Time for Tea

From the Bloodstock Website:

Here at Bloodstock HQ we’re excited to announce our first headliner for 2013.
The Grammy-nominated, Danish metal legend KING DIAMOND will dazzle eyes and perforate eardrums in the Friday night top slot. After a six-year touring hiatus, the band triumphantly returned to the stage in 2012 for European festivals, Hellfest and Sweden Rock. Friday night’s closing performance at Bloodstock Open Air 2013 marks not only their first ever UK festival appearance, but their first UK show of any kind in many years and will be their only UK date in 2013. 

 When asked about Bloodstock, the mighty King quoth: "I'm looking so much forward to this, we all are. Finally back in England! The people at Bloodstock have gone the extra mile to make this possible, and will be expanding the stage to fit our full production. This is gonna be DARK and very HEAVY!" This special headline appearance racks up alongside the previously announced special guests, ANTHRAX and ACCEPT, and UK exclusive appearances from FIREWIND and FOZZY. 

 Bloodstock ‘Early Bird’ tickets are available from the Bloodstock store at the bargain price of £100 (plus booking fee) for a four-day weekend pass. Snap ‘em up quick, as this limited time offer won’t last forever!

Wow!

Incoming: Full Moon Dog Festival 2012

Hail, droogies! SJW here... I just wanted to give a big shout out and give all of our best to Len and the boys in the mighty ASOMVEL for the 2012 edition of the Full Moon Dog festival, being held at The Cockpit in Leeds, UK. Both myself and Patchie are as sick as dogs (pun intended) not to be in attendance for this year's show but we are planning on holding our own tribute to Jay Jay over the weekend, summoning the awesome majestic spirit that he brought to the stage each and every time he got the chance. What a guy... What a fucking guy!!

This is what it's all about, kiddies!!

The 2012 FMD fest line-up is a cracker, and it is sure to be a great day. We look forward to seeing the DVD when it is unleashed on the great unwashed masses some time in early 2013!

Break a leg guys! Stare at death & SPIT!

R.I.P Jay Jay - And long live ASOMVEL!!

Exclusive: Cruel Force Photoset (Live Evil 2011)

Here's a few of the photos we got of the mighty German rockers CRUEL FORCE during their set at Live Evil Fest in Camden Town London last month. The crowd went wild for their black thrash stylings, and we can't blame em for that! Their new record "Under The Sign Of The Moon" is certainly a piece of work. Be sure to check it out if you get a chance!

Further concert photos to be made available from us right here on this page soon, for our thrasher brethren worldwide.
Stay tuned!

Live Evil 2011 (Day 1)

Howdy from London gang. SJW here, about to hit the hay for the night... we have been here for Live Evil fest, a 2 day celebration of NWOBHM-style heavy metal. Some great acts on show here today, with lots more to look forward to tomorrow.

Okay, I am about to fall asleep while sitting on the couch, so enough of this for now. Full report to follow! Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite.

Live Evil Festival 2011

Live Evil Festival is an International Heavy Metal Festival presenting underground Black metal, Thrash, Speed, Death, Heavy Metal, Metal Punk and Doom bands from around the world. The bands who play it are picked by Fenriz and taken from his Darkthrone band of the week blog. The festival remains 100% committed to the bands who play it. “As Wolves among sheep we have wandered” - Darkthrone 1991.

Live Evil Fest 2011 - London

Link - http://www.liveevilfestival.com/

Thee Claw says: ‎22nd & 23rd October 2011 - London. We will be there. Hopefully some of you guys will be too! Hell yeah.... I mean, just look at the damn line-up! In Solitude, Age Of Taurus, Morbus Chron, Witchgrave - Aura Noir. Plus our good buddies RAVENS FUCKING CREED! This is a line-up not to be missed.

Fenriz's band of the week selections, all in one place!

Damnation Fest 2011 - Update

Damnation Festival announces 3 more bands for its 2011 line up

AVANT-GARDE Norwegians ULVER will play their first and only UK show outside London when they headline the Terrorizer Stage at Damnation Festival. The experimental collective will top the bill in an exclusive performance where they will showcase material from their latest 'War of the Roses' offering.

Joining them will be the black jazz of their countrymen SHINING and London's doom tinged instrumental four piece ASTROHENGE at Leeds Union University on Bonfire Night, Saturday, November 5.

The three genre-morphing acts add to the already stellar lineup of Decapitated, Doom, Amplifier and Dragged Into Sunlight at the seventh edition of the UK's finest metal event, with headliners and many more bands yet to be announced across at least three stages.

Festival director Gavin McInally, said: "We're generally excited about the bands we confirm, but the capture of Ulver for an exclusive show - and their first in the UK outside the London - is a bit special.

"The unique black jazz of Shining and experimental slabs of metal of Astrohenge are also fitting examples of what Damnation Festival is all about - offering fans something a bit different to well worn line-ups hosted across the country.

"We're throwing everything we have at making this line-up our best yet and with the continued support of the fans, Damnation Festival 2011, will be another blinding chapter not to be missed."



