While Roadburn 2019 might be completely sold out for its entire four-day weekend, the Netherlands-based music festival has added another (and final!) round of bands which include some of the absolute best in underground black metal, experimental and beyond.
Craft is rounding out the bands hand-selected by At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindburg for his curated event, while Boss–de–Nage, Street Sects, MJ Guider and others have been added to the main weekend acts. The fest also announced its official pre-party at 013 called "Ignition," which will feature Temple Fang, Hellripper and one other unannounced band.
Lindburg gave his thoughts on selecting Craft in a comment given to Roadburn:
“Craft was one of the first bands that I contacted for my announcement. I have been a big fan for a long time, and with the release of the astounding ‘White Noise and Black Metal’, it was a no brainer to include them.”
Here's a deeper look at the bands announced (band bios courtesy of Roadburn):
BOSSE-DE-NAGE
With each member initially only known by an initial, as though mere spectres channeling this labyrinthine music from some other galaxy, Bosse-de-Nage have navigated the last decade expertly, creating five incredible records, of which last year’s 'Further Still' is the culmination so far. Melding black metal, shoegaze, post rock and screamo, we’re prepared for a mind-melting experience when Bosse-de-Nage take to the stage at Roadburn.
STREET SECTS
Check out any Street Sects album artwork, and you’ll feel like you’ve plunged into the gritty, harsh world of a hardboiled crime novel, a genre famous for its unflinching realism and toughness. Adjectives that can well be applied to the music this duo from Austin, Texas creates, as well. Music is often described as escapism, but when Leo Ashline hollers, shrieks and proclaims hard truths over Shaun Ringsmuth‘s pounding, pulsing rhythms, it’s the absolute opposite – it’s as if someone’s forcing your eyes wide open, Clockwork Orange-style, to stare at the ugliest and harshest realities this world has to offer.
GLERAKUR
Founded by Icelandic composer and sound designer Elvar Geir Sævarsson in order to perform his contemplative yet titanic score for 'Fjalla-Eyvindur & Halla' – a production by The National Theater – GlerAkur (Icelandic for 'Glass Field') is currently one of the most important cornerstones of the country’s thriving music scene. GlerAkur’s debut album, 'The Mountains Are Beautiful Now' – the soundtrack to the aforementioned play – is very impressive, and won Iceland’s prestigious Kraumur Award in 2017.
Though the band’s cinematic take on Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Swans really comes to life over a full set, as we experienced at last year’s Eistnaflug. With two drummers, and four guitarists, GlerAkur multiplied their hypnotic waves of dreamlike-atmospheres and harmonic feedback into such an overwhelming and mesmerising performance that we simply had to invite them for the 2019 festival.
MJ GUIDER
Melissa Guion will be at Roadburn performing as part of the Thou Artist In Residence extravaganza, which we are already breathlessly anticipating. However, we’re thrilled to announce that she will also be performing her own set – aided and abetted by live collaborators – under the moniker, MJ Guider.
If you’re unfamiliar with the hypnotic fayre of her 2016 release, Precious Systems, then the good news is that there’s just about 11 weeks before Roadburn to get yourself up to speed. Immerse yourself in the swirling landscapes and enchanting melodies on offer; lay back in the stream of lush instrumentation and let it wash over you. MJ Guider‘s output is a multilayered offering, and yet remains delicately sparse at times.
L’ACÉPHALE
Never the most prolific of bands, nor the most well-known, nevertheless L’Acéphale have offered some of the most intelligent blackened folk music throughout the years. While this decade has only witnessed a few small releases – after 'Malefeasance' and 'Stahlhartes Gehäuse,' their only full-lengths, punctuated an unusually productive period in 2008 and 2009 – they have all been remarkable, and once we were made aware that the band was getting ready to become more active, we saw the perfect opportunity to satiate our hunger for more L’Acéphale. With the announcement of their self titled, 74-minute album coming this April on Eisenwald, what better time to explore the abyss than now?
GREY AURA
As well as participating in the Maalstroom commissioned performance, Grey Aura, hailing from Utrecht, The Netherlands, will also bring their conceptual Black Metal to Roadburn 2019 on Sunday, April 14. Grey Aura are using their playful yet sometimes schizophrenic take on this genre (like some of the others participating in Maalstroom) as a vehicle to expose and explore the darker side of the mind.
Here is the full list of bands performing at Roadburn:
A.A.Williams
Anna Von Hausswolff
Astrosoniq
At The Gates
Birds In Row
Birth Of Joy
Bismuth
Bob Hogenelst
Bosse-de-Nage
Cave
Cave In
Celtic Frost
Coilguns
Crippled Black Phoenix
Crowhurst
Crowhurst & Gnaw Their Tongues (collaborative set)
Daughters
Donnerwetter
Drab Majesty
Emma Ruth Rundle
Fauna
Fear Falls Burning
Fluisteraars
Folteraar
Fontän
Fotocrime
Glerakur
Gold
Grails
Grey Aura
Have A Nice Life
Heilung
Hellripper
Henrik Palm
Hexvessel
Imperial Triumphant
Jaye Jayle
L'acéphale
Laster
Lingua Ignota
Louise Lemón
Lucy In Blue
Maalstroom
Marcel van der Vondervoort
Matthijs Stronks
Messa
Midnight
MJ Guider (Melissa Guion)
Molasses
Mord'a'Stigmata
Morne
Nefast
O V T R E N O I R
Pharmakon
Savior & Heresy
Seven That Spells
Sherpa
Sleep
Soft Kill
Street Sects
SUMAC
Temple Fang
Terzij De Horde
Thor & Friends
Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle (collaborative set)
Throane
Tigris And Euphrates
TivoliVredenBurg
Treha Sektori
Triptykon Requiem
Turia
Twin Temple
Ulcerate
Uran
Verwoed
Vile Creature
Walter Hoeijmakers
Witte Wieven
Wolvennest
Wrong
Young Widows
