Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 19th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Guitarist/vocalist Tom Denney of I Klatus has a visual style that’s no less warped than the bleak, all-brown-and-grey psychedelia conjured by his band. In his graphics work, one finds ritualistic vibes and elements cast sometimes into an oblivion of richly-hued colors or sometimes turned monstrous by forces unknown, and listening to the churn brought to bear in “Final Communion,” the closing track from I Klatus‘ fourth and latest full-length, Nagual Sun (review here), the impression is little different. There’s a firm sense of the sound being born as a rite of space-creation, the making of a world in which to dwell, and it’s a place that Denney, bassist John E. Bomher, Jr., and drummer Chris Wozniak craft unmistakably as their own.
Perhaps most of all, I Klatus‘ music is a space in which the band itself can get lost in transcendentalist fashion. To wit, the last interaction of chants in “Final Communion” seem to be as much about trying to grasp the ethereal at the very ending minute as much as creating some outward engagement of atmosphere. It’s the band reaching inward. Audience becomes almost a secondary or tertiary consideration to the process of the ritual itself. I don’t think they mind witnesses — if they did, why record at all? — but there’s something so personal about “Final Communion” that makes it the perfect summary of Nagual Sun‘s remarkably bizarre but deeply nuanced proceedings, righteously heavy in their tone and in the underlying animalism of their methods.
Though I won’t take anything away from the animation or how well the smoky colorations and symbols represent the song, the highlight of the “Final Communion” video is the track itself. The band posted it as the third visual representation of Nagual Sun behind clips for “Sorcerer’s Gaze” (posted here) and “Beneath the Waves,” the latter of which you can also see at the bottom of this post, where you’ll also find the full stream of the record from I Klatus‘ Bandcamp, just because I think it’s worth your time. Hopefully you agree.
Please enjoy:
I Klatus, “Final Communion” official video
Coinciding with the release of new album Nagual Sun, Chicago Doom/Sludge eclectics I KLATUS have released the official video for album cut “Final Communion.”
The overall sound of Nagual Sun maintains the gritty roots for which I KLATUS is known, while at the same time launches the group into new and more fully fleshed-out dimensions of weirdness. Tom Denney is the primary soothsayer behind I KLATUS. Denney trades growling vocals with bass player, John E. Bomher, Jr. (BURY THE MACHINES, YAKUZA), who doubles as the band’s producer with his extensive experience in the studio; his work on the album sets this release head and shoulders above their previous efforts in terms of production quality.
The drums are championed by Chris Wozniak (LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, EARTHEN GRAVE, SERPENT CROWN) who metes out doom in guttural timing. Some noises and textures by former member, Robert Bauwens, are also tucked into the nooks and crannies of these tracks.
I Klatus is: Tom Denney – guitar/vocals/art John E. Bomher, Jr. – bass/vocals/production Chris Wozniak – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I’m not entirely sure what’s happening in the new video from minimally-monikered Swedish post-sludgers V, but I do know it’s spectacularly creepy in that special way that only stop-motion animation can truly be. Wallace and Gromit? That shit is terrifying to me. I mean it. Haunts my dreams.
V come into “Souls of the Nearly Departed” and their debut album, Pathogenisis, with no small measure of pedigree between guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Andreas Baier‘s history in Afgrund, Besvärjelsen and Oak, bassist Jonas Kindlund‘s tenure in Besvärjelsen and Daniel Liljekvist‘s former membership in Katatonia — the lineup is rounded out by Jonas Gryth on guitar — but if the opener is anything to go by, their sound is already pretty thoroughly their own. It unfurls viciously across the eight minutes of the clip, which you can see at the bottom of this post, and portends further scathing to come in its atmosphere and shouts, following up on the ambient vibe of V‘s VI EP, which was recorded in 2006 and unreleased until late last year.
Would be interested to know what happened there and why that was sat on for a decade, but either way, the full-length will be out next month on Suicide Records, as the PR wire duly confirms:
V – Swedish Sludgy Doom Quartet Announce New Album “Pathogenisis”
Premiere Video For “Souls of the Nearly Departed”
Swedish sludgy doom metal quartet V, featuring current and former members of Katatonia, In Mourning, Oak and Afgrund, return with their first full-length “Pathogenisis” nearly a decade following the release of their three-track EP “VI”.
Recorded at Midlake studios in Dalarna – Sweden, mixed by A. Baier at Midlake 2 studios, and mastered by Panu Posti at Mean Seed Lab in Helsinki, the new album is 6 songs and 42 minutes of bleak, dark and sludgy doom metal and is set for release on November 8th via Suicide Records.
