Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I’ve been trying to post this for like a week. This happens to me now. I’ll be sitting on the couch at like 7PM or some such — well past what I consider ‘Obelisk time’ in my feeble brainclock — and see some relevant item on my phone. I haven’t covered Krach am Bach much in years past, so I probably said something like, “Oh shit right on, I can post about something new,” and started to put the thing together. I don’t remember if I squared the poster image or the fest did — probably them. But then I get in the actual back end of the site and there are like 50 other things and then I’m already late and blah blah fucking blah here I am with another festival lineup post. I’m sure by now the lineup has been completed and the festival — which is set for Aug. 2-3 — has already taken place. Because time would bend over backwards just to screw me up, and I say that as the voice of experience.
But the lineup. Seems likely The Devil and the Almighty Blues will be out on tour, ditto A Place to Bury Strangers, Wine Lips, Deathchant, El Perro. You’ll notice Elder-offshoot Delving among the confirmations, which might mean another studio offering from that project is on the way, and I’ll go to bat for each of Karkara, Humulus, Travo and Black Helium being worth your time based solely on my experience with their recorded output. There’s more to come here, but I’m not sure how much more you really need.
Check it:
+++ First announcements || Tickets available +++
In case you’re wondering about some news for the 29. Krach am Bach Festival, we’ve got the finest selection for a ride through heavy, fuzz-drowned and hypnotic space trips.
Orange Goblin |UK A Place To Bury Strangers |US The Devil And The Almighty Blues |Norway Wine Lips |Canada Tuber |Greece Deathchant |US El Perro |US Madmess |Portugal delving |US Verstärker |US KARKARA |France Humulus |Italy TRAVO |Portugal Black Helium |UK ᴉGeRaldᴉ |France
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 17th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I’ll just go ahead and answer a question no one asked by saying that, yes, I was thinking of Arrested Development when I wrote the opening line of the announcement below with “MONSTER” in all-caps. Like Buster Bluth with his hook raised. But I mean, who could argue, anyway. Looking at the final lineup for Freak Valley 2019, long since sold out, it is indeed beastly. Even the final splurge of additions below, with Valley of the Sun, Tuber, Outsideinside, Great Electric Quest, A Place to Bury Strangers, Lacertilia, High Fighter and John Fairhurst Band shows the festival branching out in terms of style and geography, and there’s really no stopping it. Biggest Freak Valley yet? Yeah, I think maybe it is. They’ve had some righteous lineups in the past, but it’s hard to mess with Corrosion of Conformity playing Deliverance or the kind of reach that pulls in Arc of Ascent from New Zealand. For them and Spaceslug alone, this thing is masterful. If you go, well, good call.
It’s been a pleasure to help the fest in the small way I have by writing these lineup announcements over the last however long. Here’s the final one:
+++ A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS | TUBER | VALLEY OF THE SUN | JOHN FAIRHURST BAND | OUTSIDEINSIDE | GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST | LACERTILIA | HIGH FIGHTER +++
Freaks!
This is it — the last lineup announcement for FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2019, and it’s a MONSTER.
In grand finale fashion, we’re doing an absolute blowout to finish out the three-day lineup for this year’s fest, and we’re continuing to add more and diverse acts from across a broad spectrum of heavy so you can, you know, broaden your horizons while you expand your consciousness.
So keep eyes, ears and mind open as we welcome A Place To Bury Strangers, Tuber, Valley of the Sun, John Fairhurst Band, Outsideinside, Great Electric Quest, Lacertilia and High Fighter to Freak Valley 2019!
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS Chaos holds a strong sway in the aesthetic of Brooklyn’s A Place to Bury Strangers, but out of that chaos has derived some of today’s most essential post-space experimentalism. With over 15 years of tenure under their belt in one form or another, they’ve remained relentlessly committed to a forward-thinking, deeply affecting approach, and they’ll come to FREAK VALLEY with an intent to own the stage as only they can. We’ll just say it in advance: You’re welcome.
TUBER The Greek four-piece Tuber made a definitive statement in 2017 with their second album, ‘Out of the Blue.’ It was a record that took Krautrock and heavy vibes and keyboard-based nuance to a new level for the band and the ultra-populated, much-loved Greek scene from which they’ve emerged. Since their 2012 self-titled EP and the follow-up 2013 long-player, ‘Desert Overcrowded,’ they’ve been geared toward doing their own thing, and we can’t wait to bear witness to their doing exactly that.
