The really crazy thing about it is there’s so much more to come from Roadburn 2013 as the fest starts to take shape. Already it’s been a wildly diverse lineup of bands added, and with the announcement today that Neige of French post-black metallers Alcest will be the artist-in-residence this year, performing with his band,

Neige Announced As Artist in Residence For Roadburn Festival 2013; Asphyx, A Forest of Stars, Mourning Beloveth and Goat among others confirmed  as well.

France’s Neige will be Artist in Residence at Roadburn Festival 2013, set for April 18 – 21 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

French black metal has always been conceptually diverse, a leading force in pushing the boundaries of the genre. Whether it’s the experimental, nihilistic, buzzing approach of Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, or Alcest’s soaring, emotional meld of Slinty post rock, spidery, shimmery shoegaze, ambient sounscapes, and black metal fuzz, the French are definitely in the vanguard.

Not surprising then, given Roadburn’s penchant for honoring the innovators, that Alcest mastermind Neige is our Artist in Residence for Roadburn 2013.Neige will carry on a tradition that began at the Roadburn Festival in 2010 with Enslaved, followed by Circle in 2011 and Justin K Broadrick in 2012.

“I remember it was such an honour for us when Alcest was asked to play at the 2011 edition of Roadburn festival”, says Neige. “We only started doing shows a short time before so it was an important step in the band’s existence. For 2013, they offered me to be here again as artist in residence and to perform on all three days of the festival with three different bands: Lantlôs, Les Discrets and Alcest (playing Les Voyages de L’âme in its entirety).

“I feel so glad to get the recognition of such a respected event. It is once again a great honour and I would like to thank the festival’s team for their confidence. Roadburn is one of the best experimental music events in the world, with billings that please the lovers of these kinds of music year by year. I will for sure do my very best to do justice to this status by giving captivating performances together with my bandmates.”

We’re extremely pleased to announce that Asphyx will be playing a special set of their slowest death / doom (only throwing in a couple buzzing, diabolical tracks for good measure) at the Roadburn Festival 2013 on Saturday, April 20th.

By releasing 2012’s stunning Deathhammer (Century Media), the band is keeping traditional death metal as true, honest and thrilling as ever. However, especially for Roadburn Festival 2013, Asphyx will put emphasis on their most epic, crushing material, played with guts and balls, and which will guarantee pure doom/death rapture. Along the way, Asphyx’ undisputable influence on many bands that have shredded Roadburn stages will become apparent as well.

The British Empire’s Gentlemen’s Club of A Forest of Stars have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013 on Saturday, April 20th at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, Holland.

For the first (and possibly only) time at the request of this festival’s patrons A Forest of Stars will be performing their new album A Shadowplay for Yesterdays in its entirety, replete with the appropriate imagery, smoke, lighting and mirrors.

Mourning Beloveth, Ireland’s purveyors of death and doom for over 20 years, will be playing their classic second album, The Sullen Sulcus, in its entirety for the first time ever at Roadburn Festival 2013 on Thursday, April 18th.

“It is with pleasure we announce our participation in Roadburn 2013 and to mark the occasion we have decided to play, in full, our 2003 album The Sullen Sulcus”, says Mourning Beloveth’s Darren Moore, “We have spoken among ourselves over the years on doing a set dedicated to one album and now seems the perfect opportunity at a festival dedicated to the eclectic and underground movement in metal. This will coincide with the first official release of The Sullen Sulcus for the first time on vinyl with revised artwork. So bring your nightmares in red and enjoy our set, we may even have another surprise in store on the night.”

Looking for psych-spiced space jams? In search of a little something to expand your mind? Brothers and sisters, we are pleased to announce that Portugal’s Black Bombaim will be bringing their largely instrumental and experimental heaviness to Roadburn Festival 2013 on Thursday, April 18th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

While there are plenty of loyal ‘burners who make the trek from the Iberian peninsula to the festival each spring, this is the first time in Roadburn history that a Portuguese band will be on the bill and we are very excited about it. Currently riding high on the release of their latest album Titans, featuring guests including Steve Mackay (Stooges), Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless / Howlin Rain) and Noel V. Harmonson (Comets on Fire),  Black Bombaim will whisk you away on a swirling, sun-kissed psychedelic trip. Prepare for lift off!