“Pathogenisis” track-listing:
1. Souls Of The Nearly Departed 2. At The End Of Your Time 3. Pathogenisis 4. Perfect Predator Pattern 5. Suspended Animation 6. The Order
Since their inception over a decade ago, Melbourne’s Hotel Wrecking City Traders have consistently — which is not to say relentlessly — pushed themselves to grow as artists. They have also been consistently — which is not to say relentlessly — undervalued for the fruits of this effort. Since the first cacophonies of their 2008 full-length debut, Black Yolk, and through 2010’s Somer/Wantok (review here) single, their 2011 collaborative work with Yawning Man guitarist/desert rock figurehead Gary Arce (review here), 2012 splits with Sons of Alpha Centauri and WaterWays (review here) and Spider Goat Canyon and their more recent long-players, 2014’s Ikiryo (review here), 2016’s Phantamonium (review here) and the newly-issued Passage to Agartha (review here), brothers Ben and Toby Matthews have been on an outward sonic journey that has remained unafraid to take on psychedelic tenets even as it maintains the semi-mathy crunch of its roots.
To listen to Passage to Agartha in particular, it is striking just how far Ben (drums) and Toby (guitar) have come. Their sound on the Cardinal Fuzz/Evil Hoodoo and Bro Fidelity 90-minute offering is more expansive than it’s ever been — so much so, in fact, that they recently recruited Spider Goat Canyon‘s Josh Beagley to play bass, making them a trio for the first time — and whether that’s manifest in the 20-minute, drone-backed bonus exploration “Oroshi” or in the crunch-meets-post-rock of “Quasar” and the massive rolling low end of “Kanged Cortex” at the outset, the instrumentalists continue to revel in their adventure in a way that few bands can make sound so genuine. Passage to Agartha, no less huge in concept than runtime, was recorded in mere days and largely improvised, only further emphasizing the musical language the brothers have built between them over time and how fluid their execution has become across their years.
As advice goes, it seems counterintuitive, but if you’re unfamiliar with Hotel Wrecking City Traders, start with Passage to Agartha and work your way back. I know an hour-and-a-half-long record is a lot to dig into at an inexperienced outset, but I think by the time the siren wails backing the flow of the title-track roll around, Passage to Agartha tells a lot of the story of how Hotel Wrecking City Traders have become the band they are — or the band they were when they tracked this material, anyway; again, they’re a trio now and one looks forward to how their dynamic might shift as a result — and with the surrounding push in “Chasing the Tendrils” and the dream-coated-in-noise wash of “Ohms of the Cavern Current,” the richness that Toby and Ben are able to convey has never come through with such exciting and entrancing resonance.
Ben was kind enough recently to take on discussing his relationship with his brother, the processes by which Passage to Agartha came about, bringing in Beagley and more.
Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:
Six Dumb Questions with Hotel Wrecking City Traders
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Tell me about putting together Passage to Agartha. How did these massive tracks take shape, and was there anything specific you were trying to bring to the material coming off of Phantamonium? How much of your writing is born of improvisation and jamming?
We had no pre-written ideas prior to day one. It was all improvised over the two days we were in the studio, with two days of overdubs for the bass and synth parts. A fairly typical approach for us, really, though this time the added instrumentation took a little longer. We didn’t really have Phantamonium in mind when we did this one we kind of left the way Toby approached the main guitar parts open for additional parts. We always record live together and rarely do overdubs but this time we felt we wanted to try to broaden the scope of sounds and tried to create a more full and layered tapestry of sounds. Playing synth was a first for us on a record and I just did one pass over each track and what you hear is what you get.
What was your time in the studio like? Was it enough? How much were the songs fleshed out in the studio? Was there something particular you wanted out of the sound of the album this time around?
We had a lot of fun this time around. The engineer who also owns the studio, Max [Ducker] and his two dogs were there for the recording. The size of the room we recorded in was smaller than places we have gone in the past but Max really knows his gear and we trusted that he would be able to capture what we were after. He has mixed the band as a live engineer many times and is a good friend of the band so in terms of a working relationship it was super-relaxed and he brought some nice gear for us to use and has a golden working knowledge of his studio and its capabilities so we felt very relaxed the whole time.
The songs were 100 percent improvised over the two days so we just rolled with it and allowed the songs to dictate how we would approach the next one. For example, amp settings, pedals, tempo and those sorts of things but we have always been a very cerebral pair, Tobz and I, and we just got into a certain headspace and let the songs evolve completely naturally and of their own will.
