Posted in Whathaveyou on June 19th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Five new lineup additions for Desertfest Belgium 2018 this time around, and with countrymen headliners Amenra as part of it, the festival immediately expands its overall context like the other Desertfests before it. And while Amenra will top the bill — they won’t be the only ones — also joining the roster for the weekend are Greek jam-psych forerunners Naxatras, woefully-monikered noise rockers Whores., as well as Timestone and Swedish Death Candy. It’s a bit all over the place this time around, but with a lineup that already includes the likes of Crowbar and Elder alongside not only each other, but YOB, John Garcia, Acid King and others, the Antwerp-based fest seems to be in the process of putting together its most varied edition yet. I’m not sure how much more they’ll add to what’s already been announced, but even if they called it quits here, it’d still be well worth the trip.
Info came down the PR wire as follows:
DESERTFEST ANTWERP 2018: Amenra, Whores & more confirmed
Although you have all given us much love for the line-up so far, we know that a lot of you have been waiting with bated breath for the announcement of our first headliner…
…and here it is. At Desertfest Belgium, we’ve always taken pride in the best of the heaviest our country has to offer. And so it is with the greatest of pleasures that we finally have the absolute heaviest of heaviest in the land to ravish our stage: AMENRA will headline DF Antwerp 2018.
A band that has pummeled crowds all over Europe and The States, and released on the Neurot label of kindred spirits Neurosis. A band that transcends the genre as none other, a band fit to rule Desertfest!
But let it be known that our other new arrivals broaden the spectrum of sounds at the Fest even further. Naxatras is a Greek band that has grown increasingly more ambitious with each release, now incorporating prog, funk and jazz in their psychedelic jam-based stew. In contrast, Whores is as monolithic as they come, providing the perfect soundtrack to a blunt object repeatedly hitting you hard in the face.
Let’s also not forget the name of our festival, and where it comes from. Timestone may hail from Austria, but their pure brand of desert stoner will transport you to the desert for sure! And finally, we’d like to make a prediction here: sometime very soon, Swedish Death Candy will be a name to be reckoned with. They have it all: insanely fuzzy riffs, smart songwriting, catchy vocal harmonies, and just the right amount of unhinged feedback. Consider this a band to discover at the Fest!
Now about those Reduced Combi Tickets. You know we still have hem on offer at €95 right? We just don’t know how long they will last… so don’t be that guy or gal crying over lost opportunities, get yours today!
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 25th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
I was pretty down the the level of variety Høstsabbat 2018 had running in its lineup before, but if you want to see a spectrum of heavy, just take a look at the last three bands added to complete the lineup. Amenra, the Belgian outfit who I think are inarguably the foremost European post-metal band at the moment, will headline. Oslo’s own heavy rockers Lonely Kamel will play, bringing classic heavy vibes and an unabashed, unashamed good time. Oh, and then there’s the two-piece Eagle Twin from Utah who blend doom and psychedelia and throatsinging and stories about mythical birds and beasts and whatnot. So, you know, a little something for everyone.
Plus Electric Moon are playing. That’s excuse enough to show up right there, frankly.
But yeah, it’s a killer way for Høstsabbat 2018 to finish unveiling its lineup, and one imagines the massive strobe setup Amenra bring to the proceedings will be the unholiest thing ever seen in the Church JAKOB, where Høstsabbat is being held.
Dig it:
Amenra: Please welcome the headliner of Høstsabbat 2018!
When we first landed Church JAKOB as this years’ venue, a couple of bands came to mind as the perfect bookings..
And it is with massive pride we are able to announce our first choice, the legends in the Belgian five piece, Amenra . What could possibly be a more fitting closure to this years event than the founders of the Church of RA-collective?
To witness Amenra from a stage is something you won’t forget. It’s cleansing, ritualistic, nihilistic, scary, painful and in the most accurate sense of the word; mindblowing. Their attention to detail in performance, riffs and visuals can hardly be described as anything but spellbinding, and to have this complete package in a church, downtown Oslo.. well what to say?
On top of this, their recent masterpiece “MASS VI”, put Amenra in a different league all together, as the Neurot Records release was hailed as one of the absolute best metal records of 2017. Also bringing them onboard two massive US-tours alongside label bosses Neurosis and Converge.
On October 6th they grace Church JAKOB with their presence. Are you in?
Lonely Kamel
Touring Europe as we speak, the re-invented five piece version of Oslo’s stoner legends Lonely Kamel will make a joyful return to Høstsabbat, as they deserve.
Their new album “Death’s-Head Hawkmoth” was released about a month ago on the stellar Stickman Records, putting the Kamel’s in the top shelf of European underground rock.
Lonely Kamel have played more or less every underground festival there is, on the European continent, from Duna Jam, to Roadburn, to Desertfest, to Up in Smoke..you name it, and they have toured massively for years, making them an easy act to love.
We’re eager to welcome these blues and boozehounds back, as should you!
