Saturday; Second day waking up with a hangover at the third day of the festival to start with the celebration of the sixth edition of Record Store Day. It started with just buying some new vinyl in Tilburg’s local record store Sounds, but it ended with my personal Roadburn 2013 highlight. Around noon Nate Hall (USX), John Baizly (Baroness) and Katie Jones were supposed to perform in the store. Nate Hall kicked off with a set of almost half an hour, but it couldn’t impress me at all. His voice wasn’t that good, most songs sounded a the same and all in all it was a bit dull. The only reason staying was knowing John Baizley would perform back to back. Last summer I saw Baroness just a couple of days before the tragic bus accident and it felt good to see him perform again. Together with Katie Jones, who backed him up with her beautiful voice and her violin, they played a varied set of (mainly) Townes van Zandt covers and Baroness material. Especially those Baroness songs in this fragile setting gave me goosebumps. Eventually they closed with an astonishing version of ‘Eula’. Baizley did put so much emotion in that song and everyone present was dead quiet and completely blown away by this amazing performance. After minutes of applause, which really seemed to touch him, he sincerely thanked everyone and left us still totally flabbergasted behind. Just goddamn awesome! (GG)

All pictures by Paul Verhagen (Achrome Moments) - http://www.achromemoments.nl/

Starting off my 3rd and last day of Roadburn with The Ocean on the main stage I kind of have a confession to make: The band lost me after Precambrium when their new vocalist joined the ranks. It gave them too much of a slick 'alt-metal' edge and I frankly just don't like his voice. Apparently their new album also comes in a instrumental version, so that might be worth checking out anyway. On to the show then. Starting with some instrumental pieces a couple of things were clear right away. The sound was crystal clear and the visuals were awesome and set the correct mood. After about 2,5 songs the vocalist ran on stage and things went downhill from there. Sporting a 'core' growl and some 'emo-ish' clean vocals it immediately made them a band which didn't really fit the festival and after a couple of songs I left kind of disappointed. Don't get me wrong though: It was quality stuff music and vocal wise, but it just isn't for me anymore at this point. (LV)

 

With a song from The Ocean I started day three but the melodic vocals could touch my ears so I soon stepped towards Stage01 for underground Black Metal from California entitled Fell Voices. It was one of the best shots of the weekend. Their hellish Black Metal was bringing a full cave in trance. After an intro a never-ending blast beat kicked in as lightning and ended with thundering drums while everyone was gone in the miasma of blackened riffs. The screams of the band where mostly done without a microphone. When there was no voice, the band stood still as statues being evil without even the corpse paint. Hell, they woke me up for a good one. (MvdH)

In the Green Room Monomyth was about to start and boy was I in for a treat. This Dutch collective with (former?) 35007 and Gomer Pyle members among their ranks are still without any recorded material but that will change as of September so I've read. They play the kind of droning instrumental space-rock full of textures 35007 or even Motorpsycho in their most jamming moments tend to play with songs lasting up to 15 minutes or so. Starting off with spacey guitar licks slowly building up to monstrous droning grooves held together by a tight rhythm section this was one hell of a trip. And gathering from the general reception in the audience I wasn't the only one left wanting more. (LV)

 

Back in 013 I went to see Alcest, Neige’s main band, at the main stage. 2 years ago they really surprised me as an opener of the 2011 edition and this year I also had high hopes. Entering the room the first disappointment was however the attendance. Whether it was the good weather or The Ruins Of Beverast playing at the same time I don’t know, but it was relatively empty in the venue. This time they played their latest record, Les Voyages de L’Âme, in its entirety and I don’t know if that was such a good idea. In this little bit too big setting their beautiful melodies were too timid to fill the room. In the end I was doubting whether or not to leave just before the end, but two older tracks convinced me to stay. Especially ‘Percées De Lumière’ saved their show a bit for me, but they better could have performed on a smaller stage or with a different, little bit more heavier set. (GG)

I was lucky enough to catch a good portion of Raketkanon's show at Stage 01. These Belgian spastic post-rock-sludge-metallers were here for the party (confetti was flying around at the front, no joke) and provided a good alternative in general for people who take themselves too seriously. I recognised songs like ‘Louis’ and ‘Pjotr’ flying by and we were even treated to a new song with a monstrous Morbid Angel-like riff as the centrepiece. More of that please. (LV)

The one man band The Ruins of Beverast had their first show at Roadburn. Mister Meilenwald collected some musicians to bring his dark brooding mixture of Doom and Black Metal. During the sound check I wasn’t convinced this would turn out into a sinister ride. The musicians sounded nervous and unsure. When the smoke machine was put on maximum and the Patronaat was filled with smog the hellish ride felt much more comfortable. Just as on vinyl the ride starts as a diesel locomotive and later the mesmerizing sounds are filling slowly your brains when the first blastbeats kicks in. the sound got better and better, the musicians felt comfortable and the atmospheric mix of Doom and Black Metal made up towards the high expectations. At home on Mondays spinning a The Ruins of Beverast song brought me immediately in the same vibe. (MvdH)

