Rod: For the first time in many years, I feel like I have reached a new type of stability when it comes to my Roadburn pilgrimage. From 2011 to 2017 I stayed at the apartment of my dear late friend, Marcel. Starting in 2018 I spread my wings and stayed at the campsite a couple of times but I also tried out ridiculously expensive airbnbs (and from what I gather the prices are even more ridiculous now). But last year I spent my Roadburn nights in a lake resort not too far away from Tilburg that was quiet, comfortable and reasonably priced. All that was thanks to a great friend I met in a weird place: I was on a plane flying to Chile and I was recognized immediately as a Roadburner. The world is a small place!
Adding to this, my sister has also started to go with me for a couple of years in a row now. So Roadburn has become quite literally a family trip I look forward to each year. With 2026 being my second year in a row at the lake resort and 2027 most likely offering the same idea, my Roadburn experience has become a streamlined, soothing vacation I’m hopelessly addicted to. It’s the one constant music experience I need in order to stand tall against this weird and often unpleasant world.
Radu: There’s a lot that’s changing about the festivals I’m attending yearly, some changing locations, some happening intermittently, some struggling to exist, some losing my interest and so on. When thinking about which festivals to attend in 2027, none of them are ones I’m absolutely certain about. Except one. Yes, that is to say I already have an accommodation booked for 2027, but also that I am so confident in my continued enjoyment of this festival in a way I haven’t felt about any other despite the fact that travelling all the way here for such a long time is not for the convenience.
This year was a bit of a change, since the biggest reason why I started going to Roadburn in the first place was because I was given the opportunity by my uncle, Big Radu, who even contributed to writing back in the day. He’s been part of my Roadburn journey and the accompanying pre-Roadburn trips since 2019 (excluding the Pandemic gaps), though dwindling interest during the previous few editions led to this year being the first where he’d decided to skip entirely, though thankfully for me this coincided with me finally convincing a friend of mine, a lurker here that has been my trip buddy to many festivals and concerts I’ve written about, to make his Roadburn debut.
With a new trip buddy, a pre-Roadburn trip that included some checklist checking countries like Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, and a really cool bed and breakfast within easy walking distance from the festival where Mateusz also stayed (with his partner whom he also brought to Roadburn for the first time) and where we finally had separate keys, a festival whose lineup included a couple of bands that had been on my dream watchlist even before being announced, it looked to be one of the most personally satisfying Roadburns I’ve had.
Mateusz: So, like for the past couple of years, I’ll be focusing only on sets that neither Radu nor Rod have seen. Which is surprisingly low this year since Radu way overdid it with switching the stages and there’s very little shows I saw and he had not, even if I saw a fuller amount of them. It was all to prevent me from writing more here, so you can thank him for that. But despite that I did provide some photos for some of those sets, even if I didn't provide a writeup.
The Spark - Wednesday (15.04)
THE BIRD EXPERIENCE
Rod: We started the pre-party, so called The Spark, with a band that delivered a blast from the past that ironically felt extremely fresh and vital. The Bird Experience is an underground Dutch band that delivers a creepy, ghostly, possessed type of psychedelic rock and blues with a healthy amount of voodoo elements thrown in. With the harmonica, the hair, and those strips of cloth hanging from his mic, the singer Mees Vullings looks like a Steve Tyler witch doctor from hell. His performance was impeccable and it was near impossible to stop staring at him while he performed his wild chants and preachings. His magnetic force is even more impressive once you consider he had to compete with the rest of the band, counting 11 people on stage with a brass section and dancing gospel singers that made the whole show just that much more charming. Looking back at this performance this was without a doubt the best one of the three, and the competition was really tough!
Radu: As with last year, I convinced some Romanian friends living in the Netherlands to join us for The Spark, the Roadburn pre-show that is free entry. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the opening band since I went in blind, and the first impression having been a very dramatic monologue I feared it would be “too experimental for its own good” kind, before moving into a blues blend I never quite expected to see at Roadburn. But the Screaming Jay Hawkins coating over a The Doors made for a pretty fiery show. The band and the backing singers all did their part for making it so fiery, but the heavy lifting was done by how charismatic the lead singer was. The sheer surprise made it the highlight of the night for me.
CRIPPLING ALCOHOLISM
Rod: Crippling Alcoholism has become my biggest obsession for the past year (the band, that is). I was late to the party back when Radu reviewed them in one of our non-metal articles. But when I finally gave a listen to their sophomore record, With Love From A Padded Room, I became desperately addicted to it. There is something about their take on gothic rock / post-punk with powerful, dark and sulky vocal delivery that truly gets under my skin. I make jokes about the band’s name all the time but the truth of the matter is that I’m battling with some demons of my own and some of them are in fact related to heavy drinking. So Crippling Alcoholism has become a very important part of my recent music life (that band, that is. See? I can’t stop!). I don’t exaggerate when I say this was the band I was most looking forward to seeing this Roadburn edition. Yes, even more than Warning or Boris. So of course I was not passing out the opportunity to see them twice in two days. It was this devotion to the band (with their latest album, Camgirl being another masterpiece) that perhaps led me to enjoy their very first European performance despite the fact that the sound was not ideal. Radu can add more about the sound than I can because I was in full on “fan-mode”. Besides the fact that I couldn’t hear the backing vocals, I was actually very pleased with the performance. As the band, specially the singer Tony Castrati really seemed eager to connect with the audience through their intense yet very inviting music.
Radu: Cue a million jokes about the band name. Crippling Alcoholism was one of the bands I was most excited to see at this festival, and them being announced at The Spark was a particular joy because that made it certain they wouldn’t clash with anything else. In the meantime they also had another show at the festival announced and they also got announced for another festival I’m attending so I might see them three times in the same year. For the very first one, the mix was somewhat weird in that a large chunk of it sounded great in a very dark way, but some parts like the backing vocals were barely audible. I feel like the vocalist could’ve gone harder on some parts, unlike the bassist who seemed to be having the time of their life.
BAD BREEDING
Rod: After getting decisively tipsy with Crippling Alcoholism (not necessarily the band), I needed something to re-sharpen my senses and damn this sick kind of hardcore punk by Bad Breeding was just what I needed. I deeply regret not getting any of their albums or merch because this is the type of crusty punk I love. Bad Breeding was dirty, D-beat friendly, angry, both fast and crushingly slow and of course very British. Kudos for being the first act this year to open up the mosh pit! Out of the three, it was the less musically adventurous band. But as a closing act just before we hit the streets for some well-deserved beers and rekindle with some fellow Roadburners? They were ideal.
Radu: After a huge surprise and a band that I’ve been wanting to see for a while, the third band playing a more straight-forward sound did make Bad Breeding have less of a lasting impression. Still, noisy hardcore is always a plus in my book.
Day 1 - Thursday (16.04)
MALLEUS - MAGICK
Radu: Each year hosts an art exhibition at NS16, and this year that honor went to Malleus, whose exhibition was titled “Magick”. This is a collective with ties to Ufomammut, in the sense that two band members are part of the collective, which also explains the aesthetic similarities between their cover arts and the exhibited works. I loved the art style, and my instant thought was how much they look like Tarot cards, and lo and behold, they had a pack at the merch table.
CRIPPLING ALCOHOLISM
Radu: It was a bit weird to have the same band be given two different opportunities for a clashless show (apparently it was because opening the festival on such a big stage was a big step for a band that hadn’t even had ten concerts total before, so The Spark slot was to ease them into it), but the egregious part was having the exact same setlist. On the flipside, the sound was much better this time around, giving it a heavy gargantuan feeling that was missing from the previous performance that was otherwise darker sounding. Repetition aside, it was the better of the two performances, though because it was a larger venue and I was further I didn’t pay as much attention to the physical performance as well.
Rod: As you can imagine from what I wrote about their Wednesday's performance: There was simply no way I would miss seeing Crippling Alcoholism live once again. Roadburn Festival had officially started and the second biggest stage (The Terminal) opened for them. Plus the fact that they were the first to perform that day, with no other act performing at the same time, secured that Crippling Alcoholism would have a huge audience. All this played in their favor as the songs pummeled through with much more gravitas. The sound was also much crispier and clearer, especially in regards to the guitars and bass that stood out well in juxtaposition with the busy synths and drumwork. Yesterday’s warm-up also seemed to help the two singers who delivered an even more charismatic show. I guess my only complaint this time was that the setlist was exactly the same so the only new aspect for me was the sound itself being improved. Another improvement was the fact that I saw them alone which made me far less self-conscious about my dancing!
SHEARLING
Radu: One of the biggest bummers of recent memory is the sudden breakup of Sprain after releasing my favorite experimental rock album of recent memory in 2023’s The Lamb As Effigy. Some of that at least got remedied by the formation of Shearling that included some of the members, including the incredibly distinctive vocalist Alexander Gregory Kent, so obviously I jumped at the opportunity to see them. Shearling might be too early in their existence as a separate band considering their only official release is an album with a single hour-long track, so this performance felt like catching an early version of something, but the experimental sound sounded better in the Swans meets Daughters moments rather than in the Xiu Xiu sounding ones.
