Excellent news today from the Roadburn camp for all fans of things melancholic and British in that Anathema will use the famed Tilburg festival’s 2015 edition as the launch point for a tour they’re calling “Resonance” on which they’ll play material spanning their entire career. To mark the occasion, they’re also bringing out founding vocalist Darren White and former bassist Duncan Patterson for a special reunion to take place headlining Roadburn‘s Sunday date, which may or may not still be the Afterburner (I’m not really sure). White and Patterson were last in the band together in the mid-’90s, and though Anathema have moved very, very, very far away from where they were at that point stylistically, they’ll look to tie it all together on stage at the 013 for those lucky enough to see it.

Announcement and comment from the band and fest follow:

Anathema To Play Special ‘Resonance’ Set At Roadburn 2015; To Be Joined By Former Members Duncan Patterson and Darren White

It is our honour to announce that Anathema will headline the Sunday date of the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, at the 013 venue on April 12, 2015 in Tilburg, The Netherlands, with a special performance that will span the innovative British band’s 25-year career, and include special guest appearances by former bassist and songwriter Duncan Patterson and original singer Darren White. The Roadburn show will be one of just a few dates that will make up Anathema’s short 2015 ‘Resonance’ tour.

Anathema have steadily built a loyal following worldwide, and their career trajectory is unlike that of any other band in the last quarter century, and will be reflected and celebrated in reverse chronological order at Roadburn 2015. Starting with the anthemic progressive rock of their recent work (2012’s classic Weather Systems and 2010’s We’re Here Because We’re Here), the performance will gradually move back in time through the more gothic-oriented material of 1998’s Alternative 4 and 1996’s Eternity, all the way back to the pioneering work of 1995’s The Silent Enigma and the 1993 debut Serenades, with Patterson and White joining the band onstage for an historic reunion.

“Roadburn festival [is] a hugely respected institution and has to be the most fitting launch for the Anathema ‘Resonance’ tour, [It will be] a celebration of the band’s entire history, and to be joined by our old friends and comrades Duncan Patterson and Darren White for these exclusive shows will be a very special, potent and positive event for all of us. We hope you can join in this once in a lifetime celebration” – Danny Cavanagh.

This will be one of Roadburn 2015’s absolute highlights, and we can’t express how happy we are that the band has chosen Roadburn for such a once in a lifetime performance. Anathema’s early albums – the lineups with Duncan Patterson and Darren White – as well as the Judgement album have been a huge influence on many bands that have played Roadburn over the years, and they they are a blueprint for the festival itself as well. We’ve been in love with this band since the beginning, and their headlining performance on Sunday is Roadburn’s own tribute to Anathema, a unique opportunity for fans to see the band perform with two crucial early members.

The 20th edition of Roadburn Festival runs from April 9 to 12, 2015 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tickets are still available: http://www.ticketmaster.nl/artist/roadburn-festival-tickets/875833

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Fields of the Nephilim, Anathema, Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor, Eyehategod and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2015/tickets/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest
roadburn.com

Anathema, The Silent Enigma (1995)

It’s been hours, days even, since the last round of Roadburn 2015 lineup additions, so obviously we’re due. This time around, the venerable Netherlands-based fest adds two sets from volatile New Orleans sludge legends Eyehategod, proggers Focus, Brooklyn genre-twisters Tombs, their Relapse labelmates in Black Anvil and more in Death Hawks and Pekko Käppi and K:H:H:L, who are the kinds of acts who play Roadburn and then I hear them like two months later and really, really wish I’d gotten to see them. Happens every year. It’s part of the thing.

The Roadburn 2015 lineup, as you can see in the flyer above, is wildly diverse but masterfully concocted all the same, and tickets aren’t even on sale yet. The presale — during which they’ll sell out almost immediately, as they always do — starts on Thursday.

Info follows:

Nola’s Eyehategod To Inflict Double The Anguish And Pain On Roadburn 2015

Dutch prog rock legends Focus confirmed for Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s Houses of the Holistic at Roadburn Festival 2015

Tombs, Black Anvil, Death Hawks and Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L have also been confirmed for Roadburn 2015.

We’re beyond excited to welcome seminal New Orleans, Louisana sluge-legends Eyehategod back to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, with two sets of their unique, Southern hardcore-blues-sludge-and-doom on Thursday, April 9 at the main stage, and in Het Patronaat, Friday, April 10.

