Posted in Whathaveyou on March 17th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
It was probably inevitable, but if you’d asked I’m not sure I would’ve said that at some point we’d be talking about Wu-Tang around these parts not in the context of the badass PS1 fighting game they had. Also in the realm of things-I-probably-should’ve-seen-coming is the fact that it’s Psycho Las Vegas as the occasion for doing so. Don’t get me wrong, having the GZA and Raekwon & Ghostface on the bill alongside Watain and Mayhem and Boris and Monster Magnet and The Juliana Theory is fucking genius (natch), but it’s a very particular kind of genius that one doesn’t find anywhere else. You want Ulver and Suicidal Tendencies and Primitive Man together? Well, you’re probably booking your flight to Vegas as we speak. Psycho, as you, me, and everyone around us knows, is in a class of its own here.
Katatonia. Cirith Ungol. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony — who I would totally watch, by the way — and High on Fire. At the Gates. Fucking a, Psycho.
The lineup as so far announced for Psycho Las Vegas 2022 follows here, as per the PR wire. Fest is Aug. 19-21:
Psycho Las Vegas Announces Second Wave of Artists for 2022 Lineup; Reveals Festival Destination: Resorts World Las Vegas – the Strip’s newest integrated resort
As previously announced, the 2022 installment of Psycho Las Vegas will see Mercyful Fate (USA-exclusive performance), Emperor (USA-exclusive performance), Mayhem, Satyricon, Watain, Wolves In The Throne Room, Samael, Boris, MGLA, Cirith Ungol, King Woman, Marissa Nadler, Bömbers and Year Of No Light perform at the annual bacchanal, set to take place at Resorts World Las Vegas Aug. 19 – Aug. 21. Already an other-worldly line-up, today, Psycho Las Vegas has revealed the second wave of artists for America’s premier Rock ‘N Roll festival (with tickets available for purchase at: https://vivapsycho.com/):
PSYCHO LAS VEGAS Mercyful Fate Suicidal Tendencies Emperor Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Warpaint Mayhem Carpenter Brut GZA Satyricon Watain She Past Away Raekwon & Ghostface Killah Carcass At The Gates High On Fire Ulver Beats Antique Paradise Lost Cirith Ungol Vio-lence Katatonia The Accüsed AD Samael Boris Nothing Dance With The Dead Anika The KVB The Juliana Theory Monster Magnet Wolves In The Throne Room …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Amenra MGLA Liturgy Primitive Man Tribulation Monolord Gatecreeper King Woman WAND Crobot Wiegedood Marissa Nadler N8NOFACE Bömbers Drain Year Of No Light Mizmor The Goddamn Gallows Sanguisugabogg 200 Stab Wounds Last Podcast On The Left Chessboxing with GZA
PSYCHO SWIM Midnight Eyehategod Elder Bridge City Sinners Starcrawler Uniform Deathchant Early Moods Rifflord
Psycho Las Vegas 2022 is set to be the wildest ride yet as the festival will move to a new destination, Resorts World Las Vegas. The Strip’s newest ground-up resort to be built in over a decade, Resorts World Las Vegas ventures into a new frontier of entertainment, offering an immersive trip for festivalgoers with six stages, with every genre under the sun performing from the pool’s tropics to the Resorts World Event Center. Additionally, Resorts World Las Vegas contains the most options for leisure, cuisine, and gambling in Psycho Las Vegas history, while providing a more intimate musical experience in the epitome of Las Vegas elegance and extravagance. Fans can also spend the day at AWANA Spa & Wellness, enjoy a meal or drink at one of over 40 food and beverage venues or hit the poker tables because Texas Hold ‘Em is back with a vengeance at Psycho Las Vegas. Without curfews, the party doesn’t stop as sets and Psycho dance parties go on through all hours of the night.
