What am I even supposed to say here other than ‘yes please?’ As Desertfest London 2019 rounds out its lineup and once again demonstrates its willful growth year after year, I’ll tell you this: there are a lot of bands listed below, and a lot of good bands. And if you’re reading this and you’re in London or you’re fortunate enough that you’re going to be in London for this festival, I know you’re hip to where it’s at. I get that. But seriously, if you don’t know, there re a few really must-see bands here, and it’s not all Amenra headlining. That’s great, and I’m sure it’ll be super-intense and very cool and all that.

But I’m telling you: don’t sleep on seeing High Priestess, BlackWater HolyLight, Worshipper, Salem’s Bend, Skraeckoedlan and Great Electric Quest. Some of those names are kind of buried near the bottom of this announcement, but really, you’d only be doing yourself a favor if you caught them. Let’s put Zed in that category too, and when they’re done, tell them I said hi. You probably already know all this, but I just wanted to highlight the point, since there’s a lot here and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I get that too.

Kudos to the Desertscene team for focusing on what matters — the music — even amid pulling double-duty in putting together the first-ever Desertfest NYC, the lineup for which is still in progress. This fest looks amazing and I wish I could say I was going. Quite simply, it’s been too long.

Here’s the announcement:

Amenra to headline Saturday at DESERTFEST LONDON 2019 + day tickets and 28 more bands announced!

Showcasing the best of what the underground has to offer is at the core of DESERTFEST LONDON and this year’s line-up is the most eclectic, yet satisfying to date by ticking those “wish-list old school desert rock” boxes with Fu Manchu and Witch at The Roundhouse, whilst pushing the boundaries of heavy with the likes of HHY & The Macumbas and Grave Miasma. Year after year it’s about offering up a diverse bill that allows for discovery, whilst celebrating the musical foundations of the festival, and the final Saturday headliner and remaining 28 acts do just that.

DESERTFEST LONDON /// 3-5th May, 2019 in London
Weekend and day tickets on sale at this location

Desertfest are honoured to reveal that the incomparable AMENRA will celebrate their 20-year anniversary across the London weekend this May, bringing their uniquely atmospheric sound as headliners of Saturday’s mainstage and, for the first time in the UK, an even more intimate side of the band takes place at The Underworld on Sunday with solo performances from CHVE & SYNDROME. We would be proud to have Amenra headline Desertfest on any year, but to have them on the year they celebrate their 20th anniversary makes it all the more special for us and also the band themselves.

Desertfest are also pleased to announce a stage takeover from the mighty Riding Easy Records, the righteous west coast label will not only bring the sun (we hope) but a hefty dose of fuzzed out riffs from their roster. Headlined by rock’n’rollers ELECTRIC CITIZEN who refuse to be pigeonholed with a 70s proto-metal sound that chimes into psychedelic realms. Street-doom killers R.I.P will hit the UK for the first time and vocalist Fuzz is ready to bring it hard and loud. Completing the stage showcase are 80s punk heavy metal hybrids ZIG ZAGS, hazy Swedish doom newcomers ALASTOR and the low and slow psych goth-rock sounds of BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT.

If that wasn’t enough Desertfest also adds thunderous space-rock psychedelic masters MONKEY3 to upcoming proceedings, the unforgiving primitive metal sounds of THE SECRET and LA party starters THE SHRINE, who haven’t graced DF with their amped up stoner-skate vibes for well over 5 years.

We also welcome back our long-time partners Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide for another takeover of The Underworld on Saturday. Topping the bill, the riff muscle of Savannah, Georgia is brought back to The Underworld by the mighty bruisers BLACK TUSK. Dropping in straight underneath we’re living the doom dream of olde with Chicago legends in THE SKULL. Glasgow gives us two offerings this year in the form of explosive riff n roll filth-party heads ACID CANNIBALS, and to lower the tone whilst severely twisting some melons we also welcome their fellow city dwellers HEADLESS KROSS. As ever we chose to open up with a cataclysmic attack, hence why we’ve invited Brighton’s bleak hardcore oblivionists KALLOUSED to set the day into fittingly venomous motion. Bring your ear plugs, it’s gonna be a floor shaker!

And finally, Desertfest round off with the brilliant SKRAECKOEDLAN, BLANKET, SALEMS BEND, SURYA, HIGH PRIESTESS, ZED, KUROKUMA, GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST, PSYCHLONA, VIDEO NASTIES, ONE FOR SORROW, WORSHIPPER, MOUNTAIN CALLER & 1968 all added to the monumental 2019 line-up.

