Roadburn 2014: Mühr, Ortega, Death Alley and More Added to Lineup
What I like about these latest adds to the Roadburn 2014 lineup is that since the fest is long since sold out (though if I’m not mistaken there are still tickets for the Afterburner available), it’s not like they were booked because they’ll be a big draw. Basically the only reason you’re going to see acts like Ggu:ll, Mühr, Ortega, Death Alley and Seirom on the bill is because the festival digs them and thinks you should too. To me, that’s the whole spirit of what Roadburn is about, and that’s ultimately what makes it so special.
So as more acts pour on, where to stick them all? Oh, no worries, we’ll just add another venue. Now also featuring the Cul de Sac, in the heart of Weirdo Canyon in Tilburg, Roadburn has even more room to stretch out and show off some of the best the Dutch heavy underground has to offer.
Thanks to the fest as well for using one of my quotes about Mühr. If you haven’t heard their Messiah album (review here), you should. Here’s the news:
Cul de Sac: Ggu:ll, Mühr, Ortega & Seirom To Play On Thursday, April 10th!
During last year’s Roadburn Festival, we experimented with using Cul de Sac, a music café located across from the 013 venue, as a fifth stage to host everything from electrifying solo performances to bands in sheer rock overdrive. The experiment was a success! In fact, Cul de Sac proved to be such a great addition to Roadburn that we have designated the friendly café as an official location for the entire 2014 festival alongside the 013 venue, Het Patronaat and V39.
We will kick off Roadburn Festival 2014 with our traditional Hardrock Hideout at Cul de Sac on Wednesday, April 9th (more about that later). On Thursday, April 10th, the café will showcase the ever-fertile metal / sludge / psychedelic breeding grounds of The Netherlands, giving Ggu:ll, Mühr, Seirom and Ortega the opportunity to connect with the international Roadburn community.
Seirom (aka Mories from Aderlating and Gnaw Their Tongues) will start things off. Prepare to be drawn into an alternate dimension as dazzlingly light and wildly uplifting as Gnaw Their Tongues is dark and chilling.
Seirom’s latest, 1973, is a blissful and revitalizing trip. Released by Aurora Borealis, it would be at home on 4AD, too.
Tilburg‘s very own Ggu:ll are in the process of building a reputation as a solid live act, delivering aggressive yet melodic hypnotic doom, underpinned by crushing riffs and the anguished screams of William van der Voort.
Amsterdam-based tonal weightlifters Mühr subscribe to a cosmic doom esthetic that is both hypnotic and pummeling. On their latest album, Messiah, Mühr proves that there is more to a post-metallic scope than tonal largesse and longwinded execution, and the band “succeed in reshaping genre expectation in their own image,” according to JJ Koczan from The Obelisk.
Hailing from Groningen, Ortega is a sludge / doom band that is making quite a name for itself in the wake of three strong releases (1634, A Flame Never Rises on Its Own and The Serpent Stirs) and plenty of gigs, including no less than two UK tours in 2013 alone.
The combination of dark metal with progressive, psychedelic guitar leads, heavy riffs, and front man Richard Postma’s tortured howls makes the band an obvious choice for this year’s Roadburn Festival. If you love YOB, be sure to check out Ortega!
Hardrock Hideout with Death Alley! Wednesday, April 9th at Cul de Sac, Tilburg (NL)
In keeping with tradition to grab a brew and honor the gods of high energy, hard rockin’ action we will kick off Roadburn 2014 at Cul de Sac in Tilburg, The Netherlands, the festival’s official fourth location, with our traditional Hardrock Hideout on Wednesday, April 9th. Doors open at 8pm and admission is FREE!
Fresh from the filthy sewers and dark basements of Amsterdam, Death Alley deliver heavy punked-out proto-metal in spades. The band, revolving around former The Devil’s Blood guitarist Oeds Beydals and ex-members of Gewapend Beton and Mühr, mainline such influences as The MC5, Blue Cheer, Blue Öyster Cult, Motörhead and Black Sabbath, defining good ‘ol, rock ‘n roll played with metal finesse and a pitch black psychedelic soul cherry on top.
Indeed, Death Alley‘s gnarly shake appeal combines ingenious but blistering guitar parts with the intensity of drumming that justifies the present-day existence of John Bonham’s Vista-Lite drum kit.
Death Alley‘s debut 7?, ‘Over Under / Dead Man’s Bones’, recorded on 8 track by Orange Sunshine‘s legendary Guy Tavares and released through Van Records, could easily be mistaken for a long lost gem from the late 60s / early 70s, hailed by collectors as the holy grail of underground rock from back in the day.
http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2014/
https://www.facebook.com/muhrband
https://www.facebook.com/ortegadoom
https://www.facebook.com/Seirom
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ggull/343468262357429
https://www.facebook.com/deathalleyband
