#sumac — Public Fediverse posts

English is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.

Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.

Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer

Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.

What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.

If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.

Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026

Sumac Fruits in the courtyard in the ILR school (years ago I used to get lost whenever I went in there!)

#photo #photography #sumac #plants #bloomscrolling #winter #red #ilr #cornell #bloomscrolling

Sumac trees along the edge of my lawn the Deer have been rubbing...

#Sumac #DeerRub #WhiteTailedDeer

Upside of being injured: I have time to listen to a full album, uninterrupted, sitting in the dark with zero distractions. This album deserves such a listen. I had forgotten this was coming out this year and it turned out to be the most intense listen of 2025. Difficult to say the least, but a piece of art, complete with cathartic last track that made me bawl.

SUMAC and Moor Mother - The Film (2025)

https://sumac.bandcamp.com/album/the-film

#Sumac #MoorMother #experimental #metal #SpokenWord

#BostonWeekend 6/x
Thu-Sat #HEAVY $22+ "Somergloom is an underground heavy music and arts festival based in Somerville, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston area. Unencumbered by genre, Somergloom showcases and celebrates the richness of today’s heavy music scene, centered around music that is introspective, creatively ambitious, evoking a melancholic quality that we like to call “gloom”.

Since its inception in 2021, Somergloom has grown into a multi-day event featuring a diverse range of artists from both New England and beyond. In 2025, we celebrate our fifth year at #DeepCuts in #MedfordMA and #CrystalBallroom in #SomervilleMA, with performances by #SUMAC, #BodyVoid, #TheKeening, #Morne, #Chepang, and many more from #GreaterBoston, #NewEngland and the #Northeast US.” https://somergloom.com
#SomervilleMA #Heavy #Gloom #Boston #BostonMusic #Festivals #massachusetts

A Western Grey #Squirrel amidst dry grass and #Oregon Sunshine near the summit of Spencer's Butte, #Eugene. These guys are so used to humans they will brush up against you, sniffing you to see if you carry nuts or seeds. This common #Rodent does not seem to be affected by the #PoisonOak! #Hiking #Wildflower #Yarrow #OregonSunshine #Aster #Sumac

A Western Grey #Squirrel amidst dry grass and #Oregon Sunshine near the summit of Spencer's Butte, #Eugene. These guys are so used to humans they will brush up against you, sniffing you to see if you carry nuts or seeds. This common #Rodent does not seem to be affected by the #PoisonOak! #Hiking #Wildflower #Yarrow #OregonSunshine #Aster #Sumac

A Western Grey #Squirrel amidst dry grass and #Oregon Sunshine near the summit of Spencer's Butte, #Eugene. These guys are so used to humans they will brush up against you, sniffing you to see if you carry nuts or seeds. This common #Rodent does not seem to be affected by the #PoisonOak! #Hiking #Wildflower #Yarrow #OregonSunshine #Aster #Sumac

A Western Grey #Squirrel amidst dry grass and #Oregon Sunshine near the summit of Spencer's Butte, #Eugene. These guys are so used to humans they will brush up against you, sniffing you to see if you carry nuts or seeds. This common #Rodent does not seem to be affected by the #PoisonOak! #Hiking #Wildflower #Yarrow #OregonSunshine #Aster #Sumac

A Western Grey #Squirrel amidst dry grass and #Oregon Sunshine near the summit of Spencer's Butte, #Eugene. These guys are so used to humans they will brush up against you, sniffing you to see if you carry nuts or seeds. This common #Rodent does not seem to be affected by the #PoisonOak! #Hiking #Wildflower #Yarrow #OregonSunshine #Aster #Sumac

https://www.europesays.com/uk/106551/ Entheomorphosis – Pyhä Kuilu Review #2025 #3.0 #Alitila #AvantGardeMetal #Bongripper #DarkBuddhaRising #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #Enphin #Entertainment #Entheomorphosis #FinnishMetal #Gangrened #Ludalloy #May25 #Mr.PeterHayden #music #pH #PrimitiveMan #PyhäKuilu #Review #Reviews #Sumac #SunnO))) #SvartRecords #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vallihauta

Entheomorphosis – Pyhä Kuilu Review

By Dear Hollow

If I’ve learned anything from Dark Buddha Rising, it’s that drone metal goes hand-in-hand with spiritual awakening. The blinding light of transcendence and the shadows of the occult are parts of the same jagged landscape of existence, and the abyss rules beneath, embodying both creation and destruction. Gentle and ruthless in equal measure, drone metal’s tides of mountainous riffs and thunderous tones offer the secrets of the universe and the nonexistence that perpetually threatens every fiber. Dark Buddha Rising exemplified this in its Buddhism-influenced aesthetic tied to hypnotic and ritualist drone, pulsing percussion, and a flurry of vocal attacks to conjure and invoke a dark trance. With their ongoing hiatus, Entheomorphosis takes up the mantle.

Appropriately, Entheomorphosis is the spiritual successor of Dark Buddha Rising, taking its namesake after its 2009 album of the same name, its primary architect being former guitarist/vocalist Vesa Ajomo. A quartet, other members include Mr. Peter Hayden/PH/Enphin alum Lauri Kivelä (also of Alitila) on bass and JP Koivisto (also of Vallihauta) on guitar, as well as Lassi Männikkö of Gangrened and Ludalloy behind the kit. While Dark Buddha Rising offered a surprisingly nimble and balanced approach to drone in energetic percussion and obscure vocal approaches, Entheomorphosis embraces the sprawl and a more predictable vocal dimension, alongside a much more erratic percussion presence. Debut Pyhä Kuilu (“holy abyss” in Finnish) embraces the spiritual awakening of shedding old skin with shuddering tone abuse and glacial crawls in its favor, even if it pales in comparison to its mother act.

Entheomorphosis does a great job of compacting drone metal’s most trademark features in a tidy thirty-five-minute runtime, thanks to concise songwriting. It features four tracks, with the bookends comprising the main movements (“Alkiema,” “Iätön”). These are the transcended Arhats in a drone metal fan’s nirvana: droning riffs, tortured vocals, and breathless patience. Conjuring the Sabbath-worshipping likes more of Earth than Sunn O))) in its slightly orange and hazy tone (perhaps Bongripper), it drawls on while Ajomo’s vocals take the stage in tortured shouts and Männikkö’s slightly off-kilter rhythms add a dimension of intrigue to the proceeds. Contrary to Dark Buddha Rising’s winning formula of drums carrying the drone, Entheomorphosis finds the drums carrying on a manic ritualistic energy almost despite the droning riffs, reminding me of early Sumac’s work. This clash is a bit jarring but intriguing, as longer passages avoid stagnation thanks to these odd collisions. The moods invoked are vast, settling upon anticipation’s startling brightness (“Alkiema”) and dread’s heavy weight (“Iätön”).

Getting away from the traditional drone template, the meat of Pyhä Kuilu offers respite in unexpected ways for Entheomorphosis. From the minimalist creeping of blackened shrieks atop chaotic drumming, thunderous bass, and synthesizer (“Sikinä”) to a crystalline and pulsing synth foray (“Huntu”), the centerpieces recall a more liturgical and shamanistic Primitive Man in its unforgiving noise and injection of chaos among the more regal movements of straightforward drone. They nonetheless beg the question as to why two comparatively brief respites are tied together as such when they are just different enough to be confusing and just similar enough to sound the same. The vocals are likewise a bit of a conundrum with Entheomorphosis, especially in comparison to its parent project. Dark Buddha Rising benefited from the choir of insanity of its three voices, but Ajomo’s nasally shouts seem to clash with the surrounding bleak obscurity, working most effectively with the blackened shrieks in “Sikinä.” The vocals are not the main focus, but they do distract at best, derail at worst, when they appear.