With its hateful, hopeless, anguished vocals set against extra-slow Iommi-inspired riffing, Eyehategod are credited with founding sludge-core, one of the most vital new genres of metal to emerge from the 1990’s. Countless bands have followed their footsteps, and after more than 20 years of creating some of the most corrosive, vile music known to man, Eyehategod still hasn’t lost the piss and vinegar, propaganda, and despair that fueled them back in 1988.

Over the years, Eyehategod have had more than their fair share of hardship, and recently suffered the tragic loss of drummer and founding member, Joey LaCaze. The new, self titled release from Eyehategod, the follow up to 2000’s Confederacy Of Ruined Lives, sees LaCaze’s drum tracks appear posthumously on this classic of the genre.

The album personifies desperation and addiction in the various backwaters of forgotten America, punctuated by the N’awlins sound of rebellion and pollution resulting in triumph over adversity. Come experience transcendence through malevolence as Eyehategod deface Roadburn 2015.

We’re equally excited to announce that Dutch prog rock legends Focus have been confirmed for Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson‘s (Enslaved) and Wardruna’s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik‘s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 10 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

With their unique brand of progressive rock, Focus established themselves at the start of the 70s as the most successful and appreciated of all the Dutch pop-rock exports. Fronted by founding member Thijs Van Leer, and best known for their hits “Hocus Pocus”, “House of The King” and “Sylvia”, as well as critically acclaimed albums Moving Waves, Focus 3 and Hamburger Concerto, Focus regrouped with a fantastic new line up in the early 2000s, which resulted in several well received albums, like Focus 9 / New Skin and Focus X.

Focus today consists of Thijs van Leer on vocals, flute and keyboards, and famed Focus drummer Pierre van der Linden, who joined the group on their second album Moving Waves in 1972. Internationally renowned for his rhythmic skills, Pierre remains a defining factor in the Focus sound. Bassist Bobby Jacobs, who comes from an acclaimed Dutch musical family and guitarist Menno Gootjes, who participated in Focus at an earlier stage, complete the band’s current line-up.

“If you know anything about prog beyond “old Genesis, not the new stuff”, you know Focus – an extremely influential band for any band in the progressive tradition that came after them; whether its progressive Metal like we try to fool around with, or purer retro-prog (a funny combination of concepts, by the way)”, says Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson. “Focus embodies everything that is true “Prog” for me: the incorporation of the classical elements, the tongue-in-cheek playfulness across times, genres and geography – and of course extraordinary musicianship. These highly vital legends has also shown amazing form live these days, so having freakin’ FOCUS accepting our invitation for our curated day. To put it simple, straight-forward and un-proggy: a dream come through!!!”

Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L and Death Hawks have also been confirmed for Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s Houses of the Holistic on Friday, April 10.

As huge admirers of Tombs blackened ferocity, we simply couldn’t resist bringing this primordial killing machine back to the 20th edition of Roadburn on Saturday, April 11.

Straight from the filthy sewers of New York City, Black Anvil will hail death at Roadburn 2015 on Saturday, April 11.

In related news: Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014.

Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET! (20:00 UK | 22:00 Finland, Greece | 3pm East coast | 12pm West coast).

Ticket info: http://www.ticketmaster.nl/artist/roadburn-festival-tickets/875833

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack. More info HERE.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Fields of the Nephilim, Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor, Eyehategod and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2015/tickets/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest
roadburn.com

Eyehategod, Live in Brooklyn, June 7, 2014

We’re now six months out from the kickoff of Roadburn 2015. I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed that I’m lucky enough to get to go over again to see it, but whether I’m there or not, there’s no question that the 20th edition of the Tilburg-based fest is among the most fascinating. Even today, with the seven — count ’em, seven — lineup additions (Sólstafir were already playing, but a second set was added), there’s a huge stylistic swath being covered between the bands, from KENmode‘s unhinged noise to Kayo Dot‘s art-rock atmospherics and Botanist‘s environmentalist black metal.

I have to give special mention to Sólstafir though. I’m streaming their 2014 album, Ótta, for the first time as I write this and, wow, is that good. I’ve known of them before and even checked out some of their stuff, but clearly I’ve been missing out by not digging further. I recommend you do the same.

Here’s the latest from Camp Roadburn, sent down the PR wire:

Sólstafir To Perform Instrumental Soundtrack To Icelandic Cult-Classic Viking Movie Hrafninn Flýgur at Roadburn 2015

SubRosa, Kayo Dot, Lord Mantis, KEN mode, Botanist, and Lazer/Wulf have also been confirmed for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival

Iceland natives Sólstafir will perform their unique take of the completely instrumental film score, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the cult-classic Viking movie, Hrafninn Flýgur (When The Raven Flies) by director Hrafn Gunnlaugsson at Roadburn Festival 2015 on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Premiered at Reykjavik’s International Film Festival last week, this will be the first time that Sólstafir will play their live score, in real time while screening Hrafninn Flýgur from start to finish, outside of Iceland, offering our beloved attendees the chance to experience Gunnlaugsson’s epic tale in an entire new dimension on the main stage.

