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Desertfest London 2022 Announces Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

desertfest london 2022 banner

It’s good to see you again, Desertfest London. The 2022 lineup of the esteemed British edition of Desertfest brings some returning presences who were to have been at the 2020 edition, then the 2021 — both of course gone the way of corona. But we see Electric WizardShellac and Witchcraft in headlining spots, while Corrosion of Conformity will bring their delayed 25th anniversary of Deliverance to Camden Town, and returning kingpins Orange Goblin will play, along with YOB, TruckfightersEarthlessMy Sleeping KarmaMos GeneratorConanThe Obsessed, the reunited JosiahLowrider come for a Refractions victory lap well earned, along with Elephant TreeElderSteakDeathrite and a ton from the UK’s own ever-blossoming underground scene — Blind MonarchThe Brothers KegKing Witch, the more established Alunah and Trippy Wicked, and so on and so many.

Note Slomosa. Note Wolftooth. I would expect both to be touring Europe around this time. Green Lung too, for that matter.

There’s no way this isn’t going to be one to remember and it is my sincere hope to be there for it. Maybe I’ll see you there. Maybe we can hug.

Kudos and thanks to the Desertscene crew — Sarika, Jake and Reece — on and for a job well done.

Here’s looking forward:

desertfest london 2022

DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCE FULL LINE-UP FOR 2022 ·

A DECADE IN THE DESERT
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS WITH THE BIGGEST & MOST DIVERSE LINEUP YET

EXCLUSIVE UK PERFORMANCES FROM
WITCHCRAFT
(FIRST UK SHOW IN OVER A DECADE)
and
SHELLAC

As the home for all the things truly heavy, leading independent UK festival Desertfest have announced their full line up for 2022, which will take place in Camden, London from Friday 29th April – Sunday 1st May.

Celebrating their tenth year, next year’s festival promises to be their biggest and most diverse yet. Covering six venues across the heart of Camden and now including a full line up at The Roundhouse on both Saturday 30thApril and Sunday 1st May.

Founding owner of Desertfest Reece Tee comments, “Desertfest is 10 years old! I’m so proud that our independent festival has stood the test of time. What we have created is special, a decade of great bands, great friends and amazing memories. This year’s line up is a true reflection of how diverse Desertfest has become and with such a loyal audience, Desertfest can champion the underground for decades more to come.”

Headlining the Friday will be Swedish heavy rock masters Witchcraft, with a UK exclusive performance and their first UK show in over a decade.
Saturday’s headliners are none other than Chicago’s Shellac, who in another UK exclusive will be bringing their experimental post-hardcore sound to the Roundhouse. Fronted by the iconic Steve Albini, Shellac are one of those bands we all need to experience live, at least once. Whilst closing the festival on Sunday will be UK doom legends Electric Wizard, whose heavy sound encompasses the spirit of Desertfest.

Other acts confirmed include the likes of Corrosion Of Conformity, Orange Goblin and Truckfighters who all played the festival in its debut year in 2012 and there are further UK exclusive performances from hardcore-punks Integrity and the Ukrainian psych space rock trio Somali Yacht Club.

The festival will also see desert legends Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri’s new band Stoner, who will be playing the Electric Ballroom and doomed heavy metallers Khemmis making their UK debut at The Underworld.

Please see below for the full Desertfest 2022 line up / stage splits.
Tickets are on sale now and are available at www.desertfest.co.uk

NEW TICKETS FOR 2022
Weekend Ticket (all venues) – £132 +fees
Friday Day Ticket (all venues) – £45 +fees
Saturday Day Ticket (all venues) – £50 +fees
Sunday Day Ticket (all venues) – £50 +fees
Saturday Roundhouse only – £35 +fees
Existing ticket holders from 2020’s postponed event have a number of options as the festival is now larger, with an added Roundhouse line-up on Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May.

EXISTING WEEKEND + DAY TICKET HOLDERS OPTIONS
Full refund
Weekend roll-over to 2022 without Roundhouse upgrade (access only to Electric Ballroom, Underworld, Black Heart & The Dev)
Weekend roll-over to 2022 with Roundhouse upgrade – £15 +fees
Day ticket holders can upgrade to a full weekend ticket – £92 + fees – or will be issued a refund. Upgrade options only available until May 7th ’21.
For any ticketing enquiries please contact sarika@desertscene.co.uk

Desertfest 2022’s artwork is hand drawn by legendary artist Arik Roper who has created illustrations for the likes of Sleep, Earth, Sunn O))), High on Fire, Kvelertak, Windhand and many more. As always, posters and other merch will be available to buy at the festival.

https://www.facebook.com/events/464163361105416/
http://www.desertscene.co.uk/support
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Electric Wizard, Live at Desertfest London 2016

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audiObelisk: Stream Roadburn 2013 Sets from Eternal Tapestry, Ihsahn, Moss, Mournful Congregation, Penance and Switchblade

Posted in audiObelisk on July 15th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Already the announcements have started up for Roadburn 2014 — as demonstrated last week by the landmark revelation that a reunited Loop will headline — but in the meantime, there are still more audio sets from the 2013 fest to unveil, and the latest batch has a little something for everyone. From the ambient post-everything of Eternal Tapestry to the crushing tonality of Switchblade and the trad-doom plod of Penance, it’s like a sampler platter that still only begins to give some hint of the stylistic ground the highly-varied festival has come to cover in recent years.