We try to make each record we do different and I think this one kind of has elements of old approaches and also newer ideas as well as a real mixture of melody and sheer volume and velocity. It’s a double album, which was not our intention going in but once we were done and we had the labels in place to release it we knew it had to be a double as the songs were so long that we could really only fit one per side of vinyl.
Where does the space theme come from and how does it tie into the material for you? Is there a narrative taking place in the tracks? If so, what’s the story being told?
It’s certainly an expansive record in its length and also the sonic elements from one track to the next so it was the final version of the record that lent itself to a space themed sort of idea. The passage to Agartha being the mythical city in the centre of the Earth’s core. We’re nerds and love sci-fi and horror and it seemed like the right fit. Whilst there is no specific story, the songs definitely go from a faster, more melodic place and end up in a slower and more molten space by the end of the record.
“Oroshi” cuts off suddenly past the 22-minute mark. Was that actually the end of the piece? You’ve done longform jamming before, of course. Does a song like that just happen, or do you go into it with the intention of doing something more extended?
Yeah that was a single live take over a loop that Tobz made and we just went for it. I used mallets to play that track but we did not EQ the drum mics any differently. It has a sort of Steve Shelley/Sonic Youth vibe to the drums and we were limited only by the 22 minutes of guitar loop! Haha! So yeah, we had a timer counting down as we were against the clock. Lots of nods for that one. We deliberately made that one far looser and more soundscape based than the others and I believe it was recorded midway through the recording late on day one.
You’re past a decade now working as Hotel Wrecking City Traders. How do you feel about how the band has grown in that time, and how has your relationship changed as brothers and as bandmates? How much of the communication between you at this point is unspoken on a musical level, and how clear a picture do you have in your head of what each other wants to do with the band?
Tobz and I are super good friends and playing together for this long has cemented that. We’re probably more tolerant of each other from doing tours in Japan, Europe and New Zealand together on a budget. Continuing to want to create together and do this has always been important to us. Most of our communication is unspoken to be honest. Musically we say very little to each other verbally and communicate via the music as it seems to be more pure that way and less preconceived. It seems to work quite well.
We recently added a bass player to the band and played our first show as a trio last month. His name is Josh [Beagley] and is from the band Spider Goat Canyon. We’ve been friends for a decade and played tons of shows together. We realized we wanted to play these songs offPassage to Agarthaand knew we needed that extra component. We’ve been getting together every week and jamming and reworking this set of new songs so our sets can be half those and half improvised and expansive.
We were very happy to have this new album come out as a co-release between Cardinal Fuzz and Evil Hoodoo (who we worked with previously onPhantamonium). We sell way more records in Europe than we do in our own country and it made sense to do it that way. In terms of a clear picture of what we wish to continue doing – more records, more Aussie shows and definitely getting back to Europe next year is high on our list. We are also looking at NZ shows and Japan shows as well as it’s been four years since we were last there and we’d absolutely love to go back and hit up some new cities and towns.
Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?
Just a thanks to your good self for covering this release and all the support you have shown us over the years. We truly appreciate it. Other than that, please check out the record and shoot us a message if you would like to help us organize anything in Europe or anywhere for that matter. We always enjoy being able to travel as a result of the music we create and see new places.
Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Passage to Agartha (2017)
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Yeah, this one makes sense. UK imprint APF Records has worked to make itself a home-base for some of its burliest countrymen acts, fostering the extremity, sludge and otherwise unabashed dudeliness of the likes of BongCauldron, Tronald, Under, Ba’al, Diesel King, Nomad and Mastiff, among others. That they’d go ahead and pick up Desert Storm and add the Oxford five-piece to that roster feels like a next logical step to me. They’ll make for good company. APF clearly knows what it’s doing in wrangling the viciousness of these acts, and as Desert Storm look to follow-up 2015’s Omniscient (review here), they’re deserving of as wide attention as they can get, particularly after touring as they have over the last year-plus with Honky and Limb in the UK and hitting the European mainland earlier in 2017.
So while it’s not necessarily the hugest of surprises conceptually, I’ll say all the more kudos to group and imprint for the logical fit, and hope for more to come from Desert Storm as we move into the New Year. The band, who also had a split 7″ with Suns of Thunder (review here) out last year on H42 Records to mark their appearance at Desertfest, will release their new album, Sentinels, in March. I’ll get my testosterone supplements ready.
