Posted in Whathaveyou on November 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Set across two days from May 10-11, the inaugural Desertfest Oslo has made its first lineup announcement, with German heavy rock magnates and now-four-piece Kadavar at the top of the thus-far bill with Monolord as the Swedish riff-huffers apparently will look to return to the road next year. Not a ton of names, but you’ll note those and a few other Desertfest veterans in Acid King and The Brant Bjork Trio (who obviously haven’t played Oslo but have appeared elsewhere under the Desertfest banner), as well as Norway’s own Full Earth, Bismarck (new LP in 2024?) and Agabas rounding out the initial salvo in representing Oslo and the surround country’s vibrant and varied native underground.
A bit of behind-the-scenes fun here as well. This past weekend in Oslo was the annual Høstsabbat Festival, and part of the team behind that event held each year at the Kulturkirken Jacob is also involved in putting together Desertfest Oslo 2024. So after no doubt working on the two at the same time, they’ve now finished one event and almost immediately begun announcements for the next. This is the cycle of festival seasons in Europe now, and that team is not the only crew in the heavy underground with more than one multi-day lineup in progress at the same time.
There are more names to come — certainly Norway has a ton of bands; I’d be surprised if Norna didn’t get added, and Slomosa seem like an absolute must — but there’s time for such things and tickets are on sale in the meantime if you’re either up for making early travel plans (I am) or just looking to spend a bit of cash. It will be interesting to see how this complements Desertfest London and Desertfest Berlin as those two begin their announcements as well for next Spring. Going to be a busy season, I think, but most are.
From social media:
Finally! (#127797#)
It´s time to reveal the first band announcement for the first Scandinavian Desertfest edition ever.
And man, what a start!
We are more than thrilled to present this first batch of bands, including massive Desert-legends such as Acid King and Brant Bjork Trio, the ultra riff-worship from Monolord, German groove-excellence from the lords in KADAVAR, and steaming local talent from Agabas and Bismarck, and to top it off, the new outlet spawning out from wünder-group Kanaan, Full Earth!
This weekend in May will treat you with the best of the best, leaving no amps unturned(#128293#)
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Obviously, Årabrot are the ‘big name’ here, but I’d like to go ahead and draw your attention to Norwegian progressive rockers Needlepoint, also announced for Høstsabbat 2022 in this past week’s round of daily updates. Stickman Records early in 2021 released that band’s Walking Up That Valley (review here) LP, and yeah, it’s the kind of record that, if you were putting together a festival to take place the better part of two years after it’s out, you might still want the band to play. Of course, it’s entirely possible Needlepoint will have a new album out by then — I’ve heard nothing, know nothing, as ever — but the point stands.
Also, for anyone looking for outright crush, there’s Bismarck, who offer it aplenty, and you can also see Høstsabbat expanding its reach here with Agabas and VSÆVSM, whose abbreviated name I won’t even attempt to pronounce, let alone the full thing, which I won’t even attempt to cut and paste. It is important to know your own limits. Anyhow, if you’ve got a quota for “out there” with your crush and your prog and your whatever Årabrot are, consider it met.
Tickets are on sale as of this past Friday, as the fest reaffirmed on socials:
HØSTSABBAT 2022 – TICKETS ON SALE
Finally, festival passes for Høstsabbat 2022 are out!
Tap the ticket link below and grab them while you can. https://bit.ly/HS-festivalpass
‘VSÆVSM’ Vi som älskade varandra så mycket (SE)
We’re beyond psyched to announce the welcoming of our Swedish friends in VSÆVSM. These guys work around the common denominator of the random heavy festival, and their uncompromising hardcore-take on the heavy, along with their shiver-inducing wall of noise makes them a perfect addition to Høstsabbat 2022.
Intensely emotive and harshly grandiose, VSÆVSM presents us with an epically atmospheric experience built on a foundation of constantly melodic despair.
With an energy that is deafeningly bleak yet somehow triumphant, lashings of post-hardcore/post-rock/ early 2000’s screamo blend seamlessly to create a truly unique, dynamic, and extreme cinematic impact.
Please join us in welcoming Vi som älskade varandra så mycket to this year’s lineup.
NEEDLEPOINT (NO)
Høstsabbat has never been, and never will be, a festival aiming for the biggest names or the most profiled musicians. But if you love a band, and they happen to check a couple of those boxes AND want to play your fest? What are you gonna do?
Give them the best possible welcome obviously. It might be a small step to mankind, but a positive step for us.
We are truly humbled and very proud to present this star-drizzled lineup for all you Sabbathians. Needlepoint brings us jazzy, smoothly progressive and psychedelic tapestries, woven from an impressive and meandering kaleidoscope of folk and prog -rock fusion.
Join us in the church of riffs this October and experience Needlepoint’s placid psychedelic milieu.
BISMARCK (NO)
Powerful dissonance and colossal riffs are just the tip of the iceberg when referring to our next lineup announcement.
Bismarck is a force of nature unto themselves with their uncompromising vision and pristine production quality. Meditatively provocative, Bismarck Official beautifully blend Eastern melodies, impressive vocals sometimes even bordering on the chantingly shamanic, droning guitar and low-end textures with their interpretation of western esotericism via altered states of consciousness and mystical apocalypse.
The result is gripping in atmosphere and inescapable heaviness balanced by gutting darkness and exhilarating glimpses of light through crushing intensity.
We’re thrilled to welcome Bismarck to the ranks of Høstsabbat 2022.
ÅRABROT (NO)
Sometimes a band comes along that simply defies the box of conventional classification and the power of adjectives is completely lost in the shadow of their art. Årabrot happens to be one of those bands.
Since their humble beginning, Årabrot has proven to be masters of their craft and defining themselves as a commanding presence on stage as well as a truly motivational entity for the underground scene in Norway. Their evolution has been fascinating to follow and one never knows what they will do next. What we do know, is that Årabrot will always fearlessly push boundaries, constantly moving forward, ambitiously innovative in their overall sound and their very own Church of Årabrot aesthetics.
Their astonishing progression will speak for itself, given the 8 long years since they last visited Høstsabbat. The seamless transition to having Karin Park in a now more central role results in an organic fusion of old school Årabrot-riffary and Karin’s futuristic synth-induced endeavours, and the result is nothing less than compelling.
Årabrot is a band for the future. The noise rock-gothic rock gospel of Årabrot aren’t just songs that they perform, nor are the people behind the music simply musicians- they are each art pieces unto themselves. The Årabrot experience is a malevolent, melodic sonic macrocosm that displays transcendent power, purpose and infinite mystery.
Please welcome the church of Årabrot to our church of riffs for Høstsabbat 2022!
AGABAS (NO)
Today’s lineup announcement is Agabas who give us their own unique genre of extreme “Death Jazz;” a relentlessly pounding and profane amalgamation of death/black metal and jazz.
Evocative and melodic even with their aggressively harsh vocalization, we find undulating clarinet, pounding percussion, and even saxophone interweaved effortlessly amongst an intensely seething pit of guitar and a raging rhythm section.
Agabas forge a path through uncharted territory waging an all-out war on the convention of all four genres yet marrying them in a way that seems almost organic. The persistence of their jazzy interludes consistently cuts the tightly wound metallic atmosphere to shreds like a seething river of lava laying waste to all in its path. The flow is undeniable yet alarmingly hideous and captivating at once.
Let’s welcome Agabas and their extreme Death-Jazz machine to Høstsabbat 2022.