Black Bombaim, Blues Pills, Castle, Eternal Tapestry, Hills, Hour of 13, Jess and the Ancient Ones, Kadavar, The Ruins of Beverast, Pilgrim, Sigh and Teeth of the Sea have also been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013.Roadburn Festival 2013, including Electric Wizard’ s curated event, Godflesh playing Pure in its entirety for the first time ever and Die Kreuzen reunion among others, will run for four days from Thursday, April 18th to Sunday, April 21st, 2013 (the traditional Afterburner event) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

The good news continues to pour in from the Netherlands. This time, it’s hotter-than-hell Rhode Island youngins Pilgrim added to the Roadburn bill. They’ll be at SHoD this weekend as well, so maybe I’ll just have to say congrats to The Wizard in person. Way to go, gents.

Rhode Island’s Doom Disciples Pilgrim To Bring Misery To Roadburn 2013

We’re excited to announce that Pilgrim will be appearing at Roadburn Festival 2013 on Thursday, April 18th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Remember the time when the great bands of the Seventies—Wishbone Ash, Rainbow and Led Zeppelin, to name but a few—wrote their tunes around mythical stories involving swords, sorcery and magic? For those of us who are hungry for epic music that tells of majestic tales, look for the Misery Wizard (Metal Blade), the debut long-player from Rhode Island’s disciples of doom, Pilgrim!

The trio of drummer Krolg, the Slayer of Man, bassist the Soothsayer and guitarist / singer the Wizard combine the chest-caving sounds of Pentagram and the mountain-moving tempos of Reverend Bizarre and tie it all together under the spiritual guidance of the grand masters of doom, Black Sabbath. Deep within the thick sonic walls, listeners can hear the Wizard tell tales about ancient beings from the sky, timeless heroes and the eponymous Misery Wizard.

Gather ‘round at the 2013 Roadburn Festival and be immersed in the power and might of Pilgrim and the Misery Wizard!

Roadburn Festival 2013 will run for four days from Thursday, April 18th to Sunday, April 21st, 2013 (the traditional Afterburner event) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Semi-Swedish foursome Blues Pills are the latest band added to Roadburn 2013. As ever, Roadburn is introducing new bands as much as it’s celebrating those already established in the underground. Blues Pills released their debut EP, Bliss, earlier this year following Cory Berry and Zack Anderson‘s unceremonious exodus from Iowan rippers Radio Moscow.

The PR wire has it, as ever:

The Best Blues Medicine Comes from Sweden! Blues Pills Confirmed for Roadburn 2013!

We’re very pleased to announce that Sweden’s Blues Pills will be making their appearance at Roadburn Festival 2013 on Thursday, April 18 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

After their abrupt departure from Radio Moscow, drummer Cory Berry and bass player Zack Anderson grouped with classical-trained Swedish lead singer Elin Larsson and French guitar player Dorian Sorriaux to form Blues Pills, a dynamic hybrid between blues rock of the 60s and the heavy 70s. Think heavy, driving bass lines, colossal drums and ferocious, riff based, soul-penetrating guitar work, tied together by the incredible soulful voice of Larsson, sometimes singing in her mother tongue, and whose timbre, range and power is reminiscent of Susan Tedeschi and Janis Joplin.

Blues Pills‘ sound is very diverse as shown on Bliss, their 4-track debut for Crusher Records. The band has put lots of emphasis on both dynamics and emotion by bringing out beautiful harmonics, escaping the the typical 12-bar form for Peter Green‘s Fleetwood Mac-inspired melodies and a more progressive Zeppelin-like structure.

With our fondness for Swedish rock (we have invited the likes of Witchcraft, Graveyard, Dead Man, Horisont, Troubled Horse, Spiders et al to previous festivals) it’s not surprising that Blues Pills are appearing at Roadburn 2013 and not just because they are Swedish…but because they bring out the best heavy 70s inspired rock we have heard in a long time.

The annual adventure known as Roadburn continues to take shape, this time with British outfit Teeth of the Sea joining the lineup. They’ll apparently have a new album out before the fest gets underway next April, but I figured I’d include a video in the meantime, just in case the name’s not immediately familiar. Dig:

Teeth of the Sea To Play at Roadburn Festival 2013

Roadburn’s excited to announce that UK’s most adventurous and intrepid psychedelic rock outfit Teeth of the Sea has been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013 on Saturday, April 20th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Taking inspiration from sources as disparate as the 70s French prog of Heldon, the soundtracks of Angelo Badalamenti, the white-noise-shamanism of Skullflower and the psych-punk vortex of Chrome, London’s Teeth of the Sea marry searing electronics, torrential riffage and cinematic atmospherics, in the process mapping out a mind-melting path between the garage and the cosmos.