VALLEY OF THE SUN Yes! You may or may not know it yet, but Valley of the Sun are about to release one of the best albums of 2019. It’s called ‘Old Gods’ and it’s the perfect occasion to have the Ohio band over to play. As they approach a decade since their first release, they take their melodic, catchy, and heavy desert-style rock to a new level entirely and stand tall like the statesmen they’ve always been ready to be. If you thought you knew them, prepare to be surprised.
JOHN FAIRHURST BAND Got the blues? Want some? John Fairhurst is nothing short of an electric blues master and a troubadour for our tumultuous times. His latest work — released April 12 — is ‘The Divided Kingdom,’ and for the UK-based guitarist probably not much more needs to be said about the meaning behind the title. His modern perspective brings a much-needed edge to a classic blues style, and no doubt we’ll all be dancing the merry dance when he comes to FREAK VALLEY.
OUTSIDEINSIDE Born out of the ashes of Carousel, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based rockers Outsideinside — who are named for THE BEST Blue Cheer record; that’s right, we said it — made their debut with 2017’s ‘Sniff a Hot Rock,’ a shred-laced paradise of ‘70s-style soul boogie. They’ve been quiet since last Fall, but they’ll come roaring back to Europe to join our festivities and we know their warm vibes will turn heads when they hit the stage.
GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST The seekers of the flame themselves are coming to FREAK VALLEY! The legend of Great Electric Quest has spread far and wide and now we’ll get the real deal right in our faces. The San Diego heavy rockers aren’t shy about their classic metal leanings or anything else, and whether they’re climbing on the amps or waving their banner, literally, their brash, all-out performance will be one you’ll be talking about when the weekend is done. Get ready for true madness.
LACERTILIA Genre-spanning UK progressive, heavy, psychedelic, space, whatever-you-got rockers Lacertilia have a new album in progress right now. They’re done recording and were mixing last time we checked, so let’s say FREAK VALLEY’s their deadline. Get it done, gentlemen! Whether it’s on-hand or not for the fest, we’ll be glad to see them doing new material after their debut album, ‘We’re Already Inside Your Mind,’ so thoroughly kicked our asses in 2016.
HIGH FIGHTER Speaking of new albums, High Fighter are in the midst of making their second full-length, taking their metallic sludgecore to new places with a fresh batch of songs to answer the accomplishments of 2016’s ‘Scars and Crosses.’ They’ve been pretty secretive on what the new record sounds like, but we know already they’ll deliver something special, so while we all wait for the release date to be announced, get ready for one of the most aggressive sets you’ll see all year.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Well this looks fucking awesome. No question that the rise of the Greek heavy rock scene over the course of the last decade has been a boon to the European underground. Greece can now stand toe to toe with Germany, Sweden or any of the other continental hotbeds of heavy, and along with Italy, has become essential the character worldwide of heavy rock and roll. The feature-length documentary Greek Rock Revolution puts this emergence in the context of the country’s social condition, the effect that austerity and rampant unemployment has had on the art being made, as well as the prejudice of those outside not caring about the scene or the important work being done there by bands covered in the trailer at the bottom of this post like 1000mods, Tuber, Naxatras, Puta Volcano, Villagers of Ioannina City, Planet of Zeus and the elder statesmen in Nightstalker. There seems to be plenty of concert and interview footage, and yeah, it looks fucking awesome. I’d spend 95 minutes watching this thing, happily. I hope I get to review it.
As a side note while we’re on the topic of Greek heavy, I’ve got a track premiere for BUS going up tomorrow from their new album that marks their debut on RidingEasy Records, so that release will be another fascinating instance of a Greek band reaching a wider international audience.
Greek Rock Revolution is directed by Miguel Cano. Here’s the press release that came with the trailer:
The official trailer for the upcoming Greek Rock Revolution movie is now live! The documentary film will have a length of 95 minutes, featuring 1000mods, Tuber, Naxatras, Puta Volcano, Villagers of Ioannina City, Planet of Zeus & Nightstalker In the recent years these bands have gained a massive support in Greece and global recognition elsewhere, with circles in Europe and North America starting to speak very seriously about the Greek Rock Scene.