Entheomorphosis soars in being a worthy spiritual successor to Dark Buddha Rising, even if its pedigree cannot hold up. It’s a dark drone sound that you’ve come to know and love, but simultaneously more accessible and more experimental. Pyhä Kuilu feels more liturgical and less hypnotic, and its chemistry between drums and riff is endlessly intriguing. It may not achieve transcendence of its actors’ other projects, but for fans of drone, Entheomorphosis is a tour de force of holiness and devastation. While a nice bit of escapism, I’m banking on a more complete spiritual awakening next time.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Svart Records
Websites: entheomorphosis.bandcamp.com | entheomorphosis.com
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

#2025 #30 #Alitila #AvantGardeMetal #Bongripper #DarkBuddhaRising #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #Enphin #Entheomorphosis #FinnishMetal #Gangrened #Ludalloy #May25 #MrPeterHayden #PH #PrimitiveMan #PyhäKuilu #Review #Reviews #Sumac #SunnO_ #SvartRecords #Vallihauta

Entheomorphosis – Pyhä Kuilu Review

By Dear Hollow

If I’ve learned anything from Dark Buddha Rising, it’s that drone metal goes hand-in-hand with spiritual awakening. The blinding light of transcendence and the shadows of the occult are parts of the same jagged landscape of existence, and the abyss rules beneath, embodying both creation and destruction. Gentle and ruthless in equal measure, drone metal’s tides of mountainous riffs and thunderous tones offer the secrets of the universe and the nonexistence that perpetually threatens every fiber. Dark Buddha Rising exemplified this in its Buddhism-influenced aesthetic tied to hypnotic and ritualist drone, pulsing percussion, and a flurry of vocal attacks to conjure and invoke a dark trance. With their ongoing hiatus, Entheomorphosis takes up the mantle.

Appropriately, Entheomorphosis is the spiritual successor of Dark Buddha Rising, taking its namesake after its 2009 album of the same name, its primary architect being former guitarist/vocalist Vesa Ajomo. A quartet, other members include Mr. Peter Hayden/PH/Enphin alum Lauri Kivelä (also of Alitila) on bass and JP Koivisto (also of Vallihauta) on guitar, as well as Lassi Männikkö of Gangrened and Ludalloy behind the kit. While Dark Buddha Rising offered a surprisingly nimble and balanced approach to drone in energetic percussion and obscure vocal approaches, Entheomorphosis embraces the sprawl and a more predictable vocal dimension, alongside a much more erratic percussion presence. Debut Pyhä Kuilu (“holy abyss” in Finnish) embraces the spiritual awakening of shedding old skin with shuddering tone abuse and glacial crawls in its favor, even if it pales in comparison to its mother act.

Entheomorphosis does a great job of compacting drone metal’s most trademark features in a tidy thirty-five-minute runtime, thanks to concise songwriting. It features four tracks, with the bookends comprising the main movements (“Alkiema,” “Iätön”). These are the transcended Arhats in a drone metal fan’s nirvana: droning riffs, tortured vocals, and breathless patience. Conjuring the Sabbath-worshipping likes more of Earth than Sunn O))) in its slightly orange and hazy tone (perhaps Bongripper), it drawls on while Ajomo’s vocals take the stage in tortured shouts and Männikkö’s slightly off-kilter rhythms add a dimension of intrigue to the proceeds. Contrary to Dark Buddha Rising’s winning formula of drums carrying the drone, Entheomorphosis finds the drums carrying on a manic ritualistic energy almost despite the droning riffs, reminding me of early Sumac’s work. This clash is a bit jarring but intriguing, as longer passages avoid stagnation thanks to these odd collisions. The moods invoked are vast, settling upon anticipation’s startling brightness (“Alkiema”) and dread’s heavy weight (“Iätön”).

Getting away from the traditional drone template, the meat of Pyhä Kuilu offers respite in unexpected ways for Entheomorphosis. From the minimalist creeping of blackened shrieks atop chaotic drumming, thunderous bass, and synthesizer (“Sikinä”) to a crystalline and pulsing synth foray (“Huntu”), the centerpieces recall a more liturgical and shamanistic Primitive Man in its unforgiving noise and injection of chaos among the more regal movements of straightforward drone. They nonetheless beg the question as to why two comparatively brief respites are tied together as such when they are just different enough to be confusing and just similar enough to sound the same. The vocals are likewise a bit of a conundrum with Entheomorphosis, especially in comparison to its parent project. Dark Buddha Rising benefited from the choir of insanity of its three voices, but Ajomo’s nasally shouts seem to clash with the surrounding bleak obscurity, working most effectively with the blackened shrieks in “Sikinä.” The vocals are not the main focus, but they do distract at best, derail at worst, when they appear.

Entheomorphosis soars in being a worthy spiritual successor to Dark Buddha Rising, even if its pedigree cannot hold up. It’s a dark drone sound that you’ve come to know and love, but simultaneously more accessible and more experimental. Pyhä Kuilu feels more liturgical and less hypnotic, and its chemistry between drums and riff is endlessly intriguing. It may not achieve transcendence of its actors’ other projects, but for fans of drone, Entheomorphosis is a tour de force of holiness and devastation. While a nice bit of escapism, I’m banking on a more complete spiritual awakening next time.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Svart Records
Websites: entheomorphosis.bandcamp.com | entheomorphosis.com
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

#2025 #30 #Alitila #AvantGardeMetal #Bongripper #DarkBuddhaRising #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #Enphin #Entheomorphosis #FinnishMetal #Gangrened #Ludalloy #May25 #MrPeterHayden #PH #PrimitiveMan #PyhäKuilu #Review #Reviews #Sumac #SunnO_ #SvartRecords #Vallihauta

Entheomorphosis – Pyhä Kuilu Review

By Dear Hollow

If I’ve learned anything from Dark Buddha Rising, it’s that drone metal goes hand-in-hand with spiritual awakening. The blinding light of transcendence and the shadows of the occult are parts of the same jagged landscape of existence, and the abyss rules beneath, embodying both creation and destruction. Gentle and ruthless in equal measure, drone metal’s tides of mountainous riffs and thunderous tones offer the secrets of the universe and the nonexistence that perpetually threatens every fiber. Dark Buddha Rising exemplified this in its Buddhism-influenced aesthetic tied to hypnotic and ritualist drone, pulsing percussion, and a flurry of vocal attacks to conjure and invoke a dark trance. With their ongoing hiatus, Entheomorphosis takes up the mantle.

Appropriately, Entheomorphosis is the spiritual successor of Dark Buddha Rising, taking its namesake after its 2009 album of the same name, its primary architect being former guitarist/vocalist Vesa Ajomo. A quartet, other members include Mr. Peter Hayden/PH/Enphin alum Lauri Kivelä (also of Alitila) on bass and JP Koivisto (also of Vallihauta) on guitar, as well as Lassi Männikkö of Gangrened and Ludalloy behind the kit. While Dark Buddha Rising offered a surprisingly nimble and balanced approach to drone in energetic percussion and obscure vocal approaches, Entheomorphosis embraces the sprawl and a more predictable vocal dimension, alongside a much more erratic percussion presence. Debut Pyhä Kuilu (“holy abyss” in Finnish) embraces the spiritual awakening of shedding old skin with shuddering tone abuse and glacial crawls in its favor, even if it pales in comparison to its mother act.

Entheomorphosis does a great job of compacting drone metal’s most trademark features in a tidy thirty-five-minute runtime, thanks to concise songwriting. It features four tracks, with the bookends comprising the main movements (“Alkiema,” “Iätön”). These are the transcended Arhats in a drone metal fan’s nirvana: droning riffs, tortured vocals, and breathless patience. Conjuring the Sabbath-worshipping likes more of Earth than Sunn O))) in its slightly orange and hazy tone (perhaps Bongripper), it drawls on while Ajomo’s vocals take the stage in tortured shouts and Männikkö’s slightly off-kilter rhythms add a dimension of intrigue to the proceeds. Contrary to Dark Buddha Rising’s winning formula of drums carrying the drone, Entheomorphosis finds the drums carrying on a manic ritualistic energy almost despite the droning riffs, reminding me of early Sumac’s work. This clash is a bit jarring but intriguing, as longer passages avoid stagnation thanks to these odd collisions. The moods invoked are vast, settling upon anticipation’s startling brightness (“Alkiema”) and dread’s heavy weight (“Iätön”).

