More bands announced for Roadburn 2010: Astra, Church of Misery, Fatso Jetson & Kylesa amongst others

As you all may have noticed, the line-up for Roadburn Festival 2010 has been shaping up nicely.  In addition to the bands previously announced, we are very happy to announce the following acts:

ASTRA
Majestic psychedelic prog rock by this American band on Rise Above Records. Believe it or not, San Diego’s Astra isn’t some obscure band from the early 70s finally getting their due, and The Weirding wasn’t excavated from any long-lost archives. Although it could arguably pass as a prized relic from another era, this cosmic album was released earlier this year. We at Roadburn are really looking forward to hosting the psychedelic-prog sounds of Astra.

Lee Dorrian comments: “Ladies and gentlemen Rise Above Records is delighted to present Astra to the billing of Roadburn 2010. Be prepared for something very special indeed from this amazingly talented classic influenced contemporary prog beast. Having witnessed them perform myself, I can guarantee that you are in for a treat. See you down the front.”

This is only one of two European performances from Astra in April,  the other being London on April 14th at the Scala.

BONG

Sunn 0))) meets Sleep? Hawkwind jamming with Ravi Shankar? All that and more: meet Bong. Formed late 2005 within the city of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Heavy, repetative and psychedelic.
Obsessed with the power of mantras. Extreme repetition. Ability to transport our minds to other places of thought; Cannot deficier the destination. Obtain influence from marijuana. Pure Thought is only obtained once your mind has left your body.

CHURCH OF MISERY
Making their third appearance in row at the festival, it looks like Japan’s serial-killer-obsessed seekers of the almighty riff Church of Misery are poised to become the latest Roadburn house band. All joking aside, Church of Misery were among THE highlights of the previous Roadburn festivals (both the Bat Cave and Green Room proved way to small for them), and Roadburn 2010 will mark their triumphant return, this time on stage in the 600-capacity Midi Theatre.

“Friends!
We are incredibly excited to announce that we’ll be bothering you once again at the beloved Roadburn festival.  It’s three years running for us now, and believe us, we know how lucky we are to have been asked back again.  It’s not only one of the greatest bunches of people in the world to play for, but also one of the best places in the world see the bands we want to see, and to meet our friends from around the world.  Both times we’ve played before have been incredibly special for us, and we’ll be laying down our souls for rock ‘n’ roll again for you in 2010. LET THERE BE DOOM!!!” – Tom – Church Of Misery

FATSO JETSON

One of the most consistently adventurous and entertaining desert rock bands of the last 20 years, Fatso Jetson is as unpretentious as the California desert is wide. Instead of just going with the groove for the sake of grooving, Fatso Jetson expound on it in many different ways. Sometimes they go completely against the grain just to emphasize when they are in the pocket, while other times the flow is there but the heaviness of the instrumentation obscures it.
This is true desert rock. You hear what makes Mario Lalli and Josh Homme tick, and wonder what on earth they put in the water out there in Palm Desert to grow such interesting guitarists and bands.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER
The Gates of Slumber’s sound is a throwback to the old school doom laden sounds of the grandfathers of heavy metal, offering brooding yet gargantuan (doom) metal, epic tunes and sinister dirge-heavy work. A strong addition to Roadburn 2010!

“We are happy to be invited to play the now legendary Roadburn Festival, and we are looking forward to coming back to Holland!” -Karl Simon, The Gates of Slumber

HORISONT

If you like the heavy 70s, you’ll certainly dig Sweden’s Horisont. They excel at creating old school, bluesy hard rock, influenced by the likes of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath and November. The fact that half of the lyrics are sung in Swedish and English adds to band’s appeal. Horisont’s debut album, Tva Sidor av Horisonten (Two Sides of Horisont) easily ranks among the very best stoner rock albums of 2009, and is sure to win over lots of new fans.

KYLESA

Headed by the very capable duo of guitarists and vocalists Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope, Savannah quintet Kylesa bursts out the gate with a roar, melding psychedelic sludge with catchy rhythms that do not let up until their captivating live show is over.

ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE
The Øresund Space Collective is a totally improvised space rock band from Copenhagen and southern Sweden. The membership is changing all the time and features members from Danish bands Gas Giant, SumoSun, Mantric Muse and Swedish bands The Carpet Knights, Sgt. Sunshine, Bland Bladen, Siena Root, and Drahk von Trip. The band are all about finding a groove and creating psychedelic space rock music within this framework. They always have at least two guitar players and two synthesizer players plus bass and drums.

The band records and releases all their concerts for free to the fans. The band has released 5 CDs and will have it’s first vinyl album out in late 2009.  A new CD will be released on Transubstans in April 2010 in time for their appearance at Roadburn.

THE WOUNDED KINGS
UK Doom band The Wounded Kings, hailing from the legendary bleakness of Dartmoor, awakened by a tarot prophecy, merge Britain’s occult heritage with the fragile spirit of the human condition.  They aim to produce a unique blend of spectral doom and psychedelic horror.

Originally a studio project they now crash onto the scene with a killer live unit to initiate the masses into a bottomless pit of suffocating heaviness. Original concepts derive from Edgar Allan Poe, Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost and obscure occult mysteries; they combine to create a greater understanding of otherworlds….

Stay tuned to this space for more news, such as additional band announcements, and the one you’ve all been waiting for, the official date that pre-sales begin for tickets!

Tags: Astra, Bong, church of misery, Fatso Jetson, Horisont, kylesa, Orsesund Space Collective, Roadburn, roadburn 2010, Roadburn Festival, Roadburn Festival 2010, the gates of slumber, The Wounded Kings

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 9:46 am and is filed under Festival News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.