COMISSIONED: KRALLICE - FUTURE
Radu: Considering that two separate bands had three sets dubbed “Past”, “Present”, and “Future”, it is a bit off-putting to start with the “Future” one instead of building to it, though I suppose the logic was that Krallice and Acid Mothers Temple shouldn’t sync their shows. Regardless, this is the one set I ended up liking the most, frustrating considering it’s commissioned for this and thus not released yet. Maybe it’s because it’s the first of the three I’ve seen, but the very technical take worked really well with the sound, and though I don’t remember enough about the specifics, it was the only show that also had Colin doing the vocals, and the effects on them really stood out.
Rod: Ah, Krallice. I think my relationship with them is built only on the appreciation I have for their past works. I actually remember when their self-titled debut came out in 2008 and blew my socks off back then. It was quite the awakening hearing black metal performed in such a wild, creative and intricate way. I sort of fell out of love with their music as I dived deeper into rawer styles of extreme music and was suddenly turned off by too much technicality. Tastes change and adapt with time however so I was eager to give Krallice a solid chance, if not for the fact that I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them again. They were going to perform three times at the festival. Each time focusing on different time periods of the band’s career. So this first performance was going to be music exclusively commissioned for Roadburn to be performed for the first time ever (I suppose a studio version will surface in the future). I wish I could have enjoyed this in the same way as Radu but… Yeah, nah. This wasn't it for me. The term “guitar wankery” came up in my mind several times with the “durilu durilu” sound of the guitar getting on my nerves. The musicianship was impeccable but to me the songs lacked coherence. I left after half the show, knowing that their second show would be much more akin to my tastes.
PAIN MAGAZINE
Radu: I remember telling nik how ironic it was that right after he covered them, Pain Magazine got announced for Roadburn, so obviously I had to make it my personal mission to go see them. Seeing how they would end up being one of the most dreadful clashes of the festival, I also convinced Rod to go see them to make sure at least one of us saw it in full. For the half that I have seen, it was music that was super direct, punchy and energetic and that easily got me into it in a way that felt like a more directly post-punkier version of Health.
Rod: Time schedules at Roadburn festival are always tricky and treacherous. Little time is left for improvisations even though the main point of the festival for me is to come home with a couple of discoveries. This is why Radu requested to know my schedule in detail so he could try to squeeze in at least one recommendation. And this is the one. If I had done my homework properly, I would have showed up for this performance anyway. I’m a big fan of Birds In Row yet I was totally unaware of their involvement in this project. Leaving Krallice somewhat disappointed, made me eager to check something completely different. The electronica of Pain Magazine was just what I needed. With passionate, raw vocal delivery along with catchy beats and punchy synths, Pain Magazine delivered dark club music for metal and punks. Their energy, especially the singer’s, was contagious and everyone began to dance almost immediately.
ELUCID
Radu: It’s a bit ironic that some of the best hip-hop shows I’ve seen have all been at Roadburn, with The Bug & Flowdan and Clipping. all ranking high, so the slow creeping of hip-hop into Roadburn did lead to me eventually getting to see some of the hip-hop artists I’ve been covering. With both Elucid and Billy Woods of the Armand Hammer duo confirmed, I wanted to go all in even and see both of them even if this set clashed with Pain Magazine. Hip-hop doesn’t work that well in a live setting and abstract hip-hop doesn’t even have that hype energy so it was an uphill battle, but Elucid managed to make that dark dreamlike vibe translate pretty well in his performance.
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS - DEATH HILARIOUS
Radu: Even when I reviewed them I basically agreed that a lot of what stands out about Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is their band name, though I did like enough of their music to be curious how that translates in a live setting. Death Hilarious isn’t exactly the kind of album I was gonna guess would get a full performance show, with its most distinctive quality being that it had El-P added to Metal Archives, even though he didn’t perform with them live. Pretty good but not very memorable.
HABAK
Radu: Considering how many of the people I talked to chose Habak rather than Pigs x7 in this clash, I initially wanted to be the contrarian one and stay at the former, but the lack of impact it had plus the praise I received in real time for Habak led me to make the jump. A queue to wait in later still led me to see a long enough chunk of it to make it worthwhile, mostly because the band’s energy was through the roof, engaging enough to make up for the less ideal but nonetheless loud sound of The Engine Room.
Rod: My first clash of the festival but not one I feel particularly sad about. I was originally going to see Pigs x7 but my gut told me that contrast is what makes this festival so much fun for me. So I needed something more extreme. Enter Mexican Habak and their brand of “crust melodico” as they call it. There were also hints of black metal, sludge and even screamo hidden under their punk attitude. This was perhaps one of the most polarizing shows of the festival but not for anything that had to do with the band per se. The stage they played in, The Engine Room, is perhaps the stage I like the least. Or at least is the most unpredictable one in terms of sound. The show was LOUD and the band’s energy was off the charts. But something about that huge wall of sound and reverb didn’t sit well enough for many people. Perhaps I have shitty ears or I’m more in tune with extreme metal performance than many roadburners but I was quite satisfied by their performance. It was obvious that the soundcheck wasn’t ideal though as the few times the singer did clean vocals they were completely inaudible. Considering their long trip to Roadburn, many people were eager for more. Turns out fate will lend a helping hand but more on that later.
FAUNA (GBG)
Radu: With that “(GBG)” from Gothenburg added to make sure they weren’t mistaken for Fauna, who also previously performed at Roadburn, Fauna (GBG)’s psychedelic set had a pretty big roster of musicians on a stage as small as The Next Stage one, creating a pretty expansive “world music” inspired set rather than a naturalistic one that the name would imply, and with the short time I was able to allocate to my presence there, it felt more like a background menu music palette cleanser than a set I could properly immerse myself in.
BILLY WOODS
Radu: I’ve made it a point in the Elucid write-up that abstract hip-hop is a tough genre to translate in a live setting, and that’s a problem that seemed more evident with Billy Woods than with Elucid, and a lot of that stemmed from how Billy’s seemed to struggle more with matching that same tone he usually has on the record, and since the set basically relied entirely on his performance, it felt like one that suffered the most from the transition to a live setting, even if the songs themselves were great. Not a disaster by any stretch though.
UFOMAMMUT - AION: THE ETERNAL COIL
Rod: Ufomammut has escaped me for an insane amount of years. I knew about them all the way back in the 2000s with Idolum and Snailking being the two releases I remember the most out of their discography. My love for stoner metal went away in the later years as I dived deeper and deeper into extreme metal. But I always held respect for these guys but funnily enough always missed their concerts. Not this time. Being the first band of the festival (that I saw) with proper visual effects, Ufomammut’s music felt larger than live. A part of me felt that the sound was a little off in the beginning as it was louder and noisier than it needed to be but after the first 15 minutes or so I was completely entranced. The soaring vocals and powerful drums in particular stood out the most for me.
FILMMAKER
Radu: The Next Stage seemed super fitting for all the electronica acts (more on that later), and one of those that I missed at previous Roadburns was Filmmaker. As a Romanian I obviously have a soft spot for anything that references that, and Filmmaker’s dark industrial techno was pretty cool to experience, though it was also one I was very content with just sampling instead of sticking around for its entirety, so when that suspicious empty slot in the Hall of Fame got announced to be a secret Kowloon Walled City show, we moved to that instead.
KOWLOON WALLED CITY (SECRET SHOW)
Radu: Since that’s a band that I was planning to see anyway, as they would also play the following day, my main motivation was due to this ending up being the only show I’ve seen at the Hall of Fame (something things just don’t align). This ended up being a really great decision because Kowloon Walled City turned out to play Container Ships in its entirety, and since I don’t have the setlist for their previously announced show, I doubt I could’ve gotten that experience any other way.
CULT OF LUNA - EARLY ERA SET
Radu: As someone who only got to see Cult Of Luna once (read all about it) in a set that was more recent-albums focused, the early era set appeared more appealing simply due to its scarcity. I left for another set, but stayed enough to hear at least one song from each of the band’s first four albums, but holy shit what an awe inspiring show this was, from how visually striking it was despite its simplicity purely through the light engineering, how pristine and dense the sound, and how intimidatingly tight the band was. I’ll let Rod give you the nitty gritty.
Rod: In a time when post-metal became so popular I was almost put off by it, Cult Of Luna were part of a selective group of bands that were simply in another league. Elite metal. I didn’t properly get into them until the release of Vertikal back in 2013 (which was also the first time I saw them live at Roadburn!). And besides that set, and the Roadburn 2016 set where they focused solely on Somewhere Along The Highway, I never had the opportunity to listen to much of their older material. Since those shows, I’ve had the opportunity to see Cult Of Luna many, many times for their more modern albums. This early era set focused on the band’s first four albums with two songs from each except from the self-titled debut album in which we only got to hear “The Sacrifice”. No love for Eternal Kingdom though. Besides the setlist, there was something else about this performance that felt truly unique and deeply intense. At some point I will have to revisit their old albums just to confirm if the band was really that brutal in the beginning because I was in absolute shock at their insane ferocity on stage. The drummers (two of them!) hit me with the strength of a sledgehammer to the chest. And Johannes Persson was roaring like a beast and moving around the stage in a most intimidating way. The sound was absolutely spotless and whoever was behind the lightshow deserves a raise and a supply of beverage of their choice for a whole year because holy shit was that immersive! I’m not exaggerating when saying that at the time they finished their set I was screaming so loud and long that I felt my knees weakening and almost fell. Without a doubt the best show of the day.