The 20th edition of Roadburn is going to be a treat for those who love soundtracks, as in addition to Sólstafir performing an instrumental soundtrack to Hrafninn Flýgur, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin will perform their much acclaimed movie scores for Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria at the 2015 festival.

On, Friday, April 11, Sólstafir will be part of Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson’s (Enslaved) and Wardruna’s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s curated Roadburn event.

We are also very excited to announce that acclaimed American doom quintet SubRosa will make its Roadburn debut at the 20th edition of the festival on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, SubRosa quickly made a name for itself in the wake of 2011’s No Help For The Mighty Ones and 2013’s universally praised More Constant Than The Gods, thanks to the band’s spellbinding blend of pulverizing doom, gothic atmosphere, and touches of Americana.

Led by founding member Toby Driver, Kayo Dot emerged in Boston, MA in 2002 from the ashes of metal group Maudlin of the Well. Since then, Driver has led Kayo Dot through several lineup changes and dramatic stylistic shifts: from traditional metal, to atmospheric, avant-garde metal; and now with their new album Coffins on Io, the bats-in-your-belfry hard rock of Sisters of Mercy meets Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, Scritti Politti and early Roxy Music.

We at Roadburn have long been admirers of Driver and Kayo Dot, and with Coffins On Io imminent and about to blow listeners minds wide open, what better time could there be to announce that Kayo Dot will be joining us at the 20th edition of Roadburn on Saturday, April 11.

Channeling unpleasant emotions and harrowing personal circumstances into bilious black / sludge metal, Lord Mantis will crawl to Tilburg from the back alleys and gutters of Chicago to make a welcome return to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 12.

Lord Mantis’ raging torment, and pulverizing nastiness will make sure that all those at Roadburn 2015 who witness the band will be either glorying in its repellent dross and filth or descending into the bleakest, deepest septic sounds of hell — or for the really lucky, both.

We’re pleased to welcome Canadian post-hardcore heroes KEN mode to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Thursday, April 9. Formed in 1999, KEN mode won the inaugural Heavy Metal / Hard Music Album of the Year Juno Award in Canada for their 2011 album Venerable which re-examines abrasive post- hardcore and noise rock in every, blistering sense! After releasing their newest masterpiece of musical hostility, Entrench, in 2013 through Season of Mist, KEN mode are prepared to go for the throat at Roadburn 2015.

Roadburn Festival is always on the lookout for the most innovative, original bands it can find, and there’s absolutely no doubt that Botanist’s performance at the 013 venue on Saturday, April 11, 2015 will rank as one of the most unique sets of the festival’s 20th edition. After all, it’s not every day you come across a black metal band playing songs about the destruction of mankind at the bands of plants, using hammered dulcimer and harmonium as its central instruments.

The mighty Kylesa thought enough of fellow Atlantan tech-metal power trio Lazer/Wulf to want to release their debut album, The Beast Of Left And Right, on their Retro Futurist label and we here at Roadburn can’t say as we blame ’em.

It’s a fiery, mostly instrumental, head-wrecking blend of finger-mangling impossible guitar riffs, busily burbling bass molestation and dizzyingly dexterous drum battery that manages to be fiercely progressive and insanely technical without falling into the trap of directionless shredding and we just love it.
We loved it so much that we invited Lazer/Wulf to bring their insane musicality to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, and you can experience the on Thursday, April 9, but please remember to take the proper precautions or your head may explode.

In related news: Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack. More info HERE.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Fields of the Nephilim, Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2015/tickets/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest
roadburn.com

Sólstafir, Ótta (2014)

I saw Scott H. Biram years ago at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan and have wondered since why more heavy rock heads weren’t into him. I can’t remember who I was at that gig to see, but it was a rockabilly lineup and a rockabilly crowd — dudes with pompadours and cigarette packs rolled in their shirtsleeves, ladies with copious tattoos and Bettie Page bangs — but it was the first I’d heard of Biram and he put on a hell of a show. One imagines he’ll come out of Roadburn 2015 with a few new friends. Also joining the lineup today is King Dude, who just came through with Earth, Colorado destroyers Primitive Man and UK abyssal doomers Coltsblood, who made a consuming and destructive debut earlier this year on Candlelight with Into the Unfathomable Abyss (review here). As ever, Roadburn seems to be covering multiple bases at once, but if there’s a quota of heavy, Coltsblood and Primitive Man will go a long way toward meeting it.

