Amsterdam-based dark-progressive heavy outsiders Iron Jinn celebrated the release of their 2023 self-titled debut (review here) by playing the release show at Roadburn Festival, bringing their sprawling, melodically-thoughtful and above-all-adventurous material to life in front of a packed Green Room at the 013 in Tilburg, the Netherlands. You can see in the video premiering below for “Lick it or Kick It” from that set that it was packed. With guitarist/vocalist Wout Kemkens, guitarist/vocalist Oeds Beydals, bassist/backing vocalist Gerben Bielderman and drummer/backing vocalist Bob Hogenelst, along with guest keyboardist Jarno van Es, on stage playing Iron Jinn in full save only for “Relic,” the resultant Live at Roadburn — why call it anything else when you can call it that? — is a new format to showcase the songs, the complement to the studio release it’s their stated intention it should be, with a vibrancy and personality of its own, and an emphasis on the distinct sounds through which the band conjures a style lush, fluid and creepy. Able to speak to the long history of European heavy weirdoism and off-kilter prog, they’re nonetheless fluid in their execution across songs like “Soft Healers” and “Winding World,” and the audio mixed/mastered by the esteemed Pieter Kloos from the front-of-house board helmed by Rutger Drenth finds them balancing the restlessness of a band playing their release party for their first album against the willful patience of the material.

There’s a bit of push-pull there, and there should be. That would have been part of the experience on stage/in the room, and the tension Iron Jinn create in their material — you can certainly hear it on “Lick it and Kick It,” a video for the studio version of which also premiered here — is an energy that band and audience both seem to feed off. Iron Jinn are methodical in their delivery, touching on folkish melody in “Blood Moon Horizon” before casting themselves into the ether in “Ego Loka” to set up an explosive cathartic shove, and thereby making clearer the dynamic within the group, who twice now have shown themselves ready to go where they must to meet the demands of their craft, which are significant considering the ambitious and encompassing sprawl both of Live at Roadburn and Iron Jinn when taken in their entirety. But what’s true of the studio record is true of the live one too — there’s no getting away from the potential of this band or the fact that, from here, they can become anything they want. They can be firebreathing monsters or psychedelic explorers, freely dropping subtle references to the krautrock of eld while in a creative pursuit that seems so forward-minded — so eager to make manifest the band’s progression; so ready to grow — that one can hardly think of the past at all while listening for the prominence of the future on one’s mind.

It would be fun to speed up time and see, all other things allowing, where Iron Jinn are sound-wise 10 years from now, because what I can’t get away from is how Beydals, Kemkens, van Es, Hogenelst and Bielderman have been able to bring their collective experience to the band and immediately create something new from it. You can dig back all you want through their pedigree, and you might find some commonality of atmosphere with Beydals‘ work in Molassess or Kemkens‘ in Shaking Godspeed, but it’s pieces from everything being put together in a different way, and the more one immerses in the proceedings, the greater the reward. It may be that over time Iron Jinn‘s sound will streamline, whittle down some of the aesthetic elements in this material to become something more straightforward, or they might push the structural experimentalism of the self-titled into exponential spaces, stepping into the realm of the avant garde and remaining probably several years ahead of their time forever how long they go. The answer is probably somewhere between, but right now it’s a joy not to know in addition to being fun to speculate. To listen to Live at Roadburn in all its grim vitality and imagine, if they can do this now, the places they may yet take their listeners in the years and songs to come.

The Roadburn set, filmed/edited by Tijmen Hobbel in its entirety, is a full dive. From thoughtful harmonies to crushing noise, contemplative spaces and caveman thud, the band leave little in reserve as they push into the foreboding “Truth is Your Dagger” and “Bread and Games,” which ends with a righteous charge and a sense of blowout that the set has by then more than earned. My friends, I will tell you in all honesty that I think these guys are onto something special, and that given the trajectory of their past work, where they are now as songwriters and players, they have an opportunity to step forward from their influences and define their own path in a way not every band can or gets to do. If you struggle to find positive prospects in the next few years, watch “Lick it or Kick It” below and just think for a minute about what Iron Jinn‘s second and third albums might sound like if this is them supporting their first.

PR wire info and the e’er crucial preorder link follow below. The 2LP Live at Roadburn releases April 5 through Lay Bare Recordings.