MARUJA
Radu: It did feel a bit odd leaving a set I was loving to go see a band I had already seen, and also seen in a small and intimate enough venue where the sound didn’t suck so I didn’t even feel the need to make up for anything, just simply for the love of the game. This was the first set I tried to convince Rod to go to before settling for Pain Magazine, though I understand why Cult Of Luna would be such tough competition. Making it as close to the stage as I can for the festival’s longest venue knowing how intense the show would be proved to be the best play here, and the protest jazz post-rock with a charismatic hip-hop tinged vocalist bulldozed me once again. Having seen them before I knew that the best moment of the show would be the saxophonist descending in the empty crowd space before the wall of death, so this time I managed to be in the center of it all and it was worth every moment.
UNSANE - OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD
Radu: I’ll let Rod explain the logistical frustration about this, so I’ll just say that if I had a penny for every sludge-adjacent noise rock band that performed in full an album that is great but isn’t necessarily their absolute best on that Thursday I’d have two pennies. Though this edged out Kowloon Walled City by a slight margin.
Rod: Bruh. I was supposed to have 40 minutes between Cult Of Luna and Unsane. But I was so mentally and physically done with Cult Of Luna that my mind was in a haze and I just stood in the Main Stage talking with friends about the incredible show I just witnessed. Big OOPSIE! moment when I looked at the time and realized I had less than 30 minutes left before Unsane would play and I wanted to secure a good spot on the balcony. I was already a bit unsure as to why Unsane would play in the second smallest stage of the festival. Sure, to mainstream metal/rock festivals perhaps they are not a big name but for music nerds at Roadburn they are HUGE and they were going to focus mostly on their monumental noise rock masterpiece, Occupational Hazard. So when I ran to the balcony it was already very packed and my short ass could barely see the stage for most of the time. I’m just gonna come out and say it: Roadburn organisers fucked this one up big time. The sound was excellent though and perhaps this aided for a more intimate and very savage performance but damn these guys deserve much, much more in terms of stage and public and no one will be able to convince me otherwise. Whining aside: This was the second best performance of the day for me with the powerful trio absolutely nailing track after track with crushing drumming, groovy and nasty riffs alongside some of the most intense vocals I’ve heard in a while. I was glad I got to see them up close a few weeks ago in Malmö but lack of vision aside this was just as great of a show.
BLAWAN
Radu: Once again, I’ll let Rod get to the logistical frustration about this. I’m really happy to see non-metal and non-rock genres represented at Roadburn, and I liked what I heard even though some of it was tainted by said logistical frustration. This felt akin to the “happy to sample but that’s also enough” feeling I had with Filmmaker. Ended up as my least favorite set, not because it was necessarily bad, but because something had to come in last.
Rod: Eh. I really mean no disrespect here to Blawan but I saw no point in him performing on the biggest stage. Especially because for the rest of the festival, the Next Stage (where Unsane was performing) was the stage focused on electronica afterparties which would have been a much better fit thematically for Blawan. Am I sour for Unsane? Hell yeah I am and I have no problems admitting that. As for the Blawan’s performance: It was all right. Bass and drum heavy electronics and I saw a lot of people dancing near the stage but farther back the audience was scarce. Our group went to the balcony which was straight up empty. We only saw the second half of the set and perhaps Roadburners were tired and left before we showed up. But it was a deeply underwhelming end of the first day of the festival, especially in contrast to the two previous sets I witnessed.
Day 2 - Friday (17.04)
YELLOW EYES
Radu: Though I wouldn’t call their sound streamlined or generic, it was nice to have some more straight-forward black metal at the festival to scratch that itch, especially as an opener. Most of the setlist was centered around their latest album, which I liked, though nature called more than half way in and I had to leave, thinking that the rest of it would be in a similar enough vein. So I was surprised when later someone posted asking for the last song that they played, which I later checked to be one from their non-metal one.
Rod: I echo Radu’s sentiments regarding the enjoyment of more black metal for Roadburn. I must admit I’m not knowledgeable at all when it comes to Yellow Eyes’ discography as I only started listening to them more seriously with the release of their latest work, Confusion Gate. I was particularly impressed by the sound quality as The Engine Room has been the most unpredictable stage at Roadburn for many years now. I must say I found it a bit funny to see the keyboardist having so many long periods of not doing anything. Just standing there with his arms to this back, closed eyes and looking solemn. There were plenty of intros and outros that I feel could have been played by him but what do I really know about these kinds of things.
COMISSIONED: TEARDRINKER - I HOPE THIS HURTS
Radu: The first time I saw them, I thought Teardrinker were pretty good at what they do and that they were very keen to put socio-political themes to the forefront and I was curious to see what they’d sound like once they moved from their EP phase. They’re still yet to release a full length, though getting a project commissioned for the festival at this stage is a huge vote of confidence. Titled “I Hope This Hurts”, the band made it clear early on what the themes of this performance starting with samples of the “your body, our choice” speech, of news readings of the Pelicot case, among others. Hearing this soon after that CNN exposee of the “rape academy” did strike a pretty disgusting chord that made the rest of the socio-political side resonate even more. Even aside from the opening, the performance had visuals and narration to make it very clear what the performance stood for, and though now I don’t remember all the details, the “witchcraft as archetype” part was a pretty interesting way to look at things, and though sources were cited, I’m not sure if this is what it was referring to since I didn’t record that, but it’s the closest I could find. This aspect of the performance did feel like something that would be a harder pill to swallow for people who want politics to stay out of music, so I wouldn’t be surprised if plenty of people thought it took things too far. As far as the musical side, the screamo/post-metal felt colossal and emotionally resonant enough to match its thematic ambition, with vocalist Kim Hoorweg occasionally playing what I assume is a cello to give it more gravitas, the synergy between the two sides of the performance led it to be my favorite set of the festival during most of it, only to be dethroned later on, but more on that later.
Rod: I knew very little of Teardrinker beforehand but screamo and black metal has been a mix I’ve enjoyed a lot these past few years so I was eager to check these guys out. Of course it’s always a bit awkward at first to connect with a piece of music you have never heard before. The piece “I Hope This Hurts” was exclusively commissioned for Roadburn so I’m now patiently waiting for a studio version of this work as it was very engaging. I must admit I was slightly afraid in the very beginning of their set that the socio-political message would take over the music as that’s exactly what happened to me and the Witch Club Satan set I did not enjoy last year. But no worries this time as the samples were matched perfectly with the cathartic music. The cello interludes were probably the most memorable aspect of their music to me but also the fact that the whole band was really pouring out their souls on stage.
PLANNING FOR BURIAL
Radu: I was concomitantly excited to see Planning For Burial live while also being aware that it’s the kind of music that might not translate too well in a live setting. Seeing that Thom Wasluck went on stage without any backing musicians did raise a bit of a red flag, and indeed that led to a live setting translation that was good enough to make hearing the songs live worthwhile but not enough that I could call it a great set. I didn’t see the drone set that happened on another day, but I have a feeling that that one worked better live, even if the songs on the setlist for this one are better.
Rod: “Have A Nice Life but with far fewer people and far more samples” was basically the verdict I gave this performance after a couple of songs. In theory this should have been a great set for me as this type of “doomgaze” that flirts with post rock/metal is right up my alley but with time I’m getting more and more picky when it comes to live performances with “perform” being a key word here. It’s difficult to complain about the sound quality here. The sound was great! But that is easily achievable when half the music you are hearing is sampled. It was distracting hearing the drums and synths when I saw that no one was there playing them. Thom Wasluck is a talented composer for sure but this is one of those sad cases when I expect some guest musicians for I might as well go home and listen to the studio versions otherwise. I guess rock/metal one-bedroom music projects just do not work for me in a live setting.
WIEGEDOOD & BL!NDMAN
Mateusz: I did skip on writing about Acid Mothers Temple first set cause I don’t feel I have anything interesting to say about the 10 minutes I spent with them, and Wiegedood is not much better when it comes to the time spent as it was just 15 minutes. But I do think this deserves a mention, seeing how special this show was. I’m sure Metal Storm readers, being very observant as always, noticed “& Bl!ndman” in the subtitle. Bl!ndman is a Belgian saxophone quartet founded back in 1988, so naturally they’re the first band that comes to mind when thinking about a potential collaboration for a black metal band such as Wiegedood. They have already performed in that configuration last year, so that was their second performance, on the main stage. And it sounded (and looked) massive! The saxophones were really elevating the insane black metal sound and fit surprisingly well with “FN SCAR 16”, which was playing when I arrived. I regret not seeing the whole performance, but clashes are relentless.
KOWLOON WALLED CITY
Rod: In huge contrast with Planning For Burial, it was great to see a full band with a full sound playing wicked loud sludge / post-metal. While the sound was great I was not too fond of the shouted vocals which felt a bit monotone in the long run. That being said, it was a powerful performance by the band which I had to cut short and missed the last song or so because an exciting Habak secret show at the skate park was announced.
JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER
Mateusz: I was very surprised to see an enormous queue to her show on the Next Stage 15 minutes before the planned time and was initially angry with myself I took my time instead of rushing from Wiegedood but… it turned out to be a false alarm, as the room wasn’t opened yet and anyone in the queue easily got in once it was open.
Or was it a false alarm? There was a reason for a delay, and the reason was Jesse had lost her voice but she still wanted to play the show. And so it began, 15 minutes after the scheduled time, leaving me with very little show time before my next one (Agriculture). Jesse is a singer/songwriter playing country-ish/folkish music, so how does it work without a voice? Uh, well, yeah… She was accompanied by another guitarist and they were both playing acoustic guitars. The first song they played was almost entirely instrumental, with Jesse singing just a couple of last lines of the song. I left after three songs (during which she kept on progressively singing more and more, and later I read on Discord that the last song she sang in full).
And while there is something super intimate in that, with the stripped down versions of already calm songs, and her hoarse voice pushing through because she was adamant of not letting her fans down… and while I of course massively respect her for the determination, I’ll be honest - if I knew this would turn out like this, I’d simply have gone for Kowloon Walled City instead. I hope she will be invited again and that she’ll be able to play a proper show then.
AGRICULTURE - SPIRITUAL SOUND
Radu: Their previous Roadburn performance, though not one I attended nor planned to, did become notorious for how huge the queue was. It seems like the organizers took the lesson learned, and with Agriculture becoming an even bigger deal following the release of The Spiritual Sound album, which they got booked to perform live on the biggest festival stage. It seems really fitting for the band as well, not only due to the crowd control aspect of people who wanted to see them, but they also felt really comfortable being on such a large stage, and that confidence was really obvious in the performance. I had a bunch of songs on the album I returned to often and I was excited to hear live, but the riffing and the solos on “Bodhidharma” hit me like a sledgehammer.
HEAVEN IN HER ARMS - WHITE HALO
Mateusz: This was the first of the two sets by Japanese post-metal/screamo band Heaven In Her Arms, during which they performed their most famous album, White Halo in full (and another one song). A bit embarrassing, but I’ve never heard about the band before they were announced but I listened to them and liked them a lot. This was also their first show outside of their home country in almost 9 years, so not a performance you could easily catch in Europe. And what a great performance it was! Even though The Engine Room wasn’t the best in terms of sound, it was alright, but the deliverance more than made up for any of the venue shortcomings. I didn’t expect to like them as much as I did and I was happy to know I’d catch another set by them the next day.
HABAK (SECRET SHOW)
Rod: Habak went through the greatest redemption arc during the festival. I’m sure most people who saw them the first time at The Engine Room agree that the performance per se was impeccable but the sound was not in their favor. The more spacious skate park let the music breathe and you could hear everything loud and clear, even the clean vocals. Their hard-hitting melodic black/punk mix resonated even more with the audience and moshpits and crowdsurfing began almost as soon as the band started playing. Since I really wanted to assess their sound properly this time, I decided to stick to the back and just enjoy the music from there. My sister was far more courageous and jumped in and stayed in the chaos hole for the whole set, which is the only reason these are some of the few decent pictures we have of the whole festival haha!
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - PRESENT
Radu: I knew I had to catch at least one of the Acid Mothers Temple sets, which proved more difficult than the Krallice counterpart, partly because of being booked on smaller stages. I am not familiar enough with the band to have had any preference between “Past”, “Future”, and “Present”, but thankfully all sets had the band joined by their ex-singer Cotton Casino. That proved to be a fantastic lineup to see the band with, since she made a big difference in the manic performance, even with the pretty big number of musicians on stage. Space-y synths, long jammy grooves, and plenty of chaotic moments, pretty riveting stuff.
KRALLICE - PAST
Radu: The one set I expected to like the most, but something about how the blast beats sounded so overbearing made it lose some of its appeal. But Rod seemed to like it more so I’ll let him elaborate.
Rod: Too much blast beating? What’s next? Too much garlic? TOO MUCH LOVE?
THIS was the Krallice set I wanted to see. Like I mentioned before, I’m a much bigger fan of old Krallice than their newer material. I sort of agree that the sound of the drums was higher in the mix than it probably should have been but to me it provided a hypnotic element to their adrenaline-filled black metal. The stamina of these guys seems unparalleled. An insane assault to the senses. The only thing that I found kind of meh about their performances is that neither of the ones I saw had any visuals. Just their (admittedly pretty cool) logo on a black background.
SLOW CRUSH - AURORA
Mateusz: The first of the two sets by Slow Crush, in which they performed their most known album, Aurora, in full. It’s a Belgian female-fronted shoegaze band that also has a history with Roadburn as they had played here one of their very first shows, before they had released any album. A really good show, the sound was superb, the atmosphere was top-notch, all the songs translated well into a live setting. I enjoyed it way more than their second set (which was focusing on their newest album, but they also snuck in a few songs from “Aurora”, because apparently at Roadburn you have to read descriptions very thoroughly to know if the band is playing an “album in full” or “a show focusing on an album”). And there was no AI slop in the background visuals. (confused why I mention that? Well, I’m sure Radu and/or Rod will explain it later…)
BACKENGRILLEN
Mateusz: Recently, the band got some hype. How could it not since it’s a project of Mats Gustafsson (of Fire! Orchestra fame and 234 other projects) and three members of a punk band Refused. Live, they were joined by a flutist. She and Matt started the show with a few minutes of slightly irritating noises (...or at least I THINK it was the start of the show - because the lights were still on and the background screen with “coming up next: Backengrillen was on during the entire time, before the rest of the band hit the stage). It’s definitely not music for everyone, because it is weird. Jazzy, but mostly experimental / avant-garde as they have an influence from a plethora of genres, including doom metal. There were times when it was tiring (on purpose but still), but there were also moments of pure awesomeness - like the first song from their debut, “A Hate Inferior”. Maybe I’m a pleb because I definitely liked the catchier and more accessible moments more.
They’ve only just released their newest album, in January this year (after they were announced for Roadburn), but they’ve already presented some new material. Which may not be so surprising as their debut was recorded back in 2022. Overall, I did enjoy the show, even if not all the parts – while there are some bands that have a huge build-up, which may be tiring, but it then pays off when the conclusion hits, I don’t think they are one of these. I left the show a bit
earlier to make my way into some more jazz.
ARMAND HAMMER (SECRET SHOW)
Radu: Remember how I said that abstract hip-hop is a bit hard to translate to a live setting and that Billy Woods and Elucid had varying levels of success with that? It was a bit odd that both members of the duo were separately announced but not the duo itself, so the least surprising of the secret sets ended up being the best hip-hop set of the festival, with both Billy Woods and Elucid being able to ride off each others’ energy and give the songs a lot more life by having two separate flows to follow.
Rod: I actually had no idea of neither of the rappers nor their combined project. I was just a happy roadburner walking around and following Radu for something to check out before Cult Of Luna’s second set. This is one of those sets that I really wished I could have stayed for its entirety. The use of samples and visuals were among the very best of the festival. Dark, gritty, melancholic, and socio-political aware. The type of hip-hop I enjoy the most.
137
Mateusz: And that jazz I mentioned a couple paragraphs earlier happened to be in Paradox! A jazz club, which has been collaborating with Roadburn since 2022. Sadly, the amount of shows has been slowly diminishing and so it seems they settled on 6 shows spread throughout 2 days. Last year, I sadly managed to catch only 15 minutes of one band, but fortunately this year I managed to see two full shows there. Well, almost full, as I was greeted with a queue of literally three people, meaning I got to the show during the second song, though I could hear them from the beginning.
It’s a bit funny, because 137 is a band which features two members of a band which is by far more popular than anything that played at Roadburn this year (or maybe ever?), Portishead. A drummer that toured with Patti Smith also doesn’t sound too shabby. And yet they played in the smallest Roadburn “venue” with a capacity of just 175 people.
Rest assured, this is a jazz improv band and the music doesn’t have anything to do with Portishead - it was just a fun fact. This is the exact type of music I want to see in Paradox, with their red Twin Peaks-y curtains, they’re a perfect fit. Yes, despite the big names, the music is not too original - it’s just jazz. But a quality one. And they played an encore, which doesn’t happen often at Roadburn. That’s precisely what I needed at that point.
CULT OF LUNA - LATE ERA SET
Radu: This was the set that was less of a priority because it’s the closest to the Cult Of Luna concert I had already seen and to what I’d likely get to see if I happen to catch them again. But I liked every time I saw them (including the other set) so much that spending time with them in the slot before my next must-see was a no brainer. I slightly preferred the early era set, perhaps because of the scarcity factor, but this one trailed very close behind in terms of enjoyment, both in the moment and retroactively, and a lot of that is due to the colossal feeling of the performance. I’m not talking solely about the sound, but I’ll let Rod elaborate.