Psycho Las Vegas is the ultimate rock ‘n roll all night and party everyday experience. Go all in – buy the ticket and take the ride: https://vivapsycho.com/
Hey, how was your weekend? You won’t be surprised to learn mine was full of tunes, which I mark as a win. While we’re marking wins, let’s put one down for wrapping up the longest Quarterly Review to-date in a full 11 days today. 110 releases. I started on July 5 — a lifetime ago. It’s now July 19, and I’ve encountered a sick kid and wife, busted laptop, oral surgery, and more riffs than I could ever hope to count along the way. Ups, downs, all-arounds. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.
This day was added kind of on an impulse, and the point I’m looking to emphasize is that you can spend two full weeks reviewing 10 albums a day and still there’s more to be had. I’ve learned over time you’re never going to hear everything — not even close — and that no matter how deep you dig, there’s more to find. I’m sure if I didn’t have other stuff scheduled I could fill out the entirety of this week and then some with 10 records a day. As it stands, let’s not have this Quarterly Review run into the next one at the end of September/beginning of October. Time to get my life back a little bit, such as it is.
Quarterly Review #101-110:
King Woman, Celestial Blues
After the (earned) fanfare surrounding King Woman‘s 2017 debut, Created in the Image of Suffering, expectations for the sophomore outing, Celestial Blues, are significant. Songwriter/vocalist Kris Esfandiari meets these head-on in heavy and atmospheric fashion on tracks like the opening title-cut and “Morning Star,” the more cacophonous “Coil” and duly punishing “Psychic Wound.” Blues? Yes, in places. Celestial? In theme, in its confrontation with dogma, sure. Even more than these, though, Celestial Blues taps into an affecting weight of ambience, such that even the broad string sounds of “Golgotha” feel heavy, and whether a given stretch is loud or quiet, subdued like the first half of “Entwined” or raging like the second, right into the minimalist “Paradise Lost” that finishes, the sense of burden being purposefully conveyed is palpable in the listening experience. No doubt the plaudits will be or are already manifold and superlative, but the work stands up.
Mythic Sunship are a hopeful vision for the future of progressive psychedelic music. Their fifth album and first for Tee Pee Records, Wildfire offers five tracks/45 minutes that alternates between ripping holes in the fabric of spacetime via emitted subspace wavelengths of shredding guitar, sax-led freakouts, shimmer to the point of blindness, peaceful drift and who the hell knows what else is going on en route from one to the other. Because as much as the Copenhagen outfit might jump from one stretch to the next, their fluidity is huge all along the course of Wildfire, which is fortunate because that’s probably the only thing stopping the record from actually melting. Instrumental as ever, I’m not sure if there’s a narrative arc playing out — certainly one can read one between “Maelstrom,” “Olympia,” “Landfall,” “Redwood Grove” and “Going Up” — and if that’s the intention, it maybe pulls back from that “hopeful vision” idea somewhat, at least in theme, if not aesthetic. In any case, the gorgeousness, the electrified vitality in what Mythic Sunship do, continues to distinguish them from their peers, which is a list that is only growing shorter with each passing LP.
I said I was going to preorder this tape and I’m glad I did. Morningstar Delirium‘s half-hour/four-song debut offering is somewhere between an EP and an album — immersive enough to be the latter certainly in its soothing, brooding exploration of sonic textures, not at all tethered to a sonic weight in the dark industrial “Blood on the Fixture” and even less so in the initial minutes of “Silent Travelers,” but not entirely avoiding one either, as in the second half of that latter track some more sinister beats surface for a time. Comprised of multi-instrumentalists/vocalist Kelly Schilling (Dreadnought, BleakHeart) and Clayton Cushman (The Flight of Sleipnir), the isolation-era project feeds into that lockdown atmosphere in moments droning and surging, “Where Are You Going” giving an experimentalist edge with its early loops and later stretch of ethereal slide guitar (or what sounds like it), while closer “A Plea for the Stars” fulfills the promise of its vocalists with a doomed melody in its midsection that’s answered back late, topping an instrumental progression like the isolated weepy guitar of classic goth metal over patiently built layers of dark-tinted wash. Alternating between shorter and longer tracks, the promise in Morningstar Delirium resides in the hope they’ll continue to push farther and farther along these lines of emotional and aural resonance.
