Desertfest London 2015 has added two more acts to its already remarkable lineup. Youngin’ Swedish rockers Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus impressed last year with their Small Stone label debut, Spirit Knife (review here), while Belgium’s Moaning Cities‘ 2014 release, Pathways through the Sail, only came to my attention when the four-piece was recently added to the Roadburn lineup, but made an impression at the time and has warranted several revisits since.

The two acts join a huge roster of bands, where even four lines down on the poster it’s like you’re still looking at headliners (as you can see below), from Red Fang and Sleep and Eyehategod to The Atomic Bitchwax, My Sleeping Karma and Black Pyramid, and the announcements from Desertfest make it official:

JEREMY IRONS & THE RATGANG MALIBUS TO ROAR LIKE SCAR AT DESERTFEST 2015!

JEREMY IRONS & THE RATGANG MALIBUS, IS ASTRAL-PROGRESSIVE PRAIRIE ROCK WITH AUTHENTIC, AUDIO-VISUAL ROOTS IN A 1970S MUSIC LANDSCAPE.

This band is the musical, northwest passage between classic rock and the unholy spirit of Pink Floyd.

It’s like finding an interstellar sound portal to a hidden space desert, that only can be seen and heard through a kaleidoscope, which is blessed by a spiritual shaman from Saturn.

The band’s latest album “Spirit Knife” is perhaps the ultimate record for inner and outer road tripping beyond all boundaries. But have no fear of getting lost, the soundscape and the groove serves as your existential guide and compass, through the purple mist of the desert.

MOANING CITIES TO SOOTHE CAMDEN’S DESPAIR AT DESERTFEST 2015!

FORMED IN 2011, MOANING CITIES ARE A YOUNG BRUSSELS-BASED QUARTET WHO RELEASED THEIR DEBUT LP LAST YEAR, ‘PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SAIL’.

The band comes from the ’60s psych revival end of the scene; think The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators, Baby Woodrose, The Heads and Wooden Shjips, or even some acts closer to home like Ride and The Stone Roses. Vocalist Valérian Meunier is especially reminiscent of the honest approach of singers like Ian Brown and Richard Ashcroft of The Verve.

The band have another strong element to them: their love of North African and Middle-Eastern instruments. On stage they wrap many of their songs in a blissed-out haze, with Timothée Sinagra’s hypnotic sitar and Melissa Morales’ ethnic percussion. They know how to wig-out too, fuzz rockers like lead single ‘Bread and Games’ will get your ass moving on the dance floor.

A nice diversion from the doom and sludge at the heavier end the festival experience, Moaning Cities will get London howling with satisfaction at this years’ DesertFest.

Kind Words: Rich AfterSabbath

http://www.thedesertfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.facebook.com/moaningcities
https://www.facebook.com/JeremyIronsandtheRatgangMalibus

Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, Spirit Knife (2014)

Moaning Cities, Pathways through the Sail (2014)

We’re getting to the point now where, after a couple months of one-at-a-time lineup adds, the April festivals have really taken their shape and we can step back and take a look at what each has to offer. In the case of Desertfest London, this is both a year of branching out stylistically — Angel Witch, SSS, Satanic Dystopia and Cancer in the lineup isn’t a small turn from the “desert” part of the festival’s name — and looking geographically inward, bringing in UK acts like Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Amplifier, Sex Swing, Amulet, Sly and the Family Drone and others to reaffirm their commitment to English heavy amid a still-international lineup, to which Sweden’s The Order of Israfel and New Orleans’ Mike IX Williams — who’s also headlining with Eyehategod — have just been added.

Updates from the Desertfest website:

BOW IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL AT DESERTFEST 2015!

COMBINING DOOM, HARD ROCK AND FOLK, THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL MAY BE A RELATIVELY NEW NAME IN THE DOOM SCENE…

…but with an acclaimed debut album under their belts, a hectic touring schedule and plenty of pedigree in their ranks, we’re delighted to welcome them to bring the noise at DesertFest 2015!