Rod: I really, really wanted to see Portrayal Of Guilt, which is a band that has escaped me the two previous times they performed at Roadburn (2022 and 2023). Even though I was already fully satisfied with their early era set, Cult Of Luna blew me away to such high levels that I decided to see their second set in full. Sure, their first set covering their older material was far more interesting as I’m well versed in the second half of their discography. But goddamn I didn’t expect them to one up their previous show in terms of lights and stage set up. It is incredible how such minimalistic ideas can add so much: Four monolithic panels and clever lightwork. That’s all it took to blow me away. The lights and shadows on those panels along with the smoke machines created a living and breathing version of Vertikal’s cover artwork (which is their finest one if you ask me). Seeing the representation of a dystopic metropolis was simply divine and an absolute privilege while songs like “I: The Weapon” and “In Awe Of” were being performed. Without counting two short intros, also from Vertikal, the set also featured two songs from A Dawn To Fear and The Long Road North as well as the track “In The Shadow Of Your Shadow" which is their most recent song.
MANDY, INDIANA
Radu: I was quite fond of Mandy, Indiana’s latest album, even if I had my points of contention with it, but getting the opportunity to see a band I discovered through something not metal-adjacent at Roadburn is always a welcome experience. I didn’t expect that my point of contention, namely the vocal performance, to be as big of an issue live. Vocalist Valentine Caulfield’s stage presence felt a bit off, and she did reveal that a lot of it was due to recently learning of the “rape academy” news and you could tell that she was performing under distress. The experimental nature of their music which takes rhythm-focused industrial post-punk with a less musical vocal approach is one that became an even challenging pill to swallow (which explains why this was my friend’s least favorite show, and I can’t blame them), and even if it socio-politically was very similar to the Teardrinker set, the contrast in energy from that one’s rehearsed experience to this one which felt rawer and more impulsive, was very noticeable, though I was able find some silver lining to that rawness.
ZU
Radu: I didn’t pick Zu just because I wanted to have one set at Paradox, nor just because I missed them the last time they toured close to me, nor even just because I reviewed their last album, but because I knew they’d make an absolute blast of a show. Even though I was pretty early for this one, I still wasn’t too far ahead in the queue and I entered the venue to find it pretty full. I did my best to find a spot close enough to the stage that I could see at least one member at a time and enjoy the show, and for the time I was there it quickly became a barnburner. It’s tough to pick one single member as the highlight because it really felt like the trio was a collection of a drummer who’d be the highlight in any other band, a saxophonist who’d be the highlight in any other band, and a bassist who’d be the highlight in any other band, while performing a very heavy kind of jazz that I’ve already praised in my review but that really translated well in a live setting. I did leave halfway through because the venue was getting too crowded and hot to bear.
NOTHING - A SHORT HISTORY OF DECAY & OTHER TRAGIC TALES
Radu: After leaving Zu I flipped a coin to see if I would pick Nothing or Bosse-De-Nage, one of the worst clashes of the festival. When I arrived at the main stage and Nothing started playing “Hymn to the Pillory”, the only song they played from my favorite album of theirs, it felt like the universe validating my pick. I initially thought this set would be a full A Short History Of Decay set based on how it was presented, though Roadburn sets have a very bad habit of not making a clear distinction between full album sets and sets centered around but not exclusively around a certain album. The setlist thus ended up being pretty much identical to their usual tour setlist, which did mean I got to hear a lot of songs from the latest album but also from the other ones as well, which for my first time seeing a non-collaborative Nothing set (distinction necessary because of the Full Of Hell thingie from a while ago) turned out pretty neat. Especially because of how loud the set was in a way that didn’t feel overbearing. So yes, Nothing was good at Roadburn.
Rod: Now that Cult Of Luna had officially kicked my ass twice in two days, I just wasn’t in the mood of going anywhere. This was practical as I was on the fence between Bosse-De-Nage, who played at the other end of the Festival grounds and Nothing which played on the Main Stage after Cult Of Luna. So I sat on the stairs and saw nothing before seeing Nothing. I barely noticed when Nothing started playing because their music was the smoothest transition I’ve ever experienced between being lost in my thoughts in between bands and being thrown back into reality once the music starts. The rapid movement of the visuals which consisted of aesthetically pleasing, nostalgic videos of times past were the perfect complement to the music. The beats were beyond catchy on top of the heavy and LOUD distortion on the dreamy guitar riffs. I’ve seen Nothing before yet I was still surprised just how powerful their sound was. I’m sure many in the audience felt a similar type of hypnosis as nearly everyone who was on the stairs section of the main stage decided to remain seated and watch the show in awe. I haven’t seen giants like My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive live. But for now I can say that Nothing’s show at Roadburn 2026 was my ultimate shoegaze experience.
NGHTCRWLR
Radu: Turns out I might not like Kristina Esfandiari’s vocals as much as I thought I did. I remember liking HiSeq_Let the Children Scream when it came out and I’m quite fond of how her vocals work in a doom metal setting, but somehow this set didn’t work for me.
Rod: Friday delivered the appropriate night finisher for me, unlike Thursday. The dark electronics of NGHTCRWLR from New York really pumped me up mentally although my body was very exhausted so my dancing was mostly reduced to just swinging my body side to side while sipping on a beer while looking at charismatic theatrics of the singer and the energetic lightshow. I lazily bid my farewells to my friends as I headed for an early shuttle bus to my resort for a good night sleep. Turns out they had removed the 3 AM shuttle bus entirely so the one I took turned out to be the last one!
Day 3 - Saturday (18.04)
HEAVEN IN HER ARMS - THE END OF PURIFICATION
Radu: It’s always a gamble going for the set dedicated to the new/upcoming release instead of the old classic album set, though I reckon having the new album set be the clashless one made more logistical sense to showcase it. My friend who saw the White Halo set ranked it as his favorite of the festival at that point, and he shared my anxiety that the new album might not live up to it. Boy were we wrong. With a surprisingly good sound for the Engine Room, Heaven In Her Arms had such an enthusiasm in performing live that made the screamo/post-rock sound like a more intense version of what Envy delivered last year, ironically having a better sound despite being on a worse stage. The more the set went on, the gap between my enjoyment of it and how much I thought I would’ve enjoyed the older album set narrowed to the point where I kept feeling surprised by how much I loved it. Rod is a silly goose for missing on this.
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT
Radu: One or two years ago I also saw an all-femme doomgaze trio at Roadburn, and just like with Faetooth, I found that I have a lot more enthusiasm (the constant relisten kind that made their sounds end up in my top 10 of the year) for Blackwater Holylight in studio form rather than in a live form. All of that is simply due to the sound not packing the same kind of immersive punch, the drowned out vocals being much easier to feel impactful when properly mixed, which they weren’t here. Still, not a disaster, and I’m glad I got to hear so many of the songs I liked live.
OTAY:ONII - MOONSTRUCK OLD TALES
Radu: The collaboration between Roadburn and Otay:onii that had the artist perform sets, often commissioned at three consecutive editions, had this edition host a main stage commissioned set called “Moonstruck Old Tales”. To hammer the point how conceptual this commissioned set would be, booklets were given to all audience members elaborating on the concept, pulling from Lane’s childhood in China, the songs from it, and the brutal history that her generation’s grandparents lived through, also dedicating the performance to children who are currently experiencing “the loneliness and helplessness from losing families during current wars and genocides”. The set itself was overall less visually striking or theatrical than I expected, sans one moment where Lane levitated (haters will say she was pulled by strings) up to a prop moon, grabbing it down, landing back on stage, then smashing it. Though the props, costumes, and visuals did their job at creating a very specific vibe, the heavy lifting was done by the music, heavier than expected though not overtly metallic, with a lot of soaring noise coming from the keytar-looking instrument that Lane was playing, creating a sound that didn’t necessarily always “feel” Chinese to my non-Chinese years, but rather hypnotic in a way that didn’t rely on repetition.
SLOWHOLE
Rod: I had a less than ideal start to my day. After having three long days of concerts and late night drinking I simply couldn’t bother to hurry up for any shows. I think it is absolutely criminal that Friday and Saturday started with the first band at 13:00. This is particularly harsh when you go to bed by 3 am. This meant missing Heaven In Her Arms and prioritizing lunch which in turn meant missing out on Blackwater Holylight. Sometimes Roadburn is like that. After getting a locker to put away the merch I already had on me, I felt like I needed a rude awakening to get in the mood for another big day. My gut told me to head for Slowhole and that was the right move, of course. Maniacal, loud, feedback-friendly mix of noise rock (with extra emphasis on NOISE) and sludge metal with the banshee shrieks of Shannon Arsenault really making waves in the crowd. This was a band recommended to Roadburn via Thou members and I can totally see why. Slowhole? More like Hellhole! It was a punishing set and the constant red lights made the atmosphere even more menacing.
This has nothing to do with the show but anyway: Big shout out to the guy who stood next to me and turned out to be a member of the Slovenian screamo band Zbrucz! It was nice exchanging a few words with you and wish you all good luck with the project!
