Food For Thought - Roadburn's Top10 List Of 2010

We are still mulling over our favourite albums of the past 12 months, but that's not stopped our friends over at Roadburn posting up their faves for 2010 already! Check it out:

ROADBURN - Top 10 records of 2010 list

Interestingly Jurgen has chosen Satan Worshipping Doom by BONGRIPPER, while Walter has - perhaps unsurprisingly! - plumped for TRIPTYKON's epic Eparistera Daimones record.

Right now I am in a bit of a quandry, partly because it's been such a great year for new records, but also because I haven't actually heard everything that is out there yet... I want to sit down with the proper CDs (LPs if possible) for new MOTORHEAD, SODOM and even ANAL CUNT records, so I can give them the attention that they deserve and even to check out the artwork and inlays of the work. The music is not the only thing that goes towards a great album in my opinion (although clearly that is going to be what it all boils down to in the end!).

Someone wrote online somewhere recently (on Twitter I think) that Top 10 lists are a pointless exercise, because there's no real way that any sane person could possibly listen to EVERYTHING that gets released in the record industry in one year. That's obvious. But, at the same time, I love reading other people's T10's and I always make an extra effort to try and find the more obscure stuff that I see people giving their thumbs up to. I love the whole process.

So yeah, be sure to click on the link (the one that's a bit further up this post) and go see the Roadburn guys Top 10's and see what you think. Those guys really know their stuff and they have a great knowledge of what's new and what's upcoming so maybe you should try and track down some of the records that they have put in those lists that you ain't heard yet. I know that I will.

News To Make Your Head Explode: WINTER To Play Roadburn 2011

Legendary doom pioneers Winter, along with Earth, Scorn, Beaver, Aluk Todolo, Menace Ruine, Hooded Menace, The Secret and Atilla Csihar’s Void Ov Voices, have been confirmed for Sunn O)))‘s curated event at Roadburn Festival 2011, set for April 15th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

THEE CLAW says: WHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

More ?!?!?!'s to follow soon!

Speechless...

Roadburn is elated to announce that Birmingham’s seminal post-punk / industrial behemoths, Godflesh, will perform their seminal debut full-length album, 1989’s Streetcleaner, in its entirety at the 2011 Roadburn Festival, Thursday, April 14th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. Not only will founding members Justin Broadrick and Benny Green play Streetcleaner in full and in track order, they will be playing the Tiny Tears EP, which was conceived as part of the overall Street Cleaner vision, in full as well.

Roadburn Festival regards Godflesh as one of the biggest influences on the burgeoning doom, sludge and drone scenes, alongside their Birmingham forebears Black Sabbath and New York’s unyielding instigators of aural punishment, Swans. The artistic resonance of Godflesh‘ Streetcleaner can be heard and felt throughout the entire festival and in many of the bands invited to perform. Its ability to create an all-encompassing yet devastatingly claustrophobic vision from minimalist means, it treated guitar textures that would later be siphoned off into Justin and Benny’s respective drone projects, Final and Vitriol, and its willingness to meet the abyss head-on are all elements whose fumes have pervaded Roadburn over many years.
It is a massive understatement to say that we’re beyond thrilled about having Godflesh headlining the Thursday Roadburn date with such a highly anticipated performance. We are still pinching ourselves that the fever dream of having such a coup for Roadburn has become a reality – it’s an absolute honour for us, and a testament to a band whose  impact influence has spread so far, wide and deep.

Now Listening To: GHOST

Listening to my copy of the recent 7 inch record by GHOST. You not heard them yet? Check out their shit, it's unreal. It was announced a little while ago that they are playing at the 2011 Roadburn festival in Holland, so I'll be checking them out live there. I also read that they are due to play in London sometime soon (like in 3 weeks time from the date of this blog post) but it's unlikely that I'll be able to make it along to that. But you never know!

