Roadburn Festival 2008

Hello 'burners, we are very excited to announce the latest confirmed acts for the SOLD OUT 13th annual Roadburn Festival: ENSLAVED, ISIS, WITCH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, BORIS, JESU, SCOTT KELLY, BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS & LONG DISTANCE CALLING.

Enslaved have just been confirmed as the main headliner of the 13th annual Roadburn Festival, playing Saturday, April 19th, 2008 [Doors: 15.00hrs - Start: 16.00hrs].

Enslaved Flyer

Also scheduled to appear on the Saturday Roadburn date are Swedish prog metal stalwarts Cult of Luna, playing a one-off show at Roadburn's main stage.

Boris' sound has continuously changed since their beginnings as a Melvins meet hardcore-metal band. They began with a split 10" in 1995 that featured their hard punky metal along with the Barebones. "Absolutego" followed in 1996 and found the band in a drone / ambient / sludge [influenced by Earth] phase.

Boris would further refine this sound and incorporate it into rock song format on their masterpiece "Amplifier Worship." Trust us when we tell you that "Amplifier Worship" is one of the five best heavy riff albums EVER. From there, Boris explored the modern japanese tribal / psychedelic style [Acid Mother's Temple, "Visions..." era Boredoms] on their split with Choukoku No Niwa. Boris also collaborated with such artist as Sunn O))) ["Altar"], Merzbow, Keiji Haino, and Michio Kurihara amongst others. The band is currently exploring short, hard rock songs.

Acid Mothers Guru is Kawabata Makato [guitar] and Tsuyama Atsushi [bass] from Acid Mothers Temple with Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru on drums. This potent trio will play a heavy, improvised set of krautrock bliss that will take everyone back to 1971. We at Roadburn HQ are very glad to have them on the bill.

Acid Mothers Guru - Roadburn 2008

Hypersonic grindcore freaks Cephalic Carnage won't perform their unusual and uncompromising marijuana-induced grind. Instead, Cephalic Carnage is going to drone out at Roadburn 2008, beckoning the festival attendees to enter the Halls of Amenti.

Indeed, the band is going to play the entirety of "Halls of Amenti", their ultra doom-influenced record from 2002, as part of an entire set of drone and doom. Cephalic Carnage will be doing this special set only at Roadburn during their forthcoming European tour, and performing "Halls of Amenti" live for only the second time ever.

Cephalic Carnage - Roadburn 2008

Lenzig van Stroking: "Cephalic Carnage is going to drone out with the droniest of the drone at Roadburn 2008, and be a mile high while doing it -playing Halls of Amenti, and plodding through the chaos with visuals that will bring tears, sighs, awes,smiles and joys...or sadness. It will be a complete honor to play such a prestigious event in an amazing country and city. In other words: Our live performance will be like Dillinger Escape Plan plodding through the La Brea Tar Pits."

Germany's Long Distance Calling are in the vanguard of the European post-rock movement. By flowingly shifting moods and dynamics, the band is constantly pushing the boundaries of postrock with their impressive soundscapes.

Wolves In The Throne Room will play the Green Room on Saturday, April 19th. The band hails from the forests of Cascadia, USA.
WITTR play music that is inspired and informed by the tribal war-spirit found in Burzum; their roots in the underground punk scene; deep ecology and eco-spirituality; eco-feminism; the study of myth, religion and magick; their own personal struggles to create a stronghold in this ugly and banal world, each in their own way.

WITTR

It's difficult to truly be able to tell you how to envision Jesu's sound if your among the unfamiliars. It's musically unique and lyrically nihilistic. It's subtle... but will be the last thing playing in your head when the voice in your head tells you to walk towards the light. The baby of underground music maestro Justin Broadrick [former member of Napalm Death and Godflesh, has done remixes for Pantera, Isis, Pelican, Knut and Agoraphobic Nosebleed] has recieved critical allocades worldwide for it's highly original vision and completely un-metal approach to drone and doom.

Justin Broadrick: "...at Roadburn I will be presenting my first solo Jesu performance. Enabling me for the first time to showcase existing Jesu material in a live setting that is more electronic based, which for me does not work within the set parameters of the already established Jesu 3-piece 'rock' band performance. Assisted by machines and films, I will be presenting the side of Jesu that is usually confined to my studio; the purest form of Jesu."

The Heads are one of Roadburn's all time favorite bands! No more need be said about them except that if you have not seen them yet, shame on you.