Please enjoy:

Iron Jinn, “Lick it or Kick It (Live at Roadburn)” video premiere

Iron Jinn Unveils Mesmerizing Video and Track from Upcoming Live At Roadburn Double Album and Announces Vinyl Pre-order

Experimental psychedelic rock sensation Iron Jinn, hailing from Amsterdam, is set to captivate the music world with the release of the first video and track Lick It Or Kick It from their highly anticipated live album. Recorded during their spellbinding performance at the renowned Roadburn Festival in 2023, the album promises to be a musical journey, showcasing the band’s unique blend of psychedelic rock and experimental sounds.

Iron Jinn comprises the exceptional talents of Oeds Beydals (The Devil’s Blood, Death Alley), Wout Kemkens (Shaking Godspeed, De Niemanders), Bob Hogenelst (Birth of Joy), and Gerben Bielderman (Pauw). The collaboration of guitarists and songwriters Oeds and Wout traces back to their shared history in Death Alley and Shaking Godspeed, united by a passion for challenging the norms of heavy rock music.

The band’s inception took place at the Last Night On Earth festival, organized by Oeds and Wout, and subsequently evolved into Iron Jinn with their second performance at Roadburn 2018.

“The Iron Jinn 2023 Roadburn performance was the perfect opportunity for us to present our debut album in the flesh. Roadburn’s Walter Hoeijmakers made it possible for us to expand the band’s line-up for this show with the addition of Jarno Van Es on keys, so we could recreate the layered density the album has to offer,” said Oeds Beydals. “This show is a moment in time that we are thankful to have captured: a band getting into its own at a very early stage.”

Expertly produced by Pieter ‘Pidah’ Kloos at The Void studio, the album promises to be a sensational auditory and visual experience. Iron Jinn aims to transport listeners into a realm of sonic exploration, weaving spontaneous improvisation and new energy into their studio-produced material.

“Creating fresh counterparts to the more produced studio versions by adding spontaneous improvisation and new fire to the music. Although we hope to keep evolving, this show is a moment in time that we are thankful to have captured: a band getting into its own at a very early stage,” added Oeds Beydals.

Live At Roadburn is set for release on 2 x 180g heavy weight black vinyl on the 5th April via Lay Bare Recordings. The double album captures the essence of Iron Jinn’s musical evolution and creative process perfectly.

Pre-order The Album Here: https://laybarerecordings.com/release/live-at-roadburn-by-iron-jinn-lbr055

Tracklist
1. Soft Healers
2. Blood Moon Horizon
3. Ego Loka
4. Lick It or Kick It
5. Cage Rage
6. Winding World
7. Truth Is Your Dagger
8. Bread and Games

Iron Jinn invites you to relive the magic and immerse yourselves in an unforgettable experience at the album release show on the 5th April at Ekko’s in Utrecht.

Buy Tickets Here: https://ekko.nl/event/iron-jinn-presents-live-at-roadburn/

Iron Jinn are Oeds Beydals (The Devils Blood/Molassess/Death Alley), Wout Kemkens (Shaking Godspeed/De Niemanders), Bob Hogenelst (Birth of Joy/Molassess) and Gerben Bielderman (Pauw).

Video credits:
Filmed and edited by Tijmen Hobbel
Audio recorded by Pieter Kloos & Loet Braamkolk
Audio mixed and mastered by Pieter Kloos
FOH sound by Rutger Drenth
Lights by Robbie van Reen
Monitors by Lars Spijkervet
Recorded April 22nd 2023 at Roadburn Festival at 013 Tilburg, The Netherlands
All songs written by Iron Jinn
Performed by Oeds Beydals, Gerben Bielderman, Jarno van Es, Bob Hogenelst and Wout Kemkens

Iron Jinn, “Winding World” from Live at Roadburn (2024)

Iron Jinn, Iron Jinn (2023)

Iron Jinn on Instagram

Iron Jinn on Facebook

Iron Jinn on Bandcamp

Lay Bare Recordings on Facebook

Lay Bare Recordings on Instagram

Lay Bare Recordings on Bandcamp

Tags: Amsterdam, Iron Jinn, Iron Jinn Live at Roadburn, Live at Roadburn

This entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2024 at 5:35 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.