BONGRIPPER TO PLAY SATAN WORSHIPPING DOOM AT ROADBURN

Ok, this is too good to be true. I knew that Bongripper would make their way to Roadburn eventually, but what I would never have dared to hope for was this. Hold on to yourselves; yes, Bongripper are going to play at the festival. Not once, but twice. First on the Saturday and then, here it comes, on the Afterburner performing their latest album, "Satan Worshipping Doom" in its entirety. Yes, we're going to see one of the best albums of 2010 come to life on April 15 2012.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

FLESHPRESS, NECROS CHRISTOS AND NECRO DEATHMORT TO ROADBURN

Damn, I can hardly keep up with all the greatness the Roadburn crew keep firing away at us. Three new bands confirmed; the awesome Fleshpress have been booked for the Afterburner. Germany's Necros Christos and UK's Necro Deathmort will play at the "regular" festival.

The following is from Roadburn.com

Indomitable sludge / doom behemoths Fleshpress will be playing a one-off  show at Roadburn 2012's Afterburner, set to be held on Sunday, April 15th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. Combining massive riffs, searing vocals and tense atmospheric interludes, Finland’s Fleshpress is a  must-see for the misanthropically inclined.

Fitting for a band named after a song on a Grief record, Fleshpress make malevolent, crushing music punctuated by snarling screams of pure hatred. Interspersing noise-riddled, forbidding ambience between bouts of neck-snapping riff assaults, they provide no solace for the timid  and spasms of delirium for fans of filthy sludge and doom. We look forward to seeing the smoking crater they leave behind…

Necros Christos will be bringing their atmospheric doom / death metal to the Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 14th, 2012.

Germany’s Necros Christos invoke ancient necromantic death metal rites thick with foreboding and sinister purpose. The band has built a rabid cult following in their 10 years of existence due to their unique blend of catchy old-school, mid-tempo death metal riffs, doomy textures and acoustic interludes.

Combining poisonous and massive riffs, dirty beats and crushing low end with huge banks of distorted synths, a touch of psychedelia, plus experimental, ambient soundscapes, UK’s Necro Deathmort has equal passion for electronic and extreme music. This London based duo have released two striking albums offering a new soundtrack to your nightmares, This Beat Is Necrotronic and Music of Bleak Origin — both are disturbing and soothing in equal measure.

If the names of Neurosis, Ulver, Atilla Csihar or Lustmord mean anything to you, then Necro Deathmort deserves to be on your radar as well, as their mix of the subtle and the extreme, the sublime and the physically repellent is just as remarkable as their peers. Necro Deathmort will perform on Saturday, April 14th.

GNOD AND SPIDERS TO ROADBURN

And they keep on giving and giving. Our long time favourites Gnod (well, if by long time you mean since their 2009 split 7" with Bong) and our fave Swedes Spiders has been confirmed for the 2012 festival. Last time I saw Spiders was when they opened for Pierced Arrows a few months ago, and they pretty much owned the room. A band not to be missed.

The following is from Roadburn.com

It’s really hard to pin down Salford UK’s psych/metal renegades Gnod, as their their distinctive take on psychedelia is not just otherworldly, but also grounded in terrestrial styles like Afro-beat, krautrock, drone, jazz, space rock and even dance music. Gnod excels at the illusion of repetition whereby its motorik rhythms underpin a myriad of shifting hypnotic textures. As of now, Gnod have released approx. twelve full-length albums, each seemingly materializing from the aether, as the band is surrounded in mysticism. Their lengthy live-jams are created by an ever changing cast, of which there is hardly any information available.

However, Gnod will leave their collective residency at Salford’s Islington Mill — a creative arts space where they live and rehearse — to fog our brains and eyeballs with a wash of hallucinations, while enticing our bodies to lose control to the propulsive, repetitive beats at the very same time. Gnod will play Roadburn 2012 on Friday, April 13th.

Fronted by Ann-Sofie Hoyles, along with Witchcraft-guitarist John Hoyles, Matteo Gambacorta (bass) and Ricard Harryson (drums), Gothenburg’s Spiders mix garage punk and hardrock with bluesy melodies, mining a vein of late 60's psych that gets bulldozed by early metal and progressive rock. Spiders’ self-titled 10-inch (recorded with Graveyard’s Axel Sjöberg on drums) was very well received by Record Collector, and sold out almost immediately.

With our fondness for Swedish rock (we have invited the likes of Witchcraft, Graveyard, Dead Man, Horisont and Troubled Hourse et al, to previous festivals) it’s not surprising that Spiders are appearing at this years Roadburn… and not just because they are Swedish, because they are that good! Spiders will appear on Thursday, April 12th.

ANEKDOTEN TO VOIVOD'S CURATED ROADBURN EVENT

The first band to Voivod's curated event at Roadburn Festival 2012 has now been confirmed, and it's none other than Sweden's prog heroes Anekdoten. It's going to be a real treat seeing them at the festival.

Voivod has named their very own day after the 70's TV show The Outer Limits; Au-delà du Réel and it will take place on Friday, April 13 at the 013 in Tilburg.

It's going to be really exciting to see which other bands Voivod will choose to appear alongside Anekdoten. Feels like anything can happen.

CORONER TO HEADLINE ROADBURN AFTERBURNER

Legendary Thrash act Coroner will headline the Afterburner at next years Roadburn Festival. Not too bad, eh? I realize that I've used the word 'legendary' a lot when writing these festival news, but that's Roadburn for you.

The following is from Roadburn.com

Swiss legends Coroner picked up the thrash metal mantle in 1987 when Metallica went in a more pop direction and Megadeth began to succumb to their vices. They advanced the genre through amazing musicianship and by adding complex progressive / jazz musical elements like odd time changes and unusual modes, but always stayed true to the metal.

So advanced were the musical concepts that Coroner brought into their world of thrash metal, that their five records not only stand the test of time, but they transcend and expand the boundaries of the genre. Listening to them today is just as exhilarating and relevant as they were 20 years ago.

Not too bad for three guys that started out as the road crew for Celtic Frost, a band that got so good that they eventually had Tom G. Warrior do vocals on their Death Cult demo in 1986. By the time they switched to Ron Royce (bassist) handling the vocals, they were ready to unleash their first full-length R.I.P. onto the eagerly awaiting metal world. They followed that up with the classics Punishment for Decadence, No More Color, Mental Vortex and finally Grin.

Their sound evolved as they went along, eventually (on Grin) approaching Industrial metal territory, and they helped prolong the relevance of thrash metal in a world quickly turning its attention to grunge, grindcore, Swedish death metal and black metal. Coroner pushed the musical boundaries and kept their sound fresh and evolving, always displaying their amazing technical abilities and their memorable songwriting.

There is no doubt at all that Coroner will bring supreme metal chops as well as arsenal of amazing songs to their Roadburn show. For those that never got to to see them, this will be an education. For those that did, this should bring near-delirious anticipation of hearing some amazing metal.

LEAF HOUND TO ROADBURN 2012

The legendary British rock band Leaf Hound will make a return for the 2012 Roadburn Festival. Celebrating 40 years since its release, Leaf Hound will play "Growers of Mushroom" in its entirety.

I missed out on their set at the 2006 festival, but having heard the live recording I know that this is something you do not want to miss out on.