APF posted the following announcement to make it official:
We are beyond thrilled to announce that Desert Storm have signed to APF Records.
Following on from Desert Storm (2008), Forked Tongues (2010), Horizontal Life (2013) and Omniscient (2015) we will be releasing the quintet’s new album SENTINELS worldwide and on all formats on 1st March 2018.
Welcome to the family, boys.
Desert Storm is: Chris White: Guitar Ryan Cole: Guitar Chris Benoist: Bass Elliot Cole: Drums Matt Ryan: Vocals
[Click play above to stream ‘The Descent’ from Year of the Cobra’s new EP, Burn Your Dead, out Oct. 27 via Magnetic Eye Records.]
Play raw, take chances — this might very well be the ethic under which Year of the Cobra operate. The Seattle two-piece issued one of 2016’s finest debut full-lengths via STB Records with …In the Shadows Below (review here), and their follow-up EP, Burn Your Dead, arrives via Magnetic Eye Records with five songs that not only continue the thread from that offering, but push forward the sense of stylistic adventurousness that began to show itself there. To wit, no doubt the core of …In the Shadows Below was in the heavy rock roll conjured together by bassist/vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (interview here) and drummer Jon Barrysmith.
Together, they offered thickened groove and memorable nod given all the more of a post-Acid King feel thanks to the production of Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, so many others I get embarrassed even listing them). A song like “Vision of Three” reveled in a churning tempo where “Persephone” and “White Wizard” offered a speedier take, but heft was at the root one way or the other, and while that continues on the 25-minute Burn Your Dead, there’s also significant branching out being done on aesthetic terms, as Amy and Jon not only reaffirm what they did with the preceding album in a piece like “Cold” or “The Howl,” but move brazenly and boldly forward as songwriters less bound by genre than they were even a year ago with the LP.
They’ve done a fair amount of touring to support …In the Shadows Below and did for the prior 2015 three-songer The Black Sun (review here) as well, and if that’s the source of the progression shown in Burn Your Dead, then all the better for it being so well earned, but wherever it might stem from, it finds Year of the Cobra with a burgeoning sense of fearlessness when it comes to their craft. Yes, songs like opener “Cold” and the subsequent “The Descent” are still heavy in the sense of the weighted tonality of Amy‘s bass and the crash of Jon‘s drums. However, the confidence and range of Amy‘s vocals has seen a marked increase, and a headphone listen reveals in “Cold” vague, deeply-mixed whispers behind her verse lines that, along with the keys playing the root notes throughout and other vague samples in the open, between-chorus midsection, add not only a sense of the ethereal, but a sense of horror atmosphere as well that comes through subtler and creepier than the average Hammer Productions movie clip.
“Cold” revives its shove patiently and builds intensity on Jon‘s snare as it makes its way back to the hook, but the immediate message is that Year of the Cobra didn’t even come close to playing their full hand on the debut, and each of the songs that follows adds something of its own to the proceedings, whether it’s the late-Kylesa proggy melodicism of “The Descent,” the raw punker scathe and gang shouts of “Burn Your Dead,” the doom pop croon and swirl of “The Howl” or how “And They Sang…” rounds out seeming to smash “The Descent” and “Burn Your Dead” together with sudden changes in pace and spaciousness.
In this jumping from one feel to another, Burn Your Dead is very much an EP — essentially a showcase for Year of the Cobra‘s growing audience of ideas that might or might not come to further fruition in their sound that simultaneously expands the context of the band as a whole — but that does nothing to undercut the quality of their performance, construction or attention to detail. Whether it’s the thrust of “Burn Your Dead” and “And They Sang…” or the taking-its-time fluidity of “The Descent” from whence the former charges out, the duo are careful in their presentation. Not necessarily in a way that undercuts the natural feel of their sound as two players — “play raw, take chances” — but the taking-chances part of that equation finds them perhaps capitalizing on the impulse that drove “Temple of Apollo” toward such poppishness on …In the Shadows Below; that same feeling of not shying away from manifesting an idea because it might not strictly conform to the tenets of genre.
If Burn Your Dead has an underlying purpose, it might be to realize this notion as a central aspect of Year of the Cobra‘s approach, and if so, the EP is all the more praiseworthy both on its own level and in the metamorphic sensibility it adds to the release that came before it, essentially enriching an already rich listen by building so gracefully on its foundation. It may make it harder to predict where Year of the Cobra might go with their next batch of material — other than on tour; that’s a pretty easy guess — but whether they seek to tie the melodic airiness of “The Howl” to a more earthbound nodder vibe or simply take Burn Your Dead as a model for adopting multiple sonic facets simultaneously across a broader collection of tracks and somehow manage to create fluidity between them, the band leaves little doubt as to their ability to manipulate and foster their individualism as they see fit while maintaining a strong grip on their songwriting.