Here’s the update off the PR wire:

King Dude, Primitive Man, Coltsblood and Scott H. Biram To Play Roadburn Festival 2015

Conjuring the bleakest biblical sound and the desperately fervent devotion of the bygone days of revelation, King Dude, aka TJ Cowgill, has been on a sinister and demonic trip to the fabled crossroads, accompanied by the spirit of all those who went before him.

Using the power of the blues, albeit stained black and drenched in blood of his predecessors, King Dude finds hope and salvation in glorious yet spellbinding hymns, equal parts classic country, gothic Americana ballads, and harrowing British folk at its heart, but embellishments like the heavier sounds of Heavy Metal and warped, echo drenched rockabilly tend to sneak and slither their way into King Dude’s own brand of harrowing American music.

A darker, much more shadowy version of Johnny Cash, King Dude is a modern day man in black, ephemerally running the musical gamut between Wovenhand and Der Blutharsch. His death ballads from beyond will lift us up from our darkness of ignorance towards the ever guiding light at the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11 at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Behold! Denver, Colorado’s Primitive Man will unleash a filthy, malignant maelstrom of blood drenched, blackened doom and soul-annihilating, dissonant sluge on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue.

Thrillingly misanthropic in their approach, Primitive Man’s pure hatred, self loathing and psychotic rage will plunge you straight into the depths of hell. The band’s terrifying yet enthralling first full-length, Scorn (out on Relapse Records), is one of the heaviest debuts this side of Eyehategod’s In The Name of Suffering, and beats the listener senseless with abrasive chunks of unapologetic, claustrophobic terror.

Spawned in the benighted ichor-filled nether-pits below Liverpool, disgusting doomed triumvirate Coltsblood deliver the most depraved and repulsive take on death-inspired doom metal ever to punish your worthless ears.

A festering avalanche of bubonically-blighted bass, powerfully perverse percussion, tomb-scraping vocals and lysergically damaged guitar, Coltsblood will drown you in raw filth on Saturday, April 11 at the 013 venue.

Delivering a raucous blend of psychobilly, blues, country and metal filtered through plenty of moonshine, Scott H. Biram isn’t a one-man band. He is THE one-man band. A pre-eminent bluesman for the 21st century with a raw immediacy that is alternately hypnotic and harrowing.

Biram will unleash his unfettered depression era blues at the 20th edition of Roadburn on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue. Fair warning: don’t be fooled by the whiskey and chicken antics, Scott H. Biram will unleash an unholy onslaught that will deliver you to a fiery baptism.

In related news: Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack. More info HERE.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Fields of the Nephilim, Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2015/tickets/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest
roadburn.com

Coltsblood, Into the Unfathomable Abyss (2014)

Lo-Pan playing Roadburn has been a while coming, or at least that’s how it feels to me, but it’s good that the Ohio fuzzsome foursome will head to Roadburn 2015 on the heels of their most accomplished album yet. The forthcoming Colossus presents Lo-Pan‘s sound much the same way a steamroller is presented to what will soon be a parking lot, and I’ve no doubt they’ll kill it in Tilburg in the fine tradition of Gozu, Freedom Hawk and Wo Fat in representing Small Stone Records‘ brand of heavy rock.

Also today comes the news that the lineup is complete for the Enslaved/Wardruna curated main stage and that Bast and Motorpsycho-offshoot Spidergawd have also been added. Good times all around.

Goes like this:

Houses of the Holistic, Roadburn 2015’s Curated Event: Line-up Main Stage Complete

Spidergawd (ft. Motorpsycho’s Bent Sæther & Kenneth Kapstad), Lo-Pan and Bast confirmed for 20th edition Roadburn Festival

Roadburn Festival 2015 Ticket Pre-Sales Start Thursday, Oct 16th 2014 at 21:00 CET; Pre-Sales Party at The 013 Venue (NL)

Roadburn’s special curated events put a unique spin on the already eclectic nature of the festival, and are also accurate reflections of the influences and interests of the guest curators. In 2013 Jus Osborn (Electric Wizard) turned the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, into ground zero for the world’s most cutting-edge doom and acid rock, while 2014 saw Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) offer up a master class in some of the greatest progressive rock ever created.