Last September, Spanish Film Director Miguel Cano interviewed all bands and filmed their live concerts and rehearsals in Thessaloniki, Chania, Serres, Athens, Patras, Chiliomodi and Ioannina. The Filmmaker sees in Greece resemblances with historical cultural momentum in Mississippi back when the blues was born or in Seattle when the grunge flourished: a long-lasting unstable social situation boosting artistic expression through a common feeling of non-conformity.
As the Director of Metal Hammer Greece, Kostas Chronopoulos states in the film, “it’s not easy to fight all for your own, you need to feel part of something which is there for you. And rock ‘n roll is here for us.”
Greek Rock Revolution is now on its last phases of post-production and it is expected to be released in March of this year. The goal is set first on screening the film in International Film Festivals, and then bring it to the wide audience in TV, cinemas and online platforms.
Posted in Podcasts on December 26th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
So this is something I’ve never done before. I’m not exactly what you’d call an early adopter when it comes to new technology, but this weekend I finally signed up for Spotify and decided to give a shot at putting together a year-end playlist through that rather than doing the standard podcast. Aside from a kind of ongoing latent concern about essentially giving away downloads of music that doesn’t belong to me via the old mp3 files — no one’s ever said anything and I always figured it was okay since songs were bundled together as one file — this just seemed more useful in allowing people to explore different artists, albums, etc. If you disagree, I’m sorry.
I can’t say I won’t ever go back to the other way, or that I’ll actively enjoy having a Spotify account enough to keep it, and so on, but it’s something new to try, so I’m giving it a shot. The playlist turned out to be nine hours and 12 minutes long, and once I got going, I couldn’t really resist making it 65 tracks, what with it being the 64th podcast and all. One to grow on.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening:
Track details:
• Artist, Track, Album, Runtime
• Elder, Sanctuary, Reflections of a Floating World, 00:11:13
• All Them Witches, Am I Going Up?, Sleeping Through the War, 00:05:33
• Lo-Pan, Pathfinder, In Tensions, 00:06:22
• MOON RATS, Heroic Dose, Highway Lord, 00:04:27
• Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, Medicine, Medicine, 00:06:38
• Mindkult, Lucifer’s Dream, Lucifer’s Dream, 00:09:06
• Brume, Reckon, Rooster, 00:09:12
• Riff Fist, King Tide, King Tide, 00:11:20
• Monolord, Dear Lucifer, Rust, 00:08:41
• Hymn, Serpent, Perish, 00:07:32
• Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Waves, Gravity Works, 00:08:26
• Electric Wizard, Wicked Caresses, Wizard Bloody Wizard, 00:06:43
• Ruby the Hatchet, Symphony of the Night, Planetary Space Child, 00:07:08
• Telekinetic Yeti, Colossus, Abominable, 00:08:56
• Bong Wish, My Luv, Bong Wish, 00:02:31
• Radio Moscow, New Skin, New Beginnings, 00:03:02
• Cloud Catcher, Celestial Empress, Trails of Kozmic Dust, 00:05:41
• The Atomic Bitchwax, Humble Brag, Force Field, 00:02:52
• Sasquatch, Just Couldn’t Stand the Weather, Maneuvers, 00:06:27
• Kadavar, Die Baby Die, Rough Times, 00:04:18
• Cities of Mars, Children of the Red Sea, Temporal Rifts, 00:08:27
• Argus, You Are the Curse, From Fields of Fire, 00:06:23
• Comacozer, Hylonomus, Kalos Eidos Skopeo, 00:13:43
• Samsara Blues Experiment, One with the Universe, One with the Universe, 00:15:02
• Orango, Heirs, The Mules of Nana, 00:04:46
• Siena Root, Tales of Independence, A Dream of Lasting Peace, 00:03:39
• Demon Head, Older Now, Thunder on the Fields, 00:04:17
• Sun Blood Stories, Great Destroyer, It Runs Around the Room with Us, 00:06:11
