Posted in Whathaveyou on January 3rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
After celebrating the fifth anniversary edition in 2023, German festival Hoflärm has made known the first round of acts confirmed for its three-day stretch from Aug. 8-10. If you’re paying attention — and I know you are — that’s the same weekend that SonicBlast Fest is happening in Portugal, and Brant Bjork Trio, Wine Lips, Sacri Monti, Home Front and Poison Ruin are confirmed for that as well, so there’s going to be some driving happening that weekend across Western Europe, to be sure. Nonetheless, the initial lineup reveal for Hoflärm finds the German fest welcoming Slomatics and Siena Root in addition to the above, and from this we can glean that Brooklyn’s Castle Rat will be taking their theatrical show abroad supporting their to-be-released debut LP, and Bikini Beach, Thronehammer and Tornet round out. If this was it — and as the poster tells you, it isn’t — you’d call it three days well spent. Or I would, anyhow.
From social media:
HOFLÄRM – First Band Announcement – THE RIDE IS ALWAYS LOW
Join us 2024 for the 6th stony ride to Hoflärm! We are very happy to announce the first bands of the line-up today! We also announce the start of the presale by 01.01.2024 at 6 pm (link in bio)!
Get ready for our first Headliner @winelipsband !
Coming all the way from Canada, Wine Lips will tear down the stage with a big Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party of their current album! If you know, you know!
Needles to say, @brant_bjork is a legend. Therefore we felt very honoured to welcome Brant, @mariolalli and Ryan Gut for the second time to the unholy woods of mary valley! Back at Hoflärm 2022 these guys visited with Stöner, in 2024 they will hit Hoflärm with a special Brant Björk set!
You wanted something new, you get something new! @poisonruin and @arewenothomefront will test you apart with their fresh sound! Poison ruin will deliver you some Infest the Rats‘Nest Vibes, while Home Front brings you the energy with their influences by Joy Division, High Vis and late 80s Post Punk.
We welcome @siena root, @slomatics and @sacri_monti_band ! These three bands are the holy trio of stoner, psych and doom!
What would be a Hoflärm Fest without our dearest Friends Sabine, Jan and Andre ? This year they will come to perform with @earthship_official
Castle Rat will be for the first time in Europe! They just played Desertfest New York with their Electric Wizard inspired Doom!
To complete this announcement we welcome @thronehammer.official , @bikini_beach_fuzz & @tornet_xvi !
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Man, you ever feel like you’re crawling to the finish line? I’m doing news catchup the next couple days, and this announcement from SonicBlast Fest came out like last weekend or some such with a first round of lineup adds for the Aug. 2024 edition of the Portuguese heavy festival — it’s the 12th one — and as I sit here with my e’er expanding ass sinking e’er deeper into the couch I feel about as far removed as I could from, let’s say, the glorious nighttime walk across the beach in Âncora that I was lucky enough to be born to eventually undertake after a night at SonicBlast earlier this year.
Not only was it my first time in Portugal and Iberia, period, but I met people I never thought I’d get to meet, saw old friends and made new ones, and for a few days pretty much lived the festival ideal. You get there, see sets, go back, write, drink all the coffee, take pictures, write more, write more, eventually collapse from fatigue, then go home with a rejuvenated spirit. You know, fest life.
Submitted for your daydreams is the initial billing for SonicBlast Fest 2024, with the heavy, stoner, psych and punk and hardcore sides of the festival represented and a solid punch of names with Graveyard, Brant Bjork Trio, 1000mods and Truckfighters. Think this means Deathchant and Sacri Monti will tour Europe together? I do. Think it means Sacri Monti‘s album will be out by then? I hope so. Deathchant, who also played this year, are awesome, by the way.
Here’s news. Tickets are on sale already:
SONICBLAST FEST ’24 – Aug. 8-10
It’s getting hard to breathe… We’re so proud to announce the first bands for SonicBlast Fest’s 12th edition!! Viagra Boys, Graveyard, Wine Lips, Brant Bjork Trio, Sunami, Colour Haze, Home Front, Truckfighters, Poison Ruin, 1000mods, Sacri Monti, Maruja, Deathchant and Máquina will join us at the craziest heavy psychedelic weekend by the ocean ⚡🌊☀️
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 18th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Happy 2023 from Roadburn. The renowned Dutch festival has a slew of new additions for its lineup this April 20-23, including a collaboration between Elizabeth Colour Wheel and Ethan McCarthy of Primitive Man, a label showcase from the delightful weirdos of Rocket Recordings, DeWolff jamming as they did turning so many heads during Roadburn Redux, Birth, Iron Jinn doing a release show for their debut, Body Void, Portrayal of Guilt, and so on and so forth. It’s a big one, and as the poster grows increasingly crowded (see it below), you’ll note that as ever, Roadburn remains a fest of all things and an opportunity to choose your own adventure across a weekend that, if you’ve never been, will change your life for the better no matter whose sets you actually decide to stand there and watch. I mean that.
This is the modus operandi of Roadburn. As Creative Director Walter Hoeijmakers says below, it’s about giving these artists a platform and building a community. Those two words, platform and community, are at the heart of what this thing has become. It’s not the stoner rock and psych fest it used to be, no. But Roadburn‘s commitment to the underground is unflinching, ever inspiring, and broadens the conversation about what ‘heavy’ means in ways that are only to that definition’s benefit.
That’s my two cents. I don’t anticipate being there this year, but a piece of my heart always lives at Roadburn Festival. I mean that too.
