’s not much point in the endeavor at all. So here we go.
Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #1-10:
Buddha Sentenza, High Tech Low Life
With a foundation in instrumental meditative heavy psychedelia, Heidelberg, Germany’s Buddha Sentenza push outward along a number of different paths across their third album, High Tech Low Life, as in the second of five cuts, “Anabranch,” which builds on the mood-setting linear build and faster payoff of opener “Oars” and adds both acoustic guitar, metal-impact kick drum and thrash-born (but definitely still not entirely thrash) riffing, and later, heavier post-rock nod in the vein of Russian Circles, but topped with willfully grandiose keyboard. Kitchensinkenalia, then! “Ricochet” ups the light to a blinding degree by the time it’s two and a half minutes in, then punks up the bass before ending up in a chill sample-topped stretch of noodle-prog, “Afterglow” answers that with careening space metal, likewise progressive comedown, keyboard shred, some organ and hand-percussion behind Eastern-inflected guitar, and a satisfyingly sweeping apex, and 12-minute finale “Shapeshifters” starts with a classic drum-fueled buildup, takes a victory lap in heavy prog shove, spends a few minutes in dynamic volume trades, gets funky behind a another shreddy solo, peaks, sprints, crashes, and lumbers confidently to its finish, as if to underscore the point that whatever Buddha Sentenza want to make happen, they’re going to. So be it. High Tech Low Life may be their first record since Semaphora (review here) some seven years ago, but it feels no less masterful for the time between.
Captured raw in self-produced fashion, the Sept. 2022 debut album from Magma Haze sees the four-piece embark on an atmospheric and bluesy take on heavy rock, weaving through grunge and loosely-psychedelic flourish as they begin to shape what will become the textures of their sound across six songs and 42 minutes that are patiently offered but still carry a newer band’s sense of urgency. Beginning with “Will the Wise,” the Bologna, Italy, outfit remind somewhat of Salt Lake City’s Dwellers with the vocals of Alessandro D’Arcangeli in throaty post-earlier-Alice in Chains style, but as they move through “Stonering” and the looser-swinging, drenched-in-wah “Chroma,” their blend becomes more apparent, the ‘stoner’ influence showing up in the general languidity of vibe that persists regardless of a given track’s tempo. To wit, “Volcanic Hill” with its bass-led sway at the start, or the wah behind the resultant shove, building up and breaking down again only to end on the run in a fadeout. The penultimate “Circles” grows more spacious in its back half with what might be organ but I’m pretty sure is still guitar behind purposefully drawn-out vocals, and closer “Moon” grows more distorted and encouragingly fuzzed in its midsection en route to a wisely understated payoff and resonant end. There’s potential here.
Instrumental in its entirety and offered with a companion visual component on Blu-ray with different cover art, The Kybalion is the ambitious, 40-minute single-song debut long-player from Richmond, Virginia’s Future Projektor. With guitarist/vocalist Adam Kravitz and drummer Kevin White — both formerly of sludgesters Gritter; White is also ex-Throttlerod — and Sean Plunkett on bass, the band present an impressive breadth of scope and a sense of cared-for craft throughout their immersive course, and with guitar and sometimes keys from Kravitz leading the way as one movement flows into the next, the procession feels not only smooth, but genuinely progressive in its reach. It’s not that they’re putting on a showcase for technique, but the sense of “The Kybalion” as built up around its stated expressive themes — have fun going down a Wikipedia hole reading about hermeticism — is palpable and the piece grows more daring the deeper it goes, touching on cinematic around 27 minutes in but still keeping a percussive basis for when the heavier roll kicks in a short time later. Culminating in low distortion that shifts into keyboard revelation, The Kybalion is an adventure open to any number of narrative interpretations even beyond the band’s own, and that only makes it a more effective listen.
Berlin duo Grin — one of the several incarnations of DIY-prone power couple Jan (drums, guitar, vocals, production) and Sabine Oberg (bass) alongside EarthShip and Slowshine — grow ever more spacious and melodic on Oct. 2022’s Phantom Knocks, their third full-length released on their own imprint, The Lasting Dose Records. Comprised of eight songs running a tight and composed but purposefully ambient 33 minutes with Sabine‘s bass at the core of airy progressions like that of “Shiver” or the rolling, harsh-vocalized, puts-the-sludge-in-post-sludge “Apex,” Phantom Knocks follows the path laid out on 2019’s Translucent Blades (review here) and blends in more extreme ideas on “Aporia” and the airy pre-finisher “Servants,” but is neither beholden to its float nor its crush; both are tools used in service to the moment’s expression. Because of that, Grin move fluidly through the entirety of Phantom Knocks, intermittently growing monstrous to fill the spaces they’ve created, but mindful as well of keeping those spaces intact. Inarguably the work of a band with a firm sense of its own identity, it nonetheless seems to reach out and pull the listener into its depths.