Wherever they go on Burn Your Dead, they never seem lost, and thus it is all the more a joy to follow Year of the Cobra along this brief journey. A sure-fire bet as one of 2017’s best short releases.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 18th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
UK heavy rock veterans The Brew have signed to Napalm Records for the 2018 release of their sixth full-length album. They’ll be on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland in November and will follow-up with a run early next year in the UK. I don’t know if the latter run is meant to coincide with their next record coming out or not, but either way, cool to have such things planned out in advance. I’ll admit this announcement is my first exposure to the band, who’ve got some high profile touring to their credit in addition to the records, but they acquit themselves well in the video for “Shake the Tree,” the title-track of their 2016 long-player, which you can see below in all its uptempo/about-to-be-stuck-in-your-head delivery precision.
Even going just from that as I am, there’s little question as to why Napalm would pick them up. Pretty clearly a pro shop.
The PR wire made it official:
THE BREW – Sign With Napalm Records Worldwide!
Hailing from the North Eastern fishing town of Grimsby, UK, THE BREW have gained a reputation as being one of the most exciting live rock acts in Europe today. To date they have released five chart topping albums to their credit, in their unchanged, original lineup, featuring, Tim Smith on bass, Kurtis Smith on drums and Jason Barwick on guitar and vocals.
The breakthrough for the band came in 2009 when they appeared on the world famous RockPalast TV show, and following the successful album releases of “A Million Dead Stars” and “The Third Floor”, they again returned the RockPalast show in 2012.
THE BREW have toured with the likes of ZZ Top, Lynryd Skynyrd, and shared the stage with Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Beck, to name but a few.
Their current critically acclaimed album releases of “Control” (2014) and “Shake the Tree” (2016) have seen the band cement their status as one of the leading rock acts in Europe today.
THE BREW states about their new collaboration: “It’s with great pleasure we can now announce, The Brew have signed with Napalm records. Sharing our vision with the talented and dedicated Napalm team, we couldn’t be more excited. 2018 will see the release of new music from the band, for all our awesome fans!!!!”
And we’re more than happy to welcome them to the Napalm Records family! Keep a close eye on THE BREW and Napalm Records social media sites for updates on the new album!!
THE BREW are: Jason Barwick (guitar/vocals) Tim Smith (bass) Kurtis Smith (drums)
Discography: The Brew (2006) Fate and Time E.P. (2007) The Joker (2008) Live in Belgium (DVD – 2008) A Million Dead Stars (2010) Live at Luna Lunera (DVD – 2010) The Third Floor (2011) Live in Europe (2012) Control (2014) Shake The Tree (2016) New album in 2018!!!
The Brew on tour: 03 November 2017 Bibelot Dordrecht Netherlands 04 November 2017 De Duycker Hoofddorp Netherlands 05 November 2017 Caffe den Heiligen Cornelius Roermond Netherlands 07 November 2017 Jazztage – Forum Leverkusen Germany 08 November 2017 Das Bett Frankfurt Germany 09 November 2017 Tower Bremen Germany 10 November 2017 Bluesnight Dudelange Luxembourg 11 November 2017 Schuhfabrik Ahlen Germany 13 November 2017 Solothurn Kofmehl Switzerland 14 November 2017 Schüür Luzern Switzerland 15 November 2017 Werkk Baden Switzerland 16 November 2017 Universum Stuttgart Germany 17 November 2017 Cafe Central Weinheim Germany 18 November 2017 Stadthalle Neuwied Germany 15 December 2017 Yardbirds Club Grimsby UK 27 December 2017 St. Hell Festival – Grünspan Hamburg Germany 25 January 2018 Komedia Brighton UK 26 January 2018 GIANTS OF ROCK Minehead UK 27 January 2018 The Soundhouse Leicester UK 01 February 2018 The Haven Club Oxford UK 02 February 2018 Warehouse 23 Wakefield UK 03 February 2018 Borderline London UK 09 February 2018 Nice ‘n’ Sleazy Glasgow UK 10 February 2018 Bannermans Edinburgh UK 16 February 2018 Bodega Nottingham UK 17 February 2018 Slade Rooms Wolverhampton UK
Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 18th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Apparently if you want to get into a headquarters building for EUMETSAT, it’s all about who you know. Having a killer van like the one from Dumb and Dumber probably helps too — one imagines that helps everything — and it would seem Darmstadt, Germany-based heavy rockers Bushfire have both working in their favor in their new video for “Die Trying.” The clip is the second to be unveiled from their forthcoming third full-length, When Darkness Comes, behind one for “Zombi” posted in August, and where that had kind of a creeper lyric video vibe going, the metaphor of zombies being put to use as a descriptor for our relationship to technology — think dead-eyed people staring at their phones, etc. — “Die Trying” plays up a little bit more of the fun side that Bushfire bring to their personality.