DESERTFEST LONDON /// 3-5th May, 2019 in London
All tickets on sale at this location

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

BlackWater HolyLight, BlackWater HolyLight (2018)

So, uh, in addition to the kickass poster art — which so good that I’m happy to look at it twice with the banner above and the vertical poster below, Desertfest Berlin 2019 pretty much rules as regards lineup as well. Granted, you could put “ham sandwich” on a card under Fu Manchu and Om, and I’d pass on the sandwich but still call that a really good show, but Wovenhand, All Them Witches, Witch, Colour Haze, Kikagaku Moyo, Naxatras, Earthless, on and on. I mean, come on. This is serious business. I know it’s the holidays and people are kind of checked out, but just look at this fucking thing. Plus, you know, the art.

Their latest announcement is duly celebratory:

FU MANCHU ++ THE DEVIL AND THE ALMIGHTY BLUES ++ ZIG ZAGS ++ SWEDISH DEATH CANDY confirmed for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019!!!

HoHoHo dear desert festers! Perfect in time for Xmas, we would like to make a very special gift, and are more than proud to reveal 4 more bands for Desertfest Berlin 2019. And holy moly, it still feels like a dream but it’s getting real! Since our very first edition, we wanted them to play our stage, 8 years later it finally happens: Fu Manchu are going to play live at our beloved DESERTFEST BERLIN!!!

Since their inception, FU MANCHU has built itself a fanatical army of loyal enthusiasts all drawn to the group’s guitar-driven sound and carefree lyrics centered on old muscle cars, choppers, vans, skateboarding and science fiction. Over their impressing career, FU MANCHU has released 12 albums and has performed to sold out audiences all over the world. 2019 sees desert rock legends Scott Hill, Brad Davis, Bob Balch and Scott Reeder embarking on new adventures, with EXCLUSIVE SHOWS ONLY at DESERTFEST BERLIN + LONDON! “Germany is one of our favorite places to play and the crowds are always amazing. We’re stoked to be coming back to Berlin as part of Desertfest!” the band comments. And so are we to welcome FU MANCHU in 2019!!!

The Devil And The Almighty Blues will be armed with vintage Gibson guitars and tube amplifiers to take over DESERTFEST BERLIN! The Norwegian quintet’s blues- based rock is so heavy without becoming metal, slow without being doom, bluesy without being straight up and boring. Please welcome THE DEVIL AND THE ALMIGHTY live at the ARENA BERLIN, when they will also unleash upon us a brand new album in the Spring of 2019!

Grab your pack of Zig Zags desert rockers, as we will bring you the Los Angeles- based sci-fi power trio live on stage! With their scuzzy fusion of punk, metal and stoner sounds, these guys will deliver the ultimate soundtrack to get high on their sounds. Be prepared for a rad and insane live set!

Tunes as thick and heavily layered, powerful and melodic at the same time, Swedish Death Candy are rounding up today’s special Christmas announcement! Following their formation in 2014 and thundering live shows later, the four-piece psych band quickly began to grab attention from rock fans all over the globe. For a good reason: The variety within the band’s individual backgrounds, skill sets and influences has led the band to be truly unique – and one that is vital for today’s current scene.

Friends, we hope you are as much excited about this very special Christmas present as we are. But that’s not all, DAY TICKETS + FIRST SPLIT OF LINE-UP for each day are also now available and to plan your trip to Desertfest Berlin 2019: www.desertfest-tickets.de

The DESERTFEST-crew would like to wish all desert rockers, friends & families a peaceful Christmas and a heavy happy New Year. Stay safe, enjoy the festive season and we will see us all again soon at the capitol of the almighty riffs: DESERTFEST BERLIN 2019!

www.desertfest-tickets.de
www.desertfest.de
www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin
www.instagram.com/desertfest_berlin

Fu Manchu, Clone of the Universe (2018)

I was this close — this frickin’ close — to going to SonicBlast Moledo earlier this year. It was an enviable lineup, and when I saw the pictures after the fact, it only confirmed for me how much I wanted to have been there. So it goes.

Will I get that close to SonicBlast Moledo 2019? Probably not. Opportunities like that don’t come along every day or every year, and I know that. Still, in part because I’m a glutton for punishment — also for peanut butter — I’ll be doing my best to keep up with the lineup as it’s announced for next August’s edition of the beachside fest in Moledo, Portugal. Already, as I think you can see, they’re well on their way to destroying and winning hearts and minds.