Eagle Twin
We are extremely proud to present the two-headed beast that is Eagle Twin (US). Probably one of the best live acts around, and a huge favorite in our camp. Being somewhat of a benchmark for what two guys can make out of their instruments and hands, we will bow to their wall of sound.
The guys from Utah just released their new album “The Thundering Heard” to massive praise, and will set out for a short span of shows in Europe in October. After trying to have Eagle Twin over for several years, we are stoked to tell they will start their Euro run at Høstsabbat Friday October 5th.
What else to say, than the Eagle has landed.
LINE-UP Amenra Electric Moon Asteroid Toner Low Lonely Kamel Brutus Eagle Twin Elephant Tree Hällas Spurv The Moth Gatherer Domkraft DWAAL Krokofant Taiga Woods SÂVER
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I think at this point there are few who would challenge the supposition of Amenra‘s dominance when it comes to European post-metal. The strobe-prone Belgian outfit released their latest masterwork, Mass VI, last month through Neurot Recordings and Consouling Sounds, and in the New Year, they’ll team up with Japanese experimentalist heroes Boris for a full run of co-headlining dates in the UK and EU. Boris of course are out supporting their own 2017 offering, Dear (review here), which was issued to coincide with their 25th anniversary, as if they needed an excuse to be brilliant.
For whatever it’s worth — and by my estimate, not much — I’m not the hugest Amenra fan, but their live presentation is a spectacle to behold if you have the opportunity to do so. They’re not strangers to touring in Europe, but the pairing with Boris would seem to make this run all the more of an occasion.
From the PR wire:
AMENRA Announces Co-Headlining 2018 European/UK Tour With Boris
Heavy music luminaries AMENRA and Boris have announced co-headlining European and UK tour for early 2018. The two acts will tour from February 14th through March 4th, marking the first full UK tour for AMENRA.
Mass VI is out now on Neurot Recordings. The European version has a different mix and master, as well as different artwork and design than the US version, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker) at the Atomic Garden, San Francisco. The deluxe edition 2xLP 45rpm 180-gram album is available in different limited colors. Order Mass VI in the US through Neurot Recordings and via Consouling Sounds in Europe.
AMENRA Tour Dates: 12/01/2017 De Leest – Izegem, BE (acoustic) 1/13/2018 Gaité Lyrique – Paris, FR 1/19/2018 Stevenskerk – Nijmegen NL 1/20/2018 Doornroosje – Nijmegen NL 1/28/2018 Festsaal Kreuzberg – Berlin, DE 1/29/2018 Colos-saal – Aschaffenburg, DE 2/14/2018 Thekla – Bristol, UK w/ Boris 2/15/2018 Heaven – London, UK w/ Boris 2/16/2018 Arts Centre – Norwich, UK w/ Boris 2/17/2018 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK w/ Boris 2/18/2018 Gorilla – Manchester, UK w/ Boris 2/19/2018 St. Lukes – Glasgow, UK w/ Boris 2/20/2018 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK w/ Boris 2/21/2018 Aeronef – Lille, FR w/ Boris 2/22/2018 Drucklufthaus – Oberhausen, DE 2/23/2018 Beatpol – Dresden, DE w/ Boris 2/24/2018 Progresja – Warsaw, PL w/ Boris 2/25/2018 Palac Akropolis – Prague, CZ w/ Boris 2/26/2018 A38 – Budapest, HU w/ Boris 2/27/2018 Kino Siska – Ljubljana, SL w/ Boris 2/28/2018 Locomotiv – Bologna, IT w/ Boris 3/01/2018 Monk – Rome, IT w/ Boris 3/02/2018 Santeria Social Club – Milan, IT w/ Boris 3/03/2018 Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE w/ Boris 3/04/2018 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL w/ Boris 4/06/2018 Depot – Leuven. BE 4/07/2018 Durbuy Rock Festival – Durbuy, BE 4/08/2018 Cactus Club – Brugge, BE 4/13/2018 Eden – Charleroi, BE 4/14/2018 MOD – Hasselt, BE
Posted in Features, Reviews on April 17th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
04.17.16 — 01:18 — Hotel room, Tilburg
More than any other Roadburn in recent memory, this one has gone quickly. It never quite drags, but Roadburn 2016 has been a sleepless blur of tonal impact, furious creativity and walks down 013 corridors that on Thursday were strange and new and by today were as though nothing about the venue had changed at all. Like the marathon and the sprint decided to join forces. Today was the last day, the Afterburner, which drops from five stages to three — the Main Stage and the Green Room at the 013 and the space over at Cul de Sac — and generally features a more chilled-out vibe, though particularly over the last couple years, its stylistic reach has become no less broad than Roadburn proper.