Getting away from the traditional drone template, the meat of Pyhä Kuilu offers respite in unexpected ways for Entheomorphosis. From the minimalist creeping of blackened shrieks atop chaotic drumming, thunderous bass, and synthesizer (“Sikinä”) to a crystalline and pulsing synth foray (“Huntu”), the centerpieces recall a more liturgical and shamanistic Primitive Man in its unforgiving noise and injection of chaos among the more regal movements of straightforward drone. They nonetheless beg the question as to why two comparatively brief respites are tied together as such when they are just different enough to be confusing and just similar enough to sound the same. The vocals are likewise a bit of a conundrum with Entheomorphosis, especially in comparison to its parent project. Dark Buddha Rising benefited from the choir of insanity of its three voices, but Ajomo’s nasally shouts seem to clash with the surrounding bleak obscurity, working most effectively with the blackened shrieks in “Sikinä.” The vocals are not the main focus, but they do distract at best, derail at worst, when they appear.

Entheomorphosis soars in being a worthy spiritual successor to Dark Buddha Rising, even if its pedigree cannot hold up. It’s a dark drone sound that you’ve come to know and love, but simultaneously more accessible and more experimental. Pyhä Kuilu feels more liturgical and less hypnotic, and its chemistry between drums and riff is endlessly intriguing. It may not achieve transcendence of its actors’ other projects, but for fans of drone, Entheomorphosis is a tour de force of holiness and devastation. While a nice bit of escapism, I’m banking on a more complete spiritual awakening next time.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Svart Records
Websites: entheomorphosis.bandcamp.com | entheomorphosis.com
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

#2025 #30 #Alitila #AvantGardeMetal #Bongripper #DarkBuddhaRising #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #Enphin #Entheomorphosis #FinnishMetal #Gangrened #Ludalloy #May25 #MrPeterHayden #PH #PrimitiveMan #PyhäKuilu #Review #Reviews #Sumac #SunnO_ #SvartRecords #Vallihauta

Entheomorphosis – Pyhä Kuilu Review

By Dear Hollow

If I’ve learned anything from Dark Buddha Rising, it’s that drone metal goes hand-in-hand with spiritual awakening. The blinding light of transcendence and the shadows of the occult are parts of the same jagged landscape of existence, and the abyss rules beneath, embodying both creation and destruction. Gentle and ruthless in equal measure, drone metal’s tides of mountainous riffs and thunderous tones offer the secrets of the universe and the nonexistence that perpetually threatens every fiber. Dark Buddha Rising exemplified this in its Buddhism-influenced aesthetic tied to hypnotic and ritualist drone, pulsing percussion, and a flurry of vocal attacks to conjure and invoke a dark trance. With their ongoing hiatus, Entheomorphosis takes up the mantle.

Appropriately, Entheomorphosis is the spiritual successor of Dark Buddha Rising, taking its namesake after its 2009 album of the same name, its primary architect being former guitarist/vocalist Vesa Ajomo. A quartet, other members include Mr. Peter Hayden/PH/Enphin alum Lauri Kivelä (also of Alitila) on bass and JP Koivisto (also of Vallihauta) on guitar, as well as Lassi Männikkö of Gangrened and Ludalloy behind the kit. While Dark Buddha Rising offered a surprisingly nimble and balanced approach to drone in energetic percussion and obscure vocal approaches, Entheomorphosis embraces the sprawl and a more predictable vocal dimension, alongside a much more erratic percussion presence. Debut Pyhä Kuilu (“holy abyss” in Finnish) embraces the spiritual awakening of shedding old skin with shuddering tone abuse and glacial crawls in its favor, even if it pales in comparison to its mother act.

Entheomorphosis does a great job of compacting drone metal’s most trademark features in a tidy thirty-five-minute runtime, thanks to concise songwriting. It features four tracks, with the bookends comprising the main movements (“Alkiema,” “Iätön”). These are the transcended Arhats in a drone metal fan’s nirvana: droning riffs, tortured vocals, and breathless patience. Conjuring the Sabbath-worshipping likes more of Earth than Sunn O))) in its slightly orange and hazy tone (perhaps Bongripper), it drawls on while Ajomo’s vocals take the stage in tortured shouts and Männikkö’s slightly off-kilter rhythms add a dimension of intrigue to the proceeds. Contrary to Dark Buddha Rising’s winning formula of drums carrying the drone, Entheomorphosis finds the drums carrying on a manic ritualistic energy almost despite the droning riffs, reminding me of early Sumac’s work. This clash is a bit jarring but intriguing, as longer passages avoid stagnation thanks to these odd collisions. The moods invoked are vast, settling upon anticipation’s startling brightness (“Alkiema”) and dread’s heavy weight (“Iätön”).

Getting away from the traditional drone template, the meat of Pyhä Kuilu offers respite in unexpected ways for Entheomorphosis. From the minimalist creeping of blackened shrieks atop chaotic drumming, thunderous bass, and synthesizer (“Sikinä”) to a crystalline and pulsing synth foray (“Huntu”), the centerpieces recall a more liturgical and shamanistic Primitive Man in its unforgiving noise and injection of chaos among the more regal movements of straightforward drone. They nonetheless beg the question as to why two comparatively brief respites are tied together as such when they are just different enough to be confusing and just similar enough to sound the same. The vocals are likewise a bit of a conundrum with Entheomorphosis, especially in comparison to its parent project. Dark Buddha Rising benefited from the choir of insanity of its three voices, but Ajomo’s nasally shouts seem to clash with the surrounding bleak obscurity, working most effectively with the blackened shrieks in “Sikinä.” The vocals are not the main focus, but they do distract at best, derail at worst, when they appear.

Entheomorphosis soars in being a worthy spiritual successor to Dark Buddha Rising, even if its pedigree cannot hold up. It’s a dark drone sound that you’ve come to know and love, but simultaneously more accessible and more experimental. Pyhä Kuilu feels more liturgical and less hypnotic, and its chemistry between drums and riff is endlessly intriguing. It may not achieve transcendence of its actors’ other projects, but for fans of drone, Entheomorphosis is a tour de force of holiness and devastation. While a nice bit of escapism, I’m banking on a more complete spiritual awakening next time.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Svart Records
Websites: entheomorphosis.bandcamp.com | entheomorphosis.com
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

#2025 #30 #Alitila #AvantGardeMetal #Bongripper #DarkBuddhaRising #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #Enphin #Entheomorphosis #FinnishMetal #Gangrened #Ludalloy #May25 #MrPeterHayden #PH #PrimitiveMan #PyhäKuilu #Review #Reviews #Sumac #SunnO_ #SvartRecords #Vallihauta

Recensie: Sumac + Moor Mother – The Film ★★★★½
https://writteninmusic.com/albumrecensie/sumac-moor-mother-the-film/

#Music #Metal #MoorMother #Sumac #ThrillJockey #Konkurrent

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025

By GardensTale

The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.

For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.

What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.

Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)

2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.

Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?

HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes

sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time

3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!

4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.

4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.

4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.

5:17 PM — It did not.

5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!

5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.

6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!

Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe

7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.

9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.

9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.

Dolphin Whisperer: envy good

well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance

10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.

10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.

Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS

11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.

12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.

Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)

12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.

1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.

1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’

2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!

3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!

3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.

Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club

5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.

Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow

5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.

6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.

6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.

7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”

7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.

8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.

9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.

10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.

11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.

Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.

Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)

1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!

They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.

2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.

2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire

2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!

2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.

Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe

3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.

3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.

3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.

4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.

Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.

Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(

5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.

Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable

You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.

6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!

6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song

6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.

Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice

She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit

8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.

9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.

9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.

11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.

11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair

Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!

I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah

Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)

10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!

