MF DOOM TONIGHT IN STOCKHOLM

Tonight we'll be taking a break from all the Metal, Sludge, Stoner, Drone and Doom. Well, maybe not the latter, because tonight, Mr. Metal Face, the Super villain, MF DOOM enters Sweden for the first, and probably only time. This will truly be a night to remember, and there's still tickets available, so it's not too late. See you there!

BUZZOV*EN AND WEEDEATER TO ROADBURN

The line-up for the 2011 Roadburn Festival is almost too good. I mean, we already have Sunn O))), Swans, Godflesh, Ghost, Pentagram and, well, many more. And now, Buzzov*en and Weedeater join in on the fun. Have in mind also that Sunn O))) who are curators on one of the days haven't even released any bands yet. This will really be a weekend to remember. The following texts are from Roadburn.com.

Formed in 1989 when heavy riffs  primarily meant grunge, Buzzov*en brought a particularly virulent  malice and filth to their music that often manifested itself in extreme violence at their live shows. Not surprisingly, given their  level of intensity and their heavy touring schedule, their lineup was  quite volatile and changed frequently. Now remaining original member Kirk Fisher (guitar/vox) has reformed the band’s “…At A Loss” lineup  with Dixie Dave (Weedeater) on bass, Sleepy Floyd (Sourvein) on guitar  and Ramzi (Sourvein) on drums.

In the 12 years Buzzov*en was together, they released 3 LP’s (“To A  Frown”, “Sore”, “…At A Loss”) and 5 EP’s along with their legendary “Buttrash” demo tape and the bootlegged but not officially released
“Revelation: Sick Again” which was supposed to come out on Hydra Head Records. The influence of the band far exceeds their recorded output  though, as they and Eyehategod are the forefathers of sludge / stoner
and their frequent tours spread the sludge gospel far and wide, while spawning countless offspring wherever they roamed.

We feel extremely lucky to be able to bring Buzzov*en to the Roadburn Festival to give everyone a chance to experience their vitriolic riffs and rage filled performance.

Giving truth to the adage that the south will get high again, Weedeater bring their rip-snortin’ Sabbath influenced sludge-doom straight to your noggin like a huge bong hit with a whiskey chaser. Plying their southern pride saturated, riffgasms for the last 13 years, the band is a force to be reckoned with, whether simply proselytizing about weed, or more frequently, making social commentary on the brutishness of life.

Shorn of his big toe, but not his will to rock, frontman / bassist Dixie Dave will lead the power trio on an assault of Roadburn’s stage that is sure to be one of the can’t miss performances of the festival. Their new release “Jason…The Dragon” is scheduled to be released by Southern Lord late in 2010.

MORE ROADBURN BANDS CONFIRMED

The Roadburn people has treated us with more great bookings the last couple of days. We really look forward to Cough, Yakuza, White Hills and Lonely Kamel. But we are of course not complaining that we get to see Dragontears, Wolf People, Carlton Melton and Evoken. Both Evoken and Yakuza were supposed to perform this year, but couldn't make it because of some volcano... The following text is from Roadburn.com.

Hailing from New York, White Hills are nothing if not the aural  simulation of an LSD freak-out. A jammed up collision of fuzzed-out wah guitars, gonzoid bass riffs and weird electronic noises arranged in a stunning replication of the effects of Owsley’s psychotropic gift  to brains everywhere. Roadburn, please be aware that the brown acid isn’t too good, we recommend taking White Hills instead.

Since 2006 the name Wolf People has been uttered with hushed reverence amongst psych heads, record collectors and fervent music enthusiasts in the UK. Their mix of psych rock riffs, blues chops and acid folk eventually bringing them to the attention of legendary US label JAGJAGUWAR (home to Black Mountain, Dinosaur Jr, Oneida etc). The debut LP Steeple released earlier this year is fiercely proud of it’s heritage both musical and cultural, and doesn’t shy away from it’s influences, but that’s not to say it’s not it’s own beast: majestic, heavy and real.

Richmond’s Cough delivers a dirge-laden take on excessively drugged out doom (think Electric Wizard as the central point of reference). Both their albums, Sigillum Luciferi and Relapse Records debut, Ritual Abuse, feature heavy, dark, psychedelic doom that sounds like a thousand pharmaceutical-whacked zombies just escaped from Manchester morgue wailing away at an all night party after a pharmacy-raiding crime spree. At other times, Cough‘s monolthic sound is less warped and hallucinogenic, but strongly suffocationg and claustrophobic, and becomes so densely hateful it’s nearly black metal in its ambience.

San Francisco’s Carlton Melton is centered around former Zen Guerrilla’s Andy Duvall (Guitar/Drums) and Rich Millman (Guitar/Synths). They recorded their psychedelic hypno-drone rock in a genuine geodesic dome, and have created an insane psychedelic squall utilizing alien guitar swells, freaked out tribal rhythms and strange loping pulsations.  The heavy vibrations of Can and Pink Floyd suffuse Carlton Melton‘s work, and they use a bed of classic psychedelic rock as means for the guitars and organ to soar righteously through the stratosphere, before decending into trance-inducing drones which burrow deep into the earth.

Carlton Melton appeals equally to old school bong-bubblers and contemporary cosmic heads. If you prefer old SST label cassette tapes or an early Spaceman 3 or Loop cassette you recently found wedged in the back seat of your car, you need to check out  Carlton Melton‘s full length, Pass it On.

Clint Golden (formerly of Hammerdown Turpentine) will be playing bass guitar with Carlton Melton at Roadburn 2011, to round out the sound.