Also on tap is a great new band like Sweden's Kongh. Their debut record "Counting Heartbeats" has been [deservedly] getting rave reviews and their take on sludge / doom is nothing short of majestic.

Texas power-trio extraordinaire Dixie Witch will be unleashing their raging stage show at Roadburn on Saturday. Anyone who has not yet seen either of these bands live is in for quite a treat.

Austin Texas' Tia Carrera are an all instrumental heavy psych rock power trio that are clearly... ok, blatantly... Hendrix influenced. But that's OK, because once you accept that you can settle in and enjoy the seriously top notch psych rock jams the band has on offer.

There's gonna be a krautrock vibe on the Saturday with the appearance of veterans Electric Orange and talented newcomers My Sleeping Karma.

We are pleased to report that Swiss post-metallers Kruger will play the Saturday Roadburn date.

Lesbian's debut album, "Power H�r" [on Holy Mountain records] is considered the birth of the New Wave of American Psychedelic Metal. "Power H�r" will be released on vinyl by Roadburn Records, in a limited edition on vinyl of 500 copies. The release is scheduled for February 1st, 2008.

Lesbian - Roadburn 2008

Formed in 2003 as a solo project for Aidan Baker to explore his interest in heavier, noisier, more aggressive music, Nadja has since been augemented by bassist Leah Buckareff -in order to make the project more than just a studio endeavour, and allow Nadja [currently based in Toronto, Canada] to perform live. Both Baker and Buckareff are adept at creating some of the mesmerizing drone, ambient doom metal, along the lines of Jesu, Godflesh, Sunn 0))) & Skullflower.

Last but definitely not least, France's excellent and epic Year of No light are confirmed for Saturday, April 19th, including a guest appearance by Fear Falls Burning

Fear Falls Burning comments: "Johan Sebenne, the bassplayer of Year of No Light, expressed his appreciation for my music as Fear Falls Burning in a short email while almost simultaneously my friends at Conspiracy Records recommended me their "Nord" album on vinyl. And somehow a mutual respect and understanding was born when Johan asked me to do a remix, everything collided and we even started to work on a collaborative piece for one of their new releases. I remember, after chosing "Travers�e" to remix, I was a bit concerned about how far I could go in terms of recycling and re-working the song but Johan gave me his full faith and support resulting in a drone piece made out of the basic guitarriffs from that song. And this is how we approached our collaborative song as well."

Fear Falls Burning- Roadburn 2008

"I'm sure that it's the fusion of our styles and understanding that motivated Year of No Light as a band to invite me as a guestmusician for their gig at Roadburn 2008. I'm looking forward to join them on stage, but also to be part of the Roadburn family once again and enjoy their utmost respectful and relaxed approach, and being one of the most significant festivals of the lowlands."

Post-metal icons ISIS have been confirmed as the headliner of the Friday Roadburn Festival date, Friday April 18, 2008 [Doors open: 15.00hrs - Start: 16.30hrs]. Currently celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band, the Boston-to-Los Angeles transplants will help fans take part in their milestone anniversary by releasing their entire catalog in one deluxe 12 vinyl-LP box set, and their headlining slot at Roadburn 2008.

Isis - Roadburn 2008

Throughout the years, ISIS have maintained their position in the vanguard of post-metal by consistently exploding the idiomatic strictures that have defined heavy music with each successive release. Roadburn reveres ISIS and feel they warrant discussion alongside such established pioneers as Neurosis and Celtic Frost.

Legendary Chicago doomsters TROUBLE will be playing the Friday Roadburn Festival date.

Trouble - Roadburn 2008

We are currently thinking of naming Sweden's Witchcraft the official Roadburn house band, as they will have graced our stages for 3 years running. All joking aside, their latest effort "The Alchemist" is a real stunner. We can't get enough of it here at Roadburn HQ. The band has left behind their obvious Pentagram influences and crafted a soulful, psychedelic and proggy take on the heavy 70's. This record has a sound that can only be described as 100% authentic Witchcraft!

We really look forward to having the organ-driven monster boogie sounds of Texas' very own Blood of The Sun.

Tony McPhee's Groundhogs [w/ Dave Anderson of Hawkwind / Amon Duul II-fame on bass, and Mark Anderson, drums] will be headlining the Green Room on Friday. These heavy 70's legends will be performing the material from their seminal albums "Split", "Thank Christ for the Bomb", "Scratch the Surface" and "Hogwash."