To wit, a first lineup announcement that brings Om to Europe for the summer (they’ll be there in Spring too; I have to wonder just how long the band is spending abroad or if they’re racking up frequent flier miles), Orange Goblin, My Sleeping Karma (some day I will see that fucking band), Windhand, The Obsessed, Minami Deutsch, Zig Zags and Dopethrone is as righteous as it is varied, and it sets a pretty wide open sphere for what the rest might bring. I don’t have an inside track on that or anything, but 2018’s SonicBlast was certainly awesome looking and I see no reason why 2019 would be any different.

Tickets are available and I’m sure it’ll sell out. Words from the fest:

First bands for SonicBlast Moledo 2019! Let’s start the pilgrimage.

We’re so stoked to announce the first bands for SonicBlast Moledo 2019! Aug. 8-10.

Let’s start the pilgrimage.

OM, Windhand, Orange Goblin, MY SLEEPING KARMA, The Obsessed, Dopethrone, Minami Deutsch and Zig Zags are ready to burn the beach!
3 days that you’re never ever forget!

Om (usa) + Orange Goblin (uk) + My Sleeping Karma (ger) + Windhand (usa) + The Obsessed (usa) + Dopethrone (can) + Minami Deutsch (jp) + Zig Zags (usa) +++ many more tba +++

Artwork by Branca Studio

Tickets are now available at here.
(Also available in Portugal, through BOL physical point of sales: Fnac, Worten, Ctt’s…)

https://www.facebook.com/sonicblastmoledo/
https://sonicblastmoledo.com/

Orange Goblin, “The Wolf Bites Back” live at StoneFree Festival

With the advent of the Psycho Smokeout in Los Angeles next April 20, Psycho Entertainment partners with RidingEasy Records and enters the fray of a busy Spring festival season, pushing Elder and Monolord into headliner positions that both deserve and importing other Psycho veterans like Amenra and Belzebong alongside RidingEasy groups Here Lies Man, Electric Citizen, BlackWater HolyLight, R.I.P. and Zig Zags. If you don’t see the significance of this, think of all the fests happening in Europe at the time, whether it’s Roadburn just one week before or Desertfest the first weekend of May. Lineup-wise, the first-ever Psycho Smokeout would seem to be more in line with the latter than the former, but still, it’s a packed Spring for those up for a bit of intercontinental travel.

However, a killer lineup is a killer lineup, and the Psycho Smokeout has one. Looks like it’ll just be the one day — fortunate that April 20 is a Saturday in 2019 — and I’ll assume it’s two stages, though I don’t have confirmation of that or really anything other than the groups playing, which, frankly, is enough for the moment. April’s a ways away, so there may be changes and whatnot, but especially if this takes off, it’s an important happening in the market and bound to turn heads.

RidingEasy‘s announcement and the lineup info follow:

The rumors are true! We’ve teamed up with Psycho Las Vegas For the first annual psycho smoke out on 4/20 in LOS ANGELES. We’ll be vending and loads of our bands are playing including but not limited to Monolord R.I.P. Electric Citizen Blackwater Holylight Here Lies Man Zig Zags and more!!!!

Tickets on sale https://psychosmokeout.eventbrite.com/.

RidingEasy Records & Psycho Entertainment present:
First Annual “Psycho Smokeout”
Saturday, April 20th, 2019
Catch One Riff Compound, Los Angeles

|| FULL LINEUP ||

MONOLORD . ELDER . AMENRA . BELZEBONG . DREADNOUGHT . UADA . GOYA . ELECTRIC CITIZEN . CHRCH . CLOAK . HERE LIES MAN . TOKE . RIP . ZIG ZAGS . HAUNT . CLOVEN . HOWLING GIANT . BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT

https://www.facebook.com/events/179272422957103/

https://www.vivapsycho.com/
http://www.ridingeasyrecs.com/

Monolord, Live at Psycho Las Vegas 2018

Oh, how do they ever pack so much rock and roll onto such a tiny platter. Sweet Times Vol. 6 is the latest installment in an apparently ongoing series of seven-inchers curated by Who Can You Trust? Records, and in the span of a barely-started-before-it’s-over 11 minutes, it brings four bands who sound like they’re in the process of heralding a new movement in underground heavy. Consider, if you will, the punks.

But not like the pop-punkers. Consider the early punk and hardcore. Consider young Black Flag and the semi-metallized, bass-present push of earliest C.O.C. That’s what Oakland’s Dealer would seem to be after with “Casino,” while their side A compatriots Char-Man go full-on Ramones with the jangly and uptempo “Freak Rock.” Australia finds representation in the relative sprawl of Hydromedusa‘s three-and-a-half-minute “Falco,” which is more modern in production, but still derives from a blend of heavy rock and classic thrust and arrives topped with biting vocals, and side B caps with the garage-fueled careening of Zig Zags, whose raw chorus in “Blood” reminds of Death Alley tapping into Motörhead, but is even meaner and presented as raw as can be. In other words, it sounds awesome.