To wit, today’s lineup. In keeping with this year’s Icelandic theme — most of that is black metal, but still — The Vintage Caravan played a special 2PM set at Cul de Sac, last minute. They were here hanging out and so got a slot on the bill. I didn’t get to see it because we were finishing up the final issue of the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch (you can read it here), but to see that kind of spontaneity in action — hey, you’re here, so play — exemplifies part of what makes Roadburn so genuinely exceptional. My understanding is the band’s new drummer wasn’t with them yet when they played here last year, so wanted to be able to say he’d played Roadburn as well. Sure, why not?
My day began a short time later with Mirrors for Psychic Warfare starting in the Green Room. The two-piece is comprised of Scott Kelly of Neurosis and Sanford Parker, who also played today with Buried at Sea, and I guess it’s fair to call it a Corrections House spinoff, since they both operate in the same roles as in that band, with Parker on electronics and synth and Kelly providing guitar and vocals, but without Eyehategod‘s Mike Williams as frontman or Bruce Lamont‘s sax, the effect is vastly different. Progressions were slow and lurching as they emanated from Kelly‘s guitar, and waves of loud-as-hell drones oozed forth massive from the stage. At one point, Parker played a line of bass through his laptop or sampler, whichever it was, and the low end was such a physical presence I could feel it vibrating my nose hair. It’s not like I have a lot of it, either. It was a sensation I’d never felt before. Earplugs vibrating, sure. Nose hairs? Kind of tickled, actually.
Vocals were sporadic but well suited to the grueling mood, and the set as a whole seemed to be working on a gradual build in intensity until, as they were finishing, Kelly was throwing his shoulders as he might headbanging during one of Neurosis more riotous parts. Needless to say, they closed loud. Green Carnation were on the Main Stage playing Light of Day, Day of Darkness, which is a cool record to be sure, but I didn’t want to miss the start of Blind Idiot God, the New York trio playing the fourth show of their maiden voyage to Europe. Their latest album, Before Ever After (review here), has just had its worldwide release, and in addition to the notable reggae nod in “Night Driver,” the instrumental three piece played “Antiquity” and a host of others from what was their first LP in 23 years, their focus on blurring lines between NY aggro noise crunch, proggy brilliance and heavy atmospheres.
Add to that drummer Tim Wyskida‘s winning for most elaborate drum kit of the weekend — at least of the ones I saw — and Blind Idiot God offered intrigue and dissonance in kind. Their stage presence was progressive, led in that regard by guitarist Andy Hawkins, but still had a bit of pre-Giuliani Manhattan noise rock grit about them beneath that came out here and there in their sound, which was wide open stylistically, but delivered by Hawkins, Wyskida and bassist Will Dahl with precision and due emphasis on the complexity in the material. There were people in the crowd who’d waited 25 years to see the band. You could say the response was solid. Respected scribe and all-around hyper-passionate supporter of music Stefan Raduta gave me the hard sell on catching Jakob, though really all he had to say was “they’re from New Zealand.” Anyone who’s traveled that far to play Roadburn must have a good reason.
Complemented with visuals by Jérôme Siegelaer, the three-piece’s set found its reason in a lush post-rock, full in tone and l-o-u-d loud, but still evocative enough to keep the crowd in its grasp to the point where, after applauding, the room quickly fell into silence as those in attendance waited to hear the first notes of whatever it was Jakob were going to play next. Their fourth album, Sines, came out in 2014, but this was my first exposure to them, and it was a recommendation I was glad I took when they were finished, the vibe setting itself up for a departure into the darker post-metallurgy of Belgium’s Amenra. But first, Ecstatic Vision in the Green Room. I’ve seen them before and they’re from Philadelphia, which is much, much closer to where I live than New Zealand, so I stayed through the end of Jakob, but managed to poke my head in the door of the packed out smaller stage and find the trio’s blend of heavy psych and space rock intact from when I last left it. Their debut, Sonic Praise (review here), was right on for Roadburn from the outset, so there was little surprise when they were added, but they’ve put in some considerable road time already, so good to see them doing well, even if I’m seeing it through the doorway instead of in the room itself.
The sense of presentation back in the Main Stage began even before Amenra actually started playing. A large white curtain was brought out and raised in front of the stage so that the band’s video background could cover even more territory, and after everything was ready to go, vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout — who also has a solo record out called Rasa (review here) — came out first, knelt down in front of the drum riser, facing away from the crowd as he did for yesterday’s acoustic Amenra set and as is apparently his wont, and started beating two sticks together, slowly and ritualistically. He was joined soon by drummer Bjorn Lebon, who had his own sticks, and followed soon by the rest of the band, guitarists Mathieu van de Kerckhove (also Syndrome, which played Cul de Sac earlier in the day) and Lennart Bossu and bassist Levy Seynaeve, and there began a set of some of the most intense post-metal I’ve ever seen outside of Neurosis themselves.