Tickets are on sale now priced £29 and are available from See Tickets: www.seetickets.com, Ticketline: www.ticketline.co.uk and Leeds Tickets: www.leedstickets.com


For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites:

Web – http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
Twitter – http://twitter.com/damnationfest
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/damnationfestival

News To Make Your Head Explode: WINTER To Play Roadburn 2011

Legendary doom pioneers Winter, along with Earth, Scorn, Beaver, Aluk Todolo, Menace Ruine, Hooded Menace, The Secret and Atilla Csihar’s Void Ov Voices, have been confirmed for Sunn O)))‘s curated event at Roadburn Festival 2011, set for April 15th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

THEE CLAW says: WHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

More ?!?!?!'s to follow soon!

Doomsday III, Wakefield, UK

Went along to Wakefield's Snooty Fox yesterday for the third installment of the Doomsday festival. Traveled there on a spare-of-the-moment jaunt with friend of thee blog Robbo and also the inimitable DOOMLORD and Conan. I had suspected before the journey that I might be in for a long day but, partly due to the great bands that played and partly due to the atmosphere in the venue, the event seems to whizz by quickly. At the same time though, I have now sat down to write a brief round-up of the day's events and I realise that far too much happened for me to make this any like brief. For now let's just add a couple of photos of the bands on stage and some of the crowd.

Bands that played:

GROAN


SERPENT VENOM


IRON VOID

ASOMVEL



LAMP OF THOTH


LORD VICAR



UNRESOLVED QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Why did LORD VICAR have a sign with "CUNTBUMMER" on stage during their set??


WANDERING GUITAR SOLO OF THE DAY:
Well that goes to Mr RANDOLPH REAPER Esq of THE LAMP. Someone even fed him a pint during his wanderings but I didn't manage to get a photo of that. Damn.

SUNN O))) To Curate Roadburn Festival 2011

As seen on roadburn.com

Roadburn festival is thrilled to unveil the curator for the 2011 edition of Roadburn: Sunn O))). The band, to be specific Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley, has agreed to curate our festival on Friday, April 15th, 2011 and host a special event.

As curator, Sunn O))) will personally select the bands that will play during their special event as well as perform a headline show. Sunn O))) will be Roadburn’s fourth curator, following David Tibet in 2008, Neurosis in 2009 and Triptykon’s Tom Gabriel Warrior at this year’s festival.

Right now, Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley are gearing up for two major Sunn O))) events in September: performing Altar with Boris at ATP New York and Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple, but you can expect to hear from them in the future with respect to their thoughts on the 2011 Roadburn festival and Sunn O)))’s performance.

We are overjoyed to join forces with Sunn O))) for the upcoming Roadburn festival. Their metal-based drone experimentations have proved groundbreaking and hugely influential for an entire new generation of musicians practicing the art of avant-garde metal, drone, post rock and psychedelica. Sunn O))) is also widely acclaimed for their eclectic collaborations with everyone from musicians Attila Csihar, Masami Akita (Merzbow), Boris, Steven Stapleton, Justin Broadrick, Oren Ambarchi, Ulver, Joe Preston, John Wiese, and Julian Cope to filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and visual artist Banks Violette.

Greg Anderson, who is also Goatsnake’s songsmith and the entrepreneur behind Southern Lord Records, and Stephen O’Malley, a prolific improviser and composer who is well-known for being involved in Burning Witch, KHANATE, KTL and DACM/Gisèle Vienne theatre-works, have performed in different guises during various Roadburn festivals over the years, which is exactly why we felt they would be the ideal curators. Both of them consistently push the envelope musically, and one of our steadfast goals has been to make Roadburn a festival that explores the cutting edge while celebrating the familiar, too. With that in mind, we could think of no better spiritual guide for 2011 than Sunn O))).

We are truly looking forward to the new ideas and visions that the crossover drone duo will bring to the festival next year. When asked to sum up Roadburn in one word, “progressive” would be a fitting choice. Evolving and improving are part of this. The festival is a tribute to the open mindedness of its bands, curators and audience. The joy comes from expanding musical horizons, and with Sunn O))) acting as our curator we’ll definitely be in for some artistic surprises.

Roadburn Festival 2011, including Sunn O)))’s special event, will run for three days from Thursday, April 14 to Saturday, April 16 at the 013 venue and Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland. There will be an additional afterburner event on Sunday, April 17, 2011.

Twisted Sister @ Bloodstock 2010

Saw TWISTED SISTER last night at the 10th Bloodstock festival in the UK. They played a great set, lots of on stage rants in between songs (about the weather of all things) and they played a lot of their early stuff, a greatest hits performance.

People who think that TWISTED SISTER are only about 2 hit songs... fuck off!


Setlist:

Come Out and Play
The Kids are Back
Stay Hungry
Captain Howdy
Shoot Em Down
You Can't Stop Rock & Roll
The Fire Still Burns
I Am, I'm Me
We're Not Gonna Take It
The Price
Burn In Hell
A drum solo
I Wanna Rock


They played an encore too but, for my sins, I started the long walk to the car park around that time. I hear they played SMF at the end... fuck!!

The Bloodstock guys put together a really good list of bands for the Sunday this year, including SUFFOCATION and GWAR, and the weather was really good. I have got sunstroke today I think. My own fault for not wearing a hat or corpse paint. But then, people who wear corpse paint to outdoor festivals are fucking losers, haha.

