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

The list keeps growing. At this point, I don’t know how they’re going to pack it all into four days or how I’m going to manage to see half these bands without keeling over from exhaustion. Needless to say, I’ll be practicing my deep-knee rock squats between now and next April in preparation for the madness that awaits in Tilburg. I can almost do three in a row.

Here’s the latest from Roadburn:

Roadburn‘s excited to announce that Hammers of Misfortune have been confirmed for the Thursday Roadburn date, Thursday, April 12, 2012 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Led by the driven, outspoken John Cobbett (also of Ludicra fame), San Francisco, CA-based progressive metal band Hammers of Misfortune borrow elements from hard rock and folk, doom and thrash, and amalgamates those elements into a sound of their own. Whatever style they borrow from, or whichever tools they decide suit the work, they morph them effortlessly into their own aesthetic. At the end of the day, Hammers of Misfortune are the result of an unflinching artistic vision, and always sound exactly like themselves.

The layered male and female vocals are paired beautifully with the incredibly complex guitar work; the riffs give way to intricate, plaintive solos; the sophisticated keyboards can be nimble and playful or wistful and emotional as their songs dictate. If you’re a Hammers of Misfortune novice, please check out their latest album 17th Street, as it will be on many year-end lists.

We’re also pleased to announce that Urfaust, Sigiriya, hailing from Wales, Lord Vicar, the all-star doom metal band, featuring Kimi “Peter Vicar” Kärki (Orne, ex-Reverend Bizarre) on guitar and Christian “Chritus” Lindersson (ex-Saint Vitus, ex-Count Raven and Terra Firma) on vocals, and Orchid have been added to the lineup for Roadburn Festival 2012 as well.

At this point, I don’t even know what to say. Two YOB sets — one of The Unreal Never Lived, one of Catharsis — Voivod doing Dimension Hatröss, plus Black Cobra, Red Fang and of course Sleep, The Obsessed and everyone else already announced. I don’t know how they do it. Kudos to Walter and Roadburn for putting together what looks like it’ll be the biggest and best festival yet.

Here’s the announcement:

As curator for the 17th edition of the Roadburn festival, Voivod will transport you into Dimension Hatröss as part of their special headline show during the Au-delà du Réel event on Friday, April 13, 2012 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. As if the promise of the band’s classic fourth album in its entirety performed live for the first time ever wasn’t enough, the set will conclude with a not-to-be-missed surprise.

Psychedelic doom metal giants YOB will return to Roadburn Festival 2012 for two one-off performances, each time performing an album in its entirety. YOB has been personally invited by Voivod for Roadburn 2012. For their first show, they will be playing their seminal album, The Unreal Never Lived, on Friday, April 13th at Au-delà du Réel, and then in order to reach the greatest of heights (and doom depths), they will follow up by performing Catharsis in full at the additional Afterburner event on Sunday, April 15.

We’re also very pleased to announce that Black Breath and Celeste are the latest confirmed acts for Voivod‘s Au-delà du Réel at Roadburn 2012. They will join Anekdoten, Aun, Dopethrone and YOB on Friday, April 13.

Beer-driven, groove-heavy hard rock are what Portland’s finest, Red Fang, deliver on their latest opus, Murder the Mountains. Catchy, fun, cool, and downright awesome, Red Fang bring a welcome return to great rock that still has a sense of humor. Roadburn is really pleased to welcome Red Fang to Midi Theatre on Thursday, April 12.

Black Cobra will be playing a one-off show at Roadburn Festival Afterburner in support of their new album, Invernal.

Tickets for Roadburn 2012 will go on sale Saturday, November 26, 10:00 Central European Time. There will be a two ticket limit (per order) for 3-day and 4-day passes and Afterburner tickets – the same goes for the Campsite Tickets.

Please visit www.roadburn.com for more info.

I wish I could go back in time to some terrible point in my life and say to myself, “It’s okay, Past Me. Someday you’re gonna go to a Dutch festival and you’re going to see Sleep, The Obsessed and Church of Misery all in the same day.” The latest news from Roadburn proves no less staggering than the realization of that. Sometimes it’s like existence is doing you a personal favor.