Though clearly part of Teverts‘ focus on The Lifeblood is toward atmosphere and giving its audience a sense of mood that is maintained throughout its six tracks, a vigorousness reminiscent of later Dozer offsets the post-rocking elements from the Benevento, Italy, three-piece. They are not the first to bring together earthy bass with exploratory guitar overtop and a solid drum underpinning, but after the deceptively raucous one-two of the leadoff title-track and “Draining My Skin,” the more patient unfurling of instrumental side A finale “Under Antares Light” — which boasts a chugging march in its midsection and later reaches that is especially righteous — clues that the full-fuzz stoner rock starting side B with the desert-swinging-into-the-massive-slowdown “UVB-76” is only part of the appeal rather than the sum of it. “Road to Awareness” portrays a metallic current (post-metal, maybe?) in its shouty post-intro vocals and general largesse, but wraps with an engaging and relatively spontaneous-sounding lead before “Comin’ Home” answers back to “The Lifeblood” and that slowdown in “UVB-76” in summarizing the stage-style energy and the vast soundscape it has inhabited all the while. They end catchy, but the final crescendo is instrumental, a big end of the show complete with cymbal wash and drawn solo notes. Bravo.
An engrossing amalgam of lurching extreme doom and blackened metal, the second long-player, Ex Est, by Tilburg, Netherlands’ Ggu:ll is likewise bludgeoning, cruel and grim in its catharsis. The agonies on display seem to come to a sort of wailing head in “Stuip” later on, but that’s well after the ultra-depressive course has been set by “Falter” and “Enkel Achterland.” In terms of style, “Hoisting Ruined Sails” moves through slow death and post-sludge, but the tonal onslaught is only part of the weight on offer, and indeed, Ggu:ll bring dark grey and strobe-afflicted fog to the forward, downward march of “Falter” and the especially raw centerpiece “Samt-al-ras,” setting up a contrast with the speedier guitar in the beginning minutes of closer “Voertuig der Verlorenen” that feels intentional even as the latter decays into churning, harsh noise. There’s a spiritual aspect of the work, but the shadow that’s cast in Ex Est defines it, and the four-piece bring precious little hope amid the swirling and destructive antilife. Because this is so clearly their mission, Ex Est is a triumph almost in spite of itself, but it’s a triumph just the same, even at its moments of most vigorous, slow, skin-peeling crawl.
Fulanno & The Crooked Whispers, Last Call From Hell
While one wouldn’t necessarily call it balanced in runtime with Argentina’s Fulanno offering about 19 minutes of material with Los Angeles’ The Crooked Whispers answering with about 11, their Last Call From Hell split nonetheless presents a two-track sampler of both groups’ cultish doom wares. Fulanno lumber through “Erotic Pleasures in the Catacombs” and “The Cycle of Death” with dark-toned Sabbath-worship-plus-horror-obsession-stoned-fuckall, riding central riffs into a seemingly violent but nodding oblivion, while The Crooked Whispers plod sharply in the scream-topped six minutes of “Bloody Revenge,” giving a tempo kick later on, and follow a steadier dirge pace with “Dig Your Own Grave” while veering into a cleaner, nasal vocal style from Anthony Gaglia (also of LáGoon). Uniting the two bands disparate in geography and general intent is the dug-in vibe that draws out over both, their readiness to celebrate a death-stench vision of riff-led doom that, while, again, differently interpreted by each, sticks in the nose just the same. Nothing else smells like death. You know it immediately, and it’s all over Last Call From Hell.