On par with Isis at their angriest, but crisper in their songwriting and use of ambience, Amenra were further distinguished by their direct affinity for “Times of Grace” but more so by the flashing strobes, high-energy delivery and their obvious mastery of the form. What I learned at the Roadburn 2016 Afterburner was that people go apeshit for that stuff. I can’t argue it wasn’t cohesive, but the power of Amenra‘s aesthetic and the force with which they drove it at the assembled masses earned them the night’s second biggest response, and the Main Stage was crowded enough that I had to go all the way up top just to find a place to stand, and even that didn’t come easy. It was an impressive showing, and while I’m not sure I’d count myself in the getting-it camp — or in a parish of the Church of Ra, as it were — much of their set was undeniable. One would not win a debate arguing against it.
There was a considerable break before Neurosis came out for the second set of their two-night 30th anniversary celebratory stint headlining on the Main Stage. My first Roadburn was 2009, the year they curated, and I can still remember standing in the balcony of what’s now the old-013 big room and being awed. It wasn’t my first time seeing them, but it was something special, and the same goes for last night and tonight together as well. Yes, partially because they broke out older, not-really-played-anymore songs like “Blisters,” “Grey” and “Double-Edged Sword” from The Word as Law, “The Web” and “To Crawl Under One’s Skin” from Souls at Zero and Pain of Mind‘s “Life on Your Knees” and “Pollution” from 1989’s Aberration EP. They went as far forward as 2012’s Honor Found in Decay (review here) and touched on all the ground in between, guitarist/vocalist Scott Kelly having some technical issues — the first time I’ve ever seen Neurosis have tech problems — with his guitar after opening with “To Crawl Under One’s Skin,” but sorting it out with guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till and the crew as Noah Landis covered for them with a huge, kind of abrasive drone, and drummer Jason Roeder and god-damn-it’s-a-joy-to-watch bassist/backing vocalist Dave Edwardson sat tight.
When they got going again, it was “Locust Star,” and, you know, the universe collapsed on itself and folded into the deeper reaches of subspace, so whether or not the guitar was working didn’t really matter anymore because all existence was wiped out. At least that’s how I remember it. Pretty standard for Neurosis. In all seriousness, I don’t know if there’s a heavy band of their generation that’s inspired so much wax poetry — I’m guilty in this regard as well, in case you didn’t click that review link above — but it seems to me that speaks to the level on which Neurosis resonate with their audience. It’s often credited as this cerebral, arthouse phenomenon, but it’s not that. It’s rawer, from the gut, and it captures an experience that isn’t necessarily universal, but which this crowd — the Roadburn crowd, here and worldwide — relates to like it doesn’t relate to anything else. As they wrapped with “The Tide” and drew the tension out to cruel extremes before Kelly started the opening riff of set-finale “The Doorway,” it occurred to me again how special this band is, how much it derives from the players that comprise it, and that however much others try to capture the same sonic spirit, they only wind up with a fraction of it at best. It was a two-hour set. If they’d decided to do a third, I’d have stuck around for it.
A lot of people stuck around anyway, as it happens, to see PH — formerly MPH, formerly Mr. Peter Hayden — in the Green Room. The Finnish band is a cosmic wrecking ball and I managed to catch some of their set last time they played Roadburn, but Buried at Sea were also coming on the Main Stage, and if you know Migration, you know why it was the back and forth between the two that it was. The Chicago four-piece released that LP, their only one, in 2003 and though guitarist/vocalist Sanford Parker (also Corrections House and Mirrors for Psychic Warfare, as well as War Crime Recordings) has gone on to become a household name in the underground for his production work for the likes of Blood Ceremony, YOB, Pelican, etc., it was the band as a whole that really made an impact. They were among the first to consciously proffer tone worship in US doom, and that’s not something that’s easily forgotten for those who were there to hear it the first time around or who’ve caught on since.
Even following two hours of Neurosis, which has to be one of the least enviable festival slots in the history of recorded sound, Buried at Sea kept the crowd there and delivered the vicious heft with which they’ve become synonymous, largely in their absence — their last EP, Ghost, came out on Neurot in 2007 — and while I don’t know if they have any plans to do more or maybe put a sophomore album together, but with the lineup of Parker, bassist/vocalist Chris Sowell, guitarist Jason Depew and drummer Brandon Pierce, they sounded vital. Gave me hope where previously I’d sort of figured they’d do a couple shows and then go back their separate ways.
It was getting late. My feet were telling me. With pain. Always bittersweet to say goodbye to Roadburn, and 2016 having gone so quickly, all the more so. Death Alley were rounding out the fest at Cul de Sac, so after hanging for a while at PH, I made my way over there. It was too packed to get up front for pictures or anything like that, plus everyone around me was smashed and I didn’t want to feel like a dickhead American invader, so I hung in the back and listened as a bass-heavy take on “Over Under” started off their set. The place was immediate into it, even where I was, and rightly so. How far that band has come in just a couple years, they’re legitimately one of the Netherlands’ most exciting acts going, and they just have one record, 2015’s Black Magick Boogieland (review here). It’ll need a follow-up sooner or later, but still, that’s a considerable accomplishment starting out.