• Spaceslug, Time Travel Dilemma, Time Travel Dilemma, 00:10:07
• Arc of Ascent, Hexagram, Realms of the Metaphysical, 00:07:34
• Causa Sui, Seven Hills, Vibraciones Doradas, 00:07:24
• Alunah, Fire of Thornborough Henge, Solennial, 00:05:32
• Vokonis, Calling From The Core, The Sunken Djinn, 00:06:03
• Enslaved, Sacred Horse, E, 00:08:12
• Dvne, Edenfall, Asheran, 00:07:04
• The Midnight Ghost Train, Break My Love, Cypress Ave., 00:03:33
• The Obsessed, It’s Only Money, Sacred, 00:02:35
• Mothership, Crown of Lies, High Strangeness, 00:05:41
• Geezer, Red Hook, Psychoriffadelia, 00:06:02
• Uffe Lorenzen, Flippertøs, Galmandsværk, 00:02:46
• Youngblood Supercult, Master of None, The Great American Death Rattle, 00:04:01
• Beastmaker, Nature of the Damned, Inside the Skull, 00:03:26
• Pallbearer, I Saw the End, Heartless, 00:06:21
• Paradise Lost, Blood and Chaos, Medusa, 00:03:51
• Rozamov, Wind Scorpion, This Mortal Road, 00:08:49
• Eternal Black, Sea of Graves, Bleed the Days, 00:06:33
• Demon Eye, Politic Divine, Prophecies and Lies, 00:03:40
• Snowy Dunes, Ritual of Voices, Atlantis, 00:07:17
• The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Low, II, 00:08:49
• Abronia, Glass Butte Retribution, Obsidian Visions / Shadowed Lands, 00:06:09
• John Garcia, Kylie, The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues, 00:04:58
• Tuna de Tierra, Raise of the Lights, Tuna de Tierra, 00:07:09
• Colour Haze, Lotus, In Her Garden, 00:07:05
• IAH, Stolas, IAH, 00:08:39
• Fungus Hill, Are You Dead, Creatures, 00:08:54
• Atavismo, El Sueño, Inerte, 00:11:18
• Tuber, Noman, Out of the Blue, 00:08:14
• Spidergawd, What You Have Become, Spidergawd IV, 00:03:44
• Puta Volcano, Bird, Harmony of Spheres, 00:05:07
• Ufomammut, Core, 8, 00:05:15
• Kings Destroy, None More, None More, 00:14:03
• PH, Looking Back at Mr. Peter Hayden, Eternal Hayden, 00:16:44
• Mt. Mountain, Dust, Dust, 00:17:15
• Electric Moon, Live Forever Now (You Will), Stardust Rituals, 00:22:41
• Bell Witch, Mirror Reaper, Mirror Reaper, 01:23:15
Posted in Reviews on October 23rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
As part of a countrywide surge in heavy productivity in Greece taking place over, say, the last five years, instrumentalist four-piece Tuber issued their debut full-length, Desert Overcrowded, late in 2013 as the follow-up to their 2012 self-titled EP (discussed here), and with the longer release, seemed to be making a statement of individualized intent, positioning themselves outside the genre of heavy rock while at the same time being very much of the style and its influence. It was a lot to say for a band without lyrics, but as the Serres-based outfit, comprised of Nickos Gerostathos, Paris Fragkos, Yannis Gerostathos and Yannis Artzoglou, offer their second long-player, Out of the Blue, through NEDA Records, they would seem all the more to manifest the ethic that drove its predecessor while also taking a significant step forward in sound.
There is still a root within heavy rock, to be sure, but to listen to a track like “Cat Class,” which its darker guitar chug and running keyboard line, Tuber appear to have shifted into a much more progressive take on the style. Psychedelic elements remain and can be heard elsewhere in the guitar of the penultimate “Moon Rabbit,” but Out of the Blue even takes these more to a place of post-Russian Circles heavy post-rock in terms of their balance between airiness of tonal drift and underlying crunch, and thereby only provides a richer feel for the prog edge overall. It’s not an easy transition to make, and it’s not every band who could make it and still come across as fluidly as Tuber do in these six songs, but they successfully manipulate established styles to their own ends throughout, and so are able to provide an emotional crux as well as aesthetic intrigue to a piece the eight-minute “Norman.”