GHOST will be releasing their debut album, "Opus Eponymous" in 2 weeks from now on October 18th 2010. I'm guessing that a lot of people won't read this blog post before the record is released (if ever!), so may I take this opportunity to recommend it to you highly and point you in the right direction to go and BUY a copy of it!

Roll on RB11!

SUNN O))) To Curate Roadburn Festival 2011

As seen on roadburn.com

Roadburn festival is thrilled to unveil the curator for the 2011 edition of Roadburn: Sunn O))). The band, to be specific Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley, has agreed to curate our festival on Friday, April 15th, 2011 and host a special event.

As curator, Sunn O))) will personally select the bands that will play during their special event as well as perform a headline show. Sunn O))) will be Roadburn’s fourth curator, following David Tibet in 2008, Neurosis in 2009 and Triptykon’s Tom Gabriel Warrior at this year’s festival.

Right now, Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley are gearing up for two major Sunn O))) events in September: performing Altar with Boris at ATP New York and Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple, but you can expect to hear from them in the future with respect to their thoughts on the 2011 Roadburn festival and Sunn O)))’s performance.

We are overjoyed to join forces with Sunn O))) for the upcoming Roadburn festival. Their metal-based drone experimentations have proved groundbreaking and hugely influential for an entire new generation of musicians practicing the art of avant-garde metal, drone, post rock and psychedelica. Sunn O))) is also widely acclaimed for their eclectic collaborations with everyone from musicians Attila Csihar, Masami Akita (Merzbow), Boris, Steven Stapleton, Justin Broadrick, Oren Ambarchi, Ulver, Joe Preston, John Wiese, and Julian Cope to filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and visual artist Banks Violette.

Greg Anderson, who is also Goatsnake’s songsmith and the entrepreneur behind Southern Lord Records, and Stephen O’Malley, a prolific improviser and composer who is well-known for being involved in Burning Witch, KHANATE, KTL and DACM/Gisèle Vienne theatre-works, have performed in different guises during various Roadburn festivals over the years, which is exactly why we felt they would be the ideal curators. Both of them consistently push the envelope musically, and one of our steadfast goals has been to make Roadburn a festival that explores the cutting edge while celebrating the familiar, too. With that in mind, we could think of no better spiritual guide for 2011 than Sunn O))).

We are truly looking forward to the new ideas and visions that the crossover drone duo will bring to the festival next year. When asked to sum up Roadburn in one word, “progressive” would be a fitting choice. Evolving and improving are part of this. The festival is a tribute to the open mindedness of its bands, curators and audience. The joy comes from expanding musical horizons, and with Sunn O))) acting as our curator we’ll definitely be in for some artistic surprises.

Roadburn Festival 2011, including Sunn O)))’s special event, will run for three days from Thursday, April 14 to Saturday, April 16 at the 013 venue and Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland. There will be an additional afterburner event on Sunday, April 17, 2011.

Yob @ MIDI Centre, Tilburg (Roadburn 2010)

Total bonus, just watched YOB in the MIDI centre (new venue for Roadburn 2010!). A breath of fresh air, YOB are a class act!




Went to watch the JOHN GARCIA / KYUSS set, but the main venue at 013 (where his show was on) was totally packed out, I was lucky to squeeze my way in at the very back of the room! I saw them play 2 songs: Odyssey and Asteroid. After that I made a choice and bailed, to go see YOB. I stand by my choice, YOB played a lot of material from The Unreal Never Lived, an album which I hold dear to my heart... they were simply great stuff!

Once Again, The Lamp Sings & Slays

A quick update - today (Saturday) has been another great installment of the on-going ROADBURN. As has already reported, there have been plenty of changes to the intended line-up due to travel disruption for the likes of SHRINEBUILDER and CANDLEMASS. But there have been plenty of great bands play in their place. Bands such as WITCHCRAFT (who have just finished their set on the Main Stage not 20 minutes ago) who stepped in at the last moment to help fill in the gaps.