2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!

2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.

2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.

3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.

3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.

3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.

Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal

That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha

4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!

4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.

6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.

6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.

7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.

7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.

7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.

9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.

9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!

9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.

10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.

Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?

#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025

By GardensTale

The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.

For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.

What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.

Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)

2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.

Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?

HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes

sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time

3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!

4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.

4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.

4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.

5:17 PM — It did not.

5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!

5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.

6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!

Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe

7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.

9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.

9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.

Dolphin Whisperer: envy good

well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance

10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.

10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.

Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS

11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.

12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.

Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)

12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.

1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.

1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’

2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!

3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!

3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.

Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club

5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.

Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow

5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.

6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.

6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.

7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”

7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.

8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.

9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.

10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.

11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.

Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.

Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)

1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!

They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.

2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.

2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire

2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!

2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.

Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe

3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.

3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.

3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.

4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.

Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.

Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(

5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.

Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable

You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.

6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!

6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song

6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.

Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice

She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit

8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.

9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.

9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.

11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.

11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair

Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!

I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah

Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)

10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!

2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!

2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.

2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.

3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.

3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.

3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.

Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal

That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha

4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!

4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.

6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.

6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.

7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.

7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.

7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.

9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.

9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!

9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.

10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.

Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?

#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025

By GardensTale

The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.

For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.

What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.

Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)

2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.

Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?

HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes

sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time

3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!

4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.

4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.

4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.

5:17 PM — It did not.

5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!

5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.

6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!

Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe

7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.

9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.

9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.

Dolphin Whisperer: envy good

well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance

10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.

10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.

Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS

11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.

12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.

Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)

12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.

1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.

1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’

2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!

3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!

3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.

Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club

5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.

Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow

5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.

6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.

6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.

7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”

7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.

8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.

9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.

10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.

11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.

Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.

Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)

1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!

They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.

2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.

2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire

2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!

2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.

Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe

3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.

3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.

3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.

4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.

Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.

Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(

5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.

Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable

You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.

6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!

6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song

6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.

Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice

She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit

8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.

9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.

9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.

11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.

11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair

Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!

I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah

Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)

10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!

2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!

2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.

2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.

3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.

3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.

3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.

Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal

That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha

4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!

4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.

6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.

6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.

7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.

7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.

7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.

9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.

9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!

9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.

10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.

Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?

#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025

By GardensTale

The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.

For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.

What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.

Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)

2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.

Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?

HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes

sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time

3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!

4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.

4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.

4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.

5:17 PM — It did not.

5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!

5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.

6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!

Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe

7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.

9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.

9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.

Dolphin Whisperer: envy good

well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance

10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.

10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.

Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS

11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.

12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.

Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)

12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.

1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.

1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’

2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!

3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!

3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.

Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club

5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.

Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow

5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.

6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.

6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.

7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”

7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.

8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.

9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.

10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.

11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.

Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.

Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)

1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!

They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.

2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.

2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire

2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!

2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.

Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe

3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.

3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.

3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.

4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.

Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.

Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(

5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.

Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable

You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.

6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!

6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song

6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.

Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice

She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit

8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.

9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.

9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.

11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.

11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair

Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!

I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah

Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)

10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!

2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!

2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.

2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.

3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.

3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.

3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.

Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal

That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha

4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!

4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.

6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.

6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.

7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.

7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.

7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.

9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.

9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!

9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.

10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.

Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?

#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills

#Arizona - Skoden Coffee & Tea combines traditional #NativeAmericanCuisine with #activism

by Anna Ehrick, April 22, 2025

PHOENIX – "For Indigenous small business owner Natasha John, the road to owning a coffee shop has been long. About 300 miles, in fact.

"John first opened Skoden Coffee & Tea as a pop-up in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, traveling to areas throughout the vast community in northeast Arizona.

"When people suggested she should move the business 300 miles south to Phoenix, John recalled she doubted the idea.

" 'I was really against it because I thought I wanted to be like a food hub on the reservation because it’s such a food desert,' John said. 'But I had the reassurance from my partner and colleagues that were helping me with pop-ups.'

"When an opportunity came in December 2023 to move the enterprise to a vacant spot inside For The People, an uptown #PhoenixAZ furniture store on Central Avenue, she jumped at the chance.

" 'Fortunately, we had a lot of success with that first location,' she said. 'When business owners say location means everything, it really does.'

"Skoden Coffee & Tea has now settled in its most recent home inside #CentralRecords, a record store on Central Avenue south of Roosevelt Street. It’s inspired by Japanese-style coffee shops referred to as 'kissa.'

"That’s a shortened version of 'kissaten,' roughly translated to 'tea drinking shop.' In Japan, a kissa is a spot where people can listen to music, usually jazz, while enjoying their tea.

"At Skoden, a variety of beverages and pastries are inspired by Indigenous cuisine, with ingredients like blue corn and oat milk alongside coffees and espressos. Among the most popular offerings are the Diné Matcha Latte, Honey Lavender Lez Love, Peach and Pecan Latte as well as blue corn donuts and croissants.

"For John and co-owner Jo Manuelito, it’s important to include elements of nostalgia from growing up on the reservation.

"This includes beverages that use Navajo tea, an ancient herbal tea using the dried leaves of Greenthread, also known as Thelesperma. The herb, with its thread-like leaves, contains anti-inflammatory elements, which is why the tea has been used for hundreds of years as tribal medicine.

" 'We do research into trying to restore a lot of things that were lost during #colonization in our diets,' John said.
'One thing that a lot of Navajo people are trying to revive is the use of #sumac. It’s used in a lot of #MiddleEastern communities, but our ancestors used to harvest it as well.'

"The use of ancestral ingredients is what John believes will help the #Navajo community not only nourish themselves but stay connected to their culture.

"Being #Indigenous and #LGBTQ+, John said she recognizes some of the difficulties she has faced as a business owner.

" 'I feel like there’s a lot of judgment and high expectations,' she said. 'People are constantly projecting onto us, always watching us and judging. This whole experience has taught me that we really need to grow thicker skin.'

"John said they want all customers to feel safe and welcomed, and said it helps that the shop is surrounded by other supportive small businesses like Greater Good and Last Laugh Tattoo.

"Skoden has a growing Instagram presence, with more than 15,000 followers. It hosts fundraising events for diverse communities and music festivals featuring small bands.

" 'Everybody does a good job of uplifting each other, and we get a lot of people in the area that come in and support local business owners,' John said. 'The shop can take credit for being a #SafeSpace where people can share the same values and ideas on social issues.'

"Charlie Amáyá Scott, a Native American scholar and transgender advocate, has visited Skoden and said her favorite drink is the Navajo lavender-infused honey tea.

" 'I adore Skoden Coffee,' said Scott, who also works as a social media influencer.

"She has taken to Instagram to support the shop, encouraging others who live near the area to check it out. She also has spoken out about the shop’s role in #activism and support of certain movements like #BearsEars, which involves a coalition of five Indigenous communities who want to protect the #BearsEarsNationalMonument.

"John said she wants customers to leave Skoden feeling supported and renewed.