PRIMITIVE MAN - REMEMBRANCE
Rod: I find it very exciting to see how much Primitive Man’s fanbase has grown over the years since the first time I saw them on a much, much smaller stage in Roadburn back in 2015. Big sounds demand a big stage of course and I was delighted by the fact that I had two shows of theirs to look forward to. This first one, titled “Remembrance”, focused on the band’s past. As much as I love the band, it is impossible for me to recognize individual songs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. While their songs blend into each other, their sound is unmistakably theirs alone. Primitive Man truly is one of the heaviest metal bands you can see nowadays. Ethan’s howls were demonic and when the whole band switched gears and played fast sludge sections, the kickback felt like a hammer to the face. I was alone watching this set and it actually made the experience even more immersive for me. I headbanged for what seemed like an eternity.
RÓIS
Radu: My memories of this set aren’t as crystal clear, partly because every Roadburn it seems like there are a couple of sets where I sort of dissociate and the exhaustion settles in. I did enjoy Róis even if it didn’t come close to Øxn or Lankum, with the most memorable moment coming from an unexpected cover of Nirvana’s “Something In The Way”. Instead I’ll tell you of something that happened prior to the show. I wanted to get familiar with Róis’ material and I was listening to Mo léan on the train while reading José Saramago’s Death with Interruptions, a book in which people stop dying in a random country. Then the song “The Death Notices” comes on, an interlude in which a radio presenter exclaims “We are sorry to inform you that there will be no death notices this morning”, which was one of the spookiest coincidences I’ve had lately.
THESE NEW PURITANS
Radu: This is the kind of art pop that, while fitting for Roadburn, feels like the kind that you’d see opening for Nick Cave, and while intricate gorgeous orchestration did create a very fragile and ethereal soundscape, with the vocals especially making it somber, I kept holding on to the foolish hope that Caroline Polachek would pop up to perform “Industrial Love Song” with them.
PROSTITUTE
Radu: When I first covered Prostitute, I namedropped Maruja and Daughters, both bands I have now seen at Roadburn, so obviously they also fit in like a glove. Live they make the post-punk side of their sound feel even more leaning towards punk, creating a very dense and overbearing sound in all the best ways, something that worked really well with how low contrast the light work for their set was.
BORIS - PINK DAYS
Radu: Boris was the one band I was looking forward to the most at this edition, frequently bringing them up among bands I had yet to see live. Getting two different sets only made that more appetizing, and it was the Pink focused one I expected to like most out of the two. Turns out the main stage sound had other ideas, not sounding bad but cutting away the punch that was necessary to make those songs sound as exciting as the band clearly was to play them. I did leave about halfway through, but I’ve been told that the sound got better in the latter half, validating my impression that the sound was subpar for the first half.
DÄLEK
Rod: It is impossible for me to recall exactly what happened to me after Primitive Man. I believe I went out for food. This sadly made it impossible for me to see Prostitute as the queue for getting in was simply ridiculous. A bit defeated by this, I decided to camp near the stage where Dälek was going to perform. I fondly remember their legendary Roadburn show in 2017. Time has confirmed how important that show was for Roadburn’s evolution and current state. It was their very first hip-hop act and their return to Roadburn was one of the biggest names for me. I wanted to experience the show more fully so I ended up camping for a long time and just a couple of rows from the very front. Nostalgia makes it impossible to compare this set favourably to the one I experienced in 2017 but never mind that: The show was excellent. It was both groovy and dark, driven by the catchy beats and soothing basslines alongside MC Dälek venomous tongue. I would have loved the set more if it was a varied set instead of focusing almost solely on their latest album but hey, the songs slap hard so I can’t complain. Ok, I’m going to complain about another thing: These guys had no merch! I walked around the merch area at least 5 times on Saturday on different occasions and no one of the staff working on the merch tables knew anything about Dälek having anything. SUPER LAME!
Radu: I was super bummed to miss out on Dälek when they toured close to me because of a family issue, a show that was much better than this one coming from a friend that saw both, claiming they felt much more excited and energetic the other time. Having no such term of comparison, I did find their show really enjoyable, with MC Dälek working better as a solo rapper than either of the other two I’ve seen, which explains why Dälek was the forebearer of hip-hop at Roadburn all those years ago (right before I started attending). The set was surprisingly focused almost exclusively on the recently released new album, which I may have covered in the nonmetalz by the time this article comes out, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve preferred a more varied set.
OATHBREAKER - RHEIA
Radu: Present in the very first announcement for this edition and the one name that felt like the biggest surprise of the bunch, Oathbreaker reuniting to perform Rheia around its tenth anniversary is a colossally awesome prospect that seemed tailor made for the main stage of Roadburn. Rod dipping on this because he saw the band performing the album back when it was actually released, left me to live this dream by myself and be as enthralled as I could get. Though I have to admit most of that enthrallment came from the prospect itself and from the fact that it was happening and it didn’t suck compared to actually being enthralled by the sound and performance, which were great but not as amazing as I expected them to be. Huge props to Caro’s shrieks though, she’s still got it.
QUEST MASTER
Rod: Aw hell yeah I fucking love dungeon synth so much. My love for the genre started when I saw Old Tower during the 2018 edition of Roadburn. Since then I have explored many other artists and Quest Master really has managed to put a special twist to his music. As the name of the genre implies, most dungeon synth evokes images derived from Dungeons & Dragons games. Many dungeon synth projects take this medieval aesthetic in a more serious, somber manner. But Quest Master doubles down on the nerd factor by leaning more on the catchy beats of old video games and successfully mixes it with the aesthetics from the computer revolution of the 80s. This was manifested through excellent visuals which felt like both praise and satire to this period of human consumerism. The juxtaposition of old castles and then modern skyscrapers being labeled as “Crystal cathedrals” felt particularly on the nose. I noticed an intriguing element of vaporwave in his music as well. Not only was I surprised at how danceable his music ended up being but also pleased to see the ways dungeon synth can evolve as a micro-genre.
SAETIA
Radu: I just hate clashes between sets that are on similar levels of scarcity. Even if the clash overlap is low, having to pick between a full Oathbreaker (reuniting for a full album set) or a full Saetia (who I still can’t believe have reunited) was painful enough. Still, I went into this doing my best not to have my expectations set by how awesome reunited screamo legends Pageninetynine were last year in the same venue because I knew I would inadvertently compare the two. And obviously, my first impression was that the difference in intensity made it so this set couldn’t hold a candle to the other one, but as the mosh pit grew larger, getting physically involved with the set made it easier and easier to actually feel it as engaging and ecstatic as I hoped it would be.
Rod: With an ever growing love for screamo, I was beyond excited when Saetia was first announced. Last year’s screamo combo from Pageninetynine and Blind Girls was still very fresh in my memory so I knew this set was going to be very special. Saetia had a “blink and you miss it” lifespan with only 22 months of existence before their reunion. So seeing a packed venue and so many people knowing the songs by heart is a grand testament to their deserved cult status. Soundwise this was also one of the best sets of the festival. The bass in particular was super clean and felt like the driving force of the band alongside the frenetic yet also very moving guitar work. The moshpit didn’t start immediately and it took around 15 out of the 60 minutes to fully develop into a chaos pit. I got so many elbow hits that I was sore for the rest of the night and part of the next day. I had to rest a couple of times as I was out of breath and with a hard-pounding heart every 10 minutes or so. I can only hope Roadburn continues its magical streak of old screamo bands performing and that next year I can see Orchid!
SLIFT
Radu: This day seemed to follow a pattern of really awesome sets that raise the bar so high that anything that follows does not hit as hard. It happened with me being in a daze after Heaven In Her Arms for half the day, and then it was now happening again after Saetia, with the added exhaustion from the mosh pit and from spending all day at the festival. As a result, I could objectively gather that Slift were absolutely amazing, really engaged into what they were doing and it seemed like this set would be, in another context, one that I would’ve enjoyed even more than the previous and only other time I’ve seen them also at this festival. So me and Rod went to something where the stakes of enjoyment felt lower.
Rod: I’ll be completely honest here: I remember almost nothing of this set. I had mentally checked out for a good while after Saetia so the result was me listening to fantastic music but I couldn’t connect with it beyond a surface-level of enjoyment. I recall the drumming being particularly cool and the visuals trippy but that’s about it. Hope to see them again but with a focused mind.
AYA
Radu: Electronic music and The Next Stage go hand in hand (looking at you, Blawan), and even though objectively I do prefer Slift to Aya both in a studio and a live setting, Aya proved to be much better at shaking me out of my post-Saetia purely because of how funny of a person Aya is when confronted with the Ableton software on her laptop crashing during her live set. The title track from her latest album being performed without any stage lights was a good highlight to end the night on…
… that is a lie because right after this set we went to the first official Roadburn karaoke night, hosted by Patrick Walker and Jason Stoll. Though Rod got his song in (it was glorious) and mine (Paramore - Misery Business) somehow never made it out of the queue by the time we booked it out of there, I managed to fill in for someone who queued Judas Priest’s “Breaking The Law”, so technically I also performed on stage at Roadburn. Other highlights sung by other folks include Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me”, Manowar’s “Battle Hymn”, Thin Lizzy’s “Dancing In The Moonlight”, and Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc”, complete with the rap part.
Rod: I echo Radu sentiments here. While Slift was the greater band for me, Aya did a much better job at waking my body up after the Saetia carnage. I wasn’t exactly dancing but I found the set very entertaining nonetheless, especially considering Aya’s great stage presence in the face of technical errors. The sudden silence at a crucial beat drop during her set made me think it was intentional for a couple of seconds. While her jokes and charismatic composure were a highlight, it was Radu that got me laughing the most when he yelled “HAVE YOU TRIED TURNING IT OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN?”.
