PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The line up for the twentieth edition of Roadburn Festival is now complete, and four-day tickets for the event – which takes place April 9-12 in Tilburg, The Netherlands – have now sold out. Three-day tickets, and individual day tickets for Thursday, Friday and Saturday remain; to view ticketing options, click here.
The legendary festival will take place at the 013, Het Patronaat and Cul de Sac venues in Tilburg city centre, with almost 100 bands performing across five stages. Among the bands playing will be such musical pioneers, scene leaders, and subversive genre-defiers as Fields of the Nephilim, Anathema, Enslaved, Wardruna, Wovenhand, Floor, Eyehategod, Gnaw Their Tongues, Ken Mode, King Dude, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, Messenger, The Heads, Tombs, Skeletonwitch, and Zombi.
Not content with playing sets with their own respective bands, Enslaved‘s Ivar Bjørnson and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik will also be the 2015 festival curators for Friday 10 April. Their handpicked selection of bands, dubbed ‘Houses of the Holistic’ will take you on a musical journey of discovery, taking in several countries and multiple genres along the way. A guaranteed high point will be when the two curators join together to perform an incredible celebration of the sound of Norse history, Skuggsjá. Skuggsjá – which translates to mean ‘mirror’ or ‘reflection’ – will tell the history of Norway and reflect relevant aspects from the the country’s musical heritage into the present day.
Wovenhand will return to Roadburn, to once again captivate the audience – this time, no doubt, including songs from the critically acclaimed 2014 album Refractory Obdurate. Fields of the Nephilim will perform two exclusive sets at Roadburn – one on Friday as part of Houses of the Holistic, plus a Saturday headline set. Having been the leading lights in a gloomy gothic subculture for over thirty years, Fields of the Nephilim have a rich and varied back catalogue to pick from for their dual Roadburn sets.
Once again, Roadburn has installed their very own Artist in Residence – a position previously occupied by Enslaved, Circle, and Justin K Broadrick. The baton has been passed to The Heads, who will also perform two sets over the course of the festival. As part of their residency, there will also be performances by Kandodo and Anthroprophh – acts that are umbilically linked to The Heads.
Anathema will bring their career spanning ‘Resonance’ set to Roadburn to headline the Sunday – the day traditionally known as The Afterburner. That tickets to the Sunday have been the first to sell out is testament to the lure of Anathama; a prospect made even more appealing by the promise of a reverse chronological trip through the band’s history, including appearances by former bassist and songwriter, Duncan Patterson, and original vocalist, Darren White.
Nestled in amongst these headline acts are musical gems from a broad spectrum that takes in doom, stoner, psych, black metal, death metal, hardcore and everything in between. Roadburners can take in the heavy NOLA-fresh stench of Eyehategod and Goatwhore, alongside absorbing the haunting, ethereal beauty of Darkher.
Still to be announced for Roadburn 2015 is the ever-popular side programme; a handful of seminars, Q&A’s, screenings and exhibitions that stimulate the mind and senses even further. Previous inclusions for the side programme have been songwriting workshops courtesy of Scott Kelly (Neurosis, Corrections House) and Mike Scheidt (Yob), hotly debated music industry insights from the likes of Seasons of Mist, Metal Hammer magazine and Relapse Records, and a diverse selection of film screenings.
Roadburn’s pioneering artistic commitment to creativity has placed it at the forefront of European festivals, and draws in repeat visitors from as far afield as Canada, USA, Sri Lanka, and Australia, as well as a dedicated Europe-wide fan base who take over Tilburg for four days each April. The festival has made it on to the bucket list of many touring bands who recognise the influential nature of this still-growing festival.
“It reaches way further and way deeper than any festival I’ve been a part of; it changed our life as a band.” – Mike Scheidt, Yob
“Roadburn is where musicians congregate to unleash themselves freely. It’s a special place;not everybody gets to come here, not everybody gets to buy a ticket, not everybody gets to play here.” – Scott Kelly, Neurosis
ROADBURN FESTIVAL takes place 9-12 April 2015 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Tickets are still available for Thursday through to Saturday (including 3-day tickets), The Afterburner (Sunday) is sold out.
Watch Noisey‘s documentary, Mr Roadburn, filmed at Roadburn 2014 HERE.