" 'We have to remind each other what we’re doing this for and go back to those values of why we started this business,' she said. 'For us, it’s not about making money but trying to create change through serving coffee and providing a space where people can just heal.' "

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/04/22/indigenous-coffee-shop-offers-safe-space/

#IndigenousOwnedBusinesses #IndigenousFood #Decolonize #SupportLocalBusinesses #Arizona #NativeAmericanFood #CommunitySpaces #Healing

Za’atar Spiced Butternut Squash Soup – A Couple Cooks https://www.diningandcooking.com/1980066/zaatar-spiced-butternut-squash-soup-a-couple-cooks/ #ButternutSquash #CookbookRe #CookbookReview #Cumin #DairyFree #fall #Mediterranean #MediterraneanSoup #MiddleEastern #OliveOil #PlantBased #SesameSeeds #Sumac #SweetPotatoes #ThanksgivingRecipes #Thyme #VeganRecipes #VegetableBroth #VegetarianRecipes #Za'atar

Filth
01.07.2025 Berlin / Cassiopeia

Hanabie.
18.11.2025 Berlin / Huxleys

SUMAC
17.04.2025 Berlin / Festsaal Kreuzberg

#Berlin #Cassiopeia #FestsaalKreuzberg #Filth #Hanabie #Huxleys #SUMAC #SteelFeed

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 17 February 2025 :

#AhmedAgKaedy #WillGuthrie, #ApparatOrganQuartet, #DepecheMode, #DhanaJeera, #BrigitteFontaine, #France, #Garaventa, #Groop, #Hyperculte, #JóhannJóhannsson, #TheMarriedMonk, #Mils, #Nonstop, #DominiquePetitgand, #RienVirgule, #Sumac, #MohammadSyfkhan, #Tele:Funken, #Vangelis,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 17 February 2025 :

#AhmedAgKaedy #WillGuthrie, #ApparatOrganQuartet, #DepecheMode, #DhanaJeera, #BrigitteFontaine, #France, #Garaventa, #Groop, #Hyperculte, #JóhannJóhannsson, #TheMarriedMonk, #Mils, #Nonstop, #DominiquePetitgand, #RienVirgule, #Sumac, #MohammadSyfkhan, #Tele:Funken, #Vangelis,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 17 February 2025 :

#AhmedAgKaedy #WillGuthrie, #ApparatOrganQuartet, #DepecheMode, #DhanaJeera, #BrigitteFontaine, #France, #Garaventa, #Groop, #Hyperculte, #JóhannJóhannsson, #TheMarriedMonk, #Mils, #Nonstop, #DominiquePetitgand, #RienVirgule, #Sumac, #MohammadSyfkhan, #Tele:Funken, #Vangelis,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 17 February 2025 :

#AhmedAgKaedy #WillGuthrie, #ApparatOrganQuartet, #DepecheMode, #DhanaJeera, #BrigitteFontaine, #France, #Garaventa, #Groop, #Hyperculte, #JóhannJóhannsson, #TheMarriedMonk, #Mils, #Nonstop, #DominiquePetitgand, #RienVirgule, #Sumac, #MohammadSyfkhan, #Tele:Funken, #Vangelis,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 17 February 2025 :

#AhmedAgKaedy #WillGuthrie, #ApparatOrganQuartet, #DepecheMode, #DhanaJeera, #BrigitteFontaine, #France, #Garaventa, #Groop, #Hyperculte, #JóhannJóhannsson, #TheMarriedMonk, #Mils, #Nonstop, #DominiquePetitgand, #RienVirgule, #Sumac, #MohammadSyfkhan, #Tele:Funken, #Vangelis,

#music #disque #reco

Carcharodon and Cherd’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Carcharodon

Carcharodon

I’ve been writing here since 2018. This has been the hardest year to date. I feel like I say this every year right around this time but, for whatever reason, I’ve really struggled this year to find the motivation and inspiration to write. Indeed, I’ve often felt that I lacked the passion for the music. Rather than exploring the murkier depths of Bandcamp, I was often to be found in the company of old, non-metal friends like Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower and Tom Waits.

Despite my disappointment with the world, most of which is on literal or metaphorical fire, and my disillusionment with people, whose choices have caused most of that, there were bright glimmers. The phenomenal response to our Gondor-esque call for aid, when Kenstrosity‘s life was ripped apart by Hurricane Helene, reassured me there are still a few good people out there, a good number of whom read this blog.

Still, I managed to turn out a few reviews this year, including my first ever 5.0—more of which below—which was worth it for the Steel Ire it evoked alone. And there was the Fifteenalia, a celebration the like of which we will not see again (for obvious reasons), which I had the honour of steering from questionable inception to creaky delivery.

Ironically, despite my struggles on the writing front, This Place has played a significant part in keeping me sane. It’s been tolerable to welcome a few new staffers—some even raised up from the awful Place Below—to our serried ranks, while the older hands feel almost like family at this point, with everything that that entails. As ever, particular thanks go to Steel Druhm for his tireless intimidation, which just about keeps us honest, while Dolph, Dear Hollow, El Cuervo, Grier, Maddog, Sentynel and Thus Spoke, among others, have proved adequate companions for banter and gigs.

And with that, I wish you all the happiest of Listurnalias.

#ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – A very late entry to this list, Pillar of Light should be a cautionary tale to bands and labels: release your shit earlier! With more time, the stunning Amenra-meets-Cult of Luna post-misery of Caldera could easily have placed in the top half of this list. While I know this is an album I will come to love and fully expect to regret not placing it higher here, the reality is that other entries have had longer to sink their hooks into me. I will just say that, for me, the apparently divisive vocals are a perfect fit for Pillar of Light’s style.

#10. Seth // La France des Maudits – Way back when,1 French black metallers Seth snuck onto my list of Honorable Mentions with La Morsure du Christ, a fantastic return to form after a lengthy absence. After a short gap, they’re back and this year’s La France des Maudits has cracked the list proper. Melodic, bordering on symphonic with the keys and choral arrangements, but also visceral and feral, Seth dropped an absolute banger. It doesn’t hurt that, as Thus Spoke pointed out in her review, it’s “downright impressive how rich and dynamic this sounds.”

#9. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – The Vision Bleak is not, to paraphrase Dr Grier, a band that has ever ‘got’ me. Or perhaps, I’ve never got them. But Weird Tales resonated with me enormously. And perhaps that’s because it’s not really like anything The Vision Bleak has done before. Structuring their gothic black metal (or should that be blackened goth metal?) into a single, flowing song (albeit one broken into parts) got my attention. But they held my attention because they actually managed to pull off this very-hard-to-execute vision. Weird Tales’ Type O Negative / Moonspell-inspired blackened sound clicked into place almost instantly for me and now I need to go back to TVB’s discography with newly-opened eyes.

#8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – The first 4.0 I delivered in an alarmingly high-scoring year, Necrowretch’s black-death fusion is something that I have returned to again. Hiding beneath the vicious, downright nasty surface of Swords of Dajjal, is a surprisingly subtle and well-crafted concept album. As I said in my review, there is zero bloat or filler on this record, which blazes with intensity, driven as much by the scything, razor-sharp riffs as the rasping, sepulchral vocals. The range of influences cited, both by me and by impressed commenters, shows how many different aspects there are to this killer record.

#7. Panzerfaust // The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion – After Chapter III: The Astral Drain, I was worried that Panzerfaust were running out of steam and inspiration to close out The Suns of Perdition saga. Thankfully, my concerns were misplaced. To Shadow Zion reeks of doom and destiny. Huge, brooding and intense, it is a captivating listen, with the stunning “The Damascene Conversions” sitting at its heart. From the sulfuric vocals to the masterful drumming, this was a worthy final chapter for The Suns of Perdition, which must go down as one of the best executed, most consistent multi-album concept pieces in metal.

#6. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Spectral Wound just can’t miss. For a band that, superficially at least, plays fairly old school black metal, songwriting chops paired with brilliant execution mean these guys are anything but derivative. My favourite album of theirs to date, Songs of Blood and Mire is just tons of wicked, nasty fun. It’s hard to say exactly why, but I feel like everything Spectral Wound does has a slight knowing wink to it, which suggests that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously. For me, this is a huge positive, as a lot of black metal is so tediously earnest, where this is unflinchingly harsh, surprisingly melodic and drowning in swaggering groove. Great stuff.

#5. Mother of Graves // The Periapt of Absence – I’m a sucker for death doom. And The Periapt of Absence is some fucking great death doom. Mother of Graves were unknown to me before I stumbled across this album but their blending of old school Opeth (think somewhere between Morningrise and Orchid) with early Katatonia and Paradise Lost, plus a sprinkling of Clouds is stunning. All wrapped up in a pleasingly tight package, Mother of Graves smother the listener in unflinching, heartwrenching misery. And I love every minute of it. It’s that Peaceville Three sound we love, but feeling fresh, vibrant and vital.