Crucial factors throughout Out of the Blue are tension and the keyboards. Tuber issued the album at the end of May very much in the manner of its title — it wasn’t on Bandcamp and then it was; blamo — and I’ll admit that part of my months-long delay in giving it a proper review has been down to processing their methods. I won’t claim to have a total grasp on what they’re doing — I’d just about never claim that about anyone — but there’s no question that from the opening title-track onward, the keyboards play a huge role in setting the mood and establishing the range with which the band is working overall. Synthesized beats are the first thing one hears as “Out of the Blue” begins, and though by the first minute drums and guitar have joined in and the song is soon to take off on a bit of deceptively angular riffing, it’s still the keys that have charted the course ahead.
The shortest inclusion, “Russian” (5:40), follows and is more guitar led, but retains a complex structure of its own. It doesn’t move as patiently into a drifting midsection (again, filled out by keyboards, bass and guitar in balance) like the opener before it, or hit into the same kind of payoff wash, but with a focus more on the heads-down business of riffing, Tuber offer a charge late in the song born of progressive metal à la Tool or the aforementioned Russian Circles leading into the drum start of “Cat Class” and thereby emphasizing the dynamic manner in which they’re able to play to one side or another within their sound even as they expand the parameters of where that sound can go. After “Russian,” the underlying chug of “Cat Class” seems to have a different context as opposed to being taken on its own — one rarely expects to have their mind drawn to mid-period Rammstein by a heavy rock record — but here the key element of tension emerges in the note-to-note bounce and the upbeat drumming, and once more the keyboards are essential to conveying that vibe as they complement the guitar, flesh out the arrangement, and starting at about three minutes in, make their own statement of melodicism rightly featured at the fore of the mix before the next push of thicker riffing takes hold.
“Cat Class” is a standout for bringing to mind a new wave-meets-heavy prog sensibility that’s almost definitively Tuber‘s own, but it’s still just a fraction of what they offer on Out of the Blue as “Norman” answers back with an oddly-timed start of drums and keys, letting the guitar ease its way in more gradual fashion on the album’s most subtle linear build taking place over first two-plus minutes. It’s not until about 2:45 that “Norman” takes flight, and by then the listener is duly hypnotized; an old trick as far as instrumentalist heavy is concerned, but a level of engagement on which Tuber haven’t relied before and so feeling fresh within the sphere of these cuts, and they recede no less smoothly only to mount an even more tense apex the second time around before finally crashing out and letting “Moon Rabbit” come in as an answer to “Russian” back on side A that once again puts the focus more on guitar than keys — drums and bass, as ever, the foundation on which all of this interaction is taking place, it’s worth emphasizing — but nonetheless retains a heavy post-rocking texture and patience, for which the second track ultimately had little time.
This varied and gracefully executed depth has to find resolution somewhere, and one looks immediately to closer “Luckily Dead” to provide that very thing. In following “Moon Rabbit,” which efficiently capped with what feels by the end of the song like its chorus in the sense of an instrumental hook, the finale starts with a darker, lower keyboard line and a slower drum beat, the guitar entering like a tinted mirror of “Norman” but marked out by the immediate shift in mood. “Luckily Dead” indeed sets itself to the task of paying off the tension mounted all across the record before it — whether it was written specifically for that purpose or just well placed, I couldn’t say — but the flow of the seven-plus-minute piece casts itself as yet another significant factor in what makes Out of the Blue so successful on the whole, since while Tuber clearly aren’t shooting for the same kind of raw, live feel in their recording style as many psychedelic bands, instead leaning more toward a crisp, prog-style production with Fragkos at the helm as engineer/mixer, they still retain and demonstrate a level of chemistry among themselves as players that simply can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.
It’s what allows them to foster such a multifaceted take while holding firm to their underlying sonic persona, and it’s what has allowed them to develop that sonic persona in the first place. One can only hope as they continue to move forward — which it’s safe to bet that barring disaster they will; there’s little here that shows any interest in stagnation on any level — they are able to maintain that aspect as well as to press ahead with their approach, because with Out of the Blue it has resulted in a work as distinct as it is distinguished. If Tuber found the desert too crowded for their liking, they’ve definitely moved into a space more completely to themselves.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 22nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Greek progressive heavy rock four-piece Tuber are getting ready to hit the road this Fall. They go on the strength of their massively well received 2017 full-length, Out of the Blue (discussed here), which has only helped put emphasis on the booming scene in Greece generally. You might recall Tuber was out in Europe earlier this year, playing Desertfest Berlin 2017, following up on a wider bit of touring they did in 2016 — those shows, like these, presented by Total Volume Agency — so yeah they seem due to hit the road again, and no doubt with Out of the Blue behind them, no doubt it’ll be a killer vibe at the gigs.
