«10»: Our most anticipated performances of Roadburn Festival 2024 - Part A'

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Roadburn Festival has its own merit. Even if you've attended it at least once, as soon as it's over, you start thinking and discussing about the next one. Speculating and predicting the line-up, sharing its announcements with passion, planning for almost twelve months, being part of a greater community. But above all, as it proved with this year's line-up, Roadburn is a festival that does not overlook the artistic side of things, on the contrary it intensifies the feeling of explorationas of inclusion, of receptivity, with its diverse approach to its setting. And no, we have moved past last year's shows!

In a few weeks, Roadburn 2024 will take place, once again fpcusing on the diverse global underground, extreme soundscapes, experimentation, discrete aural atmospheres. It expands its sonic spectrum once again, and as we prepare for another unique experience, we decided to share our discoveries, searches, goals, weaknesses and tastes, with a series of articles dedicated to this year's festival. We kick off with ten highly anticipated sets from Roadburn 2024's official premiere on Thursday, April 18, in Tillburg, The Netherlands. So for the rest of the time, tune in to Rocking and bear with our fan enthusiasm for artists and formats that we think deserve engagement and attention. You can find out more information about each day and the very interesting side program, through the following link.

1

Hexvessel (14:00 - 14:50, The Terminal)

Traditions are to be kept. Among the many that the festival has established over the years, that of "welcoming the unaware" is undoubtedly one of the most special. And if some more rational voices than ours will rush to Wednesday's warm-up with Final Gasp, Sonja and Riot City, we, keeping our faith in the orthodox four-day program, have strongly marked the name of Hexvessel. The choice of Kvohst and company to lean heavily on last year's "Polar Veil" behind the ambition makes perfect sense. In the specifics, his darkness calls out for Tilburg.

2

Wiegedood (15:30 - 16:40, Main Stage)

We saw them on the main stage two years ago, crushing everything by performing the seminal "There's Always Blood In The End Of The Road" in its entirety. It goes without saying that this year we will be there to see what the hell these Flemish people have prepared for the soundtrack of the Japanese experimental horror film "A Page Of Madness" (1926). The trio knows how to transmute primal terror and the unspeakable into music, to create atmospheres that crawl under your skin. This will be only the second time it will be performed live. Knowing what 013's Main Stage means, but also how the brevity of Wiegedood cuts the air you breathe, the highlights will probably start early, with coffee in hand.

3

Uboa (17:30 - 18:10, The Engine Room)

Xandra Metcalfe will be this year's Artist In Residence at Roadburn Festival and if you've come across her work, she deserves it and it's obvious why. From Australia and for the first time on European soil, the artistic project named Uboa will make its first appearance on Thursday with the Meltdown set which is expected to be the most intense, improvisational noise we will have the honor to experience - as its creations Uboa are just that, lived experience. Of course, her other two aspects, Shutdown where her most recent record work, "The Origin Of My Depression" will be presented, and the last redemptive Calmdown will be a point of reference. However, the wild beauty of neurodiversity and gender transition in the raging Meltdown is expected to be cathartic.

4

Void Ov Voices (18:20 - 19:10, Next Stage)

Attila Scihar's personal experimental ambient style could not have been "achieved" in more suitable conditions. The other shape of the eerie frontman of the legendary Mayhem, was always intended for a live context. His Master's Voice promises us an exclusive performance under the title "Roadburn To Sungate", which, in all honesty, we do not believe will bring us any way out, or redemption. But something tells us that the noise and loops, as Attila will tame them, combined with his outrageous vocals, will captivate us without tomorrow. It's sets like this that make you appreciate the aesthetic and sonic continuity and tradition that builds this festival.

5

Inter Arma (18:40 - 19:40, The Terminal)

Traditionally dedicated to the dark, a band that exemplifies the philosophy of the festival, Inter Arma are implementers and continuers of a hard tradition, always marrying sludge well with black metal sounds, always bridging them with the post interval. Inter Arma have given us a body of work over the years that has been loved, up to and including the excellent cover release "Garbers Days Revisited". It's been a while since we've heard from them, but this year we have the pleasure of seeing them return with their new album, "New Haven", which will be exclusive to their appearance at Roadburn Festival, just before its official release.

6

Clipping. (19:20 - 20:20, Main Stage)

Perhaps not the most obvious choice for a Roadburn Festival sound line-up, but Clipping.'s dark side gives their sound a horror element that finally makes evident the audience's love of hard sound towards their faces. Clipping., in their own words, don't consider themselves pioneers or experimentalists, but rather a rap group that continues years of tradition with the technology they now have in their hands. Their sound can only be compared to the intensity and madness of Death Grips and Dalek, very hard rap intertwined with horror cinema, Clipping. and the shocking flow of Daveed Diggs first introduced us to a full-length release ten years ago - a taste of "Story 2" will convince you of the murderous urban madness that runs through their lyrics. However, their biggest work, "There Existed an Addiction to Blood" and "Visions of Bodies Being Burned" are also awe-inspiring, where they are basically a continuation of each other. There is no doubt that they will enchant us from their first set, as we will have the pleasure of enjoying them twice - samples like this can only make us suffocate with anticipation.

7

Lord Spikeheart (20:20 - 21:10, Next Stage)

Last year Duma left us speechless with their double performance, so the news of a personal set by frontman Martin Kanja, under the moniker Lord Spikeheart, only causes excitement. The appearance will take place a day before the release of the project's official debut, called “The Adept”, and with the promo copy on repeat, we can definitely anticipate an electro/ebm/industrial/glitch experimental project that separates from the Duma, on the other hand, preserves the unfathomable experimentation and geniusly chaotic world of the ruling mind. In fact, the most tribal references and the idiosyncratic atmospheres, we hope will steal the impressions in a year where the festival especially honors these idioms.

8

Chelsea Wolfe (21:15 - 22:30, Main Stage)

It has happily been seven years since we had the chance to see Chelsea Wolfe in our area, and a few more days since she last took to the Roadburn stage. Her name has only grown since then. Memories from the maiden set of 2012 seem like a half-forgotten dream. The sound has gone, returned, and again left its base. Honest tans and unassuming straightforwardness remain benchmarks. "She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She" has set the bar high for the top of the year, early on. Expectations are already at the ceiling of 013.

9

Thantifaxath (22:00 - 22:50, The Terminal)

One of the best avant-garde black metal acts of the current decade makes its debut at the festival, having recently released a beast of a record. Last year's “Hive Mind Narcosis” has lost none of its glamor as a paranoid dissonant claustrophobic epic, and the Canadians' overall discography, combined with their mysterious and special aura, probably makes this 50 minutes at Terminal one of the main reasons for anyone to visit Roadburn 2024. Big words huh? If you are familiar with Thantifaxath's music, then you understand. If not, what are you waiting for? We secretly envy all the people who come into contact with them for the first time in such context.

10

Royal Thunder (22:20 - 23:30, Next Stage)

Why this instead of the next day's after party on the Main Stage, which will be dedicated to the fantastic album "Rebuilding The Mountain"? Great question, the answer to which is hidden in the dusty pages of our website's past. Sure, it may seem like we're playing the easy numbers game, and in part we may be, but the whole truth is about as distant as the Netherlands from Georgia. We love them and support them from their beginning. Literally. And yes, it's those countable infinite open-ended "if they play this-and-that" contingencies that make our already huge grins grow.