#4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – Me and death metal don’t always see eye to eye, and the last Devenial Verdict left only a passing impression. But Thus Spoke‘s tireless tongue-bathing promotion of Blessing of Despair convinced me to give it a chance. While I enjoy the stomping thuggery of Devenial Verdict’s dissonant death well enough, it’s the sudden mood swings into what TS described as “lethally graceful restraint” that really hooked me. Although worlds apart stylistically, on Blessing of Despair DV achieved what Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean did on Obsession Destruction: knowing precisely how far to push the suffocating, claustrophobic heaviness, before taking their foot off your throat for a minute. Then stamping on it again.

#3. Julie Christmas // Ridiculous and Full of Blood – Maddog predicted that I would lambast him as an underrating bastard for the 3.5 he deigned to award Ms Christmas. And he was quite correct. He’s a charlatan of the highest order. However, even I’m surprised by how high Ridiculous and Full of Blood has landed here. But, as someone not given to overly emotional reactions to music, I’m continually stunned by the reactions Julie—Can I call you Julie? No? Ok—extracts from me. I’m often on the edge of tears by the end of “The Lighthouse,” just like that cad Maddog, while the likes of “Not Enough” and “End of the World” (the latter with CoL’s Johannes Persson) have a scary edge to them, with Christmas at her maniacal, crooning, possessed, unpredictable best.

#2. A Swarm of the Sun // An Empire – Speaking of emotional responses, A Swarm of the Sun’s stripped back melancholy is right up there. If I say that An Empire is brighter and more uplifting than previous efforts The Rifts and The Woods, understand that this is a very relative statement. An Empire is drowning in sorrow and misery, and yet there is just a hint of brightness that shimmers and hovers around the edges, like a lunar halo. Slow and deliberate, haunting and cathartic, A Swarm of the Sun’s latest outing is just beautiful. End of. No discussion.2

#1. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Y’all know I dropped a 5.0 on Die Urkatastophe, so it’s no surprise to find it here, sitting pretty, atop my list. There’s not much more praise that I can heap on Kanonenfieber’s sophomore record than I already did in my review. For me, it has everything and is more than I dared hope for as a follow up to my beloved Menschenmühle (my album of the year for 2021). It is brutal and vicious (“Panzerhenker” and “Ausblutingsschlacht”), anthemic (“Der Maulwurf” and “Menschenmühle”) and more. Crafted—and yes, that is the correct word—with huge skill and attention to detail, it is the storytelling, based on original source materials, that elevates this record to the next level for me. And if you don’t speak German, or are simply not into narrative in your metal, just go bang your fucking head to “Gott mit der Kavallerie”!

Honorable mentions In alphabetical order by band:

• 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight – Little Weight actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Melancholic, beautiful post-doom and shoegaze, rife with a rough honesty.
• Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Long-form (arguably too-long-form in some respects) progressive death, which is wonderfully ambitious and overblown in its scale and delivery.
• Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Fantastic trad doom, channeling heavy doses of Candlemass. Early in the year, I thought this was top-5 material but it’s uneven, with the back half much stronger than the front, and I’ve cooled on it a touch.
• Nyktophobia // To the Stars – Just great, stomping melodeath. As I said in my review, it’s not massively original but it’s tight and well written, and easy to just kick back to. Sometimes, I don’t need more.
• Silhouette // Les Dires de l’​Â​me – This fantastic post-black album had a place on the list proper until Pillar of Light bulldozed its way in there very late in the day. Haunting, harrowing and beautiful, Silhouette’s debut is Great!
• Sumac // The Healer – Nothing about The Healer makes it an easy listen but Sumac’s fifth record is curiously beautiful for all its wandering, free-form abrasiveness.
• Vorga // Beyond the Palest Star – While it’s hard to disagree with Kenstrosity‘s criticism of the production on Beyond the Palest Star, what can I say? I still love it. It’s chunky, well written, well paced and powerful.

Surprises o’ the Year Ordered by most astounding first:

• Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It’s been a long time since I was last genuinely interested in an Opeth album (2005’s Ghost Reveries, in case you were wondering). But, wouldn’t you just know it, Mikael Åkerfeldt and co are back (roars and all). I’m not ready to commit to a score for The Last Will (though I think El Cuervo‘s was possibly a smidge high) as I’ve not been able to spend enough time with it. But the fact I want to spend more time with it is, after 19 years of having no interest in Opeth’s output, a surprise. And a welcome one.
• Grand Magus // Sunraven – Another Swedish favourite of old, which I’d all but given up on, Grand Magus roared back this year with Sunraven. As an equally surprised Steel Druhm said in his review, this was the album he “feverishly hoped to get from Grand Magus … a grand return to prime form with the fire firmly back in the Balrog … the best Magus outing since 2012’s The Hunt”.

Disappointment o’ the Year Limited to a single musical disappointment, to avoid submitting a lengthy thesis:

• Zeal & Ardor // GREIF – I’m not angry, or even very surprised, just disappointed.3 While I accept that this is the album of a band in transition, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was a hugely disappointing album from a band that has abandoned the sound that made it what it was. And for what? They have not transitioned to something new and exciting, but with kinks to be worked out. Rather, on this record, Zeal & Ardor became something so pedestrian that any number of post-rock bands could’ve written it and, probably, done a better job. I may have overrated it.

Songs o’ the Year

1. Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
2. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
3. Selbst – “The Stench of a Dead Spirit”
4. Panzerfaust – “The Damascene Conversions”
5. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie”
6. Devenial Verdict – “Garden of Eyes”
7. Spectral Wound – “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”
8. Silhouette – “Les Dires de l’​Â​me”
9. Blue Heron – “Everything Fades”
10. Zeal & Ardor – “Hide in Shade”
11. Glare of the Sun – “Rain”

Cherd

Twenty-twenty-four was certainly a year that followed previous years and will precede still others. When I look back, I’ll likely remember it as the year I discovered the wonders of ADHD medication after decades of non-treatment, the difficult transition my poor Cherdlet experienced from kindergarten to first grade, and the incredible bucket list trip my wife and I took to Toronto to watch our favorite TV franchise filming new content courtesy of my very important Hollywood connections. No, not Robert Downey Jr. Much more important and better-looking. Hmm? Margot Robbie? She wishes. I also had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow writers in person, and they are all much homelier than they let on with the exception of Madam X, who is a goddamned ray of sunshine.

On the musical front, I was able to check two bands off my “need to see live” list in Judas Priest and Archspire, whereby I discovered that Halford does exactly zero audience banter, and Archspire do nothing but. Fun shows, both. I didn’t listen to as much new music by volume this year than I have in previous years when I’d log between 200 and 400 releases, and that was largely due to my kid’s age and the level of interaction he needs. I have a feeling, however, that 2025 will see an uptick thanks to the new Heavys headphones I got for Christmas this year. As always, I want to thank the editors, particularly Steel Druhm and Doc Grier, for not sending me a mailbomb after all the late reviews I turned in (I’ll work on that in 2025), and the man himself, AMG, for building this community and for agreeing that Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek show.4

(ish) Chat Pile // Cool World – This is what it sounds like when Chat Pile make a “mature” record. As I noted in my October review, some of the most glaring weirdness and black humor the band is known for is missing in Cool World, which is why it’s here on my list instead of matching the lofty heights of my 2022 AOTY God’s Country. That said, this is consistently bleak in a way I like, and it boasts what are in my opinion the two best–if not most memorable–songs the band have written to date in “New World” and “Masc.” I’m a sucker for these Oklahomans and look forward to how their sound evolves from here.

#10. Glacial Tomb // Lightless Expanse – I’ve had an up and down journey with Glacial Tomb’s sophomore record, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still view this as one of the best things I’ve listened to this year. To consider a record this closely means you have to listen to it a lot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I logged more hours with Lightless Expanse than with any other album. I’ve made a big deal about the one-three punch of “Voidwomb/Enshrined in Concrete/Abyssal Host”, but it bears repeating since it’s my favorite consecutive stretch of death metal in 2024.