Everything seemed to lead to a good yet not fully brilliant end of the night. But then we headed downstairs and all hell broke loose with the karaoke show! Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” was probably my favorite moment as everyone was screaming the lyrics as if their lives depended on it but Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spade” was a classic that lead to a fun moshpit, crowdsurfers included. I originally was not going to sing because I felt quite intimidated but the atmosphere was just so fun and the smiles and laughter of everybody was so contagious that I went for it and queued up AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”. Yes, there is footage of this. No, I will not share it here with you. My levels of adrenaline went through the roof so I mixed an exaggerated high-pitched shriek with harsh shouting. Nothing of this passed for a proper performance per se but the crowd seemed to love it and I got really nice comments during and after the song. I hope they keep doing this because I’m so going to rap next time if they do!
Day 4 - Sunday (19.04)
KRALLICE - PRESENT
Radu: Originally this was the only Krallice set that I was gonna see because it was the only clashless one. But since I managed to catch at least a bit of the other two ones, it was a no-brainer to go three for three and be a Krallice completionist. This one fit a bit better to my Krallice liking having covered two albums from this period, and the use of keyboard soundscapes for a more atmospheric focus did end up being the defining feature, the contrast more evident by having these three sets to compare.
KRMU
Mateusz: A good reviewer should explain the art that they experience in detail and in an interesting way, even if it’s just alright and there’s nothing that interesting to say about it. It’s an ambient show by a Kenyan musician based in Berlin, I think that should explain it – I quite liked the albums but ambient very rarely is interesting to me live and serves more as a background music and so… Oh yeah, I forgot one thing – I am not a reviewer, therefore I can say the show was alright and there’s nothing that interesting to say about it.
SLOW CRUSH - THIRST
Rod: I once again cursed out the music gods for not letting me wake up early enough for me to enjoy the first show of the day (Krallice’s “present” set). But after a hearty ramen soup, plus an ice cream trip with Radu and his friend, I was ready to take on the world and check out Slow Crush. Unfortunately, even though the sound was excellent, I couldn’t really connect with the music and I almost forgot all about it the moment I left the stage. Perhaps I needed something more extra to wake me up. More on that later.
Radu: Just like with Heaven In Her Arms I was pretty bummed that I could only attend the new album set rather than the classic album set, even if this set was a “centered around” rather than “album in full” kind, meaning that songs from the older album set did make it into the Thirst set. The sound was quite pristine, which is always a plus for genres like shoegaze that need that soundscape to be immersive, though less immersive were the AI generated slop visuals that really took me out of it.
PRIMITIVE MAN - OBSERVANCE
Rod: WELL, I guess I needed another dose of extreme punishment from these guys just to wake up and enjoy the last day of the festival. It may appear a bit overkill to endure another set of these guys when I already saw them perform tracks from their older records the day before. But I didn’t really take the time to listen to their latest album, Observance, prior to this set so I thought it would be neat to experience it in a live setting (before going home and listening to the vinyl copy I bought shortly after the set!). It was unsurprisingly heavy, loud and noisy. I guess I wanted to squeeze all the extremity I could get out of this festival. Mission accomplished!
TOMO KATSURADA & JONNY NASH
Mateusz: A very last minute addition to my thoroughly thought-out plan, because I found out that Tomo Katsurada was the frontman of Kikagaku Moyo, a band that I like very much and which sadly got disbanded back in 2022. Even though I knew his show with Jonny Nash will have almost nothing to do musically-wise with Kikagaku, I still was curious about the new music that they were going to present. And new music it was, as the duo is just about to release their album (Jonny also played as a guest on one song on Tomo’s solo album but I don’t know if that one was played). Very soothing music, played on two guitars, with Tomo doing all of the singing (I left before it ended, though). It didn’t captivate me too much but it was good. I’ll definitely check the album out, which is supposed to come out on May ‘26.
TRUCK VIOLENCE (SECRET SHOW)
Radu: I was completely unfamiliar with the band, only finding out about them through them being announced for the previous night, and though I didn’t end up going to that set, the name stuck out to me as a pretty cool one. So considering that it was the last day and I had yet to see any of the secret shows in the skatepark and because I also wanted my friend to see one so he’d see every official venue, and since I was already ambivalent about Primitive Man, when the news of this secret show came on, we decided to make a go for it. We found a good enough spot to observe the band, and though I directly saw less of it because I queued for beers thus I can’t directly confirm, there was apparently a change of vocalist throughout the show. The band’s stage presence was about as funny and spiritually American as the title, even though the band is from Canada. As someone that only played Euro Truck Simulator 2 instead of American Truck Simulator perhaps some of the appeal is lost on me, and even though I’m pretty sure the themes that Truck Violence sing about as serious as can be, there is something fundamentally unserious about the band that makes them really entertaining.
INTER ARMA - THE CAVERN
Radu: Having seen and reviewed Inter Arma, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of what the band was capable of. Somehow, before this was announced I realized I only listened to the band’s full length albums and I had no idea they had an EP with a single 45 minute track, longer than a lot of proper full lengths. Obviously hearing that song in full was a very appetizing prospect, especially since the band went all in on incorporating that album’s full roster and soundscape, by which I mean that the violinist made the difference, surprisingly not drowned out by the heavy instruments in a live setting. The sound of the main stage did its heavy lifting in making this sound as colossal and expansive as it needed to. I shouted “one more song” at the end, but they didn’t heed my request.
KISS THE ANUS OF A BLACK CAT
Radu: Funniest band name of the entire festival if it wasn’t for Crippling Alcoholism, Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat was the kind of neofolk that doesn’t exactly sound as sombre and gloomy in a way usually associated with the genre, though it still is sombre and gloomy, but in a more groovy gothic and almost country-tinged way that makes it closer to King Dude, Madrugada, or Spiritual Front than Sol Invictus or Current 93. Really fun way to decompress after Inter Arma, and “fun” isn’t usually a word I’d associate with neofolk.
Rod: I deliberately avoided finding out too much about this band just because the name gave me such a “???” reaction the first time I heard it. Upon figuring out the band plays neo-folk and the name of the band comes from a witch ritual, I simply thought “I gotta hear this”. In retrospect this perhaps ranks at the very top of sets I wish I would have seen in its entirety. To quote Radu during a text exchange we had while seeing this band: “It’s so soul soothing”. The Americana/country influences from the guitar, banjo and the charming vocals provided a warmth, comfortable ambience that was so intoxicating. The audience instantly connected with the band. We even helped the band out with a sing-along portion of a song, which was a pretty endearing moment.
WARNING
Radu: I was through-the-roof excited about this, having previously seen 40 Watt Sun at this very festival, and being completely enamored with Watching From A Distance but imagining that I completely missed out on ever seeing Warning proper. Fully expecting this to be my favorite set of the day and even the festival, I had my worst “my expectations are too high” fears confirmed when Patrick Walker started addressing us on the microphone to seemingly even more anxiety about the performance than I was feeling, mentioning how after the karaoke last night, where he left early but was supposed to leave even earlier, he woke up with less of his voice than he anticipated and hoped the audience would sing along to the lyrics as much as possible. When the overwhelming majority of Warning’s appeal lies in that very voice, the resulting performance with that voice not at 100% really suffers. But even without it being at 100%, Walker’s voice is unmistakably his, and the sounds are thus gorgeous even without that extra dramatic oomph. With an assortment of Watching From A Distance songs and songs from the upcoming album, it was a dream come true nonetheless, hindered but not ruined by the circumstances.
Rod: First and last time I saw Warning was back in 2017. It was the first time they performed the legendary Watching From A Distance in full. But my relationship with Warning and that glorious doom metal masterpiece from 2007 extends both further into the past as well as into the future. In 2022 I had an exchange with Patrick Walker, which became one of the most important music moments of my life. And I saw 40 Watt Sun last time at Roadburn. So yeah, Patrick Walker revitalizing Warning with a new album soon to be released was a huge deal for me. The sound of the band was as punishing and heavy as I remembered. Sadly, Patrick Walker’s voice took a toll from the previous night and even though he was still miles ahead of most metal singers, it was still a noticeable lack of power when compared to his standards. The audience seemed to take it in stride even though some key moments like that brilliant climax on "Footprints" suffered a bit. Despite this setback, I still thoroughly enjoyed the concert. And the new song “Stations” in particular sounded amazing!
ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER
Mateusz: Some retro-sounding (yet a bit too technical to call it retro set), I think fully improvised, rock played by guitar-drums-bass trio, which is kind of a supergroup. Shelley was the main drummer of Sonic Youth, and the other two also have interesting careers as well, even if they’re far less known. Again, nothing much to say about this, I had a good time here, simply put - a lighter, cool set between Warnings of Flood.