I spent this evening watching LAMP OF THOTH play their set in The Bat Cave at 013. Same stage where I have seen BLACK SUN and CHURCH OF MISERY play, fact fans! As always, THE LAMP delivered a fine performance. We even got an encore from them... hope that their set will be a contender for release on the Roadburn Records label some time in the next year! If so, I have some photos that they can use on the inner sleeve, haha.

Okay, JOHN GARCIA is up on the main stage next playing KYUSS tunes. Better get back to it!

ROADBURN 2010 - Day 2

Hello from Holland!


We're here in Tilburg, enjoying the sights and sounds of this year's ROADBURN festival. Unfortunately we couldn't make it along to Day 1 of the event due to a VOLCANO of all things, but it's going to take more than Mother Nature to stop us!

Yesterday (Friday) was Day 2 of Roadburn 2010, and we got to see a few of our favourite bands - CHURCH OF MISERY, THORR'S HAMMER and PAGAN ALTAR, as well as Tom G Warrior's TRIPTYKON for the first time.

There's been quite a lot of changes in the line-up this year, because of the volcano situation. For a start CANDLEMASS have had to cancel, the logistics of making it down to Holland has proved too difficult for them. Roadburn's director of operations, Walter, made some on-stage announcements in between sets on the main stage yesterday, you could see the stress of the situation on his face as he told the crowd about the latest changes to his well-crafted festival.

Okay, I'm off for food and water. This hangover is killing my creativity right now...

ROADBURN 2010

It's that time again gang!


ROADBURN 2010 starts in less than 48 hours and as always, we're gonna head over there and stink the place up a bit. So basically you can expect some updates on here at last!!

SARKE To Play ROADBURN 2010

(If you heard a faint "Bang!" sound coming your way from the direction of Northwest England, that was probably the sound of my head exploding in reaction to this announcement.)

Roadburn Festival is beyond excited to report that SARKE, the Norwegian band featuring Sarke and Nocturno Culto, BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, SUMA and LONG DISTANCE CALLING have been confirmed for Tom Gabriel Warrior’s Only Death Is Real at Roadburn Festival 2010.

SARKE’s music and lyrics are written by its namesake Sarke. He has previously spread his angry art through Khold, Tulus, Old Man’s Child and Sensa Anima. Joining him on his musical quest is Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, whose distinctive vocals combine with Sarke’s music to create another blackened chapter to the grim book of extreme metal. Inspired by the forefathers, but distinctly new and original.

Even MORE Roadburn 2010 news

Self-hating riff worshippers rejoice! EYEHATEGOD, the legendary Southern hardcore-blues-sludge-and-doom group from Katrina-ravaged New Orleans has been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2010. With its hateful, hopeless, anguished vocals set against extra-slow Iommi-inspired riffing, EYEHATEGOD are credited with founding sludge-core, one of the most vital new genres of metal to emerge from the 1990’s.
Countless bands have followed their footsteps, and after almost 20 years of creating some of the most corrosive, vile
music known to man, EYEHATEGOD still hasn’t lost the piss and vinegar, propaganda, and despair that fueled them back in 1998.

More 2010

Roadburn 2010 will see the triumphant arrival of Dr Simon Von Strange, along with his cohorts Emily Pentangle and the nefarious Randolph T. Reaper; where they will unleash their dark twisted formula that is The Lamp of Thoth.

Described by some as a seriously unbalanced, eccentric mix of NWOBHM and th...e Doom cults, The Lamp of Thoth will raise the spirits of dread eldritch horrors and enslave you to bang your head and worship in the name of Heavy Metal!

All Give Praise To Satan - We Love The Lamp!!!

Soon the entire Doomed World will be aware of the Victorian Darkness!!!

Nachtmystium @ Roadburn 2010

Slowly but surely the 2010 ROADBURN FESTIVAL is becoming something of a wet dream.

Tickets go on sale on November 28th.

