I mean, what can you say to this other than ‘can I come?’ I’ve known this festival was capable of some real-deal shit over the last decade, but this is absolutely epic, which is a word I do my best to avoid. And they end it by saying there’s more to come. God damn. Really. God damn.

Wow.

Here:

Desertfest London announce over 40 bands for 2023

Friday 5th May – Sunday 7th May 2023 | Weekend Tickets on sale now

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Desertfest London is rounding off the year with an ear-shattering bang, announcing a mammoth 43 artists to their 2023 line-up. Joining the likes of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Graveyard, Kadavar and Church of Misery, the Camden-based festival also welcomes back Corrosion of Conformity as headliners.

Pioneers of a groove-laden sound that is undeniably their own, Corrosion of Conformity have not been back on UK soil since 2018 so expect big, loud and memorable things from their appearance at Desertfest next year. Corrosion of Conformity have been due to play the event since 2020 – making their return one of the most widely requested in the event’s history.

Japan’s own avant-garde maestros of down-tuned psychedelia Boris leap over to London alongside the crushingly loud tones of NOLA’s own Crowbar. One of the most exciting bands in recent memory King Buffalo, make their long-awaited debut plus Desertfest favourites, Weedeater are back after five long years of chugging whiskey lord-knows-where.

The pace moves up a notch with New York City’s noise-rock guru’s Unsane and British punk-legends Discharge, all of whom bring a detour from the slow’n’low sounds the festival is best recognised for. Montreal’s Big | Brave will play the festival for the first time showcasing their experimental and minimalist take on the notion of ‘heavy’, whilst the doors to the Church of The Cosmic Skull are open, as they ask Desertfest revellers to join them in a union unlike any other.

Desertfest also warmly welcomes noise from STAKE, British anti-fascist black metallers Dawn Ray’d and London’s loudest duo Tuskar as well as some of the best recent stoner acts in the form of Telekinetic Yeti, Weedpecker & Great Electric Quest. Elsewhere the weekend will also see Wren, The Necromancers, Dommengang, Samavayo, Morass of Molasses, Sum of R & GNOB offer up unique live performances.

Rounding off this beast of an announcement are Acid Mammoth, Deatchant, Zetra, Trevor’s Head, Our Man in The Bronze Age, Wyatt E., Iron Jinn, Mr Bison, Troy The Band, Oreyeon, Warren Schoenbright, Early Moods, Longheads, Terror Cosmico, Thunder Horse, TONS, Vinnum Sabbathi, Bloodswamp, The Age of Truth, Earl of Hell and Black Groove.

Weekend Tickets for Desertfest London 2023 are on-sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk
with more acts still to be announced.

Day splits and day tickets will be on sale from January.

Full Line-Up for Desertfest London 2023:
UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS | GRAVEYARD | CORROSION OF CONFORMITY | KADAVAR | BORIS | CROWBAR | CHURCH OF MISERY | WEEDEATER | KING BUFFALO | BLOOD CEREMONY | DISCHARGE | SOMALI YACHT CLUB | UNSANE | BIG|BRAVE | INTER ARMA | CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL | VALLEY OF THE SUN | STAKE | MARS RED SKY | SPACESLUG | GRAVE LINES | GAUPA | TUSKAR | TELEKINETIC YETI | WEEDPECKER | DAWN RAY’D | WREN | GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST | THE NECROMANCERS | DOMMENGANG | ECSTATIC VISION | SAMAVAYO | MORASS OF MOLASSES | SUM OF R | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | GNOB | EVEREST QUEEN | ACID MAMMOTH | DEATHCHANT | ZETRA | CELESTIAL SANCTUARY | TREVOR’S HEAD | OUR MAN IN THE BRONZE AGE | WYATT E. | MR BISON | TROY THE BAND | PLAINRIDE | IRON JINN | OREYEON | WARREN SCHOENBRIGHT | EARLY MOODS | LONGHEADS | TERROR COSMICO | THUNDER HORSE | TONS | VINNUM SABBATHI | BLOODSWAMP | VENOMWOLF | THE AGE OF TRUTH | EARL OF HELL | BLACK GROOVE | MARGARITA WITCH CULT

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https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Starting tomorrow, the next three weeks are absolutely stupid with new albums. Over-the-top, ridiculous. An immediately-go-broke amount of music. Nothing less than an onslaught. We’re under attack.

Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money — also far be it from me not to — but there’s some really killer stuff in here. As to why it’s all landing now? Some of it of course has to do with the timing of when it was recorded, bands hitting the studio in Spring before heading out on the road over the summer, but Fall releases also line up nicely for tours in October and November, heading into the holiday season, when the music industry basically shuts down. This is the last chance for releases to come out in 2017 and be considered for best-of-year lists.

I doubt the likes of Chelsea Wolfe or Godspeed You! Black Emperor or even Kadavar would cop to that as a motivating factor, instead pointing to the timing of Fall touring and so on, but these things are rarely coincidental. You know how there aren’t any blockbusters in January but every movie feels like it’s trying to win an Oscar? Same kind of deal.

Nonetheless, 2017 is laying it on particularly thick these next couple weeks, and as you can see in the lists below, if you’ve got cash to spend, you can pretty much choose your rock and roll adventure. I’ll add to this as need be as well, so keep an eye for changes:

Sept. 22:

Alcest, Souveinirs d’un Autre Monde (10th Anniversary Edition)
Brant Bjork, Europe ’16
Chelsea Wolfe, Hiss Spun
Epitaph, Claws
Faces of the Bog, Ego Death
The Flying Eyes, Burning of the Season
Fvzz Popvli, Fvzz Dei
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Luciferian Towers
Jarboe & Father Murphy, Jarboe & Father Murphy
Monarch, Never Forever
Nibiru, Qaal Babalon
Process of Guilt, Black Earth
Satyricon, Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Spelljammer, Inches from the Sun (Reissue)
Thonian Horde, Inconnu
Trash Titan, Welcome to the Banana Party
Ufomammut, 8
With the Dead, Love from With the Dead
Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven

Sept. 29:

Cities of Mars, Temporal Rifts
Deadsmoke, Mountain Legacy
A Devil’s Din, One Hallucination Under God
Disastroid, Missiles
Jim Healey, Just a Minute More (Sept. 26)
Idylls, The Barn
Kadavar, Rough Times
Lucifer’s Chalice, The Pact
Monolord, Rust
Outsideinside, Sniff a Hot Rock
Radio Moscow, New Beginnings
Scream of the Butterfly, Ignition
Tronald, Tronald (Sept. 30)
Unsane, Sterilize
Wucan, Reap the Storm

Oct. 6:

Elder Druid, Carmina Satanae
Fireball Ministry, Remember the Story
Frank Sabbath, Are You Waiting? (Oct. 2)
Himmellegeme, Myth of Earth
House of Broken Promises, Twisted EP
O.R.B., Naturality
Primitive Man, Caustic
Spirit Adrift, Curse of Conception
Spotlights, Seismic
Sumokem, The Guardian of Yosemite
Torso, Limbs
White Manna, Bleeding Eyes

Also:

Oct. 13: Enslaved, Firebreather, I Klatus, R.I.P., Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (reissue), Weird Owl, etc.

Oct. 20: Iron Monkey, Spectral Haze, Bell Witch, The Spacelords, etc.

Something I forgot?

Invariably, right? If you know of something not seen above that should be, then by all means, please leave a comment letting me know. My only ask is that you keep it civil and not call me a fucking idiot or anything like that. I write these posts very early in the day, and if something has been neglected, I assure you it’s not on purpose and I’m happy to correct any and all oversights.

Thanks for reading and happy shopping. Support local record stores.

New York noise rock stalwarts Unsane recently announced they’ll release a new full-length, titled Sterilize, via Southern Lord in September following a couple weeks on the road this month with Fashion Week. Looks like the trio are headed to Europe this Fall, as they’ve been confirmed to take part in Desertfest Belgium 2017 in the latest round of lineup additions from the festival, along with Port Orchard, Washington, heavy rockers Mos Generator and Baltimore psych-blues aficionados Black Lung.