The brainchild of Tom Sutton (ex-Church of Misery, Horisont), the songs that would make up The Order of Israfel’s debut album ‘Wisdom’ were written over the course of a decade, but the band only came together when Sutton made the move to Gothenburg in 2012 where he was joined by former members of the appropriately named DoomDogs. Uniting in a shared love of all things Sabbath, the band quickly gelled and recorded their debut for Napalm Records.

But don’t just expect all-out Sabbath grooves from these guys because The Order of Israfel bring plenty of soul and a technical edge to their unique brand of doom.

Kind Words: Tom McKibbin

MIKE IX WILLIAMS SPEAKS OUT AT DESERTFEST 2015!

AS A BONUS TREAT FOR YOU ALL, DESERTFEST HAVE COOKED UP SOMETHING A LITTLE OUT OF THE ORDINARY; MIKE IX WILLIAMS OF EYEHATEGOD FAME WILL BE PRESENTING HIS SPOKEN WORD SET.

Williams is someone who has had an interesting life to say the least; with the ups of fronting Eyehategod come the downs of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, so it is no surprise that he can craft deep, dark prose. Backed on record by the ambient tones of Ryan McKern, the pure darkness of mere words can even sometimes feel heavier than the most crushing doom.

Definitely one of the more unique spectacles at this years DesertFest, Williams’ words could be the most brutal thing you hear all weekend.

Kind Words: Tom Geddes

https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon/
http://www.thedesertfest.com/

The Order of Israfel, “Wisdom” official video

Put into position headlining Saturday night April 25 along with Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, New Orleans sludge progenitors Eyehategod continue to reap acclaim — and, presumably, souls — from their long-awaited 2014 self-titled studio return. They’ll be in good company at Desertfest in London, along with Orange Goblin, the aforementioned Bjork, Sleep and Red Fang, all of whom prove worthy headliners for a fest of increasing diversity and prestige.

The announcement came through on GMT with verbiage by Tom Geddes:

EYEHATEGOD TO CO-HEADLINE SATURDAY NIGHT AT DESERTFEST 2015!!

ARE SLEEP NOT ENOUGH DOOMY SLUDGE FOR YOUR SET OF 2015 HEADLINERS? DIDN’T THINK SO.

That’s why DesertFest are ecstatic to announce that Eyehategod will be co-headlining the Saturday of this year’s festival, alongside Brant Bjork & The Low Desert Punk Band!

One of the cornerstones of the sludge scene since their formation in 1988, EHG have been front and centre ever since. Announcing their presence to the world with 1992?s ‘In the Name of Suffering’ and following sharply in the next year with the blistering ‘Take as Needed for Pain’, the riffs and groove of Sabbath were there, but with a colossal punch and a weight that were simply beyond heavy. Add into the mix Mike Williams’ signature snarls and EHG were always onto something special. ‘Dopesick’ and ‘Confederacy of Ruined Lives’ followed in 1996 and 2000 respectively and only added to the legendary catalogue of Eyehategod.

After a studio album drought of 14 years, last year saw the self-titled release of ‘Eyehategod’, which wasn’t so much a return to form as it was a raising of the bar. Full of power and forays into hardcore throughout without losing much of the slow, dirty sludge riffing; we may have had to wait, but this was anything but a Chinese Democracy-style disappointment.

A rare live treat over the last decade, with touring being sparse, Eyehategod are must see at DesertFest 2015. Miss this chance and you may be kicking yourself for a long, long time to come.
Kind Words: Tom Geddes

http://www.thedesertfest.com/eyehategod-co-headline-df-2015/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://twitter.com/DesertFest

Eyehategod, Live at the Acheron, Brooklyn, NY, 2014

Prior to checking out for the holidays, Desertfest London 2015 has decided to give its public something to chew on over the next couple weeks. Six bands have joined the lineup for the UK festival. American acts Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band and Acid King, Italy’s Ufomammut, Iceland’s The Vintage Caravan, Sweden’s Galvano and Australia’s Don Fernando broaden an already international assemblage to be headlined by Sleep and Red Fang, and featuring Floor, My Sleeping Karma, Black Pyramid, Lo-Pan and an impressive host of others listed below.

