- Psych, Sax and Violence! -
feat. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, AGRICULTURE, BACKENGRILLEN, TEARDRINKER, THE MACHINE, WIEGEDOOD & BL!NDMAN, YELLOW EYES and ZU
Did I get all the sleep needed for the upcoming longest day of Roadburn? No, but at least more than the night before, so that had to suffice.
Tasks:
- Seeing at least one show in the Paradox Jazz club, which was about to join the festival today
- Maybe squeezing in my first secret show in the Ladybird Skatepark...
- ...while still following my ambitious, yet still doable plan of nine shows.
Easy. Let's go!
The first show in the Engine Room was the only show at one o'clock and barely needed any research beforehand to become a no-brainer to attend. Who would say to kickstarting the day with a powerful ferocious dose of Black Metal with great guitar work and the most demon-obsessed looking drummer of the festival, right? Definitely shook off my midday tiredness.
The most intense moment of the show probably was when said drummer came to the front of the stage to uhm... sing a song, but I must admit that it happened shortly after I had already left to be in the front again at the next show in The Terminal...
The most intense moment of the show probably was when said drummer came to the front of the stage to uhm... sing a song, but I must admit that it happened shortly after I had already left to be in the front again at the next show in The Terminal...
First an elaborate trigger warning, while Lingua Ignota's "Man Is Like A Spring Flower" was playing during the break. Then the intro was a cacophony of news about rape and femicides and vile quotes from the mysogynist "manosphere". The music began and Kim Hoorweg, who had been trusted with creating this commisioned project, came onto the stage in a dress reminiscent of a historical (hospital?) night gown, first sitting down to play electric cello, then moving to the microphone and delivering a powerful openening statement. "See this: This is my body. And my body is my home. Do not confuse me with a house [...] I am your mother. I am your father. Without me, my body, there is no You [...]"
Only moments into Teardrinker's brilliant Post Black metal show, everybody knew that "I Hope This Hurts" would hurt indeed. This outcry was as serious as necessary in our backwards times.
With painfully captivating intensity the piece identified the witch trials as a means of the ultra-rich and powerful to control and suppress - and ultimately capitalize on the backs of the poor class. It drew the line to similar ventures like colonialism, slave trade, apartheid and the systematic dehumanization of minorities all around the world. Yet despite the daunting scope of its theme, the show didn't drown in its own ambition. Even when a small choir joined the band for an empowering cathartic finale, it became clear that this performance wasn't supposed to even account for a fraction of what has to be said and screamed and done and fought for and against.
Even if you were already in constant pain about the missed potential of humanity - this hurt good. And the ovations showed that Roadburn is not just an event you visit to party - it's also a place to experience meaningful art and share the pain. A safe haven from the deafening global noise of unnecessary bullshit, which makes the world so much worse than it could be - but a communtity on the side of the disfranchised, not closing its eyes in the face of evil.
Yes, Teardrinker profoundly moved me.
Only moments into Teardrinker's brilliant Post Black metal show, everybody knew that "I Hope This Hurts" would hurt indeed. This outcry was as serious as necessary in our backwards times.
With painfully captivating intensity the piece identified the witch trials as a means of the ultra-rich and powerful to control and suppress - and ultimately capitalize on the backs of the poor class. It drew the line to similar ventures like colonialism, slave trade, apartheid and the systematic dehumanization of minorities all around the world. Yet despite the daunting scope of its theme, the show didn't drown in its own ambition. Even when a small choir joined the band for an empowering cathartic finale, it became clear that this performance wasn't supposed to even account for a fraction of what has to be said and screamed and done and fought for and against.
Even if you were already in constant pain about the missed potential of humanity - this hurt good. And the ovations showed that Roadburn is not just an event you visit to party - it's also a place to experience meaningful art and share the pain. A safe haven from the deafening global noise of unnecessary bullshit, which makes the world so much worse than it could be - but a communtity on the side of the disfranchised, not closing its eyes in the face of evil.
Yes, Teardrinker profoundly moved me.
I'm a simple man: give me a saxophone and I will love any kind of music twice as much as without it. So the whole stage setup of Black Metal masters Wiegedood and the saxophone quartet Bl!ndman with not just regular guitar, bass and drums, but also eight horns, two theremins and big, almost art installation style metal plates to be hit and bowed was like an irresistable catnip luring me to the Main Stage.
It wasn't the first time the Belgian trio showed a side radically different to their amazing regular frenzy, which I witnessed here when they played "There's Always Blood At The End Of The Road" in full in 2022. Two years later I unfortunately had to miss them performing a much-lauded live soundtrack to a japanese horror film, so I was especially keen to see them travel into other stylistic territories this time.
The collaboration did not disappoint. Ambient parts in which you could feel the respectful silence of two-thousand listeners, long slow-burning build-ups to zone out and summits of droning Noise. Jazz passages, the surprising inclusion of the frantic "There's Always Blood" opener "FN SCAR 16" and an experimental ending with feedbacking microphones just dangling in front of speakers... Yes, this was the kind of performance only Roadburn would dare to host at this scale. And I loved all seventy minutes of it!