Is a stage being set for a new wave of retro punk? Maybe the lessons of groups like Off! are beginning to take hold and some of those bands who a few years back might’ve hit into shuffling early ’70s boogie have now moved onto to what followed and ultimately displaced the initial heavy rock movement. Think ’76-’81 instead of ’70-’74, and you might get a pretty good idea where Sweet Times Vol. 6 is coming from in terms of style.

You can hear a track premiere for Dealer‘s “Casino” at the bottom of this post to get yourself acquainted, and the 7″ is available to order from Who Can You Trust? Records now.

Dig in:

Sweet Times Vol. 6 – Dealer, Char-Man, Hydromedusa & Zig Zags

Ok… you can finally order your very own copy of this greasy, filled to the bursting point, barrel of rock ‘n’ roll goodness!!

Four shiny new tracks by Dealer, Char-Man, Hydromedusa and Zig Zags!!! …WHAT ELSE TO SAY ?!

A raw diamond… a glimmer of light among today’s vintage/retro/nostalgia rock and roll mediocrity… the silver lining you needed more than anything else in your life… maybe that one thing that gives you hope for a brighter future and keeps you going?!

GIVE IT A TRY…

At least you’ll have a sweet time – ANY TIME !!!

This time the artwork has been handled by the one and only Jesse California and i can’t wait to hold the physical thing in my hands, as the whole package is going to look more than sweet!

„SWEET TIMES – Volume 6“ features brand new recordings by Dealer (former Sexless) from Oakland, California… (If you haven’t yet, go and check out their full-length on Wicked World Records!!), Char-Man (feat. Zarian from Lecherous Gaze on vocals!), Hydromedusa (the self-described Rock & Roll parasites from of Adelaide, South Australia!) and (if that wasn’t enough already…) there’s also a shiny new ripper from Zig Zags that’ll find you senseless after the last note, hidden in the deepest corner of the run-out groove!!! OH MY…

http://whocanyoutrustrec.bigcartel.com/product/va-sweet-times-volume-6-7-vinyl
https://www.facebook.com/Who-Can-You-Trust-Records-187406787966906/
https://whocanyoutrustrec.wordpress.com/

The name just rolls off the tongue. Similar perhaps to the way in which sliders might roll on the tongue in quick enough succession to earn you $500 worth of band merch at The Decemburger at Hi-Dive in Denver, Colorado, on Dec. 3.

That’s the rather considerable prize for the first person to eat 10 sliders — sounds easy, right? — at an eating contest that’s set to take place later in the day at this new fest from Dust Presents, who also put on the Electric Funeral Festival this past June. They’ll bring together a raucous assemblage of acts — from skate rock forerunners The Shrine on down through Austin, Texas, riff ambassadors The Well and Duel to home-grown heavy classic prog upstarts Cloud Catcher, among many others — in order to complement this gluttony with a corresponding potentially-lethal dose of fuzz. It looks like it’s gonna be a party.

If you’re interested in trying your luck with the slider contest — and I mean, come on, it’s not like it’s full-sized burgers — there are only 10 spots available. I’ve never done any competitive eating, and I wouldn’t disrespect anyone who has because I’ve seen those videos and that Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest looks hard as hell, but in addition to a killer show, this seems like an awesome way to get both a bunch of new t-shirts (provided they’ll still be the right size when you’re done) and a great story to tell about how you obtained them.

Tickets available now. Full lineup and show info follows, courtesy of the Thee Facebooks event page linked below:

DUST Presents: The Decemburger 2016

“Grass-Fed Rock n Roll”

Saturday, December 3 at 3 PM
Hi-Dive Denver
7 S Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80209

The Shrine
The Well
In the Company of Serpents
Zig Zags
DUEL
Malahierba
Cloud Catcher
The Munsens
LOVE GANG

SLIDER EATING CONTEST
**Want to share the stage with your favorite bands? There are 10 tickets available for the slider-eating contest (fest entry included), which will be held on stage before one of the last sets. First contestant to eat ten sliders will win a merch package worth $500!

Eating-Contest Tickets: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1336003
General admission tickets: http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1335949

https://www.facebook.com/events/270296666694996/
https://www.facebook.com/dustpresents/
https://www.instagram.com/dustpresents/

The Shrine, “Coming Down Quick” official video