Not all is as it seems as Mister Earthbound‘s debut album, Shadow Work, gets underway with the hooky “Not to Know” and a riff that reminds of nothing so much as Valley of the Sun, but the key there is in the swing, since that’s what will carry over from the lead track to the remaining six on the 36-minute LP, which turns quickly on the mellow guitar strum of “So Many Ways” to an approach that feels directly drawn from Hisingen Blues-era Graveyard. The wistful bursts of “Coffin Callin'” and the later garage-doomed “Wicked John” follow suit in mood, while “Hot Foot Powder” is more party than pout once it gets going, and the penultimate “Weighed” has more burl to its vocal drawl and an edge of Southern rock to its pre-payoff verses, while the subsequent closer “No Telling” feels like a take on Chris Goss fronting Queens of the Stone Age for “Mosquito Song” on Songs for the Deaf, and yes, that is a compliment. The jury may be out on Mister Earthbound‘s ultimate aesthetic — that is, where they’re headed, they might not be yet — but Shadow Work has songwriting enough at its root that I wouldn’t mind if that jury doesn’t come back. Time will tell, but “multifaceted” is a good place to start when you’ve got your ducks in a row behind you as Mister Earthbound seem to here.
Surely retro sword-bearing theatrics are part of the appeal when it comes to Brooklyn’s potential-rife, signed-in-three-two-one-go doom rockers Castle Rat‘s live presentation, but as they make their studio debut with the four-and-a-half-minute single “Feed the Dream,” that’s not necessarily going to come across to all who take the track on. Fortunately for the band, then, the song is no less thought out. A mid-paced groove that puts the guitar out before the ensuing march and makes way purposefully for the vocals of Riley “The Rat Queen” Pinkerton — who also plays rhythm guitar, while Henry “The Count” Black plays lead, Ronnie “The Plague Doctor” Lanzilotta is on bass and Joshua “The Druid” Strmic drums — to arrive with due presence. With a capital-‘h’ Heavy groove underlying, they bask in classic metal vibes and display a rare willingness to pretend the ’90s never happened. This is to their credit. The sundry boroughs of New York City have had bands playing dress-up with various levels of goofball sex, violence and excess since before the days of Twisted Sister — to be fair, this is glam via anti-glam — but the point with Castle Rat isn’t so much that the idea is new but the interpretation of it is. On the level of the song itself, “Feed the Dream” sounds like a candle being lit. Get your fire emojis ready, if that’s still a thing.
Immediate impact. Mountains‘ Tides End is the London trio’s second long-player behind 2017’s Dust in the Glare (discussed here), and though overall it makes a point of its range, the first impression in opener “Moonchild” is that the band are already on their way and it’s on the listener to keep up. Life and death pervade “Moonchild” and the more intense “Lepa Radić,” which follows, but it’s hard to listen to those two at the beginning, the breakout in “Birds on a Wire,” the heavy roll of “Hiraeth” and the rumble at the core of “Pilgrim” without waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Mountains to more completely unveil their metallic side. It’s there in the guitar solos, the drums, even as “Pilgrim” reminds of somewhat of Green Lung in its clarity of vision, but to their credit, the trio get through “Empire” and “Under the Eaves” and most of “Tides End” itself before the chug swallows them — and the album, it seems — whole. A curious blend of styles, wholly modern, Tides End feels more aggressive in its purposes than did the debut, but that doesn’t at all hurt it as the band journey to that massive finish.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Well, we know Roadburn works in extremes, and we know Becky loves her some Cave In, so seeing them lead the pack here along with the likes of Imperial Triumphant and White Ward seems like fair game. It is, as ever, an off-the-wall, all-over-the-place lineup announcement from Roadburn for 2023, bringing 18 different acts total in just about 18 different styles. This might be the last announcement of the year for the fest, but it will by no means be the last overall. Saturday tickets are sold out, and one expects the rest of the tickets for the four-day fest will go too. Then you’ve got the pre-show, side-programme, maybe the odd entire jazz festival on the side. You never really know except to say there’s more coming.
So hey, there’s more coming. “Redefining heaviness” is hard work but somebody’s gotta do it.
To wit:
Roadburn announces 18 new names – including Boy Harsher and Cave In
Roadburn has added 18 new names to the 2023 line up today, including the Roadburn debut of dark electro duo Boy Harsher, the return of Cave In for two special shows, a new commissioned performance, and the first Artist in Residence. Roadburn will take place between April 20-23, 2023 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Tickets are on sale now.