They played the title-track “Black Magick Boogieland,” and standing back by the door of the Cul de Sac with my earplugs in, drunken revelry on all sides of me — I got told tonight my face radiates love; mostly I think I just look tired — my camera bag on the floor to give my shoulder a rest, I thought back to the interview I did with the band for the album last year prior to the release and their talking about the concept of what the title meant and about the power of music to draw people in, to change minds, to shape lives, excite and inspire. How lucky I am to have been here this week and the seven years prior. For me, Roadburn has become that sacred space that I keep trying to live up to, to be worthy of, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to cap it than with “Black Magick Boogieland,” because that’s what it’s all about. That was how I wanted my night and my Roadburn 2016 to finish, on that feeling of warmth and belonging.
And so that’s how it ended.
—
I’ll have another post to wrap up the coverage series, but I need to be up in three hours to go to the airport and fly home and there are still pictures to sort, so I’ll just say thanks for reading for now.
Posted in Features, Reviews on April 16th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
04.17.17 – 01:26 – Hotel room, Tilburg
We were done with the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch folding ritual early this afternoon. Third time’s the charm. The issue was finished and printed and put online (you can read it here) by a little bit before one o’clock, so I decided to head back to the hotel to have a drink of water, get my head around the day, dick around on my phone, etc.
En route, something caught my ear wafting out of the Cul de Sac. It was Rotterdam natives Dool soundchecking, and from outside, they sounded pretty damn good. Their name had come up in the office since they’re this year’s “Roadburn Introduces” pick, and I decided pretty quickly that I’d have to check them out even just going by what I heard on my way by, so I got back in time to get a spot up front and attended their arrival. They’ve got members of The Devil’s Blood in bassist Job van de Zande and drummer Micha Haring and Gold‘s Nick Polak on guitar along with Reinier Vermeulen, and guitarist/vocalist Ryanne van Dorst, and maybe since they’re not brand new players out of the gate it shouldn’t be a surprise they were in such command of their sound, but for a band who doesn’t have more than a single out, they were impressive in their presence on stage and in the cohesion of their aesthetic, copping elements of goth rock to darken up heavy grooves for an early crowd.
When they got to “Words on Paper,” van Dorst switched out her electric guitar for an acoustic one, and the effect of the added resonance to Polak‘s and Vermeulen‘s guitars was palpable. Every Roadburn brings a pleasant surprise. Dool were definitely mine this year. This morning, I knew nothing about them. Now I’ll be keeping an eye out for news about their debut album. They’d wrap up in time for Skepticism to start on the Main Stage. The Finnish funeral doomers hit the quarter-century mark in 2016, and they marked the occasion with a special fan-selected set that focused heavily on their 1995 debut LP, Stormcrowfleet, with “Sign of a Storm,” “By Silent Wings” and “The Everdarkgreen,” as well as their 2003 third outing, Farmakon, with “Farmakon Process,” “The Raven and the Backward Funeral” and “Shred of Light, Pinch of Endless.” They had “The March and the Stream” from 1998’s Lead and Aether in there as well, but whatever they were playing, it all crawled, gruelingly, further into a deep, black abyss of church-organ-laced doom, heavy on drama and impassable in tone.
Frontman Matti Tilaeus added to the drama, the bowtie of his formalwear undone — as apparently it will be — and the white roses he carried out with him when he came on stage laid on the tops of the monitors for extra funereal effect. They played mostly in the dark, and were a reminder of just how much what we think of today as death-doom owes its crux to what Finland conjured in the mid-’90s. It was a surprise to walk out of the Main Stage room when they were done and find the sun was still up. How could daylight still even exist after such a thing? I’d ponder the question during an initial loop through the merch area while waiting as I have been for months, years, to see Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, also playing the Main Stage. The Tad Doyle-fronted outfit released their also-awaited self-titled debut (review here) on Neurot Recordings, and though they toured to support it — with Neurosis, no less — I didn’t get to go to that show and my soul has had a dent in it ever since.
Well, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth‘s sheer tectonic heaviness took that dent, bumped it out and polished it up real nice. And by that I mean that, while the video screen behind them showed suitably-themed images like the earth as a ball of fire, volcanoes, arcane rituals and so on, they played so furiously loud and with such heft of low end that the floor of the big room actually shook. They had a second guitarist on stage right with bassist Peggy Doyle, and drummer Dave French was in the back, but as a whole unit, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth came together to hone pure aural destruction for the duration of their set, Tad‘s seething rasp and screams placing him at the center of the churn, not nearly as morose as Skepticism had been, but viscerally angry and geared for maximum impact. When the asteroid hits planet earth in whatever year that is — could be tomorrow for all I care; I’m at fucking Roadburn — it will sound like Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. I own two of their t-shirts. When they were done I felt like maybe that’s not enough.