The Groundhogs - Roadburn 2008

We at Roadburn HQ could not be any happier about this. The Groundhogs have long been favorites here and we consider "Split" to be one of our favorite records of the 1970's. After the amazing sets by Blue Cheer and Guru Guru this year, we are very excited about The Groundhogs.

Witch are not your average new kids on the block. Within their ranks are J Mascis of Dinosaur JR, here returning to his first love, the drums, Dave Sweetapple, and two members [Asa Irons and Kyle Thomas] of the avant-garde folk heroes Feathers. An unholy match indeed as Witch proves on their S/T debut release.

This album sounds as if it was made in the 1970s. Even on first listen, it becomes clear that the production has a distinctly retro flavor. Experiencing 'Black Saint' is like the first time you heard Sabbath, with its awkward fitting lyrics droning over a swampland of fuzzed out blues. But just when you think you have Witch pegged, 'Black Saint' turns on a dime and rocks out like a beast for the crescendo of the song, with a hypnotic guitar lead convincing you that this band are indeed the real deal.

Witch - Roadburn 2008

Neurosis'Scott Kelly will do an acoustic solo show [his first ever in Europe!] at Roadburn 2008. Scott will perform songs from his forthcoming solo album for Neurot Recordings as well as some tracks from earlier records.

Scott Kelly - Roadburn 2008

Scott Kelly: "Acoustic songwriting and performance has been a focus of mine over the last few years. It is a challenge that I embrace with all of my heart. The simplicity and gravity of this type of communication is something that I hid from in my earlier years of writing and performing live music. In this type of setting there's nowhere to hide, all scars are evident, all mistakes are obvious, and all intentions are known. I have been very inspired to go deeper into this experience and bring things from myself that I had previously buried. I will be performing songs that I have written for a forthcoming solo record on Neurot Recordings as well as a couple of previously released tracks. Roadburn is the place that I feel I need to bring this to light for the first time outside of the U.S. I will give it all."

"If you like slow, foreboding and seriously crushing heaviness, you�ll dig Black Shape of Nexus" --Chris Barnes, HellrideMusic.com

Baby Woodrose offer up garage-psych with decidedly pop twist and their latest album, "Chasing Rainbows" showcases a more inwardly rocking heavy psych than their previous two releases.

Danava's sound harkens back to the heyday of mystical prog-rock, the early '70's. However, unlike the unfortunate overlong 30 minute epics crammed with odd chopping time changes, and pompous concertos for group and orchestra, Danava favors a more direct and immediate approach on their forthcoming album, "Unounu", pairing classic rock riffs with hallucinatory fervor and delivering them with an odd pop structure.

Mos Generator hail from Port Orchard, Washington in the USA and are comprised of long time scene and studio veterans Tony Reed [Guitar, ex- Treepeople], Shawn Johnson [Drums, ex-Mindfunk] and Scooter Haslip [Bass, ex-Voodoo Gearshift]. The band has recently released a new album called "Songs for the Future Gods." It's their debut for Small Stone Records, and right from the starting gate, "Songs for Future Gods" gets deep into some stripped down, heavy rock territory, but with a flair for blending multiple influences. From the swagger of Led Zeppelin to the grooves of Purple and Sabbath, there's even a touch of Pink Floyd on "Songs For Future Gods."

We have also confirmed Japan's favorite serial-killer-obsessed doomsters Church of Misery for the Friday Roadburn date.

Earthless are a powerhouse freakout trio from San Diego, California, playing long instrumental, partially structured improvised rock-n-roll, but with a lot of cosmic space-psych influences.

The Assemble Head deliver a truly mind-bending brand of space traveling rock that sounds like an amalgamation of Spirit, Crazy Horse, The 13th Floor Elevators and Blue Oyster Cult, alongside acoustic drones and soundtrack inspired soundscapes.

Gentleman's Pistols are on Lee Dorrian's Rise Above label [instant cred!] and they deliver a truly compelling brand of heavy rock that sounds like an amalgamation of Free and Leafhound.

Gentlemans Pistols - Roadburn 2008

There's sure to be a krautrock vibe on Friday with the presence of Zone Six [featuring former Guru Gruru guitarist Ax Genrich]. These German heads have been offering aural psychedelic journeys for the past 10 years.

Peru's La Ira De Dios will blast off even further into the earth's stratosphere with a mind blowing set of hard driving, deep space rock. Think of the most heavy rocking and spaciest, most freaked out Hawkwind minus the electronics and you are some way to imagining the gargantuan riff nebulae pulsing at the heart of La Ira De Dios atmospheric sound.