On Friday, April 11, 2015 the main stage at 013 will become a gathering place for heathen spirits, as Houses Of The Holistic will feature six acts that vividly reflect the epic grandeur of heavy music, and most vitally, Scandinavia. In addition to performances by Enslaved and Wardruna, featuring curators Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik respectively, as well as the special Enslaved/Wardruna collaboration Skuggsjá, Norwegian avant-garde act Virus and Icelandic post-metal favourites Sólstafir, highly influential UK gothic innovators Fields Of The Nephilim will make an exclusive special guest appearance.

In related news, Spidergawd is a Norwegian sort-of supergroup featuring Motorpsycho’s Bent Sæther (bass), Kenneth Kapstad (drums) and Per Borten of Cadilac-fame – the only Trondheim band that ever got close to Norway’s much revered rock titans.

However, Spidergawd is a band in its own right, and on their bludgeoning S/T debut, the band, completed by Rolf Martin Snustad on saxophone, proffer a bulldozing, fuzzed out post-boogie assault, which owes equal debts to ZZ Top, MC5, Foghat or even Savoy Brown.

Yes, this is full-on heavy 70s worship, delivered with relish by a bunch of Hard Rock aficionados that are currently creating quite a buzz in Norway, and will capture the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival by storm when they hit Het Patronaat on Thursday, April 9.

For the better part of the past five years, Ohio fuzz rockers Lo-Pan have been on tour in support of their 2009 sophomore outing, Sasquanout, and 2011’s Salvador, turning them into one of the underground’s hardest touring bands.

Salvador was a pinnacle for Lo-Pan’s blend of their 70s rock heritage shot through with 80s metal fire, a fluid groove, and soulful vocals, pushing the band beyond the confines of the stoner rock genre.

Hot on the heels of the their forthcoming album, Colossus – the band’s fourth overall and second full-length for Detroit’s Small Stone Records – Lo-Pan will kick a good deal of ass at the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue.

Colossus marks a meaner, more precise Lo-Pan with the band a tighter and more efficient-sounding unit than they’ve ever been!

London-based blackened doom triad Bast have also been confirmed for Roadburn 2015. Over the last year Bast have managed to staunchly hold their own on stages shared with such behemoths as Primitive Man and Coltsblood and next year will see them upping their game yet more and bringing the hammer down at Roadburn in the Green Room on Sunday, April 12.

Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!

We are pleased to report that there will be NO price increase this year. Three-day tickets will be available for 165 Euros (excl. servicefees); four-day tickets will cost 185 Euros (excl. service fees). Afterburner-only tickets will cost 32.50 Euros (excl. service fees). Please note that one-day tickets are not available for the Thursday, Friday or Saturday Roadburn dates. Online buyers can order a maximum of four tickets.

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack. More info HERE.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Fields of the Nephilim, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest
roadburn.com

Lo-Pan, “Regulus”

Unbelievable. I’m not even sure where to start with the latest round of additions to Roadburn 2015.

The Enslaved and Wardruna collaboration Skuggsjá, or the not-gonna-miss-’em-again Virus, or Floor or Bongripper doing two sets. It’s overwhelming, to be perfectly honest with you. I’m exhausted right now. Well, I was exhausted anyway, but still. You get my point.

I’ve heard from a couple other acts who can’t announce yet but definitely have “April European tour plans,” and there are one or two other names I’m dying to see if they get added to the fest, but gadzooks, that’s a lotta Roadburn. All I can say is dig in, there’s a lot to catch up on:

Enslaved and Wardruna To Perform Skuggsjá, The Sound of Norway’s Norse History at Roadburn Festival 2015

Roadburn Festival 2015 Ticket Pre-Sales Start Thursday, Oct 16th 2014 at 21:00 CET; Pre-Sales Party at The 013 Venue (NL)

Bongripper, Floor, Sólstafir, Virus, White Hills, Messenger, Junius, Skeletonwitch, Svartidaudi, Mortals, The Osiris Club and Zoltan also confirmed for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival.

We’re elated to announce that Enslaved and Wardruna will perform Skuggsjá, the sound of Norway’s Norse History at Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 10 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Written by Bjørnson and Selvik for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution and premiered this past weekend at the Eidsivablot festival, this will be Skuggsjá’s first performance outside of Norway, and will certainly be one of the highlights of the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival.

Skuggsjá translates into ‘mirror’ or ‘reflection’ in the Norse language, and the commissioned piece not only contextualizes harder music’s role in the democracy in Norway in 2014, but also joins threads from the country’s ancient musical history and solidifies harder music’s position as Norway`s most important cultural export.