As always, these recordings were overseen by Marcel van de Vondervoort and it’s through the courtesy of Walter and the rest of the Roadburn crew that I’m able to host them here for your streaming pleasure. Much thanks to all involved.

Please enjoy:

Eternal Tapestry – Live at Roadburn 2013

Insahn – Live at Roadburn 2013

Moss – Live at Roadburn 2013

Mournful Congregation – Live at Roadburn 2013

Penance – Live at Roadburn 2013

Switchblade – Live at Roadburn 2013

Keep up with the latest Roadburn 2014 announcements here or by checking out roadburn.com. Check out the rest of 2013’s streams here.

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At a Glance: Switchblade, Switchblade [2012]

Posted in Reviews on December 12th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Undeterred by the departure of bassist/vocalist Anders Steen after the release of their fifth album in 2009, Stockholm-based drone metallers Switchblade have pressed on as the duo of guitarist Johan Folkesson and drummer Tim Bertilsson, adopting the motto “less is more” and using the lack of a permanent third party to their advantage on the follow-up sixth outing — self-titled as all their releases have been since starting out — by inviting a slew of guests to join them on these recordings. For the ease of telling them apart, presumably so you don’t go, “Hey, did you hear Switchblade by Switchblade?” and the other party answers, “Which one?” the band has subtitled their full-lengths with the year of release, and so with Switchblade [2012] (released on Trust No One/Denovali), they mark a new era for the band.

To find a Switchblade song with a title other than its runtime or a number indicating its place in the tracklist, you’d have to go back all the way to Switchblade [2000], released some three years after they got together, and Switchblade [2012] follows suit aesthetically with many of the sort of branded tenets the band has developed over the course of their decade and a half together, arriving in three extended movements each with its own defining progression and standout elements. The liner to the digipak CD breaks “Movement I” (14:34) down into “Grave I/Dissonance I/Coda I,” “Movement II” (10:48) into “Nocturne/Mezzo/Coda II” and “Movement III” (11:33) into “Grave II/Dissonance II/Elegy/Finale,” so the impression is of one larger, mostly instrumental work tied together by various musical themes. That turns out to be the case, but each of the three tracks still has something of its own to offer.

As regards the guest appearances, though it would seem to contradict the “less is more” ethic –actually being more than less — appearances from Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse, Kongh vocalist David Johansson, Terra Tenebrosa vocalist The Cuckoo and Spiritual Beggars keymaster Per Wiberg wind up shaping the atmosphere of Switchblade [2012] in a huge way, stacked though the vocals are into the second half of the 37-minute album. So too does a major contribution come from the engineering job of Karl Daniel Lidén (Vaka, ex-Greenleaf/Demon Cleaner), whose  open-air mic placement on Bertilsson‘s drums adds a dimension of space to the recording that’s utterly his own. Longstanding Katatonia aficionados will be interested to know that Renkse growls here rather than relies on the emotional clean approach he’s used in his band for over a decade now, leaving Johansson to a cleaner, semi-spoken incantation that comes on in layers in the back end of “Movement II” and The Cuckoo to return in “Movement III” after a bizarre appearance in the grooving second half of “Movement I.”

Perhaps even more than the vocals, though, Wiberg‘s contributions on organ — both when they’re there and when they’re not — set the tone and atmosphere of Switchblade [2012]. Folkesson and Bertilsson (who also runs Trust No One Recordings) affect doomed minimalism at its finest during the opening stretches of “Movement III,” but it’s the contrast and lack of Wiberg‘s presence where he had done so much to fill out the fast and slow components of “Movement II,” that really brings the starkness to bear. At 10:48, “Movement II” is also the shortest song Switchblade have had on an album since 2003, so it’s a change working on multiple levels. As “Movement III” picks up in its second half and the album sloths in the general direction of its apex, both vocals and organ join in to accompany, first from Renkse again — his throat sounding raw, inflamed and dry — then in a serious of gurgles and screams from The Cuckoo, who tops a final(e) slowdown in excruciating fashion as “Movement III” deteriorates. All the while, though, working alongside Folkesson‘s guitar, Wiberg is filling out the track in the low-end space a bassist might otherwise occupy.

Ultimately, it seems to be Switchblade‘s encompassing sense of musical adventure that has kept them from being hindered by Steen‘s absence. By bringing in outsiders to take part, they’ve made sure not to delve further into minimalism than intended, while still allowing for a feeling of space to be carried across during droning guitar section that precedes the bell-of-the-ride swing of “Movement I,” arguably as active instrumentally as they get here — and another instance in which Wiberg makes his impact felt — so that whatever sacrifice they’ve had to make, the sound of Switchblade [2012] winds up broader, not at all contracted. To put it on their terms, though I’d argue that they got there with more, not less as they posit, the end result is still more, not less. If it’s more is more or less is more, whatever. It’s more in the end, and if Switchblade are bent on making complex ideas and logistics seem simple, that can only help them as they commence refining the nascent duo approach they present here. 15 years on, a new beginning.

Switchblade on Thee Facebooks

Trust No One Recordings

Denovali Records

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