As it turns out, both Mos Generator and Black Lung have new records in the works as well, though I’m not sure on the timing of either in terms of the actual recordings, release dates, etc. Either way, seems likely all three acts will have new material in tow when they hit Antwerp in October, keeping markedly righteous company with the likes of Saint Vitus, Radio Moscow, Graveyard, the Melvins, All Them Witches, and so on.

From the PR wire:

DF ANTWERP 2017 ADDS UNSANE, MOS GENERATOR AND BLACK LUNG

Here’s a short and quick one, but still packed full of goodness.

UNSANE is one of those bands that probably influenced a good deal of what you hear and see on our stage, so it seemed only fitting to put them on the bill. Noise rock doesn’t come any purer than this!

We are also happy to have MOS GENERATOR display their fine stage craftmanship at DF Antwerp 2017, a band that truly infects their crowd with the joy of playing music. And for some bite, we added the razorsharp groove machine BLACK LUNG to the line-up. Twin guitar power riffing – what’s not to love!

We’ll keep ’em coming, but we hope you’ll like this short update from the DF office. We’ll be back soon for more!

UNSANE

Loud, violent and in your face. Ask any nineties survivor about their recollection of an Unsane live gig, and inevitably one of these terms will drop sooner rather than later. They are also one of those bands that inspired a devoted cult-like following in the scene, giving birth to countless noise-metal bands in the process. For this and many other reasons, we are honoured to welcome them to the Fest.

MOS GENERATOR

Night after night, Mos Generator defines the word “chemistry” on stage. Just the right amount of swagger and groove, augmented by just enough improvisation to keep the songs feeling fresh each and every time. Their hefty discography shows a dedication to continually push the core heavy rocking sound of the band into exciting new directions, finding just the right mix between hard and soul.

BLACK LUNG

Black Lung emerged from the underbelly of Baltimore with unheard amounts of volume. The trio toes the line between sonic pain and psychedelic bliss, with influences ranging from raw edged blues-rock to stoned-out riffage. Don’t let the absence of a bass guitar fool you – Black Lung packs an unholy amount of bottom-heavy grooves to go with the washed-out vocals and swirling feedback.

http://www.desertfest.be/tickets
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.facebook.com/events/264364590656095/
https://twitter.com/DesertfestBE

Unsane, “Fix It”

It seems like every time Unsane do anything these days, it’s a comeback. I like that. They should just do comebacks for the rest of their career, and since they rule, I’m glad they’re throwing in the added shtick of playing Scattered, Smothered and Covered in its entirety. I hope it works out for them.

The PR wire informs of a comeback already in progress:

Legendary NYC rock powerhouse Unsane has announced summer, 2010 US tour dates. The revered trio — guitarist/vocalist Chris Spencer, drummer Vincent Signorelli and bassist Dave Curran — will kick off its plan of attack with a string of special US live shows this August that will see the band perform its classic 1995 album Scattered, Smothered and Covered from start to finish.

The announcement of the special Unsane live shows coincides with the 25^th anniversary of Amphetamine Reptile Records, once home to the band. As part of the cut to the bone August tour, Unsane will perform alongside The Melvins, Boss Hog and more as one of the featured artists at the AmRep 25^th Anniversary Bash, set to take place August 27 and 28 in Minneapolis, MN.

“We’re really looking forward to the Unsane shows in August,” Chris Spencer comments. “The idea of performing Scattered, Smothered and Covered in its entirety is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time. To do an album that I like that much from start to finish is going to be incredible. We’ve never done this before, and it’s going to be both challenging and very exciting. The thought of being able to also do this at the AmRep anniversary show really kicks it up a notch!”

Unsane tour dates:
August 5 New York, NY Santos Party House (w/ Keelhaul and Pigs)
August 7 Baltimore, MD Otto Bar (w/ Keelhaul)
August 22 Toronto, ON Sneaky Dee’s (w/ Today is the Day, Keelhaul)
August 23 Akron, OH Backstage Concert Club (w/ Today is the Day, Keelhaul)
August 24 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle (w/ Today is the Day, Keelhaul)
August 26 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon (w/ Today is the Day, Keelhaul)
August 27 Minneapolis, MN Grumpy’s Bar (* As part of Amphetamine Reptile Records’ 25th Anniversary Art Show)