By highlighting ideas, traditions and instruments of their Norse past, Skuggsjá will tell the history of Norway and reflect relevant aspects from the past into the present day. In light of this they will reflect on themselves as a people and nation. In a magnificent tapestry of metal instrumentation, a wide variety of Norway and Scandinavia’s oldest instruments, and poetry in Proto-Scandinavian, Norse and Norwegian, Skuggsjá will be a fusion between past and present, both lyrically and musically.

We simply can’t wait to experience it ourselves, to hear how how Norwegian metal has developed from its rebellious roots into the highly acclaimed artistic expression of a complex music genre, under Norway’s constitutional right to freedom of speech.

In related news, Virus, Junius, Skeletonwitch, Svartidaudi and Icelandic heathens Sólstafir, who are currently making huge waves with their latest release, Ótta, are also confirmed for Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 10 at the 013 venue.

Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!

The majority of Roadburners live outside The Netherlands, which is why ticket pre-sales will start at 21:00 CET. This should be convenient for most time zones. Apologies to our friends in Oceania who will have to wake up early (or just stay up late)!

We are pleased to report that there will be NO price increase this year.Three-day tickets will be available for 165 Euros (excl. servicefees); four-day tickets will cost 185 Euros (excl. service fees). Afterburner-only tickets will cost 32.50 Euros (excl. service fees). Please note that one-day tickets are not available for the Thursday, Friday or Saturday Roadburn dates. Online buyers can order a maximum of four tickets.

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack.

The live music part of the evening starts at 20:30 CET. Roadburn’s artistic director/promoter Walter Hoeijmakers will be on hand to share the latest festival updates, too.

Chicago instrumental band Bongripper will make a welcome return to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival with two sets that feature their unique brand of devastating doom. The first will see them play their latest album, Miserable, in its entirety at the main stage on Thursday, April 9. The second will be later that weekend (more info about the date to be determined).

If you are a fan of stellar riffs and molasses-thick distorted guitar tone, Floor has everything you want in music. These Floridian sludge/pop pioneers get a lot of comparisons to lead singer/guitarist Steve Brooks other band, Torche — and rightfully so — with his instantly recognizable singing style and guitar tone. Floor, however, is the essence of pure heaviness, with just a nod to the pop melodies that have spurred Torche on to crossover success. Come feel the downtuned thunder of Floor’s bassless power trio attack when Floor plays the main stage of the 013 venue at the 2015 Roadburn Festival on Thursday, April 9.

Combining many of the essential themes of Roadburn music in their volatile sonic elixir — psych, space rock, stoner rock, kraut rock and noise — have made White Hills one of Roadburn’s favorite bands. Their bespangled and energetic live shows have a life and chaotic energy of their own that reshapes their music and creates powerful sonic programming driven by pure energy, exactly the kind of thing that Roadburn celebrates, and fans seek. White Hills will make a very welcome return to Roadburn for a main stage performance on Sunday, April 12.

After winning the limelight category for the brightest young rising stars in the progressive sky today at this year’s Progressive Music Awards this past weekend, Messenger will bring their acid folk/prog and psychedelica to the 20th edition of Roadburn on Saturday, April 11.

Mortals, The Osiris Club and Zoltan have also been confirmed for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Fields of the Nephilim, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

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Skuggsjá teaser video

The only thing I find debatable about Arik Roper‘s poster art for Roadburn 2015 is whether or not it was ethical of him to use so much awesome in one sitting. It is a gluttony of awesome. We’re getting into the high season of lineup additions, which means over the next couple months, the festival will really start to take shape around the previously announced headliners, other headliners still to come, new acts, curated picks, and so on. So far it’s looking once again like the theme is diversity. Even between the groups most recently added — Mugstar, Pyramidal, Domo, Undersmile and Coma Wall — there’s a huge stylistic variation. Hell, Undersmile and Coma Wall are on opposite ends of the spectrum alone, and they’re made up of the same people.

Here’s Roper‘s poster as big as I can make it on the page (click to make it bigger), and details on the newest bunch to join the Roadburn 2015 lineup, courtesy of the fest’s website:

Mugstar To Put Glistening And Outerworldly Sonic Glory On Display At Roadburn 2015

Heavily influenced by psychedelia, Krautrock and even Post Rock, Liverpool UK’s beloved Mugstar are in the vanguard of modern psych rock, just in case you were unfamiliar with them.