#9. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – If you peel back the veneer of disso-death and blackened blasts on Infinite Mortality, you’ll find a pounding hardcore heart comprised of equal parts beatdown and Converge. As technical as this music gets, and there is a lot going on here, Replicant never forget their primary duty as a metal band: snapping necks. On their third album, they’ve exquisitely composed a missive to unbridled aggression. I completely missed their previous albums, so I’m glad our Kenfren wouldn’t shut his excitable yap about this one.

#8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – “Alright skaters! This is the end of our free skate period. We’d like to once again thank you for spending your Saturday with us here at Family Fun Roller Rink and Arcade. It’s time to slow things down, down, way down, and you know what that means. That’s right, it’s couples’ skate. So, find that special someone you want to be interred on a cold stone slab with, gaze into each other’s empty eye sockets, and make your way around the rink as wave after wave of Spectral Voice’s death/funeral doom forcefully separates you from any light, hope, or happiness this wretched world might have accidentally given you. Remember, those who survive the next 45 minutes of tectonic plates colliding will get the chance to compete in roller limbo!”

#7. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – Despite being one of the biggest doom apologists on this site, Crypt Sermon failed to grab me with their highly acclaimed debut nearly ten years ago. I chalk this up to my unfamiliarity with the traditional doom style at the time. In recent years, I’ve binged large amounts of Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Solitude Aeturnus et al., so I finally have the frame of reference to see just how well Crypt Sermon’s third LP captures the swagger, majesty, and grit of a style few contemporary bands seem interested in playing. After the growing pains displayed on The Ruins of Fading Light, these Philly natives have worked out the kinks and delivered an air-tight slab of doomy goodness.

#6. Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – I regret waiving my seniority claim to Full of Hell releases, thus allowing Dolph to snap up review duties for Coagulated Bliss. It’s not that he did a bad job of reviewing the prolific experimental grind outfit’s latest. He did great, and he awarded it a deserved 4.0. But then he had the cheek, the nerve, the gall, the audacity, and the gumption to incorrectly lower his score. To make matters worse, it appeared nowhere on his year-end list. Not even a goll dern honorable mention. I’ve told him to his cetacean face that he’s wrong and I’m likely to do so again because this is Full of Hell’s best work since Trumpeting Ecstasy. In fact, it might be better.

#5. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – For most of their existence, Ulcerate was a highly acclaimed band that I just couldn’t get into. That changed four years ago with the release of Stare into Death and Be Still. Little changed in their intricate approach to dissonant death metal, but there was something warmer and more human to what I had previously considered a rather detached style. That trend continues with Cutting the Throat of God. I find this record best when taken as a whole, letting the experience unfold over the full runtime, like dream-walking through a hedge maze or being trapped in a velvet sack and discovering it’s much larger on the inside.5

#4. Thou // Umbilical – I waited a long time for a chance to review a new record by Thou, and when it finally came, they did not disappoint. As I said in my June review, “Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under Thou’s banner. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other.” If that doesn’t sell Umbilical for you, then here is where our paths diverge.

#3. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I didn’t listen to Blessing of Despair for several weeks after it came out in October despite the fact Devenial Verdict’s previous record, Ash Blind, made my year-end list in 2022. When I finally got around to it earlier in December, it threatened to blow the doors right off my still nebulous list, climbing fast and high until ultimately landing here at number three. There is more immediacy than on Ash Blind, which took me a while to warm up to. That doesn’t mean the band skimps on the kind of thoughtful transitions and atmospherics they’ve come to be known for. It’s just that Blessing of Despair HAZ THE RIFFS, including my favorite death metal riff of the year in “Solus.”

#2. Void Witch // Horripilating Presence – When I revisited Horripilating Presence with the purpose of sorting out this list’s pecking order, I expected death-doomers Void Witch to fall mid-to-late top 10. Obviously, the opposite happened. For the life of me I don’t understand how this album didn’t gain more traction amongst the other writers and you, the unwashed commentariat. As I said back in July, “…the material on Horripilating Presence is Mohamed Ali levels of confident. The editing of ideas in each song and across the album’s taut 39 minutes is masterful, especially for a debut. No song hews too closely to any of the others, but all are of a piece, locking comfortably into place like an intricate puzzle box, and Void Witch have such sights to show you.”

#1. Inter Arma // New Heaven – Inter Arma never miss. Aside from being one of the best live acts in metal, every album they’ve released going back to 2013’s Sky Burial has been one successful evolution after another. As a very wise reviewer once said, “They’re the same shaggy beast as ever, but beneath that matted, coarse coat is a rippling form mid-shape shift, stretching, pulling, and crossing back on itself constantly over the course of New Heaven’s shockingly concise 42 minutes…If being all over the musical map sounds like a negative, you’ve probably never heard an Inter Arma record before. It seems whatever they throw at the wall sticks, and the listening experience across their (usually much longer) records never feels uneven. This is because they play everything with the same smoldering intensity and volatile mean streak.” What a record.

Honorable Mentions:

• Convulsing // Perdurance – I like this quote from Dear Hollow‘s review, so I’ll let him do the talking: “…Convulsing explores every nook and twist of a rhythm and melody until its inevitable conclusion is happened upon in tragic and fatal fashion.”
• Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Pound for pound, Spectral Wound are probably the most consistent no-frills black metal band currently in operation. Songs of Blood and Mire is another rager that’s as melodic as it is acidic.
• Lord Buffalo // Holus Bolus – This record was one redundant instrumental away from landing higher on this list. Looking forward to where these gothic country rockers go next.

Songs o’ the Year:

In alphabetical order by band:

Show 5 footnotes

1. Apparently it was only 2021 but my goodness that feels a lifetime ago. ↩
2. Regrettably, I suspect this may be the perfect way to start a discussion. Sigh. ↩
3. Can you tell I’m a parent? ↩
4. How could anyone disagree? – AMG ↩
5. Like a TARDIS. ↩

#2024 #40WattSun #ASwarmOfTheSun #Anciients #BlogPosts #BlueHeron #CarcharodonAndCherdSTopTenIshOf2024 #ChatPile #Convulsing #CryptSermon #DevenialVerdict #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #GrandMagus #InterArma #JulieChristmas #Kanonenfieber #Listurnalia #LordBuffalo #MotherOfGraves #Necrowretch #Nyktophobia #Opeth #Panzerfaust #PillarOfLight #Replicant #Selbst #Seth #Silhouette #SpectralVoice #SpectralWound #Sumac #TheVisionBleak #Thou #Ulcerate #VoidWitch #Vorga #ZealArdor

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 16 Septembre 2024 :

#AnneliesMonseré, #BertrandBetsch, #CrysCole, #SarahDavachi, #Katerine, #MolchatDoma, #NLF3, #SteveReich, #Sumac, #Tortoise, #TransAm, #TristwchYFenywod, #VoxLow, #Wysteria,

#music #disque #reco

Eastern harvestman (𝘓𝘦𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮) living his best life in the staghorn sumac (𝘙𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢), from September 2019:

#DaddyLongLegs #harvestman #opiliones #arachnids #WildFruit #sumac

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 12 Août 2024 :

#AndreaTaeggi, #BenniHemmHemm, #Carmine, #ElianeRadigue,EnsembleDedalus,RyokoAkama, #ESPSummer, #FireOrchestra, #Hydroplane, #IbelisseGuardiaFerragutti #FrankRosaly, #InoyamaLand, #JulesReidy, #JulienLedru, #LaFresto, #LeCriDuCaire, #LucrateMilk, #MichelCloup(Duo), #OrenAmbarchi,JohanBerthling,AndreasWerliin, #Osees, #Princ€ss, #Sparks, #Stereolab, #SteveGunn, #Sumac, #Supersilent, #SuzanneCiani, #TomotsuguNakamura, #TonyConrad,ArnoldDreyblatt,JimO'Rourke, #VanishingTwin, #Warrington-runcornNewTownDevelopmentPlan,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 12 Août 2024 :

