Posts Tagged ‘Agalloch’

Agalloch, Sólstafir and 40 Watt Sun Confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2012

Posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Roadburn Headquarters is really excited to report that Agalloch, Sólstafir and 40 Watt Sun have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2012.

Portland, Oregon’s Agalloch will bring their sweeping sonic landscapes conjuring desolate forests, icy waters and fire emerging from fog to Roadburn‘s main stage on Thursday, 12 April. The band’s highly atmospheric touchstones, which are equal parts dark ambient, drone, Nordic folk-infused black metal and dark wave, are as much a cinematic experience as a musical one. Agalloch‘s releases – four full-length albums and several EPs over the last 15 years – are a feast for the ears in the same way that Werner Herzog’s and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s visual imagery is a feast for the eyes. Marrow of the Spirit (2010) is a healing, spiritual journey through the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and one of last year’s most stunning statements in metal.

Iceland’s very own Sólstafir will appear on Friday, 13 April as part of the Roadburn Festival. Having emerged with a sound as dark as the volcanic ash spewed by their homeland’s volcanoes, the band has evolved to excel at blending atmospheric, angst-fueled post rock with their blackened heritage, underpinned by psychedelic phrasing and an eerily, hypnotic groove for a truly mind-expanding experience. Iceland’s endless white landscapes, glowering peaks, empty valleys and shrieking winds can be heard and felt through the band’s moving, sonic elements, too.
Sólstafir have come a long way much in the same way that Enslaved has progressed, albeit somewhat differently, as showcased on Köld (hailed as a true masterpiece) and the forthcoming Svartir Sandar, the emotional equivalent of the stormy North Atlantic.

After calling it quits in 2009, Warning’s Patrick Walker returns with his new band 40 Watt Sun and we are really pleased to welcome the band for a one-off show on Saturday, 14 April. 40 Watt Sun‘s stunning debut album, The Inside Room, ranks among the very best Roadburn-related albums of 2011, and offers Walker’s distinctive melancholic voice a more prominent role. His soaring and somber pipes bless the album’s burning tracks. 40 Watt Sun‘s emotionally charged, slowcore hybrid of Jesu meets a harder edged Red House Painters put the band in a class of its own.

Tags: 40 Watt Sun, Agalloch, Roadburn, Roadburn 2012, Roadburn Festival, Roadburn Festival 2012, Solstafir
Posted in 2011, Festival News | 2 Comments »

NPR Listen Now: Agalloch In Concert (Download Available)

Posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

“We’ve played a tiny village in Belgium three times, but we’ve never played the grandest city in America until tonight,” John Haughm said between “Into the Painted Grey” and “Falling Snow” at Agalloch‘s first-ever live performance in New York City (March 22, 2011) in its 15-year history. Surrounded by banners ...read more

Ufomammut’s Eve: Album of 2010 According To Roadburn.com Readers

Posted on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

In the beginning of December 2010 we asked you, our beloved Roadburn readers, to list your Top 10 Roadburn-flavored albums of 2010. By Christmas Eve we had received 110 lists. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send us their list! This is how we compiled the rankings: the ...read more