Infusing their brooding moodiness, minimal psych rock mesmerism and propulsive, hypnokraut grooves with seriously psychedelic ferocity has propelled Mugstar to stand alongside such well-regarded contemporaries as Circle, Bardo Pond and Oneida.

The band distil the wordless core of Hawkwind, Neu! and Sonic Youth and their highly recommended albums Sun Broken, Lime and Axis put transcendent, glistening and outerworldly sonic glory on display.

So, for Roadburn 2015, Mugstar will explode into an interstellar, total drugpsych tripout on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue, and we’re equally excited to announce that the band will also play the soundtrack to Ad Marginem on Saturday, April 11 at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Pyramidal and Domo To Represent Spanish Heavy Psych at Roadburn Festival 2015

Spanish heavy psych has long been overdue at Roadburn, so we’re thrilled to announce that Pyramidal and Domo, both hailing from Alicante, will bring their stoner inspired heavy Space Rock with progressive and Krautrock leanings to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 -12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Channeling the undiluted spirit of King Crimson, Hawkwind and Neu! on debut album Dawn In Space, and critically acclaimed follow-up Frozen Galaxies, Pyramidal will take you to the farthest reaches of outer space, propelled by otherworldly sounds, obscure psychedelia and hypnotic grooves.

Domo harkens back to the heyday of the gonzoid power trio’s of the hazy late 60s and early 70s, anchored to heavy clouds of screaming, wah wah driven psychedelia. If you love (early) Gary Moore, or you’re a fan of Tony McPhee (like most of us at Roadburn), and massively worship The Groundhogs‘ Split, then Domo will be surely a must for you.

Word on the street is that Domo‘ S/T debut album will be finally released on vinyl soon.

Sirens Of Sludge Undersmile To Bring Doom And Despair To Roadburn 2015

Undersmile will bring their hypnotic, soul crushing blend of doom and despair to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Featuring the unique dual vocal interplay of singer-guitarists Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown, Undersmile combine tortuously slow tempos, discord and stomach-churning melody to create an intense listening experience, both live and on record.

Having released an EP, three splits (with Caretaker, Bismuth and their own alter-egos, Coma Wall) and 2012’s epic debut album Narwhal, the band will be supporting their as-yet untitled second album which they will be previewing at the festival.

Prepare For Despair As Coma Wall Bring Acoustic Death Folk To Roadburn Festival 2015

Coma Wall, the acoustic alter-ego of Undersmile, will bring rustic downbeat blues and folk to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

The very notion of unplugging a band as monstrously heavy and doomladen as Undersmile seemed almost ludicrous before we actually heard what it entailed, as the band replaced sludgy distortion with banjos and acoustic guitars in their alter ego Coma Wall guise.

Taz Corona-Brown and Hel Sterne’s haunting close harmony singing still brought a tingle to the spine as the band dredged southern gothic creeping dread and spectacularly outdid their electric selves on their split Wood & Wire EP (released by Shaman Recordings), bringing a bit of black sun gloom to sunny spring days and making for one of the most uncompromisingly powerful records to come out of Oxford (UK) in years.

Taking influence from artists such as Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bob Dylan, Low, Mark Lanegan, Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Coma Wall will play songs from an upcoming EP, as well as tracks from Wood & Wire.

Roadburn Festival 2015 will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

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Mugstar, Ad Marginem (2012)

A huge slew of adds today to Roadburn 2015. I’m sure it’s happened at some point over the last however many years, but I can’t remember a time when so many acts joined a Roadburn bill at once. And as one would have to expect, they’re completely all over the place, from Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin doing two live soundtracks to Oozing Wound thrashing out and Salem’s Pot weed-worshiping their consciousness into oblivion. That’s really just the start of it, too.

And there’s more to come, of course. The PR wire has info:

CLAUDIO SIMONETTI’S GOBLIN TO PERFORM LIVE SCORE OF CULT HORROR CLASSICS DAWN OF THE DEAD AND SUSPIRIA AT ROADBURN 2015

ZOMBI, STEVE MOORE & MAJEURE TO PLAY ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2015

PROFETUS, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT, SALEM’S POT, SAMMAL & OOZING WOUND ALSO CONFIRMED FOR THE 20th EDITION OF ROADBURN FESTIVAL

We’re extremely excited to announce that Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin will return to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, to perform their much acclaimed movie soundtracks for the well-known cult-classic horror movies Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria.

Led by Brazilian-born composer Claudio Simonetti, the band will perform the live scores in real time while screening both movies from start to finish, offering our beloved attendees the chance to experience these classic soundtracks and films in an entire new dimension.