Obsessions with science-fiction, trash culture and heavy amplification coalesced in style around their two albums thus far for Rocket Recordings, 2009’s Orphaned By The Ocean and 2010’s Your Mercury; reviewing the latter, Julian Cope asserted that Teeth Of The Sea ‘operate entirely within their own mythological mind map, their own specific & singular Weltanshauung. Epiphany after epiphany, brothers’n’sisters, that’s the shameless method this band deploys in order to enslave our minds.’

Teeth Of The Sea’s third album will be released on Rocket Recordings in early 2013, just in time for the band to lay waste to Roadburn. It’s destined to see them venturing yet further into unchartered realms of earth-shaking intensity and kaleidoscopic noise.

Roadburn Festival 2013 will run for four days from Thursday, April 18th to Sunday, April 21st, 2013 (the traditional Afterburner event) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Always diverse, always intriguing, the Roadburn lineup continues to expand its horizons and those of anyone lucky enough to get tickets. Word just came down the wire of San Franciscan metallers Castle being added. Check it out below, followed by their new video for the song “Corpse Candles” from their Van Records sophomore outing, Blacklands. Right on:

San Francisco’s Castle bringing “true” metal to Roadburn 2013

Like your metal chunky? Full of old-school doomy riffs? So do we! That’s why we’re really happy to announce that San Francisco’s metal juggernaut Castle have been confirmed for the Roadburn festival on Thursday, April 18th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Signed to Ván Records, Castle have created quite a buzz with their energetic live shows and their extremely well-reviewed albums “In Witch Order” and “Blacklands”. The lineup is a classic power trio comprised of bassist/vocalist Elizabeth Blackwell, guitarist (and occasional vocalist) Mat Davis and drummer Al McCartney. Their churning, roiling metal is filled with intensely catchy riffs framed by memorable songwriting and delivered with gusto and true metal panache.

Mostly delving into mid-tempo, heavy headbanging territory, Castle are anything but an anachronistic throwback band. Instead, they take the classic sound of doomy metal and infuse it with creativity and relentless drive to create a vital and unstoppable onslaught of chunky riffs, catchy hooks and bludgeoning energy that reminds us of the metal we grew up worshipping, but in an undeniably contemporary way.

Celebrate the pure joy of real metal with Castle at the Roadburn festival, you will find us in the front row headbanging like we used to do in our bedrooms when we were 13!

While I’m still up in the air as to whether or not I’ll actually be able to get there — I have a hotel room reserved but am considering building a raft out of unlistened-to pop-punk promos to offset the anticipated cost of a Transatlantic flight — the lineup for Roadburn‘s 2013 installment is beginning to take shape, and as ever, it seems the fest is the vanguard of underground creativity. Today, Swedish outfit Goat and Germany’s Hills join up. Tomorrow, who knows?

Dig it:

Goat and Hills Confirmed for Roadburn 2013

We are elated to announce that GOAT, one of the most obscure and original psychedelic groups in the world, have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013. The band will play in Het Patronaat in Tilburg, Holland on Friday, April 19th.

Who are GOAT? Some claim they are undocumented immigrants dedicated to making music while hiding from the authorities in Gothenburg, Sweden. But where are they from? Haiti? West Africa? South America? There are stories about an inquisition, too! Allegedly, these goat-worshipping, non-Christians were persecuted by an army of God-fearing crusaders. Their village was burned to the ground, but they survived.

Or could there be truth to the rumor about an ancient voodoo tradition that can be traced back to Korpolombolo, a small and very remote settlement way up in northern Sweden?

Whatever the real story behind the enigma that is GOAT, the power of their voodoo rituals can be heard and felt on the highly sought-after Goatman 7?. In the meantime, a couple of clips have surfaced on YouTube that testify to the band’s fearsome hypnotic power.

A power that only will grow stronger, deeper and more palpable with the release of GOAT’s debut full length, World Music. The album will be out on Rocket Recordings on August 20th. From the tremendous Afro groove that defines the album to the killer fuzz wah guitars, Turkish rock, kraut repetition, astral folk, head-nodding psych and stonking afro percussion, this record will undoubtedly add to the group’s mystique. Call us worshippers! Call us insane! Skeptics, beware! GOAT will convert you! You will worship at the altar of the Goatman! There is no escape…

We’re also excited to announce that krautrocking experimentalists Hills have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013 on Saturday, April 20th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Instead of relying on conventional songwriting structures, Sweden’s Hills takes inspiration from Coltrane’s jazz experimentation, the drone and repetitiveness of Velvet Underground and Can, adds the grimness of early death and black metal, and produces a throbbing wash of sound that rides wave after wave of heavily phased guitar, locomotive drums and insistent organ. In this largely instrumental soundscape, the occasional vocals become part of the rhythm section.