Somewhere between spacious goth and garage doom, Russia’s Lunar Funeral find their own stylistic ground to inhabit on their second album, Road to Siberia. The two-piece offer grim lysergics to start the affair on “Introduce” before plunging into “The Thrill,” which bookends with the also-11-minute closer “Don’t Send Me to Rehab” and gracefully avoids going full-freakout enough to bring back the verse progression near the end. Right on. Between the two extended pieces, the swinging progression of “25th Hour” trades brooding for strut — or at least brooding strut — with the snare doing its damnedest by the midsection to emulate handclaps could be there if they could find a way not to be fun. “25th Hour” hits into a wash late and “Black Bones” answers with dark boogie and a genuine nod later, finishing with noise en route to the spacious eight-minute “Silence,” which finds roll eventually, but holds to its engaging sense of depth in so doing, the abiding weirdness of the proceedings enhanced by the subtle masterplan behind it. Airy guitar work winding atop the bassline makes the penultimate “Your Fear is Giving Me Fear” a highlight, but the willful trudge of “Don’t Send Me to Rehab” is an all-too-suitable finish in style and atmosphere, not quite drawing it all together, but pushing it off a cliff instead.
Sludge and narcosadistic doom infest the six-track Espectrofilia from Mexico City four-piece Satánico Pandemonium, who call it an EP despite its topping 40 minutes in length. I don’t know, guys. Electric Wizard are a touchstone to the rollout of “Parábola del Juez Perverso,” which lumbers out behind opener “El Que Reside Dentro” and seems to come apart about two minutes in, only to pick up and keep going. Fucking a. Horror, exploitation, nodding riffs, raw vibes — Satánico Pandemonium have it all and then some, and if there’s any doubt Espectrofilia is worthy of pressing to a 12″ platter, like 2020’s Culto Suicida before it, whether they call it a full-length or not, the downward plunge of the title-track into the grim boogie of “Panteonera” and the consuming, bass-led closer “La Muerte del Sol” should put them to rest with due prejudice. The spirit of execution here is even meaner than the sound, and that malevolence of intent comes through front-to-back.
Kudos to Van Groover on their know-thyself tagline: “We’re not reinventing the wheel, but we let it roll.” The German trio’s 10-track/51-minute debut, Honk if Parts Fall Off, hits its marks in the post-Truckfighters sphere of uptempo heavy fuzz/stoner rock, injecting a heaping dose of smoke-scented burl from the outset with “Not Guilty” and keeping the push going through “Bison Blues” and “Streetfood” and “Jetstream” before “Godeater” takes a darker point of view and “Roadrunner” takes a moment to catch its breath before reigniting the forward motion. Sandwiched between that and the seven-minute “Bad Monkey” is an interlude of quieter bluesy strum called “Big Sucker” that ends with a rickity-sounding vehicle — something tells me it’s a van — starts and “Bad Monkey” kicks into its verse immediately, rolling stoned all the while even in its quiet middle stretch before “HeXXXenhammer” and the lull-you-into-a-false-sense-of-security-then-the-riff-hits “Quietness” finish out. Given the stated ambitions, it’s hard not to take Honk if Parts Fall Off as it comes. Van Groover aren’t hurting anybody except apparently one or two people in the opener and maybe elsewhere in the lyrics. Stoner rock for stoner rockers.
There is not much to which Buenos Aires-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sergio Chotsourian, aka Sergio Ch., is a stranger at this point. In a career that has spanned more than a quarter-century, he’s dipped hands in experimentalist folk and drone, rock, metal, punk, goth and more in varying prolific combinations of them. Koi, his latest full-length, still finds new ground to explore, however, in bringing not only the use of programmed drum beats behind some of the material, but collaborations with his own children, Isabel Ch., who contributes vocals on the closing Nine Inch Nails cover, “Hurt,” which was also previously released as a single, and Rafael “Raffa” Ch., who provides a brief but standout moment just before with a swirling, effects-laced rap tucked away at the end of the 11-minute “El Gran Chaparral.” If these are sentimental inclusions on Chotsourian‘s part, they’re a minor indulgence to make, and along with the English-language “NY City Blues,” the partial-translation of “Hurt” into Spanish is a welcome twist among others like “Tic Tac,” which blend electronic beats and spacious guitar in a way that feels like a foreshadow of burgeoning interests and things to come.