Roadburn Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments:
“We’re grateful that ticket sales for Roadburn are off to a good start and we are equally happy that the line up is shaping up very nicely as well. As we welcome Roadburn luminaries we are also focusing on bringing new and exciting acts into the fold – all of whom will push boundaries and defy genre expectations. We have also invited several bands to perform multiple shows over the weekend, showcasing different facets of their artistry. It’s our intention to make sure Roadburn 2023 all about exploration and creativity.”
— New Line Up Additions
Darkwave connoisseurs, BOY HARSHER have been confirmed for two sets at Roadburn 2023 – one is a full live performance, and the other is a DJ set with live elements. Making their Roadburn debut, anticipation is high for when they take over the stage (and turntables) for these special performances.
CAVE IN will return to the main stage at Roadburn for two sets in April. The first carries the title Interstellar Mixtape – the contents of which will remain largely a mystery until they take to the stage. The second set will be a front to back run through of their latest studio album, Heavy Pendulum.
WHITE WARD were scheduled to appear at Roadburn 2020, but fate intervened. Now they will head to Tilburg to perform their latest album, False Light in full..
Also pulling out the stops for an album performance will be IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT. They will be performing Spirit of Ecstasy in full, with additional accompanying musicians.
WAYFARER will perform two conjoined, career spanning sets titled A High Plains Eulogy. The sets will dive into their back catalogue, as well as preview brand new as-yet-unreleased material.
CIRCUIT DES YEUX will make their Roadburn debut. The project of musical mastermind Haley Fohr, CIRCUIT DES YEUX will return to Europe on the back of the stunning album, -io.
JERUSALEM IN MY HEART will also make their first appearance at Roadburn – the core duo of producer and multi-instrumentalist Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, and film-maker Erin Weisgerber will bring their audio visual display to Tilburg.
Following on from the release of the spellbinding album for you who are the wronged KATHRYN JOSEPH will perform at Roadburn, bringing her sparse and ethereal missives that detail both intimate vulnerabilities and the strength of the human spirit.
The Netherland’s own BROEDER DIELEMAN will perform, putting a distinctive liturgical twist on Americana-style storytelling.
PUPIL SLICER will make their Dutch debut, bringing the promise of chaotic energy and the potential for new material with them.
AD NAUSEAM will perform Imperative Imperceptible Impulse in full, presenting their take on death, black and experimental metal.
The Dutch underground will be thoroughly represented by OSSAERT, SHAGOR and DEATHLESS VOID who will each bring their own take on extremity to Roadburn.
JUDASZ & NAHIMANA will bring their atmospheric, ceremonial performance to Roadburn as they present their album Récits d’outre-monde.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE:
The first of Roadburn’s artists in residence to be announced for 2023, SANGRE DE MUÉRDAGO will be performing three sets over the course of the festival, highlighting different elements of their creativity. This collective of musicians channels their Galician heritage into immersive folk music of the most distinctive kind, and will do so with additional musicians and their usual flair.
COMMISSIONED MUSIC:
Trounce performing The Seven Crowns and Arias of the Empty Room
Roadburn has been commissioning artists to create and perform original compositions at the festival since 2018. 2023 will see an array of such commissioned projects – this year with a particular focus on giving a platform to underground artists.
Our second commissioned project to be announced is rooted in the Swiss underground – specifically the scene that has blossomed around Hummus Records (home to Coilguns, Rorcal, Emilie Zoé and more). Uniting several artists connected to the label under the banner of TROUNCE, this collective of musicians will bring the best of their homegrown underground to Roadburn.
More information on these artists can be found HERE. They join previously announced artists including Deafheaven, Wolves In The Throne Room, Giles Corey, Chat Pile and more.
Tickets for Roadburn 2023 are already on sale; Saturday tickets are sold out, but weekend tickets, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday tickets remain. 4-day tickets will be priced at €244, 3-day tickets at €214, and single day tickets at €79 (all costs inclusive of fees and service charges). Accommodation options are also available to purchase. All information can be found onRoadburn.com
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Names like David Eugene Edwards and Julie Christmas are bound to draw eyes, along with Deafheaven, but dig into the lineup announcement for Roadburn 2023 and you’ll find even more genre-spanning righteousness from the e’er forward-looking Dutch fest, which recently unveiled its pretty-people-doing-stuff thematic artwork by William Lacalmontie. Burst and Chat Pile stand out to me immediately, and Norna whom I recently saw for the fist time, but LLNN will kill it in their commissioned collaboration, and a special set from Wolves in the Throne Room is an idea that has a proven history at Roadburn of being, well, special.