To wit, that Dumb and Dumber van. And if you’re not familiar — I certainly wasn’t — the EUMETSAT stands for “Europäische Organisation für meteorologische Satelliten” and is essentially a network of weather satellites used across the European Union to share meteorological data between member states. There are headquarters throughout the EU, and one is in Bushfire‘s native Darmstadt, so yeah, they clearly found some way to get in and have a good time in the process, so kudos all around. One assumes they didn’t knock any orbital apparatus out of alignment in the process, and the lighter-hearted spirit of the video does well to represent When Darkness Comes, which, while severe in its title, cover art and in the themes of cuts like the aforementioned “Zombi” and the later “Fallen from Grace,” does have some letup in brooding in this track as well as the fuzz-rolling march of closer “Liberation” amid the moodiness of songs like “Shelter,” “Another Man Down” and “Wild Eyes,” all of which seem to bring together elements from the sonic personae of bands like Borracho, Clutch and Down to follow Bushfire‘s 2013 outing, Heal Thy Self (review here), with their most cohesive sonic vision to-date.
You can check out the burl and the groove of “Die Trying” on the player below, followed by more info about When Darkness Comes, for which Bushfire have a hometown CD release show booked for Oct. 27. Last I heard the record was due in December, but I guess if you can get it while the getting’s good, then yeah, get it while the getting’s good. Maybe vinyl later? I don’t know anything anymore.
Enjoy the video:
Bushfire, “Die Trying” official video
BAND – BUSHFIRE SONG – DIE TRYING ALBUM – WHEN DARKNESS COMES (2017)
This video would not have been possible without the following persons and their contributions: EUMETSAT, Phil Harvey, Ry Evill, James Snook, Patrick Boyny, Beate Springer, and Jonas Roem — BUSHFIRE, THANKS YOU ALL!!!
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 18th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
You know it’s still early days when it comes to filling out the Spring festival season in Europe because there’s still so much room for more logos on the poster for Desertfest Berlin 2018. No doubt the final design will be much more full by the time the first weekend in May rolls around and the festival actually gets underway at its new home in Arena Berlin, but already we’re seeing bands joining the bill at a pretty decent clip. The latest batch includes three more joining the ranks of Monster Magnet, Eyehategod, Nebula, Planet of Zeus, Jex Thoth and The Necromancers, and as you can see in the headline above, it’s an international and sonic swath unto itself, with Death Alley from the Netherlands, Yuri Gagarin from Sweden and Dopelord from Poland each bringing something different sound-wise to the already diverse roster.
Early-bird tickets are on sale now for those who like to plan ahead. Sound of Liberation made the announcement thusly:
It’s time to unveil a few more bands for DesertFest Berlin 2018!!
Making up for last year cancellation, we are thrilled to finally welcome Death Alley on the stage of Desertfest Berlin 2018! These Dutch destroyers deliver heavy punked-out proto-metal and defining the good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll played with metal finesse and a hint of a black psychedelic soul cherry on top.
Hailing the mighty weedian cult and slow riff worships, we’re also stoked Poland’s stoner doomsters Dopelord will make their way to Berlin! Last but not least, we have decided to open up stage one more time to Yuri Gagarin. We heard your protest that not everybody could see them perform last year so it was clear the beloved Swedish rockers had to be back in 2018, taking over our new and bigger stage with more space at the ARENA BERLIN!
We hope this new bunch of exciting bands is fitting your expectations, and we’re waiting for you all in the capital of the almighty Riff !
——————– DesertFest Berlin 2018 / May 4th – 5th – 6th / ARENA BERLIN
with Monster Magnet / EYEHATEGOD / Nebula / Planet of Zeus / Dopelord / Death Alley / Yuri Gagarin / Jex Thoth / The Necromancers and more to be announced!
Presented by: Sound of Liberation & GreyZone Concerts & Promotion