Less than a year removed from their debut full-length, At the Bottom of the Sea, Croatian five-piece Achachak return with the geological-opposite follow-up, High Mountain. With cuts like “Bong Goddess,” “Maui Waui,” they leave little to doubt as to where they’re coming from, but the stoner-for-stoners’-sake attitude doesn’t necessarily account either for the drifty psych of “Biggest Wave” or the earlier nod-out in “Lonewolf,” the screams in the opening title-track or the follow-that-riff iron-manliness of “”Mr. SM,” let alone the social bent to the lyrics in the QOTSA-style “Lesson” once it takes off — interesting to find them delving into the political given the somewhat regrettable inner-sleeve art — but the overarching vibe is still of a band not taking itself too seriously, and the songwriting is structured enough to support the shifts in style and mood. The fuzz is strong with them, and closer “Cozy Night” builds on the languid turn in “Biggest Wave” with an apparently self-aware moody turn. For having reportedly been at it since 1999, two full-lengths and a few others EPs isn’t a ton as regards discography, but maybe now they’re looking to make up for lost time.
It’s almost counterintuitive to think so, but what you see is what you get with mostly-instrumentalist South African western/psych folk duo Rise Up, Dead Man‘s self-titled debut. To wit, the “Bells of Awakening” at the outset, indeed, are bells. “The Summoning,” which follows, hypnotizes with guitar and various other elements, and then, yes, the eponymous “Rise Up, Dead Man,” is a call to raise the departed. I don’t know if “Stolen Song” is stolen, but it sure is familiar. Things get more ethereal as multi-instrumentalists Duncan Park (guitar, vocals, pennywhistle, obraphone, bells, singing bowl) and William Randles (guitar, vocals, melodica, harmonium, violin, bells, singing bowl) through the serenity of “The Wind in the Well” and the summertime trip to Hobbiton that the pennywhistle in “Everything that Rises Must Converge” offers, which is complemented in suitably wistful fashion on closer “Sickly Meadow.” There’s some sorting out of aesthetic to be done here, but as the follow-up just to an improv demo released earlier this year, the drive and attention to detail in the arrangements makes their potential feel all the more significant, even before you get to the expressive nature of the songs or the nuanced style in which they so organically reside.
Yeah, that whole “silence” thing doesn’t last too long on Moving Through Silence. The 51-minute debut long-player from Brugge, Belgium, instrumentalists Atomic Vulture isn’t through opener “Eclipse” before owing a significant sonic debt to Kyuss‘ “Thumb,” but given the way the record proceeds into “Mashika Deathride” and “Coaxium,” one suspects Karma to Burn are even more of an influence for guitarist Pascal David, bassist Kris Hoornaert and drummer Jens Van Hollebeke, and though they move through some slower, more atmospheric stretch on “Cosmic Dance” and later more extended pieces like “Spinning the Titans” (9:02) and closer “Astral Dream,” touching on prog particularly in the second half of the latter, they’re never completely removed from that abiding feel of get-down-to-business, as demonstrated on the roll of “Intergalactic Takeoff” and the willful landing on earth that the penultimate “Space Rat” brings in between “Spinning the Titans” and “Astral Dream,” emphasizing the sense of their being a mission underway, even if the mission is Atomic Vulture‘s discovery of place within genre.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
I missed out on King Woman‘s debut, Created in the Image of Suffering, which Relapse released in 2017, but if the new video for “Morning Star” underscores anything, it’s the urgency of not making the same mistake twice and letting the new album, Celestial Blues, likewise slip. I don’t support or condone smoking cigarettes — that shit’ll kill you — but the song’s got atmospheric depth like it’s tossing you in the basement pit and telling you it puts the lotion on its skin, and all the while it still maintains a melodic presence through Kris Esfandiari‘s vocals. Guess I’ll dig back to the first record ahead of the second one. That takes care of my afternoon, and that’ll do nicely, thank you very much.