I didn’t get to go to Roadburn 2022, which if we’re being honest is a lack in my life that I’ve felt throughout the entire year since. I don’t imagine they’re bringing back the daily ‘zine for 2023, having now thrived without it for the first time in however many years it was. But if I can get back over for next April, I’m going to do everything I can to try and make that happen. Assuming I can walk by then, I’ll carry amps from one end of the loading bay to the other, I don’t care. Just please let me be in Tilburg again.
This is the first announcement. More will follow. This is always one of the best and most hopeful times of the year.
From the PR wire:
Roadburn announces first names for 2023, including Deafheaven, Julie Christmas, and David Eugene Edwards
Roadburn has announced the first names for the 2023 line up ahead of tickets going on sale later this month. The festival will take place at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands between April 20-23, 2023. Tickets will go on sale at 7pm CET (6pm GMT, 1pm EST, 10am PST) on November 15.
Roadburn Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments:
“We are very thrilled to see Roadburn 2023 coming together, especially in a world turned upside down and all the challenges facing the live music industry. Roadburn 2023 is shaping up to be a very exciting edition of the festival even while navigating the underground post-pandemic. This year’s Roadburn won’t see a curator as there are so many obstacles and pitfalls to overcome; it would be hard for a curator to fully realise their artistic and musical dreams. We at Roadburn will make sure the 2023 edition will be as adventurous and explorational as always, and it will be an anchor point as usual. It will be a very current edition, reflecting the world as it is now.”
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Line up announcements: Deafheaven will fly in to Roadburn to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their groundbreaking sophomore album, Sunbather, by performing the album in full alongside a second set where they will play their latest incredible album, Infinite Granite.
Originally scheduled to perform at Roadburn 2020, Julie Christmas will finally perform next April as a European exclusive set. With a diverse back catalogue and the promise of new material on the horizon, this will be a must-see show.
Also drawing from a rich back catalogue, Roadburn will welcome back David Eugene Edwards, who will be performing cuts from his 16 Horsepower, Wovenhand and solo discographies.
Wolves In The Throne Room will enhance their already immersive performances with additional audio and visual components to create a special, exclusive set titled Shadow Moon Kingdom.
Another postponed Roadburn debut will finally come to fruition as Brutus will perform off the back of their stunning new album, Unison Life.
Big Brave warranted a rare back-to-back Roadburn booking and will be performing their upcoming new album nature morte at Roadburn 2023.
The Soft Moon has made such an impact over the years, but their latest album, Exister, takes things to a new level. They will be performing the album in full at Roadburn 2023.
Giles Corey will be making their live debut with a full band at Roadburn; originally scheduled for 2020 this underground phenomenon will bring catharsis and emotion in abundance.
Chat Pile have made an immense impact in a short space of time, and Roadburn has snagged the exclusive European debut of this much-hyped quartet.
Candy will be performing their blistering new album, Heaven is Here in full at Roadburn.
KEN Mode are doing their bit for the thriving noise-rock resurgence of 2022, and they’ll be flying in for a one-off show at Roadburn 2023.
The genre-defying experimentalism found on Show Me the Body’s latest album Trouble the Water will be brought to life in the flesh with their Roadburn debut next April.
Recently reformed and raring to go, Roadburn will host Sweden’s Burst, bringing the sound of early Scandinavian post-metal to Tilburg.
Norna will also represent Sweden with a crushing take on sludgy post-hardcore.
Commissioned Music:
Roadburn has been commissioning artists to create and perform original compositions at the festival since 2018. 2023 will see an array of such commissioned projects – this year with a particular focus on giving a platform to underground artists – the first of which is announced today.
John Cxnnor performing All My Future’s Past. Brothers Ketil and Rasmus Sejersen grew up in Denmark’s hardcore scene and the influence of that is felt in the music they create as part of LLNN, but it also infiltrates their work under the John Cxnnor moniker. For this commissioned project, they will enhance the industrial electronics of the John Cxnnor project with the contributions of fellow musicians from the hardcore scene they were shaped by.