Here’s the update from Roadburn off the PR wire:

We’re excited to announce that seminal instru-metal pioneers Pelican have been added to the lineup of Roadburn 2012. Pelican last played Roadburn in the Green Room back in 2007, and will now appear on our main stage as part of their first European tour in several years. Pelican will play on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Brooklyn’s Tombs bears the mark of total devastation. On the latest album, Path of Totality, Tombs not only evoke the classic sound and feel of black metal in its finest hour they also explore their disparate UK post-punk influences. And keep things incredibly listenable. The band has marched ahead boldly with the sound of impending doom since their inception and Path is endowed with all of the primordial intensity that is a hallmark of the aforementioned genres.
However, Tombs reach far beyond the ritual sounds of the past with an abundance of tonal variation. The gut-wrenching vocals and furious blastbeasts are interwoven with a dark and brooding atmospheric moodiness, making Tombs one of the finest heavy bands in the world. Tombs will appear on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Making their fourth appearance in five years at the festival, it looks like Japan’s serial-killer-obsessed seekers of the almighty riff Church of Misery are poised to become the official Roadburn house band. All joking aside, Church of Misery were among THE highlights of the previous Roadburn festivals (even the main stage almost proved way to small for them), and Roadburn 2012 will mark their triumphant return, on the main stage again (of course!), together with Sleep and The Obsessed on Saturday, April 14 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Los Angeles based psychedelic rock quintet Ancestors will be making a highly anticipated return to Roadburn for the 2012 Festival. On their latest EP, Invisible White, Ancestors tamped down their surging stoner rock leanings in favour of a more cinematic approach with long moog/ modular synth workouts very much reminiscent of Pink Floyd circa Meddle and Live at Pompeii. Charting a new course for the band’s progressive, colourful sounds, Ancestors will get the chance to reprise their stunning 2010 Roadburn performance, this time supporting  the release of a new, much anticipated album. Ancestors will play on Thursday, April 12 at the Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland.

Dragged Into Sunlight, Christian Mistress, Horisont, La Otracina, Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies and AUN have also been confirmed for Roadburn 2012, set to be held from April 12 to 15 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

We’ve had a pretty steady stream of Roadburn updates the past couple weeks, and today the fest has announced that Fleshpress and Bongripper have joined the lineup for next year’s edition of the festival at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Bongripper have joined twice over, as it turns out, since they’ll also be playing Satan Worshipping Doom in its entirety at the traditional Sunday Afterburner.

That’s badass enough, honestly, but Roadburn has also made available a couple more audio streams from this year’s fest, namely Candlemass‘ 25th anniversary show (featuring original vocalist Johan Längquist and Caspar Brotzmann Massaker. Here are those links, followed by the latest on Bongripper and Fleshpress being added:

Candlemass 25th Anniversary show featuring Johan Längquist:

http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/45167181#ondemand.45167181

Caspar Brotzmann Massaker at Roadburn 2011:

http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/45167199#ondemand.45167199

Today, we’re excited to announce that Bongripper and Fleshpress have joined the lineup for Roadburn Festival 2012.

Chicago’s Bongripper invade Europe for the first time through the Roadburn 2012 Festival. The instrumental doom entity coalesced in 2005 and built a cult following through word of mouth of their seven self-releases. The band is set to record for two upcoming splits before working on their next full-length.

Bongripper will be playing the first of two sets at the Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland on April 14, 2012. Additionally, the band will perform its 2010 album, Satan Worshipping Doom in its entirety for a special Afterburner set on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the 013 Venue in Tilburg, Holland. Satan Worshipping Doom ranked among the best albums of 2010, as voted by the Roadburn staff and readers alike. Hail Satan. Worship Doom!

Indomitable sludge / doom behemoths Fleshpress will be playing a one-off show at Roadburn 2012’s Afterburner, set to be held on Sunday, April 15 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. Combining massive riffs, searing vocals and tense atmospheric interludes, Finland‘s Fleshpress is a must-see for the misanthropically inclined.

Fitting for a band named after a song on a Grief record, Fleshpress make malevolent, crushing music punctuated by snarling screams of pure hatred. Interspersing noise-riddled, forbidding ambience between bouts of neck-snapping riff assaults, they provide no solace for the timid and spasms of delirium for fans of filthy sludge and doom. We look forward to seeing the smoking crater they leave behind…

The 2012 Roadburn is shaping up to be pretty stellar. Already announced performances by The Obsessed, Sleep, Om and others are righteous in and of themselves, but the latest down the PR wire is that Coroner will headline the Afterburner and that Voivod‘s curated event — named Au-delà du Réel — has just gotten its first addition to the lineup. More to come, obviously, but here’s the latest, straight from the festival:

Roadburn Festival has announced that Coroner will be bringing its amazingly tight brand of technical thrash metal to the 2012 Afterburner, set for Sunday, April 15 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Roadburn Festival 2012, including Voivod‘s curated event, Sleep, Om, d.USK, Virus, The Obsessed, Hexvessel, 40 Watt Sun and Sólstafir, among others, will run for four days from Thursday, April 12 to Sunday, April 15, 2012 (the traditional Afterburner) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Voivod named their curated event at Roadburn Festival 2012, Au-delà du Réel, after the band’s favorite sci-fi show, The Outer Limits, when it was broadcast in French during the ’70s. As curator, Voivod will personally select the bands that will play during Au-delà du Réel, set for Friday, April 13 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

Voivod‘s excited to announce that Sweden’s Anekdoten has been confirmed for Au-delà du Réel. Anekdoten ranks amongst the very best prog-bands to emerge from Scandinavia since the early ’90s. Firmly rooted in King Crimson-inspired, Mellotron-drenched prog/art-rock (with hints of Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull as well), the band has released several acclaimed albums that garnered them a devoted cult-following over the years.