This will be the first time that these soundtracks will be performed in The Netherlands and at Roadburn, following the band’s critically acclaimed performance at last year’s festival, when Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin were invited by curator Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Goblin’s scores for George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) rank among the best and most famous soundtracks composed and produced by these Italian progressive rock legends.

The much-anticipated performances will take place on the main stage at the 013 venue on Saturday, April 11 (Dawn of the Dead) and Sunday, April 12 (Suspiria).

We’re equally excited to announce that legendary kosmische Giallo synth duo Zombi will be playing an exclusive set at Roadburn 2015, appearing for the first time in Europe since a handful of festival appearances back in 2011.

Since first hitting the general consciousness with their Relapse 2004 debut album Cosmos, following a pair of EPs, and wowing fans and critics alike with 2011’s Escape Velocity, it could be argued that Zombi were the spearhead for the whole resurgence of interest in obscure film soundtracks and the music of artists such as Goblin, John Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi.

Zombi, AKA Messrs. Moore and Paterra will be opening up the stargate and heralding the zombie dawn on the main stage of the 013 venue on Saturday April 11 as a part of the 2015 20th edition of Roadburn and we couldn’t be more psyched to have them.

That, however, is not all we have in store for you, as we also have exclusive solo performances from Zombi braintrust Steve Moore and A E Paterra – performing under his Majeure identity – both of whom will be playing on the day before, Friday April 10 at Het Patronaat.

In related news: At long last, Profetus will be conjuring their classic Finnish funeral doom, worthy of comparision to Thergothon, Skepticism and Tyranny (with whom Profetus share members), when they play on Friday, April 10 at Het Patronaat, too!

In collaboration with Finland’s Blow Up That Gramophone, we can’t wait for Profetus, who rarely perform live, to slowly break down Het Patronaat by the full crashing weight and momentum of monolithic riffs, slow building drums, guttural vocals and sadly beautiful, but also penetrating church-organ-like synths.

Germany’s Der Weg Einer Freiheit offers a master class in dark, furious and epic black metal as they effortlessly mix blackened grandeur with post-rock sensibilities and classically influenced melodies to create their signature sound. Impatiently waiting for the follow up to 2012’s Unstille, we’ll be anticipating Der Weg Einer Freiheit’s Roadburn performance on Friday, April 10 at Het Patronaat just as much.

Firmly rooted in the red-eyed rituals of the heady ‘60s and dead ‘70s, and shabby, feverish catacomb 8mm smut by the likes of Jess Franco, Sweedens’ Salem’s Pot are clearly on the rise, channeling ultra-fuzzed acid-blues into psychotropic lo-fi doom.

These guys aren’t just some bogus, bong-worshipping, basement dwellers. Salem’s Pot accentuate these creepy vibes by smashing B-movie debauchery and vintage hedonism into a lysergic stomp through spooky reverberations and underground grime. You know what to do when Salem’s Pot will hit Roadburn 2015 on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue.

Founded in 2004 by guitarist Jura Salmi and vocalist Jan-Erik Kiviniemi, Sammal manages to capture a sense of golden moments in Finnish music. Touching on their culture and heart, and with lyrics sung entirely in Finnish, Sammal shows a masterful, natural command of classic rock with nods to Caravan, Thin Lizzy, Camel, Birth Control, Budgie and the epic guitar journeys of the Allman Brothers.

Though Sammal have existed for 10 years, they seldom play live gigs (let alone abroad) and in collaboration with Finland’s Blow Up That Gramophone, we are immensely excited to have them at the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11 at the 013 venue.

Buckle up! Are you ready for some of the filthiest, snottiest, relentless and downright loud crossover thrash this side of early 80s Metallica, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies? Then look no further, as Chi-town’s Oozing Wound are here to supercharge the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11 at the 013 venue.

In related news: British gothic rock innovators Fields Of The Nephilim will be gracing the stage twice at the 20th edition of the Roadburn Festival. In addition to serving as the Saturday headliner on April 11, the band will perform a different set as special guests at Houses Of The Holistic on Friday, the special Roadburn event curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, which will be held on Friday, April 10.

Once again, we captured the sounds of Roadburn Festival. While you were worming your way through a Green Room doorway jam, we were recording the jams inside. Now it’s time to kick back and relax and just listen. The VPRO’s 3voor12, which is the best cultural media network in the Netherlands, is making it possible to share these 2014 Roadburn streams with you here.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including The Heads as Artist In Residence, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, Zombi and Fields of the Nephilim among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

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Goblin, “Dawn of the Dead Theme”