Collaboration with Schouwburg Tilburg: For the first time, Roadburn is collaborating with Schouwburg Tilburg to embrace dance as part of the Roadburn landscape. Dance Of The Seven Veils will be brought to life by director Aïda Gabriëls with musical accompaniment courtesy of Colin H. Van Eeckhout (CHVE, Amenra), Pieter-Jan Van Assche (Innerwoud) and soprano Astrid Stockman. Tickets for this event will be sold as an upgrade to Roadburn tickets, with a discount for Roadburn attendees.
Weekend tickets and accommodation options will go on sale via roadburn.com at 7pm CET (6pm GMT, 1pm EST, 10am PST) on November 15. 4-day tickets will be priced at €244, 3-day tickets at €214, and single day tickets at €79 (all costs inclusive of fees and service charges).
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Roadburn 2022, after two years absent as an in-person gathering, set a significant goal for itself to ‘redefine heaviness.’ How do you do that? What does it look like? It’s inclusionary, first off. You can’t shift a paradigm without as broad and diverse a range of perspectives as possible. You can’t repeat yourself. You can’t live the same moment over and over again. You have to move forward. Maybe that’s adding an avant-jazz venue, as they did last week. Maybe it’s reinforcing your message with panels and talks on the side-programme, some new, some old — to be fair, if you’ve never heard Exile on Mainstream‘s Andreas Kohl talk about making vinyl, it’s something you won’t mind repeating; trust me — and exposing your audience as much as possible to as much as possible.
Roadburn‘s side programme has always been a party I’ve never felt quite cool enough for, but that’s on me, not the festival, which consistently has been working to reshape parameters and live up to its mission statement.
This is the final lineup announcement, reportedly. I’ll say here once and for all that it breaks my heart not to be in Tilburg this year, to see friends and to have that special feeling of coming home to Roadburn after missing it so much since 2019. Really. Hurts.
Here’s info:
Roadburn announces side programme, final bands and art exhibitions
Roadburn has this week added the final bands to the 2022 line up, as well as announcing the festival’s side programme and art exhibits.
Roadburn’s side programme co-ordinator, Becky Laverty comments: “The side programme has become a cornerstone of each Roadburn edition, and we’re delighted to be bringing together this great selection of Q&A’s and panel discussions that reflect what’s going on in the main musical programme. A huge thanks to everyone who will participate in bringing together the Roadburn community in this special way.”
Earlier this week exhibitions by Roadburn’s official 2022 artists Valreza Collective, renowned photographer William Lacalmontie, and a career retrospective of multi-disciplinary artist Manuel Tinnemans were all announced:
Manuel Tinnemans William Lacalmontie Valreza Collective
The final bands were added to the line up yesterday with our curators Milena Eva and Thomas Sciarone inviting WIEGEDOOD to perform their latest album, There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road in full. SVALBARD will make their return to the mainland, and elsewhere MOTOR!K, SEVERANT and ORDIGORT were added:
Wiegedood Svalbard Motor!k Severant Ordigort
The Roadburn side programme returns for 2022 – reflecting elements of the musical programme in a series of Q&A’s and panel discussions taking place over the weekend.
Roadburn has teamed up with the Hell Bent for Metal podcast to host a panel exploring the overlap between the heavy music and queer communities. Joining host Tom Dare will be Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, K.W Campol of Vile Creature and Meredith Graves (ex-Perfect Pussy).
Hosted by Metal Injection’s Frank Godla, the second panel featuring Hunter Hunt-Hendrix will take a deep dive into the relationship between classical and contemporary heavy music. Joining them will be Kristin Hayter (aka Lingua Ignota) and cellist Jo Quail.
As is tradition, Optimal Media’s Andreas Kohl will be holding court and getting stuck into the thorny issue of vinyl manufacture. However, this time around the Vinyl Veda Vault will kick off with a panel discussion looking into the impact of the current vinyl situation and what the future holds. Joining Andreas will be band manager Erin Lynch and label owner Ansgar Glade.
Roadburn 2022 has been an unusual event to put together (for some obvious reasons and some not so obvious reasons!) – the side programme will host a Q&A with Roadburn’s artistic director, Walter Hoeijmakers alongside curators Milena Eva and Thomas Sciarone to find out more about putting together the festival.