Preorders are up and all that stuff, and there are some live dates of varying vagueness below, all courtesy of the PR wire:
KING WOMAN’S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SOPHOMORE ALBUM, CELESTIAL BLUES, ARRIVES JULY 30 VIA RELAPSE RECORDS
LIVE PERFORMANCES CONFIRMED FOR LOS ANGELES, BROOKLYN & OAKLAND
King Woman, the outfit featuring songwriter, producer, vocalist Kris Esfandiari, return with their eagerly-awaited sophomore album, Celestial Blues (July 30, Relapse Records).
News of the album arrives with a raw, one-take performance “Morning Star”(https://youtu.be/tk-rxh1xmKs), which was directed by Muted Widows.
“Creating this album has brought me great peace and closure,” says Esfandiari of Celestial Blues. “Grateful to finally share it with all of you.”
Celestial Blues was recorded in Oakland, California by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Amenra, Oathbreaker). The band is rounded out by drummer Joseph Raygoza and guitar player Peter Arensdorf. Visual collaborations featured in the album packaging were created by Nedda Afsari, Collin Fletcher, and Jamie Parkhurst.
Album pre-orders, including limited-edition vinyl and merch, are available now. Physical pre-orders are available via Relapse’s webstore (bit.ly/kingwomancb), while digital downloads and streaming links can be found here: (orcd.co/kingwomancb).
Celestial Blues tracklist: Celestial Blues Morning Star Boghz Golgotha Coil Entwined Psychic Wound Ruse Paradise Lost
King Woman has confirmed a series of performances in support of the new album. Tickets and VIP Fan Club passes are on-sale this Friday, June 4 at 10 am pacific.
July 30 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room July 31 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room
October 15 Brooklyn, NY TBA October 16 Brooklyn, NY TBA October 17 Brooklyn, NY TBA
October 29 Oakland, CA Starline October 30 Oakland, CA Starline October 31 Oakland, CA Starline (covers show)
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
We already know from prior announcements that Chicago-based heavy post-rock forerunner instrumentalists Russian Circles (there are like six or seven other titles one might bestow on them with various degrees of superlative praise inherent) will be in Europe in time for this year’s Freak Valley Festival. This North American run alongside Relapse Records four-piece King Woman will precede that trip, obviously, but the chief question would seem to be if there’s a European tour announcement coming from them and if so, when they might actually head over, whether it’s summer fests or a run in the later end of Spring. With Freak Valley as a launch or landing point, it could kind of go either way.
Rest assured, I don’t know nothin’ about nothin’. The PR wire, on the other hand:
RUSSIAN CIRCLES ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH KING WOMAN
See them on the road in March & April throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Russian Circles have never been ones to stay quiet, and their first announcement of 2018 only serves to prove that predilection. This March and April, Russian Circles will be joined by Sargent House management roster-mates King Woman for a North American tour. Spanning just over three weeks, the bands will play shows in select markets from coast to coast; check out the full tour routing below.
Russian Circles are hot off an extensive 2017 world tour with Mastodon and Eagles Of Death metal and to say they are primed for this headlining run would be an understatement. Clocking in over a decade together, the Chicago power trio have grown into one of most prolific groups in both the instrumental and rock realms. With a steamrolling catalog redefining the boundaries of both genre and instrumentation—from cinematic arias to metalloid-fueled bludgeoning—Russian Circles continue to find new sonic expanses to conquer. Whereas many bands in the instrumental world are content to cruise with the lush crescendos and washed-out timbres of their predecessors, Russian Circles persevere in their quest to conjure multidimensional, textural narratives.