A lot of festival news around here lately, I know — and more still to come. It’s the season for it. As we move into the New Year and these lineups start to really solidify, it seems like the culture for heavy rock fests just keeps growing. Certainly it’s Desertfest‘s biggest year yet.

Here’s their latest announcement:

Brant Bjork, Ufomammut, Acid King, The Vintage Caravan, Galvano and Don Fernando to play DESERTFEST LONDON in 2015

On the eve of Christmas holidays, the DESERTFEST LONDON promoters wanted to leave you with a sweet stoner rock taste, by adding a new batch of high-end outfits to the 2015 edition of the festival. Desert rock standard-bearer BRANT BJORK will take the stage this April along with Italy’s heaviest trio UFOMAMMUT, the legendary ACID KING, Iceland’s cosmos travellers THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, Swedish sludge mongers GALVANO and Australia’s DON FERNANDO.

Bands already confirmed are:

SLEEP
RED FANG
BRANT BJORK’S LOW DESERT PUNK
ORANGE GOBLIN
FLOOR
MINSK
UFOMAMMUT
ACID KING
KARMA TO BURN
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN
MY SLEEPING KARMA
BLACK PYRAMID
NOOTHGRUSH
LO-PAN
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
BLACK COBRA
DOPETHRONE
DESERT STORM
THE WOUNDED KINGS
DON FERNANDO
GALVANO
AGRIMONIA
AMULET
WALK THROUGH FIRE

DESERTFEST LONDON
24-26th April 2015 in Camden Town
Koko
Electric Ballroom
The Underworld
The Black Heart

Tickets on sale AT THIS LOCATION / Hotel & ticket packages info HERE

More infos at www.thedesertfest.com
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
http://instagram.com/desertfest

Desertfest London 2015 was due for a big round of adds, and if they had a quota, you can pretty much consider it met. Eight bands were confirmed for the bill of the Camden Town festival today, among them Lo-Pan and Black Pyramid, who’ll also be at Desertfest Berlin together, UK natives The Wounded Kings (who’ll be there with original singer George Birch in the lineup), Desert Storm, Amulet, reunited pummelers Floor, Jersey’s finest power trio The Atomic Bitchwax and instrumentalists Karma to Burn, for whom this will be a return appearance. With Sleep, Red Fang and Orange Goblin already on the bill, at very least we can surmise Desertfest knows what it likes.

I don’t know how much more there is to come from Desertfest London 2015 — April is still months away, so one assumes plenty — but to look at this lineup already, it’s an enviable assemblage and shows in its variety how far the festival has progressed in its few short years. Minsk and Lo-Pan sharing a bill? Noothgrush and My Sleeping Karma? Seems like whatever poison you want to pick, they can accommodate.

From the PR wire:

FLOOR, KARMA TO BURN, BLACK PYRAMID, LO-PAN, THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX and more added to the DESERTFEST LONDON 2015 lineup

Once again, DESERTFEST LONDON fired a crushing salvo of heaviness by adding eight more kickass bands to their 2015 lineup. FLOOR, KARMA TO BURN, BLACK PYRAMID, LO-PAN, THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX, AMULET, DESERT STORM and THE WOUNDED KINGS are consequently joining the party, which will take place on April 24-26th in Camden.