The final event of the side programme will focus on two tenets that have helped shaped Roadburn: community and collaboration. Host Cody F. Davis will be joined by A.L.N of Mizmor, Dylan Walker of Full of Hell, Emma Ruth Rundle, and Primitive Man’s Ethan Lee McCarthy to explore how these things impact on their lives and work.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 27th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Slowly but surely, I have begun the process of reconciling myself to the consideration that there may be a Roadburn 2022 without me there to see it. This is emotional. I have been to Roadburn each April since 2009, and it has served as a centering force for me regardless of who’s playing at what time, how much I know about the acts, and so on. Even as the last several years have delved into experimentalist indie in a willful push against the boundaries of heavy as a concept, I’ve stayed aboard and had my mind accordingly expanded for that effort. To miss out on that, after two years of no festival, makes me feel as though I have a hole in my heart.
I have planned tickets booked to go on tour in Europe with some bands in March. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that happens, not the least because I want to write a book about it, but even with that as a potential thing to look forward to, I’m having trouble accepting no Roadburn for me in 2022. The future is garbage.
From the PR wire:
Roadburn announces sixteen further performances for April 2022.
Roadburn Festival has today announced a further sixteen performances for the 2022 edition of the festival which will take place this April 21-24.
Artistic Director, Walter Hoejmakers comments:
“Given recent positive news about coronavirus numbers falling in Europe, we are continuing with confidence that Roadburn will be able to go ahead. Of course we will keep an eye on any relevant measures or necessary regulations that will impact on the festival, but we are optimistic that we’ll be able to welcome people to Tilburg in April. We’re thrilled to be able to add this new selection of bands to the already stellar lineup.”
Indonesia’s SENYAWA will be making the trip to Tilburg to share their experimental music with the Roadburn crowd. The highly regarded duo combine an electrifying extended vocal technique with a handcrafted, homemade instrument that can be utilised in a variety of ways to create their distinctive sound.
2022 curators, Milena Eva and Thomas Sciarone (of Dutch band GGGOLDDD) have confirmed the next selection of bands to join their curated event. AMNESIA SCANNER will deliver a dose of their audio-visual art to Roadburn and join us on our continuing quest to redefine heaviness in new ways. DUMA will travel from Kenya to bring their genre-crushing performances to the Roadburn audience. Dutch music will be represented throughout the curation with the addition of KAMIEL THOMAS, SØWT and a collaboration between ALICIA BRETON FERRER and EUROBOY.
Delayed by the pandemic, we’ll finally welcome THE DEVIL’S TRADE to Roadburn as Dávid Makó performs his doom-infused folk songs, as well as joining forces with JOHN CXNNOR (featuring members of LLNN) to perform a special collaborative set inspired by the Terminator franchise.
PLATON KARATAEV will bring some moments of thoughtful contemplation, and FORNDOM will offer up an opportunity to disconnect from modern life and reconnect to our roots.
Further proving that Dutch music is in rude health, Roadburn will host a special, extended performance of TERZIJ DE HORDE, GGU:LL and BROEDER DIELEMAN – featuring the premiere of Terzij de Horde’s new album, and taking some interesting twists and turns along the way as this collaboration reaches its crescendo.
Founding member of retired black metal band Nihill, VITRIOL, will revisit the sound design of the groundbreaking albums from Nihill by presenting a live audiovisual performance dedicated to the drone and black ambient side of the band.
Roadburn will host the debut performances from two black metal projects that already have connections to the festival; both FREJA and SILVER KNIFE will step out into the unknown at Roadburn 2022.
And for those who want to bring their dancing shoes to Roadburn, ALICE HUBBLE will be performing her album Hexentanzplatz in full, whilst DEATHSOMNIA will provide the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic world.
These artists have been added to a line up that also features ULVER, LINGUA IGNOTA, LITURGY, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE, DIE WILDE JAGD, 40 WATT SUN, RUSSIAN CIRCLES and many more. To read about these newly added artists please click the links below.
ALICE HUBBLE PERFORMING HEXENTANZPLATZ AMNESIA SCANNER DEATHSOMNIA DUMA EUROBOY & ALICIA BRETON FERRER FORNDOM FREJA KAMIEL THOMAS PLATON KARATAEV SENYAWA SILVER KNIFE SØWT TERZIJ DE HORDE // GGU:LL // BROEDER DIELEMAN THE DEVIL’S TRADE THE DEVIL’S TRADE X JXHN CONNOR VITRIOL PERFORMS NIHILL
Weekend tickets, and Friday and Saturday day tickets are sold out. Thursday and Sunday day tickets remain in limited numbers.