Acting as the the sonic foil to Russian Circles’ electrifying instrumentals is the rumble and roar of King Woman. Formed in 2009 by vocalist Kristina Esfandiari, the Bay Area outfit have crafted a sound thoroughly their own—one that fuses the cobweb texture of drone and shoegaze with the melancholic heft of doom. Their debut LP, 2017’s Created In The Image Of Suffering (Relapse), paired weighty subject matter with brooding songwriting, earning the band widespread acclaim. Complete with deeply personal, introspective lyrics that serve as a catharsis for years of religious and mental torment, King Woman truly suffer to create their art.
See Russian Circles and King Woman on one stage this spring:
Russian Circles — On Tour w/ King Woman: 03/22 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room * 03/23 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater * 03/27 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex 03/29 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall 03/31 Portland, Oregon @ Wonder Ballroom 04/01 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile 04/02 Vancouver, BC @ Baltimore Cabaret 04/04 Calgary, AB @ Dickens 04/05 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room 04/07 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis Pub 04/08 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick 04/11 Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern 04/12 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa 04/14 Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall 04/16 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 04/17 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere 04/18 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel 04/20 Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit 04/21 Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch 04/22 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle *No King Woman
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 8th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Losing Warning is a bummer, but Northwest Terror Fest 2017 is taking it in stride and taking its game to another level entirely by adding Coven to the bill for their first US show in 27 years. I had the good fortune of watching Coven play at Roadburn in April (review here), and their classic sound has never been more relevant than it is today, and Jinx Dawson remains a mystifying presence as frontwoman, even nearly five decades after the band issued their landmark 1969 outing, Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls, which you can hear in full below. The point of that massive fucking run-on sentence? Go see Coven if you can. There. I made it simple. I hear that’s what you’re supposed to do on the internet.
John Haughm of Pillorian and Agalloch will also play an acoustic set as part of the packed lineup, and as a side note, tomorrow I’ll have a Six Dumb Questions interview posted with David Rodgers of Godhunter, who organizes this fest as well as other Terror Fest incarnations like the Austin Terror Fest at SXSW and Southwest Terror Fest in Arizona. Dude breaks his ass in making these things happen, and you’ll note Godhunter aren’t on this bill, so it’s clearly not about just putting together an event to promote his own doings. Just something to keep an eye out for.
Northwest Terror Fest 2017 runs June 15-17. Here’s the latest from the PR wire, including the full schedule:
COVEN, JOHN HAUGHM JOIN NORTHWEST TERROR FEST
NORTHWEST TERROR FEST – SEATTLE JUNE 15-17
Due to matters out of control of Northwest Terror Fest, we regret to inform that Warning will no longer be able to perform during this specific weekend. But at the end of the darkness is light as we are proud to announce that the legendary Coven will be playing on the evening of Saturday June 17th in what will be their first stateside show in 27 years!
While its widely disputed that some have cited Coven as the first band to brandish the sign of the horns, their occult laced tunes have laid down an irrefutable influence on the world of metal and doom beginning with their mystic debut album, 1969’s Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls.
John Haughm of Agalloch will be performing an intimate set.
Inspired by Cormac McCarthy, Ennio Morricone, Neil Young’s “Dead Man” soundtrack, and the renegade years of the American old west, John Haughm’s solo performance is a haunting and sonic 30 minute journey through dystopian wastelands of the past. It is a bleak, atmospheric, and powerful droning Western soundscape in steadfast spirit of the years 1865 – 1895.