Dragontears, revolving around Lorenzo Woodrose and members of Baby Woodrose and On Trial rarely perform live, and besides a few shows in their homeland, the band’s only performance outside of Denmark took place at Roadburn 2009.

Dragontears has a penchant for mining the psychedelic sounds of the late ’60s (think the 13th Floor Elevators meets Syd Barrett or The Silver Apples meets MC5), as showcased on much acclaimed albums like 2000 Micrograms From Home and Tambourine Freak Machine.

Needless to say that we’re really excited about Dragontears returning to Roadburn, throwing the festival attendees into a vortex of fuzz fueled riffs, and bubbly wah-wah guitars, all manipulated to take us into a hypnotic journey through the center of the mind. Or as the band puts it on their latest album — Turn On, Tune In, Fuck Off!!

Fans of late ’60s and early 70s-era heavy blues rock rejoice, Norway’s Lonely Kamel pack so much charisma it seems they could have once  shared the stage with the likes of Cactus, Blue Cheer or even Pentagram. The band is capable of writing songs in the same style of  the aforementioned greats — and maybe even draining their liquor  stash as well!  They craft infectious stoner rock, underpinned by a thick groove and some cool psychedelia, too. For evidence, listen to  both their s/t debut full-length or their sophomore album, Blues for  the Dead, and you’d swear that they were actually formed 40 year odd years ago, only to find out that they were simply born too late… Great band!

Staying deeply rooted in a genre all its own, Yakuza’s existence lies on a metal base with progressive flair, while somehow also incorporating elements of jazz, world beat, and post-rock ambience. Picture (if you can) a mixture of King Crimson, all periods of John Coltrane’s career, Tortoise, and Napalm Death. The end result is captivating, a sound that Rolling Stone, Revolver, Alternative Press, the Chicago Sun Times, the Chicago Tribune, All That Jazz and countless others all agree is refreshingly original, technically proficient, all the while still staying very metal.

Since 1992, Evoken continue till this day combining dark, haunting, atmospheres with soul-crushing riffs and the heaviest, thickest productions within the metal genre. With each song, prepare your voyage into landscapes of misery-drowned subterranean worlds where the music of wayward souls is eternally played by avatars of Orpheus. Evoken display an unparalleled mastery of extreme doom / death metal establishing the band as one of the leaders in this genre.  Welcome to the desolation of your soul.

SWANS ADD A BUNCH OF TOUR DATES

The legends that are Swans have added a bunch more tour dates for next year. And yes, Swedish people, they are indeed coming here. Both Malmö and Stockholm will be visited. Click here for full details. Swans are of course also headlining next years Roadburn festival.

KYUSS (LIVES) EUROPEAN TOUR

First there was Sons of Kyuss, well Katzenjammer to be historically correct, then Kyuss, then Garcia Plays Kyuss (they did an excellent set at this years Roadburn fest), and now Kyuss Lives! The band will include members John Garcia, Nick Olivieri,  Brant Bjork and Bruno Fevery (who played in Garcia Plays Kyuss). No appearance from Josh Homme though, which comes as no surprise.

Kyuss Lives has a European tour planned for next year, and here's where you can see them:

Mar. 11 - Bergen, Norway @ Rökeriet
Mar. 12 - Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller
Mar. 13 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Medis
Mar. 15 - Hamburg, Germany @ Docks
Mar. 16 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Halle
Mar. 17 - Saarbrücken, Germany @ Garage
Mar. 18 - Basel, Switzerland @ Z7
Mar. 19 - München, Bayern, Germany @ Backstage Werk
Mar. 20 - Budapest, Hungary @ Gödör
Mar. 22 - Vienna, Austria @ Arena
Mar. 23 - Milan, Italy, @ Live Club
Mar. 24 - Frankfurt, Germany @ Hugenottenhalle
Mar. 25 - Paris, France @ Elysee Montmartre
Mar. 26 - Athens, Greece @ Fuss Club
Mar. 27 - Brussels, Belgium @ AB
Mar. 28 - Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
Mar. 29 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
Mar. 31 - Nottingham, ., United Kingdom @ Rock City
Apr. 01 - Wolverhampton, United Kingdom @ Wulfrun Hall
Apr. 02 - London, United Kingdom @ The Forum

NITAD NEW 7" VINYL

Swedish punk band Nitad has a new single out with four killer tracks. Entitled "Den Gudomliga Världen", it's also the first release (out of many we hope) from De:Nihil Records. We will have it in stock shortly.


myspace.com/denihilrecords/

GHOST Live at Klubben, Stockholm, Sweden, Oct 31 2010

Ghost, the most talked about band of 2010, held their first sermon on Swedish soil a couple of nights ago, and expectations were high to say the least. So, did they live up to all the fuzz? Uhm, yes! Not that I for a minute thought otherwise. Their debut album, "Opus Eponymous" is one of the best this year, and this concert was definitely the best I've seen so far in 2010. Ghost played first out of four bands; Deströyer666, Repugnant and Watain. Three big bands, and damn good ones as well, but it was Ghost that most people talked about afterwards.

The nameless singer sounded really good live. Actually just as good as on the album, which is rare. The music was a bit more raw than on "Opus Eponymous", it sounded more like the demo recordings, I think. Nothing wrong with this though, but I like the clean sound on the album a bit more. The concert ended the only way a Ghost sermon could end; with the pope clad vocalist giving out Holy communion to the audience.

I'm counting the days to next years Roadburn festival when I will get to see Ghost live once again.

Text by Mattias Andersson
(Sorry, no pictures, didn't have a camera with me. Check this post to see a couple of live clips from the Hammer of Doom festival)