From the PR wire:
Roadburn adds 29 new names – including two commissioned projects, a second artist in residence, and a label showcase
Roadburn has today announced a further 29 names to the 2023 line up of the festival which will take place between April 20-23. Among them is a residency from Oiseaux-Tempête, a label showcase from the UK’s Rocket Recordings, and two commissioned collaborations – the first between Duma and Deafkids, the second between Elizabeth Colour Wheel and Ethan Lee McCarthy.
Roadburn’s artistic director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments:
“We are beyond happy to bring you the final commissioned music projects for Roadburn 2023 as well as our second artist-in-residence among others. With this announcement, it becomes clear that Roadburn 2023 is focusing on forward-thinking bands and those who’ve made waves in the last couple years, as we want Roadburn to reflect the underground – now and in the future. We are elated and honoured to give a platform for these incredible artists, and we are sure this year’s Roadburn will be something to remember for music, art, and community.”
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NEW LINE UP ADDITIONS:
COMMISSIONED: DUMA & DEAFKIDS
After whipping up a storm at Roadburn 2022, Duma will return to the festival – this time in collaboration with Deafkids. With one band in Kenya and the other in Brazil, this is a collaboration that transcends boundaries – both geographical and genre. Additionally, Deafkids will perform their own stand alone set at the festival.
COMMISSIONED: ELIZABETH COLOUR WHEEL & ETHAN LEE MCCARTHY
A union forged on mutual respect and a penchant for experimentation will see these two entities join forces at Roadburn 2023. In addition to the collaborative commissioned piece, Roadburn will host performances by Elizabeth Colour Wheel, Spiritual Poison, and Otay:onii.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Oiseaux-Tempête will perform three sets across the Roadburn weekend as the festival’s second Artist In Residence; spanning the breadth of their back catalogue and joined by a variety of musicians to embellish their live performances.
ROCKET RECORDINGS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWCASE
Roadburn is celebrating this milestone with one of the most adventurous and forward thinking labels out there – appropriate given that this showcase highlights the best of the future of Rocket Recordings!
Teeth of the Sea will return to Roadburn after a decade-long absence to deliver their eerie sci-fi psychedelia.
Del Aire – the 2022 album by J. Zunz – was in heavy rotation at Roadburn HQ, and she will now make her Roadburn debut in 2023.
Holy Scum is the ungodly merging of members of Gnod, Dälek and Action Beat – creating a (very) noisy cacophony of delirium.
Alison Cotton will perform a solo show of her ethereal, experimental folk, and later combine forces with Dawn Terry (of Bong) for a collaborative set that’s heavy on the drone.
Utilising field recordings and electronics alongside her beautiful voice, Marlene Ribeiro will perform as part of this special showcase.
The Shits are a brand new signing to Rocket – and they’ll be making their presence felt at the Wednesday night pre-festival party.
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DeWolff will reprise their Roadburn Redux set with another performance promising grit and swagger in equal measure.
Bo Ningen will be celebrating all that is weird and heavy about their sound with a special set titled Far East Electric Psychedelic.
Birth are heading to Tilburg to soak us in their psychedelic sounds and take Roadburn to another interplanetary plane.
Iron Jinn can trace their roots back to Roadburn – the 2018 edition to be precise – and they’ll be throwing a release party for their debut album at Roadburn this April, bringing things full circle.
Carefully balancing elements of black metal, ambient, post-rock, noise and drone, Yrre crafted an alternate soundtrack to the 2015 film The Witch by Robert Eggers, which will form the bedrock of their Roadburn performance.
High Vis are riding high off the back of their 2022 album Blending, and they’ll make their way to Tilburg for their Roadburn debut this coming April.
Portrayal of Guilt were another casualty of the 2020 edition, but will bring their hardcore/punk/fighting spirit to Roadburn 2023.
Right off the back of recording a new album, Body Void will head to Europe and deliver their distinctively crushing doom to the Roadburn community.
Featuring members of Amenra, Oathbreaker, Aborted, Cross Bringer and more, Predatory Void have Roadburn written all over them – and they’ll present their debut album in full at the 2023 edition of the festival.
Third time’s a charm for Bad Breeding as they’ll finally darken the doors of Roadburn with their visceral punk sound.
Lukas Frank’s Storefront Church will make their Roadburn debut with a performance of blissful, brooding songs, perfectly suited for after dark.
Antichrist Siege Machine are the musical equivalent to a sledgehammer, making their points with aggressive, anti-Christian songs that exude the joys of violent ritual butchery.
Portland’s Spirit Possession play an authentic form of black metal that is as refreshing in its erratic nature as it is triumphant in its old-school roots.
Poison Ruïn’s anarchic take on post-punk is infused with eerie dungeon synth style elements; an unlikely pairing perhaps but one that is perfectly suited to Roadburn.
OvO’s sludgy drone overlaid with eerie vocals and imbued with seriously haunting vibes will descend upon Roadburn this April.
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More information on these artists can be found HERE. They join previously announced artists including Deafheaven, Boy Harsher, Cave In, Julie Christmas, Wolves In The Throne Room, Giles Corey, Chat Pile and more.
Tickets for Roadburn 2023 are already on sale; Saturday tickets are sold out, but weekend tickets, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday tickets remain. 4-day tickets will be priced at €244, 3-day tickets at €214, and single day tickets at €79 (all costs inclusive of fees and service charges). Accommodation options are also available to purchase. All information can be found onRoadburn.com