Northwest Terror Fest Schedule:
THURSDAY 6/15 Neumo’s: 10:10 – END – Wolves In The Throne Room 8:50 – 9:30 – Samothrace 7:35 – 8:10 – King Woman 6:30 – 7:00 – Lycus 5:30 – 6:00 – Uada
Barboza: 9:30 – 10:10 – Graves At Sea 8:10 – 8:50 – Take Over And Destroy 7:00 – 7:35 – Void Omnia 6:00 – 6:30 – Barghest 5:00 – 5:30 – Witch Ripper
THURSDAY AFTER PARTY
Highline: 1:00 – END – John Haughm 11:50 – 12:40 – Aerial Ruin 11:00 – 11:30 – Crowhurst
Barboza: 9:30 – 10:10 Cult Leader 8:10 – 8:50 – Call Of The Void 7:00 – 7:35 – Transient 6:00 – 6:30 – Endorphin’s Lost 5:00 – 5:30 – Recluse
FRIDAY AFTER PARTY
Highline: 12:40 – END – Usnea 11:50 – 12:20 – Burials 11:00 – 11:30 – Sol
SATURDAY 6/17
Neumo’s: 10:10 – END – Coven (First US Show in 27 years) 8:50 – 9:30 – Yob 7:35 – 8:10 – Marissa Nadler 6:30 – 7:00 – Young And In The Way 5:30 – 6:00 – Infernal Coil
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 13th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
As one has come to expect by now, there’s an awful lot of badassery in this latest announcement from Roadburn 2017. The Tilburg-based festival doesn’t seem to do anything small at this point — though it boasts not one, but two delightfully intimate venues, so take that assertion with a grain of reality’s salt — and that certainly includes this round of 24 lineup additions. For me, particularly notable is the West Coast heavy psych invasion underway with the likes of Joy and Harsh Toke added — Tee Pee labelmates Ruby the Hatchet are no slouches themselves in that regard — and UK doomers Serpent Venom, who, as noted in the expansive update below, are overdue for an appearance at this showcase of showcases. I’ve included the stream of their last album as a refresher of its righteousness, in case you need one.
Also dig Bongzilla added to perform Gateway in its entirety. They’ll be part of a killer Main Stage lineup that day that’s basically untouchable and bound to engender much whining when the schedule is released and is packed as ever in all the other rooms. See also Big Business, Pontiak, Radar Men from the Moon, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Lycus and so on. In the immortal words of pre-cold-dead-hands Charlton Heston, “it’s a madhouse.”
Check it out:
Twenty-four new additions to Roadburn’s 2017 line up
• John Dyer Baizley adds four new bands to his curated event, plus confirms a live interview at Roadburn 2017.
• Bongzilla confirm their first trip to Roadburn
• Big Business return to Roadburn ten years after their last performance at the festival.
….and more
JOHN DYER BAIZLEY
John Dyer Baizley has confirmed four more bands for his curated event, with the line up now almost complete. In addition, he will also take part in a live interview at Roadburn 2017 as part of the festival’s side programme.
Few others, if any, hardcore bands carry so much weight and impose so much respect outside their own scene as INTEGRITY do, perhaps because they have always transcended their “root” genre, both stylistically and conceptually. Baizley comments: “I hope to see you all there, while Integrity proves to all present that the ferocity has neither dulled nor become disingenuous throughout their career. Reality is bleak, but through darkness we are able to find connectivity and community.”
DISFEAR have been one of the leading lights of the Swedish d-beat scene in the almost three decades they have existed. They might not record of perform often, but when they do, you know it’s going to be something extraordinary, as John says: “I don’t know exactly what to expect from this re-emergence, but I’m sure it won’t be a gentle one. This should be a no-hold-barred, fists-in-the-air, mandatory-circle-pit set, and you better believe I’m not missing a minute of it.”
OATHBREAKER have wowed audiences around the world with the release of their latest album, Rheia. John counts himself among the devoted, commenting of the album: “Therein exists a healthy reverence and understanding of the genres it references; yet it’s a record that is beholden to no style, genre or convention. There are layers upon layers of sound that recall black metal, pop, indie, hardcore, shoe-gaze, you-name-it; yet as I listen, I am aware of none of this – it has been presented so artfully and with such earnest and unpretentious conviction.”