It wasn't the first time the Belgian trio showed a side radically different to their amazing regular frenzy, which I witnessed here when they played "There's Always Blood At The End Of The Road" in full in 2022. Two years later I unfortunately had to miss them performing a much-lauded live soundtrack to a japanese horror film, so I was especially keen to see them travel into other stylistic territories this time.
The collaboration did not disappoint. Ambient parts in which you could feel the respectful silence of two-thousand listeners, long slow-burning build-ups to zone out and summits of droning Noise. Jazz passages, the surprising inclusion of the frantic "There's Always Blood" opener "FN SCAR 16" and an experimental ending with feedbacking microphones just dangling in front of speakers... Yes, this was the kind of performance only Roadburn would dare to host at this scale. And I loved all seventy minutes of it!
Afterwards I had a quick grilled cheese sandwich snack in the hallway and immediately returned to the Main Stage for my personally most-anticipated full-album show, as Californian Ecstatic Black Metal sensation Agriculture celebrated "The Spiritual Sound" of Black Metal, Shoegaze, shredding, rebellious Punk spirit and fragile vulnaribility.
It was great to feel the passionate energy of these tunes live and the performance in itself was flawless. However I had the feeling - and you could already assume it from how close together the four musicians were positioned on stage - that smaller more intimate surroundings would have suited Agriculture even better. They clearly played the largest venue simply because the huge audience interest demanded it, and not because the room's dimensions actually made them feel at home.
Don't take mey words the wrong way, it was still great! So the reason I didn't stay until the very end wasn't in this room, but on the Next Stage...
It was great to feel the passionate energy of these tunes live and the performance in itself was flawless. However I had the feeling - and you could already assume it from how close together the four musicians were positioned on stage - that smaller more intimate surroundings would have suited Agriculture even better. They clearly played the largest venue simply because the huge audience interest demanded it, and not because the room's dimensions actually made them feel at home.
Don't take mey words the wrong way, it was still great! So the reason I didn't stay until the very end wasn't in this room, but on the Next Stage...
CLASHBURN:
Even though literally the whole day up to this point had been marked as "interesting - at least" on my A3 running order printout, the strong pull of the Main Stage shows had made it very easy to follow the preconceived plan. But somehow the scales had to be balanced, so the next couple of hours had demanded some heavy decisions with Slow Crush - who I had first seen at one of their earliest shows at Roadburn 2017 -, Scattered Purgatory and the Icelandic Ragnarök Trio beginning the proceedings in the Paradox all playing around the same time.
This was definitely one of the toughest clashes of the week for me. The following band won it for several reasons: shortest way from the Main Stage, longest set, most convenient solution if I wanted to see Backengrillen afterwards - and of course Acid Mothers Temple are freaking awesome and I had to see at least one of the three shows of the Japanese Psych Rock legends!
This was definitely one of the toughest clashes of the week for me. The following band won it for several reasons: shortest way from the Main Stage, longest set, most convenient solution if I wanted to see Backengrillen afterwards - and of course Acid Mothers Temple are freaking awesome and I had to see at least one of the three shows of the Japanese Psych Rock legends!
Just like Krallice, the other Artsts in Residence, which I [spoiler] didn't see at all, Kawabata Makoto's Kraut excess ensemble played three shows called "Past", "Present" and "Future". My only little worry about choosing "Present" was that it was probably the most regular performance, closest to the two MS Stubnitz* shows I had seen in 2022 and 2024. And Roadburn preferably is about discovering the unknown, right?
* Coincidentally they are actually playing on the Stubnitz, my favorite ship in Hamburg tonight again! So if you're reading this in ti... no, nevermind, forget it! I should have published this a couple of hours earlier, sorry.
Indeed Acid Mothers Temple brought the familiar unstoppable Psychedelic tsunami with the bandleader never settling for one pleasing riff or melody, but always immediately taking everything to almost ridiculous levels of Noise and shredding. And I most definitely recognized the amazingly hypnotic finale "Cometary Orbital Drive". But even though the show came without radical surprises for me, it was still trippy, smashing, feverish - just an absolutely glorious cosmic rush.
And I cannot sweep under the carpet the band's upgrade with a second bass player and founding member Cotton Casino, providing an essential extra boost of energy to this spectacular, raw and elevating performance.
* Coincidentally they are actually playing on the Stubnitz, my favorite ship in Hamburg tonight again! So if you're reading this in ti... no, nevermind, forget it! I should have published this a couple of hours earlier, sorry.
Indeed Acid Mothers Temple brought the familiar unstoppable Psychedelic tsunami with the bandleader never settling for one pleasing riff or melody, but always immediately taking everything to almost ridiculous levels of Noise and shredding. And I most definitely recognized the amazingly hypnotic finale "Cometary Orbital Drive". But even though the show came without radical surprises for me, it was still trippy, smashing, feverish - just an absolutely glorious cosmic rush.
And I cannot sweep under the carpet the band's upgrade with a second bass player and founding member Cotton Casino, providing an essential extra boost of energy to this spectacular, raw and elevating performance.