 Immediately after Alcest I went to the Stage01 to wait for the riffmasters of Wo Fat. Approximately 25 minutes before stage time the room was already stuffed. Influenced by 70s music from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and ZZ Top they bring us a southern fried, blues-infused version of psychedelic doom. With The Black Code they released a killer album at the end of 2012 and live the riffs were even thicker, heavier and nastier. With great pleasure I banged my head to these great tunes, but the fuzz seemed bigger than their actual popularity. After a couple of minutes the room became a little less crowded. Maybe Cult of Luna had something to do with it, but nonetheless you can’t deny these riffs. Good stuff. (GG)

I can be really short about Cult Of Luna's performance on the main stage: The performance of these post-metal stalwarts was my highlight of Roadburn 2013. Having recently released their new record Vertikal I was anxious to see them perform some of their new songs and oh boy did they deliver. After the expected opener ‘I: The Weapon’, ‘Ghost Trail’ (from Eternal Kingdom) and ‘Finland’ (from Somewhere) they did something I was hoping they would do but didn't expect at all: ‘Vicarious Redemption’ was played in all its 19 minute glory. From its subtle electronic build up to its crunching finale it was just plain awesome. Having only just recovered they followed up with ‘Owlwood’ (a personal favorite) and gave us a fitting farewell with ‘In Awe Of’. Small nag point: no material from Salvation, but with such a high quality discography and limited time that's hardly an issue. Be sure to catch this 7 piece live somewhere on their current tour or this summer. (LV)

There we have the rock and roll stonerdoomcoaster High On Fire for the second time. Earlier in time on the bill they play a much tighter set as two days before (less booze and drugs could be the right conclusion). On maximum volume songs like ‘Fury Whip’ are destroying your ears with full force. I never can get enough of this trio and playing only two times on the festival is way too short. The one hour playing time is over before you notice. (MvdH)

Occult 60s psych-influenced rockers Jess And The Ancient Ones were casting a decidedly down to earth spell on the Green Room when I arrived I think about halfway through their set. The spooky atmosphere from their recorded material pretty much got lost on stage but that was actually all for the better. The material got a nice rough bluesy hard-rock edge (a friend even mentioned Heart) and Jess is a great singer and performer. Actually, all the female fronted bands I saw this edition were top-notch. Only downside is I missed them playing ‘Astral Sabbath’, because I love that song. (LV)

 

 And now for something completely different. London’s Teeth Of The Sea brings you psychedelic, but almost psychiatric, post-rock with trumpets, electro beats, percussion and anything else they can think of. This weird combination of instruments and styles results in one bad-ass noise ensemble of which you can’t believe it’s produced by humans until you see it for yourself. Their show was intense, but also a nice intermezzo in between all the stoner and doom this day. You like experimental stuff? Definitely check out their second album ‘Your Mercury’. (GG)

Elder was my final band of the day at Het Patronaat and after standing in line outside for about 5 to 10 minutes I entered a hot and steamy packed venue where the band already had started to tear the roof down. Their show can pretty much be summed up with: awesome riffs. I'm not all that familiar with their work but the mix of (to me:) Kruger, Fu Manchu, old Motorpsycho and Clutch made up for a surprising coherent and unique sound and is just tons of fun. The sound was great, the audience loved it and the band gave the full 110%. Bunch of win in my book and a decent line at their merchandise afterwards. I treated myself to Motorpsycho's new album on vinyl as a souvenir and with that my personal Roadburn 2013 had come to an end. See you next year! (LV)

Two years ago the re-united Godflesh blessed everyone’s ears with Streetcleaner and today is time for the industrial metal classic Pure. With ‘Spite’ and ‘Mothra’ it’s started off with harsh but danceable Industrial metal where Fear Factory has picked up their style from. Slowly Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green continue towards shoegaze territories (later with help from Robert Hampson, who also played guitar on the album) and the melting in your brain is complete. Broadrick combined his screams with his cleaner vocals and the reverbing guitars with cold drumbeats are not for everyone accessible because there is still plenty of room in the audience. Maybe the sound is too experimental for a part of the public. I can’t care because with more room the absorbing of Godflesh is easier. Towards the end the feedback and reverb of the guitar is going to a maximum, creating ambient textures that are the right starting point for a comfortable night. Needless to say I had my highlight of Saturday and I couldn’t care anymore for things to come later. (MvdH)

Before heading to the infamous afterparty in 013’s foyer bar I went to the Patronaat for some serious death and destruction. Asphyx came, saw and conquered. They announced they would perform the doomiest set they’d ever done, but I didn’t care about that fact at all. Just hearing Martin van Drunen’s brutal death roar after a psychedelic 3-day Roadburn trip; priceless. The band was in shape, but especially Van Drunen did a great job firing up the Burners. The only problem I had was the set of 80 minutes, which was a bit too long if you ask me. I rather would have seen an even more thunderous 60 minutes or so. All in all still very satisfying. (GG)

Click here fot the review of Roadburn 2013, day 1!

Click here fot the review of Roadburn 2013, day 2!

Click here fot the review of Roadburn 2013, The Afterburner!