Already confirmed:

SLEEP
RED FANG
ORANGE GOBLIN
MY SLEEPING KARMA
NOOTHGRUSH
MINSK
BLACK COBRA
DOPETHRONE
AGRIMONIA
WALK THROUGH FIRE
FLOOR
KARMA TO BURN
BLACK PYRAMID
LO-PAN
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
AMULET
DESERT STORM
THE WOUNDED KINGS

DESERTFEST LONDON
April 24-26th 2015 in Camden Town
Koko – Electric Ballroom – The Underworld – The Black Heart

Tickets on sale now AT THIS LOCATION
Hotel & ticket packages info available HERE

https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
http://instagram.com/desertfest

The Atomic Bitchwax, Live at the Purple Turtle, London, UK, April 27, 2011

Desertfest teased this announcement yesterday, and since Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide have put together a stage at each of the past fests, that they’d do so again at Desertfest London 2015 isn’t a huge surprise, but still, they’ve acquired some killer acts to fill it out. The reactivated Minsk will apparently make a trip overseas next April, and Black Cobra will return to Desertfest after playing at the Underworld last year. Add Noothgrush on top as headliners and Dopethrone, Agrimonia and Walk through Fire to round it out and it’s safe to say Desertfest London won’t be lacking for sludge next year.

The PR wire put it like this:

NOOTHGRUSH, MINSK, BLACK COBRA, DOPETHRONE, AGRIMONIA and WALK THOUGH FIRE confirmed for DESERTFEST LONDON 2015

Like every year, London promoters When Planet Collides and Human Disease Promo will be curating a stage at The Underworld, hosting some of the most crushing and bleak riffage on the whole festival. Let’s all welcome the mighty NOOTHGRUSH, MINSK, BLACK COBRA, DOPETHRONE, AGRIMONIA and WALK THROUGH FIRE at DESERTFEST LONDON 2015, taking place on April 24-26th in Camden.

Already confirmed:
SLEEP
RED FANG
ORANGE GOBLIN
MY SLEEPING KARMA

Human Disease Promo / When Planets Collide Stage
NOOTHGRUSH
MINSK
BLACK COBRA
DOPETHRONE
AGRIMONIA
WALK THROUGH FIRE

For the fourth year running, Camden will be hosting one of the most exciting stoner/doom/sludge/psyche gatherings in Europe, for a full weekend of fuzzed-out tunes, psychedelia and partying. As the first headliner of this 2015 edition, American stoner rock pioneers SLEEP will be treating the Desertfest crowd to the finest smoked-out odysseys, with an exclusive headlining set at London’s famous venue Koko. Also headlining, Portland’s heavy rock’n’rollers RED FANG are set to turn this fourth edition into a massive metal celebration. The ground is set to tremble once again this year, with UK metal heavyweights ORANGE GOBLIN delivering their fiery metal anthems for a one-off 20th anniversary performance. It’s very rightfully than German psych foursome MY SLEEPING KARMA will be perfectly embodying the cosmic side of the lineup.

This new announcement with cult North-American outfits NOOTHGRUSH, MINSK, BLACK COBRA and DOPETHRONE, as well as Sweden based AGRIMONIA and WALK THROUGH FIRE is giving our 2015 lineup the blackened twist that is expected by all sludge and doom worshippers each year. Impending earthquake in Camden…

http://www.thedesertfest.com/london/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
http://instagram.com/desertfest

Noothgrush, Live at Maryland Deathfest 2014

Currently banging out a quick round of dates in Canada and a couple US shows surrounding ahead of hitting the road with Opeth and In Flames in December, raucous Portland heavy rock forerunners Red Fang have been announced as headliners for the London and Berlin 2015 editions of Desertfest. Both fests will take place at the end of next April. They join Sleep as one of the headliners for London and Orange Goblin‘s 20th anniversary special for Berlin, of course among many others and more to come.

Announcements from both Desertfests follow, yoinked from the PR wire:

RED FANG confirmed for Desertfest London 2015!

They need no introduction, each one of their gigs turns into the best metal party you’ll ever have: ladies and gents, we have the immense pleasure to confirm RED FANG as second headliner of DESERTFEST LONDON 2015, which will take place on April 24-26th in Camden.