Aside from the fact that Astrosoniq drummer/producer Marcel van de Vondervoort is deeply involved with recording and mixing the audio streams of each Roadburn that so often become groups’ live albums, and aside from the fact that after I first dug into their last studio LP, 2010’s Quadrant (review here), I decided I needed to hear every record they’d ever put out — 2006’s Speeder People (review here), 2005’s Made in Oss EP (review here), 2002’s Soundgrenade (review here) and 2000’s Son of A.P. Lady (review here) — I have been waiting years to see Astrosoniq play Roadburn, and their set was made all the more special by the fact that fest organizer Walter was doing live visuals as he did for The Heads last year. The band hasn’t had much if any live activity over the last few years. It’s now been seven since Quadrant was first issued in Europe. I knew it was going to be something special. I knew I was lucky to see them. I don’t think I knew just how much that would be the case.
On record, they hop genres with attention-deficit regularity, but in the Green Room, the band were much more fluid. They jammed out with the best of anything I’ve seen at Roadburn 2016, and I’ve seen a few jams. Guitarist Ron van Herpen had guested the other night with Death Alley, but really stood out during “As Soon as They Got Airborne,” an extended take that was only part of the larger highlight that was the set as a whole. “You Lose” from Son of A.P. Lady was another standout, that album having just received a limited vinyl reissue that’s caught my eye in the merch area downstairs at the Patronaat. May or may not get to pick its deluxeness up to take home, but Astrosoniq made an easy case with what I’ll hope is a return to activity that results — eventually; doesn’t have to be this week; next week is fine — in a new full-length. Their native Oss is about 35 minutes from Tilburg by car, just on the other side of den Bosch, and they got the hometown greeting from a strong Dutch contingent represented in the crowd. I knew they would be a hard act to follow.
I watched a bit of Tau Cross — with Away from Voivod on drums and Rob Miller from Amebix on vocals — on the Main Stage before heading over to Het Patronaat to catch the start of Beastmaker, as Lee Dorrian‘s curation was continuing over there. I miss-timed it and didn’t actually get to see them apart from their soundcheck, blowing my chance at Carousel in Extase at the same time, and routed back to the 013 proper to watch Converge do their special ‘Blood Moon’ set comprised of their slower and more experimental material. After their Jane Doe set the other night, which I caught the tail end of, the vibe was almost completely different. Yeah, Jacob Bannon still writhed and paced back and forth and whatnot, but there were more clean vocals — giving Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) another chance to shine, which he did — and they brought out Steve Von Till of Neurosis and Chelsea Wolfe to add their voices to the mix, and Ben Chisholm fleshed out textures on keys, resulting in a rich sound that pushed away from hard/metalcore in favor of something less stylistically hinged. Even for being selections from past records, ‘Blood Moon’ set its own context, and even in the parts that didn’t feature Von Till, one could hear a strong sense of influence from Neurosis in what they were doing.
At that point, I decided to do something I hadn’t done since I got to Tilburg: I stopped and had a meal. I left Massachusetts on Tuesday evening. Today was Saturday. Since then, I hadn’t had time to actually sit down to a dinner, lunch, breakfast, anything. I bumped into Weirdo Canyon Dispatch photog extraordinaire Paul Verhagen and we grabbed a bite, with Exile on Mainstream‘s Andreas Kohl joining later, before Amenra went on the Main Stage. I had mixed veggies — broccoli, brussels sprouts, string beans, some other green thing chopped up — a boneless chicken thigh, a spicy chicken wing and a considerable amount of green salad, dry. It might as well have been birthday cake.
Amenra are something of a fixture around Roadburn. The Belgian atmospheric sludgers played in 2007, they played when Neurosis curated in 2009, they played in 2013 and they’ll play again at the Afterburner. That’s nothing to complain about, I’m just noting it because perhaps it was part of what drove them to do something different this time around, performing mostly acoustic with seven players seated arranged in a circle on the stage to stark lighting and deeply melancholic reinterpretations of their songs. Of course, they also have a new LP out, Alive, on Consouling Sounds working in similar forms — it features a faithful cover of Tool‘s “Parabol,” which they also played — but even in this different incarnation, it was plain to hear the impact of Neurosis on their methods and of Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till‘s solo works on their dark-folk and minimalist (if you can call something with seven people on stage minimalist) brooding.
Vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout said from the stage they were nervous and doing their best, possibly after someone shouted “Slayer!” in the crowd. If they were uncomfortable, it was hard to tell from the harmonies. When they were done, they left one at a time until only a single guitarist remained, his back to the crowd. Then he got up and walked away and the part he was playing kept going. It was a loop, obviously — that’s not exactly a magic trick at this point — but it made for a striking visual all the same and said something about the resonance of their material, being brought down on a slow fade as the crowd erupted again. There would be a 40-minute break before Neurosis came on, which, to be completely honest, felt like an eternity.