Yob @ MIDI Centre, Tilburg (Roadburn 2010)

Total bonus, just watched YOB in the MIDI centre (new venue for Roadburn 2010!). A breath of fresh air, YOB are a class act!




Went to watch the JOHN GARCIA / KYUSS set, but the main venue at 013 (where his show was on) was totally packed out, I was lucky to squeeze my way in at the very back of the room! I saw them play 2 songs: Odyssey and Asteroid. After that I made a choice and bailed, to go see YOB. I stand by my choice, YOB played a lot of material from The Unreal Never Lived, an album which I hold dear to my heart... they were simply great stuff!

Once Again, The Lamp Sings & Slays

A quick update - today (Saturday) has been another great installment of the on-going ROADBURN. As has already reported, there have been plenty of changes to the intended line-up due to travel disruption for the likes of SHRINEBUILDER and CANDLEMASS. But there have been plenty of great bands play in their place. Bands such as WITCHCRAFT (who have just finished their set on the Main Stage not 20 minutes ago) who stepped in at the last moment to help fill in the gaps.


I spent this evening watching LAMP OF THOTH play their set in The Bat Cave at 013. Same stage where I have seen BLACK SUN and CHURCH OF MISERY play, fact fans! As always, THE LAMP delivered a fine performance. We even got an encore from them... hope that their set will be a contender for release on the Roadburn Records label some time in the next year! If so, I have some photos that they can use on the inner sleeve, haha.

Okay, JOHN GARCIA is up on the main stage next playing KYUSS tunes. Better get back to it!

ROADBURN 2010 - Day 2

Hello from Holland!


We're here in Tilburg, enjoying the sights and sounds of this year's ROADBURN festival. Unfortunately we couldn't make it along to Day 1 of the event due to a VOLCANO of all things, but it's going to take more than Mother Nature to stop us!

Yesterday (Friday) was Day 2 of Roadburn 2010, and we got to see a few of our favourite bands - CHURCH OF MISERY, THORR'S HAMMER and PAGAN ALTAR, as well as Tom G Warrior's TRIPTYKON for the first time.

There's been quite a lot of changes in the line-up this year, because of the volcano situation. For a start CANDLEMASS have had to cancel, the logistics of making it down to Holland has proved too difficult for them. Roadburn's director of operations, Walter, made some on-stage announcements in between sets on the main stage yesterday, you could see the stress of the situation on his face as he told the crowd about the latest changes to his well-crafted festival.

Okay, I'm off for food and water. This hangover is killing my creativity right now...

ROADBURN 2010

It's that time again gang!


ROADBURN 2010 starts in less than 48 hours and as always, we're gonna head over there and stink the place up a bit. So basically you can expect some updates on here at last!!

SARKE To Play ROADBURN 2010

(If you heard a faint "Bang!" sound coming your way from the direction of Northwest England, that was probably the sound of my head exploding in reaction to this announcement.)

Roadburn Festival is beyond excited to report that SARKE, the Norwegian band featuring Sarke and Nocturno Culto, BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, SUMA and LONG DISTANCE CALLING have been confirmed for Tom Gabriel Warrior’s Only Death Is Real at Roadburn Festival 2010.

SARKE’s music and lyrics are written by its namesake Sarke. He has previously spread his angry art through Khold, Tulus, Old Man’s Child and Sensa Anima. Joining him on his musical quest is Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, whose distinctive vocals combine with Sarke’s music to create another blackened chapter to the grim book of extreme metal. Inspired by the forefathers, but distinctly new and original.

JUDAS PRIEST @ Donington 2008

Even MORE Roadburn 2010 news

Self-hating riff worshippers rejoice! EYEHATEGOD, the legendary Southern hardcore-blues-sludge-and-doom group from Katrina-ravaged New Orleans has been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2010. With its hateful, hopeless, anguished vocals set against extra-slow Iommi-inspired riffing, EYEHATEGOD are credited with founding sludge-core, one of the most vital new genres of metal to emerge from the 1990’s.
Countless bands have followed their footsteps, and after almost 20 years of creating some of the most corrosive, vile
music known to man, EYEHATEGOD still hasn’t lost the piss and vinegar, propaganda, and despair that fueled them back in 1998.

Nachtmystium @ Roadburn 2010

Slowly but surely the 2010 ROADBURN FESTIVAL is becoming something of a wet dream.

Tickets go on sale on November 28th.

Roadburn 2010 - Shrinebuilder

Roadburn is very pleased to report that doom supergroup Shrinebuilder will be part of the festival line-up on Saturday, 17 April 2010.

With Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Scott "Wino" Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand and Wino) on guitar, Al Cisneros (OM, Sleep) on bass and Dale Crover (Melvins) on drums, Shrinebuilder's self-titled debut full-length (released on Neurot Recordings) is perhaps the most anticipated "Roadburn Festival album" of the year. Over the past 10 months we have watched the Shrinebuilder buzz rise to fever pitch.

Thorr's Hammer (Supersonic, Birmingham, UK)

Wish you were there.