#AndreaTaeggi, #BenniHemmHemm, #Carmine, #ElianeRadigue,EnsembleDedalus,RyokoAkama, #ESPSummer, #FireOrchestra, #Hydroplane, #IbelisseGuardiaFerragutti #FrankRosaly, #InoyamaLand, #JulesReidy, #JulienLedru, #LaFresto, #LeCriDuCaire, #LucrateMilk, #MichelCloup(Duo), #OrenAmbarchi,JohanBerthling,AndreasWerliin, #Osees, #Princ€ss, #Sparks, #Stereolab, #SteveGunn, #Sumac, #Supersilent, #SuzanneCiani, #TomotsuguNakamura, #TonyConrad,ArnoldDreyblatt,JimO'Rourke, #VanishingTwin, #Warrington-runcornNewTownDevelopmentPlan,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 12 Août 2024 :

#AndreaTaeggi, #BenniHemmHemm, #Carmine, #ElianeRadigue,EnsembleDedalus,RyokoAkama, #ESPSummer, #FireOrchestra, #Hydroplane, #IbelisseGuardiaFerragutti #FrankRosaly, #InoyamaLand, #JulesReidy, #JulienLedru, #LaFresto, #LeCriDuCaire, #LucrateMilk, #MichelCloup(Duo), #OrenAmbarchi,JohanBerthling,AndreasWerliin, #Osees, #Princ€ss, #Sparks, #Stereolab, #SteveGunn, #Sumac, #Supersilent, #SuzanneCiani, #TomotsuguNakamura, #TonyConrad,ArnoldDreyblatt,JimO'Rourke, #VanishingTwin, #Warrington-runcornNewTownDevelopmentPlan,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 12 Août 2024 :

#AndreaTaeggi, #BenniHemmHemm, #Carmine, #ElianeRadigue,EnsembleDedalus,RyokoAkama, #ESPSummer, #FireOrchestra, #Hydroplane, #IbelisseGuardiaFerragutti #FrankRosaly, #InoyamaLand, #JulesReidy, #JulienLedru, #LaFresto, #LeCriDuCaire, #LucrateMilk, #MichelCloup(Duo), #OrenAmbarchi,JohanBerthling,AndreasWerliin, #Osees, #Princ€ss, #Sparks, #Stereolab, #SteveGunn, #Sumac, #Supersilent, #SuzanneCiani, #TomotsuguNakamura, #TonyConrad,ArnoldDreyblatt,JimO'Rourke, #VanishingTwin, #Warrington-runcornNewTownDevelopmentPlan,

#music #disque #reco

Mes écoutes de la semaine du 12 Août 2024 :

#AndreaTaeggi, #BenniHemmHemm, #Carmine, #ElianeRadigue,EnsembleDedalus,RyokoAkama, #ESPSummer, #FireOrchestra, #Hydroplane, #IbelisseGuardiaFerragutti #FrankRosaly, #InoyamaLand, #JulesReidy, #JulienLedru, #LaFresto, #LeCriDuCaire, #LucrateMilk, #MichelCloup(Duo), #OrenAmbarchi,JohanBerthling,AndreasWerliin, #Osees, #Princ€ss, #Sparks, #Stereolab, #SteveGunn, #Sumac, #Supersilent, #SuzanneCiani, #TomotsuguNakamura, #TonyConrad,ArnoldDreyblatt,JimO'Rourke, #VanishingTwin, #Warrington-runcornNewTownDevelopmentPlan,

#music #disque #reco

#Environment #Nature #Sumac
#NorthernOntario #ElliotLake
#Photography #MastoArt #Art #RetroColour #DigitalArt

#Disques du jour d'hier, de chez #SouffleContinu et par colis :

- #Sumac • The Healer
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • L'Intercommunal
- #TristanPerich + #Ensemble0 • Open Symmetry
- #CHBB • CHBB
- #LaMonteYoung + #MarianZazeela • The Theatre of Eternal Music
- #Moonshake • Eva Luna (Expanded)
- #SML • Small Medium Large
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • Le Musichien

Au centre, un t-shirt de #LucrateMilk, what else?

#Disques du jour d'hier, de chez #SouffleContinu et par colis :

- #Sumac • The Healer
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • L'Intercommunal
- #TristanPerich + #Ensemble0 • Open Symmetry
- #CHBB • CHBB
- #LaMonteYoung + #MarianZazeela • The Theatre of Eternal Music
- #Moonshake • Eva Luna (Expanded)
- #SML • Small Medium Large
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • Le Musichien

Au centre, un t-shirt de #LucrateMilk, what else?

#Disques du jour d'hier, de chez #SouffleContinu et par colis :

- #Sumac • The Healer
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • L'Intercommunal
- #TristanPerich + #Ensemble0 • Open Symmetry
- #CHBB • CHBB
- #LaMonteYoung + #MarianZazeela • The Theatre of Eternal Music
- #Moonshake • Eva Luna (Expanded)
- #SML • Small Medium Large
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • Le Musichien

Au centre, un t-shirt de #LucrateMilk, what else?

#Disques du jour d'hier, de chez #SouffleContinu et par colis :

- #Sumac • The Healer
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • L'Intercommunal
- #TristanPerich + #Ensemble0 • Open Symmetry
- #CHBB • CHBB
- #LaMonteYoung + #MarianZazeela • The Theatre of Eternal Music
- #Moonshake • Eva Luna (Expanded)
- #SML • Small Medium Large
- #IntercommunalFreeDanceMusicOrchestra • Le Musichien

Au centre, un t-shirt de #LucrateMilk, what else?

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#MetalInjection
The Weekly Injection: New Releases From WORMED, KRALLICE & More Out Today 7/5
Plus releases from Octoploid, Piah Mater, Sumac, and Visions Of Atlantis!

https://metalinjection.net/upcoming-releases/heavy-new-releases/the-weekly-injection-new-releases-from-wormed-krallice-more-out-today-7-5

#Krallice #Octoploid #PiahMater #Sumac #VisionsOfAtlantis #Wormed #MoorMother #RavenChacon #DanielCordova

Random photo of the day.

#photography #random #photooftheday #POTD #dailyphoto #OttawaPhotographer #contrast #redwhiteandblue #sumac #bridge #sky #VimyBridge

Latest #SaturdayRecipe

To the juice of 3 lemons, add a teaspoon of #turmeric (haldi) and one egg.
(for a #vegan alternative, use #VeganEggSubstitue in place of the egg)

Beat with a wooden spoon until only half remains.

If you're the sort of person who wouldn't typically have #Sumac, Za'atar or #Berbere in your store cupboard, you'll want to add a level tablespoon of #ketchup Don't do this as it will spoil the taste.

At this stage, those with nut allergies should be careful not to add peanuts.

Transfer the mix to a Kilner jar or some other pretentious receptacle and store at the back of your fridge unlabelled.

#WhatIsThisStuff #CanIEatIt #CanIFeedItToMyDog

Latest #SaturdayRecipe

To the juice of 3 lemons, add a teaspoon of #turmeric (haldi) and one egg.
(for a #vegan alternative, use #VeganEggSubstitue in place of the egg)
Beat with a wooden spoon until only half remains.
If you're the sort of person who wouldn't typically have #Sumac, Za'atar or #Berbere in your store cupboard, you'll want to add a level tablespoon of #ketchup Don't do this as it will spoil the taste. at this stage.
Those with nut allergies should be careful not to add peanuts.
Transfer the mix to a Kilner jar or some other pretentious receptacle and store at the back of your fridge unlabelled.

#WhatIsThisStuff #CanIEatIt #Can I FeedItToMyDog

Five years post-fire and the chaparral in Los Padres National Forest is on its way back. I challenge anyone to find a prettier smelling North American ecosystem in late December. #chaparral #Thomasfire #sage #laurel #sumac #chemise