Tickets and accommodation options are available to view viaticketmaster.nl
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
I guess we could go on and on about badass festival lineups — and in a way, it feels very, very good to even think that’s true — but you’ll pardon me if I sort of bow under the spectacle here and just say I’m glad Warhorse are getting another chance to go to Roadburn after 2020 falling apart, and that Tau and the Drones of Praise will play. The latter not the least because it gives me an excuse to revisit their set from earlier this year at Roadburn Redux in putting this post together. I hope they play right before the devastating LLNN, but either way, it’s great that along with the huger acts like Lingua Ignota, Emma Ruth Rundle, Russian Circles, and so on, Roadburn remains committed to forward-thinking artists of such various stripes. See also Oslo Tapes playing the Pelagic showcase with Årabrot headlining.
I don’t know if I’ll get to go to Roadburn next year. The fest would be well within its rights to nix the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch ‘zine after so long and adverse circumstances, and it’s not like they need my review or photos badly enough to warrant having me there, but whatever happens, I love this festival, support its growth and direction, and I always will for as long as it goes. No one knows at this point what April 2022 is going to look like. I’m happy to proceed into the fest’s last announcement of 2021 with some sense of optimism, even if I need to force that a bit.
From the PR wire:
New additions to Roadburn 2022 including second Artist In Residence and label showcase
Roadburn has today announced another 17 artists for the 2022 edition of the festival, which will take place between April 21-24 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers, comments:
“With our last announcement before the end of 2021, we are super proud to have Pelagic involved again in Roadburn after their virtual Redux showcase earlier this year. And we know SLIFT will broaden our psychedelic horizons with three shows as artist-in-residence. Further, we offer this announcement in hope that 2022 will see a full return to international touring for festivals and club shows and we can all be together and celebrate in April. We wish you the happiest of seasons and hope you’re looking forward to Roadburn Festival 2022 as much as we are. Thank you for your continued support, faith and trust.”
French psych trio, SLIFT, have been announced as the second Artist in Residence for the 2022 edition (joining Full of Hell who were announced earlier this year). The band will perform three times over the course of the festival, including a collaborative performance with pioneering French musician, Etienne Jaumet (Zombie Zombie).
Pelagic Records will host a label showcase at the festival highlighting the diverse array of talent found on their roster. The showcase will climax with three interconnected performances courtesy of Lustmord, Lustmord and Karin Park performing cuts from their collaborative album, Alter, and finishing off with Årabrot. The showcase will also feature Year Of No Light, LLNN performing Unmaker, new signings Bruit≤, Oslo Tapes and a solo set from Karin Park.
Psych-heads rejoice – Die Wilde Jagd will perform at Roadburn, following two awe inspiring live performances at Roadburn Redux earlier this year. TAU & the Drones of Praise will also reprise their Redux appearance and make their way to Tilburg for an in-person performance.
Hangman’s Chair will complement their already-announced album set with a collaboration with Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. Originally commissioned by Red Bull and performed only once to date; the two bands have written additional material to extend the performance further into the reaches of their collective imaginations.
Originally scheduled to perform in 2020 Warhorse will finally perform at Roadburn 2022. Huntsmen will kick off their first trip to Europe with a special performance at Roadburn where they’ll play their 2018 album, American Scrap, in full.
London’s Five The Hierophant will make their Roadburn debut, as well as performing a collaborative piece with Wyatt E. and MC Slice titled Atonia.
These artists are added to a line up that already features Ulver, Lingua Ignota, Liturgy, Emma Ruth Rundle, Russian Circles, 40 Watt Sun, Backwash and many more. Click here to view the full line up and below to read more on these newly announced artists.
ÅRABROT ATONIA: A COLLABORATION BETWEEN WYATT E., FIVE THE HIEROPHANT & MC SLICE BRUIT ≤, DIE WILDE JAGD FIVE THE HIEROPHANT HANGMAN’S CHAIR X REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER HUNTSMEN KARIN PARK LLNN LUSTMORD OSLO TAPES SLIFT (ARTIST IN RESIDENCE) TAU & THE DRONES OF PRAISE URAL UMBO WARHORSE YEAR OF NO LIGHT ZETRA
Weekend tickets, and Friday and Saturday day tickets are sold out. Thursday and Sunday day tickets remain in limited numbers. Tickets and accommodation options are available to view viaticketmaster.nl