After this wild Psych ride it was time for the sax and violence part of the day again - and who better to bring that combination than Mats Gustafson, this year with his band of ex-Refused members called Backengrillen, who were not only about to bring the dirty Doom Crust Heavy Jazz smut of their self-titled debut album onto the Next Stage, starting with the John Coltrane non-tribute "A Hate Inferior", but also brought a guest on flute and tons of effects with them.
During soundcheck her effect board somehow wasn't working and the sound guy on stage was already giving up when they were a couple of minutes late, but then she luckily found the mistake and boy, without the enormous walls of ugly coloration and distortion it would have been a completely different performance! The combination of this murderously altered flute with Gustafson's playing that could be just as sick, disgusting, noisy and unhinged without any effects, was the icing on the deliciously poisonous Deathjazz cake. *throwsupinsaxophone*
During soundcheck her effect board somehow wasn't working and the sound guy on stage was already giving up when they were a couple of minutes late, but then she luckily found the mistake and boy, without the enormous walls of ugly coloration and distortion it would have been a completely different performance! The combination of this murderously altered flute with Gustafson's playing that could be just as sick, disgusting, noisy and unhinged without any effects, was the icing on the deliciously poisonous Deathjazz cake. *throwsupinsaxophone*
CLASHBURN:
After over eight hours of Roadburn Friday cutting Backengrillen fifteen minutes short and not watching half of Cult of Luna's Late Era set like I had intended was the first deviation from my plan, because the chance arose to check that important Ladybird Skatepark box with a Psychedelic band playing a seventy minutes long full-album secret show...
The Machine - neither the one with Florence nor the Pink Floyd cover band, but the Dutch trio - performed their upcoming album "Another Sun". Their cool mix of Stoner Metal with Psychedelic and epic Post Rock elements surely had a hard stand against Cult of Luna's show at the same time, so they didn't draw the largest crowd of the weekend into the Skatepark. But since this venue, which still maintained the charme of absolutely not being meant for this kind of event, only allowed a limited amount of people inside for safey reasons anyway, that didn't carry weight at all.
No, the atmosphere was as great as the sound, which really didn't need to hide from stages in more professional settings. I enjoyed the music as much as the distinct vibe of the place adding to the overall Roadburn experience and hoped that the following days would bring at least one more opportunity to come here, maybe even for a full show. Because after maybe half an hour I had to leave The Machine working on without me...
No, the atmosphere was as great as the sound, which really didn't need to hide from stages in more professional settings. I enjoyed the music as much as the distinct vibe of the place adding to the overall Roadburn experience and hoped that the following days would bring at least one more opportunity to come here, maybe even for a full show. Because after maybe half an hour I had to leave The Machine working on without me...
Ok, if we're speaking of my plan to get to my first Paradox show early enough to give my legs a much needed rest sitting in the front of the queue and then on one of the chairs of the first two rows during the show, I shouldn't even have gone to see The Machine before at all. But I don't regret it, because hey, I was still there one full hour before Zu started! Yet there was already no fucking chance! I'm used to (and fine with) the Jazz club shows being a bigger commitment in my schedule than most other performances, but with probably many spectators of the previous band 137 just staying there I was defeated despite my best efforts. I'm aware that this may sound a bit entitled and that I should me glad I got into the venue at all, but man, my body needed that rest so bad and I've accounted on it so much that I was seriously hitting a lonely low point starting into what musically was one of the highlights of the week.
Zu were bonkers. The Italian trio on drums, bass and saxophone / keys / samples mixed Noise, Math and Post Rock madness with Avantgarde Jazz, Metal and whatever else they could find flying around in a way which aggressively defied being retold properly. The insane creativity and complexity of their arrangements and the viruoso skills needed to bring them to life were just far beyond normal human comprehension. In Roadburn terms Zu were just peak Paradox!
But as absolutely brilliant as their show was, it being a ninety minutes long mammoth performance also was quite a rite of suffering for my by now severely aching legs. As much as I didn't want to miss a minute of it, I looked at the time more often and often, craving at least to walk off some of the pain on the way to my final appointment of the night in the 013...
But as absolutely brilliant as their show was, it being a ninety minutes long mammoth performance also was quite a rite of suffering for my by now severely aching legs. As much as I didn't want to miss a minute of it, I looked at the time more often and often, craving at least to walk off some of the pain on the way to my final appointment of the night in the 013...
Nah, that didn't happen. I took a peek into the room, while there was kind of a flying change going on between a DJ set of the TCR Collective and the performance of King Woman singer Kris Esfandiari with her dytopian club project Nghtcrwlr on the Next Stage, but no, I had taken on too much without enough rest and just didn't have it in me anymore to stay until two in the night. So that was it for Friday.
Driving to the hotel I got a cramp in my right leg, which wouldn't leave me until I finally slept in late in the night - happy despite being devastated. And also determined not to overstrain myself on the remaining two festival days. Let's see how that worked out!
reviews of the other festival days:
ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2026 • THE SPARK: Wednesday, April 15th
- The Bad Bird Catches The Spark -