If you trace the history of post-rock, you’ll go all the way down the family tree to find Nathan Means, Philip Manley and Sebastian Thomson, the three members of TRANS AM, at the very root of it all. “I have always been a massive Trans Am fan, and I think their performance at Roadburn will be an incredible moment during next year’s festival,” John says, “I’m sure Sebastian will have his work cut out for him, playing two very intense and completely different sets, with both Baroness and Trans Am (Friday and Saturday, respectively). Do not miss this show, it will be a truly incomparable experience during Roadburn 2017.”
John Dyer Baizley will also be participating in Roadburn’s popular side programme, having confirmed that he will take part in a live interview hosted by Ula Gehret. John will talk through his personal and professional highs and lows before taking questions from the audience.
BONGZILLA
In an unparalleled stoner celebration, reformed Wisconsin riffmasters BONGZILLA have been confirmed to perform their classic album Gateway in its entirety at Roadburn Festival 2017. Next year marks 15 years since BONGZILLA originally released Gateway in 2002. Their third album, it indeed was for many listeners a doorway into a new world – a dimension of crust-laden sludge that, in the years since, has gone on to put an entire generation of bands under its influence. Unmatched in its dankness, coated in purple and green tonal wash, Gateway’s weedian righteousness is no less potent today than a decade and a half ago.
BIG BUSINESS
The last time this dynamic duo set foot at Roadburn was way back in 2007, in the company of their Melvins bros, but now, fully grown up and with a bunch more records, experience and exactly the same amount of boundless creativity, they will return on their own, as the singular, unique musical force they are.
WHORES.
Their live shows have a reputation for being way beyond the norm in terms on intensity, so we are super stoked to bring this power trio, WHORES.to Roadburn for the first time. We have the feeling it just might be one of those shows that everyone will talk about for years afterwards, so make sure you don’t miss WHORES. when they play Roadburn 2017 – they have a curious knack for melody that’ll ensure these tunes stay with you long after the bruises have healed up.
ALSO CONFIRMED:
Alaric will deliver a hybrid of post-punk’s tense, angular structures with the size and spread of extreme metal’s most dynamic sonic components. Author & Punisher heralds the rise of the machines with a unique take on industrial doom. Cobalt offer atypical excursions through black metal via apocalyptic tribalism, old Americana, and a doom-laden, ritualistic atmosphere. Fórn bring both soul-crushing lows and groovy assaults at higher moments. Gnaw Their Tongues have promised “something special” for their Roadburn set. Prepare for aural torture. Harsh Toke will perform a set comprised entirely of Roky Ericsson covers. Hedvig Mollestad Trio touch on genre-blurring hardrock and metal riffery as well as the noisier realms of jazz improvisation. Joy are a San Diego heavy psych power trio, inviting you to ride along with them at Roadburn. King Woman heavy, dark, emotional, beguiling, confrontational. Lycus – monolithic, mournful, and massive sounding doom. Pinkish Black will be making waves and breaking hearts with their chilling synthesiser dirges. Pontiak are primal and fiery and often fuzzy and psyched out; ready to give a lesson in rock. Radar Men From The Moon will team up with Roadburn 2017 artist in residence GNOD for a collaborative performance known as Temple Ov BBV, as well as playing their own show. Ruby The Hatchet invite you to follow them on their kosmiche trip. Serpent Venom – they’re trippy, they’re heavy, they are long overdue a Roadburn appearance. The Devil & The Almighty Blues are heavily inspired by Delta blues, and standing at the crossroads of both American and British blues-based rock. True Widow return with more sultry yet syrupy fuzzed out trips.
Artists already announced for Roadburn 2017 include Coven, Warning (playing Watching from a Distance in full), Artists in Residence – GNOD, My Dying Bride (performing Turn Loose The Swans in its entirety), Ulver and Hypnopaz?zu (David Tibet & Youth) and Zeal & Ardor, Mysticum, Deafheaven, Chelsea Wolfe, and our 2017 curator, John Baizley who will perform with Baroness, plus many more. Roadburn Festival will take place 20-23 April, 2017 at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Tickets (and campsite tickets) are on sale for Roadburn 2017 and can be purchased fromthis link.