Heavily improvisational, Hills can go from electric, mantric and folky to utterly spaced out without any aural limitations. By turns, their Eastern influences come to the fore. Hills really do it to perfection, locking into an inescapable, all-encompassing, repetitive, hypnotic groove you never want to end. This is brilliantly captured on their sophomore album, Master Sleeps, which is nothing short of a contemporary masterpiece.

Hills are currently putting the finishing touches to their third album which will be released on Rocket Recordings early 2013. The album follows the grooved out psych kraut rock of Master Sleeps and mixes it with sounds reminiscent of the droned ragas of other Swedish greats like International Harvester and Parsons Sound.

Roadburn Festival 2013 will run for four days from Thursday, April 18th to Sunday, April 21st, 2013 (the traditional Afterburner event) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

In case you needed something to look forward to this afternoon, Roadburn season has apparently come early. The following announcement of Die Kreuzen‘s reunion just came down the wire. Dig it:

Seminal 1980s Punk Pioneers Die Kreuzen to Reunite at Roadburn 2013 for Two Shows

Milwaukee’s legendary and influential Die Kreuzen is set to grace the stage at Roadburn Festival 2013 for not one but two highly anticipated shows: the band will appear on Saturday, April 20th (main stage) and again on Sunday, April 21st (Afterburner) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Earlier this year, the band played their first hometown show in 20 years at the Lest We Forget benefit concert. Founding members Keith Brammer (bass), Dan Kubinski (vocals) and Erik Tunison (drums) were joined by Couch Flambeau’s Jay Tiller with original guitarist Brian Egeness’ blessing. We have been waiting just as long for them to return to Europe, and Roadburn considers it a real coup and a tremendous honor to present Die Kreuzen at the 18^th edition of the festival.

“I am so thrilled that Die Kreuzen is to be included at Roadburn 2013. This event will be a fantastic milestone within die kreuzen’s history, I truly feel honored to be recognized by such awesome artists and organizers at such a wonderful, creative and diverse event!” –Daniel Kubinski.

 “I’m honored that people not only remember us, but continue to listen to the music we made so many years ago. This event will be interesting and memorable, in the best possible way. Thanks to all for inviting us to be a part of it” -Keith Brammer.

 “It’s 106 miles to Tilburg, we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of smokes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses….Hit it!” -Erik Tunison

 “This will be fun” –Jay Tiller

Fans of everyone from Syd Barrett and Van der Graaf Generator to Wire and Rush, the four Midwesterners were likewise captivated by the frenetic pace of the first Circle Jerks album. The result? The rampaging Cows & Beer EP, filled with breakneck riffing, tirades against jocks and screeching odes to boredom and self loathing. They toured like mad before taking a break to record their mind-blowing eponymous debut LP. Packed with 21 songs, it is a ferocious primer on hardcore done differently. Then it was time to pile back into the van for another two years of touring.

The next studio visit yielded the genre-defying October File. The noisy cerebral beauty sent plenty of punx running for the door, but open-minded headbangers, shoegazers and assorted other alt-rockers happily filled in any gap that might have otherwise appeared in the band’s following. By the time they dove into the more psychedelic, tripped out Century Days era, you could not pin down Die Kreuzen even if you tried. A point driven home by the thoughtful cover of Aerosmith’s ‘“Seasons of Wither” on the Gone Away EP released in 1989.

After Cement (1991), it was time to call it a day. As with every innovative underground band that ended up dissolving before “hitting the big time,” it is tempting to try to rewrite Die Kreuzen’s history. But why bother adding new chapters based on “What if…”? Sometimes it is best to accept the natural forces of entropy and just appreciate the legacy. Especially one as diverse as Die Kreuzen’s.

Today, it is clear that Die Kreuzen’s take on hardcore, punk and metal has been extremely influential on myriad bands. Unsurprisingly, at least three Roadburn curators put the band at the top of their wish list in hopes of a reunion. Thanks to their tireless efforts, Voivod managed to get Dan Kubinski to join them at this year’s festival. Together, they treated the crowd to an electrifying version of ‘Man in the Trees’, which the metal pioneers from Quebec covered on Lean Into It – A Tribute to Die Kreuzen. We are thrilled to welcome Dan back for a full-on Die Kreuzen reunion with Erik, Keith and Jay. If their setlist from May is any indication, we are in for a real treat next spring.

For more info, please visit: www.roadburn.com