Dates follow here, as posted by the band in the poster below and dutifully transcribed by yours truly:
Tuber – Out of the Blue Tour
This fall we embark on a European tour supporting our new record “Out Of The Blue”. See you on the road!
Tour planning by Total Volume, stef@totalvolumeagency.com. Graphics by Original Replica.
Tuber live: 03.11.17 Robot Budapest 04.11.17 Rockhouse Salzburg 07.11.17 White Rabbit Freiburg 09.11.17 Jagerklause Berlin 10.11.17 Cadillac Oldenburg 11.11.17 Vortex Siegen 12.11.17 Walhalla Karlsruhe 15.11.17 Viper Room Vienna 16.11.17 SKC Fabrika Novi Sad 17.11.17 Daos Club Timisoara 18.11.17 Flying Circus Cluj 01.12.17 8Ball Club Thessaoniki 02.12.17 AN Club Athens 04.01.18 Downtown Nicosia Nicosia
Tuber grew up in a sunny place, south of Greece, in an island called Crete. They were hiding from the sun, jamming in dark studios and playing their music in rock caves. As they moved north, sounds became lighter, since they started miss hot ground. Balance came as a result of smash, dark embraced light and improvisation turned into an effortless and instinctive process. Tuber moved their interest into new forms, founding themselves experimenting with compositions that combine mixed styles and sounds from different ground. Focus is now on rock aesthetic flirting with psychedelic atmosphere and a touch of romantic mood. At this time Tuber live in Serres, forming their feelings and thoughts into music and words, still learning how to leave with reality and reinventing it with love.
Tuber is: Yannis Gerostathos Yannis Artzoglou Nickos Gerostathos Paris Fragkos
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Whatever else you might say about Tuber‘s newly-issued second full-length, Out of the Blue, it certainly lives up to its name. Last time we heard from the Greek instrumental four-piece, they were playing Desertfest Berlin 2017, thanking the crowd, and then all of a sudden, they’ve got a follow-up to their 2013 debut, Desert Overcrowded, posted on their Bandcamp. And it’s not just another record — it’s one that brings in copious keyboard elements and different styles to add progressive flair and scope to the band’s riffy underpinnings.
To wit, the whole thing’s streaming now and you can check out the synthy pulsations of “Cat Class” or the proggy post-fuzz of “Luckily Dead” as the band seem to draw inspiration from various heavy and hard rocks across the ages as they find a way to unite it all with a nod-ready groove. The sudden nature of Out of the Blue‘s arrival doesn’t make it any less welcome, certainly, and it shows quickly that while it may have taken three-plus years for Tuber to get this record out, they haven’t at all been stagnant during that time. Vinyl and CD are reportedly coming soon but can be preordered now.
I’ll have a proper review in the weeks to come, but for now, here’s all the info, audio and links, culled from the social medias and their Bandcamp page. Dig it:
Tracklisting: 1. Out Of The Blue 07:06 2. Russian 05:39 3. Cat Class 06:47 4. Noman 08:14 5. Moon Rabbit 06:30 6. Luckily Dead 07:23
Released May 31, 2017
All music written, arranged and performed by Tuber Produced by Paris Fragkos and Tuber at Flow Recordings, Serres, GR Mixed by Paris Fragkos www.facebook.com/flowrecordings Mastering by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters, Memphis, Tennessee. Cover Layout by Originalreplica.gr Photography by Panagiota Karagiorgou Released by NEDA, June 2017
Tuber is: Yannis Gerostathos Yannis Artzoglou Nickos Gerostathos Paris Fragkos
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 28th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Let’s get one thing straight: I really want to go to Desertfest Berlin 2017. For one thing, I’ve never been, and quite frankly I’m more than a little ashamed of it at this point. I spent about two days in Berlin over a decade ago, and aside from the raging jetlag — one did not know at the time to simply stay in one’s own timezone; also I was drunk like the entire trip — found the city to be beautiful, a little sad in the way cool cities are, and welcoming.