For the fourth year running, Camden will be hosting one of the most exciting stoner/doom/sludge/psyche gatherings in Europe, for a full weekend of fuzzed-out tunes, psychedelia and partying. As the first headliner of this 2015 edition, American stoner rock pioneers SLEEP will be treating the Desertfest crowd to the finest smoked-out odysseys, with an exclusive headlining set at London’s famous venue Koko. Also headlining, Portland’s heavy rock’n’rollers RED FANG are set to turn this fourth edition into a massive metal celebration. The ground is set to tremble once again this year, with UK metal heavyweights ORANGE GOBLIN delivering their fiery metal anthems for a one-off 20th anniversary performance. It’s very rightfully than German psych foursome MY SLEEPING KARMA will be perfectly embodying the cosmic side of this first announcement.

Desertfest Berlin – April 23th, 24th & 25th 2015 – Red Fang added to the Line-up!

The fourth edition of our festival will take place once again in the famous ASTRA KulturHaus, in the beating cultural heart of BERLIN (F-Hain/X-Berg), from APRIL 23TH to 25TH 2015! We already look forward to welcome you again : 196 days left to wait :)

On the programme: 2 stages, around 25 bands playing across the 3 days, a beergarden, a hippie corner market and art exhibits… you know the formula… but also a bunch of new suprises that you will discover soon enough!

We started in September to unveil the first bands of a line-up that will totally blow you away, with a lot of exclusive/special shows: ORANGE GOBLIN “20 Year Anniversary Special Show”, MY SLEEPING KARMA “Album Release Party”… And we are proud to announce today that Portland’s Hard Rock Heroes RED FANG will headline one of the 3 nights!!

EARLY BIRDS TICKETS can already be purchased for 75€ via the link you will find a the end of this release!

https://www.facebook.com/redfangband/
http://www.leedstickets.com/eventinfo/4318/Desertfest-2015-24th-26th-of-April
http://woolheads.com/cms/produkt-kategorie/festivalmerchandise/desertfestberlin/tickets-desertfestberlin/

Red Fang, Whales and Leeches (2013)

Desertfest London gets right back into it. Fresh off the 2014 edition and with the prospect of a Belgian franchise this fall, the festival has announced that stoner metal gods Sleep will headline London’s installment in 2015. Don’t get me wrong, everything I’ve seen these guys do so far has been awesome and it’s been a blast to watch this fest grow, but Sleep puts them in an entirely different category. I thought they’d have a hard time outdoing the 2014 fest, with Boris, Weedeater, Spirit Caravan and so on, and they basically did it in one band. Take that, planet earth.

The PR wire brings the good news and the dates. Desertfest London 2015 is set for April 24-26. You can take your hoverboard to get there, because it’s the future!

Dig:

First headliner for DESERTFEST LONDON 2015 is announced!

We hope your Desertfest 2014 experience in Camden was as exciting and full of good surprises as ours. Once again, the festival was a success thanks to everyone involved, and thanks to you! So to help you cope with the usual post-Desertfest comedown, we decided not to wait any longer before unveiling the first headliner for Desertfest 2015…

We are more than thrilled to confirm the venue of American stoner rock pioneers SLEEP at Desertfest next spring! And as epic as it gets, it will be an EXCLUSIVE SHOW for the legendary trio formed by Matt Pike, Al Cisneros and Jason Roeder, so we can already guarantee you of the epicness of this very performance at the Electric Ballroom.

Get a glimpse of SLEEP live at Hellfest 2013 to get in the mood!

DESERTFEST LONDON 2015 will take place on April 24th to 26th in Camden. Feel free to spread this awesome news in your publications.

DESERTFEST LONDON
April 24th-26th 2015 in Camden Town
The Electric Ballroom – The Underworld – The Black Heart

More infos on www.thedesertfest.com
Find the Desertfest on Facebook & Twitter

https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon

Sleep, Live at Hellfest 2013