Dying Inside (Live @ Roadburn 2009)

Church Of Misery @ Roadburn 2009

I uploaded a 2-minute long video of CHURCH OF MISERY onto Youtube today - from during their set at this year's Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands.



This clip just goes a little way towards proving why ROADBURN is my favourite festival by a country mile. CoM's great set was complimented by an amazing combination of stage lighting, background video, atmosphere, sound quality, and more.

And the 2010 ROADBURN looks as though it's going to be even better than 2009's festival... if that is possible!

Roadburn 2010 - Shrinebuilder

Roadburn is very pleased to report that doom supergroup Shrinebuilder will be part of the festival line-up on Saturday, 17 April 2010.

With Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Scott "Wino" Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand and Wino) on guitar, Al Cisneros (OM, Sleep) on bass and Dale Crover (Melvins) on drums, Shrinebuilder's self-titled debut full-length (released on Neurot Recordings) is perhaps the most anticipated "Roadburn Festival album" of the year. Over the past 10 months we have watched the Shrinebuilder buzz rise to fever pitch.

Tom Gabriel Warrior Named As Curator For Roadburn 2010

Roadburn is very pleased to announce that Tom Gabriel Warrior, founder of the illustrious Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, has agreed to act as the curator for our festival on Friday, April 16th 2010, and host a special event at Roadburn, called Only Death Is Real.

Tom's duties as curator include personally selecting the bands that will play on Only Death Is Real, as well as to perform the first major headlining set with his latest incarnation, Triptykon. Tom will be Roadburn’s third curator, following up on David Tibet in 2008 and Neurosis earlier this year, and we would call his election a perfectly natural progression.


We are overjoyed to have secured Tom's involvement in Roadburn this year, as he stands as a truly groundbreaking artist, with his previous bands having been extremely divisive, as is often the case with truly unique and original works of art. Ultimately his canon of work would prove not only legendary but hugely inspirational for an entire generation of musicians in the metal, doom and dark psychedelic scenes.

Tom has always enjoyed pushing the envelope musically and challenging boundaries, and it was entirely that mindset that made him a perfect fit to act as our curator. It has been a constant goal of ours to keep Roadburn a festival that not only celebrates the established but charts new territory, and we could think of no better spirit guide than Tom Gabriel Warrior. We are looking forward to the new ideas that he will bring to our festival, as we feel that we are truly kindred spirits.

Tom Gabriel Warrior: "It is a surprise and an honor to be asked by Roadburn to act as a curator, and I am accepting this extraordinary opportunity with much gratitude and due humility. In my eyes, Roadburn is one of the most courageous and artistic festivals in existence, and its history is, in essence, a list of concerts by groups I deeply admire. It is quite a challenge to follow such footsteps, both as a curator and as a musician. I will try my very best to ensure that the groups I intend to propose to the organizers of Roadburn will be as ravishingly dark, unique, and exciting to the festival's visitors as they are to me."

Holland’s very own Roadburn Festival has become Europe’s leading underground festival for psychedelic, avant-garde, doom or any other variation of leftfield sonic pleasure at pushing the boundaries of music.

In addition to the music, Roadburn has earned a reputation as having a unique camaraderie between the festivalgoers, bands, organizers and staff, and ranks as one of the best and most laid-back festivals to be experienced.

Roadburn 2010, including Tom Gabriel Warrior's Only Death Is Real, will run for three days from Thursday, April 15 to Saturday, April 17 at the 013 venue and Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland. There will be an additional afterburner event on Sunday, April 18, 2010.

Photos Of People Taking Photos

Black Sun @ Roadburn - A Slideshow Video

Black Sun Roadburn 2009 slideshow - Pics by Steven Walley

Hahaha, how mad it looks! THEE CLAW loves Powerviolence and BLACK SUN offers it up in spades.

Hailz ti Glasgee!

Saint Vitus @ Roadburn 2009 - Dave Chandler's Guitar Solo