From Brothers of the Sonic Cloth onward, everything on the Main Stage at Roadburn 2016 today was building toward the Neurosis 30th anniversary set. From Tad Doyle‘s grunge roots to Tau Cross‘ own in crust and progressive thrash, to Converge and Amenra having both — in very different ways, granted — found inspiration in their work, Neurosis was at the core of what the whole day was about, and the push forward was leading inextricably to their set as the culmination. Not to say it was seven-plus hours of setup and nothing more, just that the clearly purposeful flow of the day was designed with its direction in mind. It was not an accident.
They opened with “Lost” from 1993’s Enemy of the Sun, and among the you-were-never-gonna-see-Neurosis-play-this highlights were “Pain of Mind” and “Self-Taught Infection” from 1988’s Pain of Mind debut, “To What End?” from 1990’s The Word as Law, a cover of Joy Division‘s “Day of the Lords,” and, gloriously, “Takeahnase” from 1992’s Souls at Zero, arguably the point at which they really started to branch beyond their beginnings in crust and hardcore punk and move into the various forms of aggression that they continue to develop now — the easy word for it is post-metal, but it’s post-metal because Neurosis made it that way. With more recent inclusions like “At the Well” from 2012’s Honor Found in Decay (review here) and “Water is Not Enough” from 2007’s Given to the Rising, along with “Times of Grace” from the 1999 album of the same name, “Left to Wander” from 2004’s The Eye of Every Storm, as well as the closing pair of “Through Silver in Blood,” from the 1996 LP of the same name, and “Stones from the Sky” from 2001’s A Sun that Never Sets.
Between all of that and “An Offering” from the Sovereign EP, there was not one record in their discography unrepresented. That made the event even more special — they’ll follow-up with a second installment for the Afterburner tomorrow — but the truth of the matter is that anytime Neurosis shows up, it’s special. I know they’ve done more touring in the last year than in the decade prior, but still, I don’t think there’s a band on the planet that captures the same measure of intensity, of raw passion, of volume-assault-as-spiritual-refuge that Neurosis does, and whether it’s Noah Landis using the entire universe for source material for samples and manipulated transitional drones for between songs, Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly complementing each other on guitar and vocals as one might expect for two guys who’ve been fronting a band together for 30 years, Dave Edwardson‘s continued ferocity on bass or Jason Roeder‘s cyclical drum patterning, everything they do is a lesson in the ethic of putting creativity first. They have a new record coming out at some point. I don’t know what it sounds like or what it’s called, but I feel comfortable in the knowledge that it will step forward from where they were with Honor Found in Decay, because they’re Neurosis, and that means no compromising.
I kind of lost my shit during that especially blistering rendition of “Takeahnase,” and I expect tomorrow and Monday I’ll be good and sore. Who cares? Not me. I’m back at it in the morning for the last issue of the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch and more bands for the Afterburner, which basically is just another day of Roadburn at this point. Fine by me. It’s gone quickly in 2016 — how do you pack a year’s worth of living into four days? — so I’ll take everything I can get.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 10th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Belgian post-everything resonance emitters Amenra release their mostly-acoustic new album, Alive, on April 15. As fate and clever scheduling would have it, Amenra will be performing an acoustic show at Roadburn 2016 that very weekend, presumably doing similar reinterpretations of older and newer material as those which appear on the new LP. CD and vinyl will be out through Consouling Sounds, which has made preorders available now for those who won’t be at the fest or who like to take care of these things early, and it marks the latest foray into unplugged atmospheres in a periodic series for the oft-crushing outfit.
The PR wire brings details:
Amenra – Belgian Post-Metal Collective Announces New Album Details
Consouling Sounds is proud to announce the release of Amenra’s new album, “Alive”.
Set for release on April 15th to coincide with the band’s performance at this year’s iconic Roadburn Festival, “Alive” is a unique release featuring live recordings of acoustic versions of Amenra’s old and new tracks as well as two cover versions, including a stunning rendition of Tool’s “Parabol”.
View the artwork cover created by Christoph Mencke.
In 2009, Amenra released the beautiful and fragile EP “Afterlife”, meant as a musical testament for future generations. The acoustic tracks that made up this EP showed a very different aspect of the band, but also proved that in any incarnation Amenra connects on a deeply emotional level with its audience. The acoustic album kept on lingering in the background, and it was only a matter of time for the band to revisit the acoustic approach of the EP. In 2014 Amenra again showed their most vulnerable side on different stages and this new album simply titled “Alive” collects live recordings of old and new acoustic renditions of Amenra tracks, but it also harbors the collaboration with Belgian poet Sofie Verdoodt and two bone chilling covers.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
As Amenra vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout gears up for the Dec. 18 release of his solo debut, Rasa, on Consouling Sounds, the first tour dates have been announced in support of the album. Van Eeckhout will join his Neurot Recordings labelmate Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Corrections House) for a European run set to begin Jan. 13 that will carry both players through the end of the month. No word on whether Kelly and van Eeckhout will collaborate on-stage in a similar fashion to Kelly‘s recent touring with his Corrections House bandmate Bruce Lamont (review here), but it’s easy enough to imagine they’ll get together for a song or two somewhere along the line, particularly if van Eeckhout has been brushing up on his Townes van Zandt.