Admittedly, before I even fired up the website’s back end today, I called the Hotel Mercure in Tilburg, The Netherlands, to make sure they still had my reservation on file. Roadburn 2012 is shaping up to be something really special. First we get the announcement that Sleep is playing, and now this:

Roadburn is elated to announce that legendary doom pioneers The Obsessed will reunite to play the Roadburn Festival on Saturday, 14 April 2012. The band will be featuring the lineup from The Church Within; Scott “Wino” Weinrich on guitar/vocals, Greg Rogers (Goatsnake, Sonic Medusa) on drums and Guy Pinhas (Acid King, Goatsnake and Beaver) on bass.

There is no debating the impact that Wino has had (and continues to have) on the stoner scene, and The Obsessed is the band with which he developed his signature doom songwriting and guitar sound. Formed in Maryland in 1976 as Warhorse, they soon changed their name to The Obsessed. The original four-man lineup was pared down to a power trio and they spent several years playing shows and honing their sound, culminating in the release of the Sodden Jackal 7? in1983.

The band then went on hiatus as Wino joined Saint Vitus for a few years in the late ’80s. They reformed in 1990 with Wino joined by a rhythm section of Greg Rogers and Scott Reeder. The new lineup released Lunar Womb before Reeder left to join Kyuss. At that point Guy Pinhas joined as the bass player and the band was signed to Columbia Records and went on to release The Church Within.

The Church Within was Wino’s most critically-hailed album. Despite being co-released by Hellhound Records and the major label Columbia Records, the music-buying masses were not ready to embrace doom in 1994 and instead fixated on buying records by rehashed pop-punk bands. Several factors led to The Church Within becoming The Obsessed‘s last full-length album. Despite not becoming a top-seller, the album remains hugely influential.

Wino has appeared at Roadburn in a number of guises, including: Saint Vitus, Shrinebuilder, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, and his eponymous band, Wino. His distinctive style of guitar playing and his seemingly endless supply of great riffs has earned him a place on the Mount Rushmore of stoner rock, and now we at Roadburn are thrilled to give you the opportunity to experience the band that started the legend.

Other recent Roadburn announcements include 40 Watt Sun, Sólstafir and Agalloch. Here’s more on that:

Portland, Oregon‘s Agalloch will bring their sweeping sonic landscapes conjuring desolate forests, icy waters and fire emerging from fog to Roadburn‘s main stage on Thursday, 12 April. The band’s highly atmospheric touchstones, which are equal parts dark ambient, drone, Nordic folk-infused black metal and dark wave, are as much a cinematic experience as a musical one. Agalloch‘s releases — four full-length albums and several EPs over the last 15 years — are a feast for the ears in the same way that Werner Herzog‘s and Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s visual imagery is a feast for the eyes. Marrow of the Spirit (2010) is a healing, spiritual journey through the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and one of last year’s most stunning statements in metal.

Iceland‘s very own Sólstafir will appear on Friday, 13 April as part of the Roadburn Festival. Having emerged with a sound as dark as the volcanic ash spewed by their homeland’s volcanoes, the band has evolved to excel at blending atmospheric, angst-fueled post rock with their blackened heritage, underpinned by psychedelic phrasing and an eerily, hypnotic groove for a truly mind-expanding experience. Iceland‘s endless white landscapes, glowering peaks, empty valleys and shrieking winds can be heard and felt through the band’s moving, sonic elements, too. Sólstafir have come a long way much in the same way that Enslaved has progressed, albeit somewhat differently, as showcased on Köld (hailed as a true masterpiece) and the forthcoming Svartir Sandar, the emotional equivalent of the stormy North Atlantic.

After calling it quits in 2009, Warning‘s Patrick Walker returns with his new band 40 Watt Sun and we are really pleased to welcome the band for a one-off show on Saturday, 14 April. 40 Watt Sun‘s stunning debut album, The Inside Room, ranks among the very best Roadburn-related albums of 2011, and offers Walker‘s distinctive melancholic voice a more prominent role. His soaring and somber pipes bless the album’s burning tracks. 40 Watt Sun‘s emotionally charged, slowcore hybrid of Jesu meets a harder-edged Red House Painters put the band in a class of its own.