But even putting the palce itself aside, Desertfest Berlin has been going on for years now and it’s always been just out of my reach, right there on the horizon. I’ve been to the London incarnation of the festival and wouldn’t mind getting back there either, but to cross this one off my list would be big, especially since as this lineup continues to come together it’s looking more and more admirable. The chance to see Samsara Blues Experiment on their home turf? Come on.
Five bands added in the second lineup announcement, as the PR wire informs:
Desertfest Berlin 2017 – 5 new Names on the Bill (Mars Red Sky, Samsara Blues Experiment, Tuber, Wucan, The Well)
DESERTFEST BERLIN 2017 – APRIL 28-29-30
Hey everybody! We are glad to get back to you today with a new batch of bands to announce for our 2017 edition of DESERTFEST BERLIN! Alongside previously confirmed LOWRIDER, TOUNDRA, ECSTATIC VISION, THE COSMIC DEAD and SATAN’S SATYRS, we are thrilled to welcome aboard five new stunning acts:
MARS RED SKY (FR) We are stoked to have Mars Red Sky back for next year DESERTFEST! The Bordeaux three-piece played the very first edition of our festival in 2012 when they were just promoting their self-titled debut album. They always showed “a penchant for 60s space rock filled with doomy tones and tempos, accentuated with pop sensibilities” (The Sludgelord), and 4 years later, after touring relentlessly, they pushed boundaries further into a colossal heavy sound by releasing their third full-length, “Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul),” an album that represents the most significant sonic progression the band has made so far, forging grandiose and hypnotizing thickly produced songs. Their show is going to be a crazy psychedelic trip and Mars Red Sky will be your tour guide!
SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT (D) It is always a pleasure to have Samsara Blues Experiment at DESERTFEST BERLIN. Founded in 2007 by guitarist/singer Christian Peters and completed by bassplayer Hans Eiselt and drummer Thomas Vedder, they are one of Berlin underground scene’s pride, and a household name in the “stoner scene” in general. Playing a mixture of stoner rock, psychedelic blues, Indian raga, thrash metal and traditional folk, the trio is currently working one a new album, their long-awaited fourth one, which should be released around next spring… “Good tunes come to those who wait” guys!
TUBER (GR) Tuber is an instrumental band from Greece blending post, stoner, desert and space rock with a sublime psych edge. They recorded their first self-titled EP in 2011 and their stunning debut album “Desert Overcrowded” in December 2013. Two and a half years removed from the release of this full-length, but having built a steady following all the while (and after traveling in 2015 to play Freak Valley), Tuber hit the European roads for the very first time this past spring and clearly made an impression! So if you guys want to enjoy some rock aesthetic flirting with psychedelic atmosphere and a touch of romantic mood, do not miss them!
WUCAN (D) The Saxonian band Wucan entered the German Rock Scene with a splash by releasing their first EP “Vikarma” in the fall of 2014 and their full-length debut “Sow the Wind” in August 2015, to excellent critical acclaim. Deeply rooted in the 70s, the band’s fresh sounding kaleidoscopic Rock Fusion of groovy Funk, Psychedelic, Hard Rock and Kraut Rock, and enigmatic live performances have proven that the band is capable to hypnotize a receptive audience and take it onto a journey into a rockworld of it’s own creation. The band is currently writing their follow-up second album (tentatively titled “Reap the Storm”) scheduled for a spring release…
THE WELL (US) Austin-based power trio The Well redefine heavy rock by merging massive riffs with sophisticated melodies. Their progressive sound stems from a nostalgic desire to blend different musical styles as diversified as Joy Division to Blue Cheer. As fans of cult horror films, they embrace the sinister, revel in dark themes and find inspiration in haunting echoes. Thet have created a sound that reflects doom, punk and horror all rolled together in a ghostly rock soundtrack. After releasing their debut album “Samsara” in 2014 and toured on it relentlessly, they dropped a furiously strong sophomore effort “Pagan Science” last month, and can’t wait to share it with the European crowd!
There are still 20 more acts to be unveiled, including all our headliners, so stay tuned! Next announcement will be on Friday 2nd of December. Meanwhile do not miss your chance to be part of the amazing DESERTFEST BERLIN experience… Check out our Website to get your tickets, or the links below in this release! We were sold out last year in February, so better be quick!
Let’s turn all the DESERTFEST BERLIN 2017 into another milestone when it comes to Berlin and festivals!