The PR wire brings news of the tour and more:
Amenra’s Colin H. van Eeckhout Announces European Tour With Neurosis’ Scott Kelly
Amenra’s vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout has announced a string of dates in Europe with label mate and kindred spirit Scott Kelly from Neurosis.
The tour starts in mid-January and will see the Belgian musician presenting their solo project CVHE and the forthcoming debut album “Rasa” live to more than twenty cities across Europe. The complete tour dates can be found below.
“Rasa” will be released on December 18th on CD & LP through Consouling Sounds, pre-orders are availableat this location.
CHVE started to build his album out of an empty void. He built layer upon layer, and rebuilt and reconstructed to complete his universe called RASA. The album ended up somewhere between folk, drone and ritual. But above all, the album is a conquest, a meditation and it offers an inward journey, between grief and tears.
AMENRA shall be performing twice at the 2016 edition of the renowned Roadburn Festival, playing an acoustic set, with an expanded band of musicians, immediately before Neurosis on the Saturday, and again will take to the main stage on Sunday night to play an electric set. The performances at Roadburn are currently the only planned live outings for AMENRA in 2016, as they intend to dedicate much of the year to simultaneously writing both a second acoustic offering – this time a full-length release – and the follow up to latest album, Mass V.
CHVE European tour dates with Scott Kelly: 13.01. NL-Leiden, Gebroeders de Nobel 14.01. BE-Antwerp, Het Bos 15.01. NL-Tilburg, Pauluskerk 16.01. BE-Aalst, Netwerk w/ Tine Guns 17.01. BE-Arlon, l’Entrepot 18.01. GER-Karlsruhe, Jubez 19.01. GER-Berlin, Grüner Salon 20.01. CZ-Prague, Klub V. Kolona 21.01. GER-Leipzig, UT Connewitz 22.01. AT-Vienna, Arena 23.01. AT-Bregenz, Between 24.01. CH-Fribourg, Nouveau Monde 25.01. IT-Torino, Spazio 211 26.01. CH-Olten, Coq d’Or 27.01. CH-Geneva, L’Usine 28.01. FR-Lille, La Peniche 29.01. FR-Bordeaux, Iboat 30.01. FR-Cannes, MJC Picaud 31.01. IT-Milano, Lo Fi Club 1.02. CH-Zurich, Dynamo
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 19th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Just going by what I can tell from “Rasa,” the video for which is posted below, it seems like the upcoming solo debut of the same name from Amenra vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout is perhaps a bit more textured than one generally thinks of in the guy-and-guitar context of solo albums. This works to the benefit of “Rasa” itself, though I wouldn’t bet on the title-cut to speak for the entirety of Rasa itself, which is likely varied in its approach. It’ll be an interesting one to hear when it hits via Consouling Sounds on Dec. 18 — just in time for the holidays! — and as noted below, Amenra will play Roadburn 2016 twice, once acoustic and once electric.
Maybe a solo performance gets added as well? Who said you could only have one artist-in-residence?
The PR wire has album details:
AMENRA’s Colin H. van Eeckhout to release debut solo album, RASA, on December 18th; Pre-orders now available
Colin H. van Eeckhout is best known when he is surrounded by kindred his spirits AMENRA, but now he steps into the limelight on his own. This first solo album, RASA, was preluded by a split 7” he released together with Nate Hall. In the meantime however, CHVE crafted his music and transformed it into a whole unique entity, now solely using a hurdy gurdy and his voice as instruments to dig deep within his own self.
This is CHVE at his most vulnerable. Just a man, his thoughts, scars and memories, with his voice and his instrument. The album is magnificently produced by Dehn Sora (Treha Sektori, Sembler Deah), and brings long soundscapes capturing in ambient and droning sounds, what lies beyond what can be grasped by words.
CHVE started to build his album out of an empty void. He built layer upon layer, and rebuilt and reconstructed to complete his universe called RASA. The album ended up somewhere between folk, drone and ritual. But above all, the album is a conquest, a meditation and it offers an inward journey, between grief and tears.
AMENRA shall be performing twice at the 2016 edition of the renowned Roadburn Festival, playing an acoustic set, with an expanded band of musicians, immediately before Neurosis on the Saturday, and again will take to the main stage on Sunday night to play an electric set. The performances at Roadburn are currently the only planned live outings for AMENRA in 2016, as they intend to dedicate much of the year to simultaneously writing both a second acoustic offering – this time a full-length release – and the follow up to latest album, Mass V.
CHVE’S debut solo album, RASA, will see light on December 18th via Consouling Sounds, where you can pre-order on both CD and LP formats. The album release show will take place on 13th December at the AB Club, with Innerwoud as support. There will be more CHVE live shows in the new year as support of Scott Kelly during his EU winter tour.