BORIS - FLOOD
Radu: One of my fondest concert memories was me and a best friend of mine, who’s also a musician, seeing Motorpsycho in my college city (back when you still had venues where decent bands could play) and him basically staring at their amps for the entire set in awe at the music. That is the kind of immersion I could only hope to achieve and I’ve only done so on few occasions. After the “Pink Days” set, I didn’t expect the second Boris to be one of those, especially since a more drone focused set felt like more of a hit or miss kind. Then when the set started and I was hit by some of the most soul swallowing drone, with some singing and guitar playing that made it seem like every note was the most important note in the universe. Each time a guitar solo started I immediately felt the need to say “Oh, fuck off, get tha fuck outta here, no fucking way” or any combination of the prior. Needless to say, it ended up being my favorite set of the festival. Weird thing is that, akin to the prior set, it wasn’t a full album set, with a lot of Boris At Last - Feedbacker in addition to the expected Flood being represented. [Rainbow was represented as well - Mateusz’s note since Radu ignored my advice]
Rod: I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Boris a couple of times (2018 and 2023). With the former focusing on a drone piece while the latter saw them at their most rocking. I found it an amusing coincidence that Roadburn 2026 offered a very similar premise with one album focusing on the rocking Pink while the other would dive into the drones of Flood. Sadly, my unwillingness to stress out with half-sets and losing a good spot for Dälek made me give up on Boris’ first set. But of the two sets, I already knew that the Flood one was more my jam. It did come as a (pleasant) surprise that the band first started to explore their Feedbacker record for half a set. Just like with Radu: The powerful drones and unreal volume of all three instruments made this set my favorite of the whole festival. Wata in particular is a freaking genius; nailing solo after solo. There were very few stage props present. Large amounts of fog were present of course (which always work well with drone - See Sunn O)))) and I loved how all the lights turned blue for the Flood section of the set. I wish I could properly explain why this set was so soothing to me. I felt like I was swimming in the midst of all the fuzzy riffs, beautiful leads and noisy feedback.
CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN
Radu: I fully expected to be caught in the same post-great set daze after Boris, but I was curious enough to try Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean, whom I reviewed before, and they ended up scratching that ultra-heavy sludge itch that I missed out on by skipping on Primitive Man, and it was just heavy enough to squeeze the last bits of festival euphoria for me.
ECHT!
Rod: After reaching my Roadburn peak with Boris, there was very little left for me to do. I was way too exhausted to walk with Radu to see Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean, was not in the mood for any beers and felt antisocial in general. I wandered around and found myself going to the stage beside the one where Boris performed and saw people dancing and soothing electronica jamz. It was ECHT! from Belgium. If I had any type of energy I would have walked closer to the stage as it was some pretty interesting take on electronica music with a nice focus on drum 'n' bass among other things. I always appreciate it when electronic bands actually have more conventional instruments and the drummer in particular was working overtime with some mighty cool beats. I considered the music a bit too mellow for Roadburn but I guess that’s a bit of an old-timer attitude from me.
K-X-P
Radu: Remember how I said my last bits of festival euphoria were squeezed out of me? I did hope I had some left for K-X-P, a set I attended mostly because I wanted to avoid having to wrap up the festival experience, and because the main stage is the most convenient of stages. What I heard wasn’t too shabby, a krautrock-y kind of repetitive psych that sounded cool enough but whose impact mellowed the more its repetition focused sound went on, making the last notes of the festival fizzle out rather than go out with a bang. We did afterwards try to end the festival with DJ Haram, the only other set still left, thinking it would be poetic to end things at The Next Stage where they also started, but after about two minutes we noped out of having that be how we wanted to wrap things up, so we just went for the last few beers at a bar instead.
Rod: I jumped from one drum-heavy set to the next. It was nice that the whole crew (Radu and his friend + my crew and I) converged to the same old spot behind the soundcheck table, in the middle of the stage. All roadburners were exhausted so most of us sat down and enjoyed the last show with tired eyes. My lack of energy may have helped me for this set though as I felt that K-X-P eased my way into a final goodbye. The repetitive mix of psychedelic krautrock and club techno put me in a trance. I can understand how Radu felt that it was a solid 20 minutes too long but for me time flew by and I couldn’t stop focusing on the neverending beats. The cute lightning effects with small lights flickering made the stage look like the vast sky at night, further easing my way into slumber.
After the set ended, I walked around for a bit trying to find people to say goodbye to. But I found only a couple who were already on their way home. So Radu, his friend and I decided to at least meet for the last few beers while ranking some of our highlights and bid our farewells with hugs.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUCH
Rod: 14 Roadburn editions in a row for me. A “good” or “bad” year are very meaningless terms for me now. All Roadburn editions are the same in the sense that I’m always as excited as the first time I showed up in 2011. In the sense that I always witness a concert or two that I never thought I’d experience. In the sense that I’m always eager to meet my beloved friends. My Roadburn family.
One thing I noticed was a lack of big clashes between sets I wanted to see. Partly because there were few bands I ranked as “must see” but mostly because all these years have taught me to relax and just enjoy the ride. You never know when a band may come back next year (or play an extra set haha).
For the sake of documenting my degree of enjoyment, here are my highlights. Two per day:
Crippling Alcoholism, Cult Of Luna (both sets, they really knocked it out of the park this year. Holy shit), Nothing, Dälek, Saetia, Primitive Man and Boris. Some discoveries that pleasantly surprised me were: Pain Magazine, Slowhole, Quest Master, and Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat. I tend to not regret not seeing a band because it always means that I wanted to see something else (or because I really needed some food). But if I had the ability to clone myself I would have seen Maruja, World Peace, Portrayal Of Guilt, Street Sects/Sex, Heaven In Her Arms, and Boris’ Pink Days set.
Hope for Roadburn 2027? Any answer that isn’t Neurosis is objectively wrong. But Orchid, Menace Ruine, and Maudlin Of The Well are some other big dreams that I have.
Radu: This Roadburn felt a little different, perhaps less because of the lineup (though there was quite a lot that I heavily anticipated) but because it found me for the first time as the Roadburn guide, where I was finally in the position that others were for me in 2019 and 2022. With an accommodation quite close, separate keys, and Rod occasionally letting me leave my merch in his bag/his locker, it was one of the most frictionless Roadburns ever. Another big reason for that is that, going with a friend from my city instead of my uncle meant not having to fly to and from Bucharest, and being able to fly to and from Timisoara also meant being home sooner after the festival was over.
I never really subscribed to the idea that Roadburn’s lineups ever got weaker, but looking at some of the older running orders I get stuck with a lot of choice paralysis that I never got from this edition. There were clashes and sets I missed or only saw partially that I wish I never got put in the position to not fully see, as is part of the course for such festivals, but personally making those choices has felt easier this year.
Even more so than last year, I feel like drawing a line at where I should stop naming my absolute favorite sets of this edition is harder. Even though the “Flood” set from Boris ended up being my absolute favorite, I would be remiss not to also mention Teardrinker, Maruja, Heaven In Her Arms, Cult Of Luna (both sets, but the Early Era one slightly more so), Agriculture, and Saetia. Even with their respective drawbacks, I’m still in awe at having experienced the Warning and Oathbreaker sets. And I’m crushed under the weight of all the sets I’m not naming just for brevity’s sake. There were only a few sets I got less out of, like Mandy, Indiana, NGHTCRWLR, or Blawan, but even those are ones I don’t regret seeing.
There are sets I do regret not seeing though, like Eyes, World Peace, the other Heaven In Her Arms set, Backengrillen, Bosse-De-Nage, and Street Sects, as well as ones I wish I could’ve stayed more for, like both Cult Of Lunas, Pain Magazine, the first Boris, and Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat.
Fingers crossed for Neurosis next year.
Mateusz: Since I’ve been skipping here already covered bands, here’s my full ranking (the order in a particular tier doesn’t matter):
Top: Maruja, Zu, Prostitute
Great: The Bird Experience, Fauna, Ufomammut, Cult Of Luna (early set), Heaven In Her Arms (both sets), Inter Arma (The Cavern set), Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, Boris (Flood set)
Very good: Crippling Alcoholism (both sets), Shearling, Krallice (all 3 sets, though I haven’t seen enough of the Past set), Pain Magazine, Unsane, Yellow Eyes, Teardrinker, Wiegedood & Bl!ndman, Agriculture, Slow Crush (Aurora set), Backengrillen, 137, Blackwater Holylight, Boris (Pink set), Oathbreaker, Saetia, Slift, Warning, Orcutt Shelley Miller, Kowloon Walled City (secret set)
Good: Bad Breeding, Habak, Acid Mothers Temple (Past and Future sets), Planning For Burial (normal set), Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Otay:Onii, These New Puritans, Slow Crush (Thirst set), Tomo Katsurada & Jonny Nash, Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean, K-X-P
Okay(ish): Blawan, Rois, KMRU
Either I’m very easily impressed, or this festival has been an absolute blast. Let’s just say I don’t think a tier list for any other festival I’m attending would look even remotely so good.
And because Roadburn is so packed, there’s at least a couple of bands that I’ve heard many positive things about their shows, but none of us managed to attend them like SANAM, Haress or Ak’chamel…
There’s been a few mishaps mentioned by Rod and Radu (mostly identical Crippling Alcoholism sets and Blawan/Unsane placement), but that doesn’t change a simple fact:
Roadburn for me is something more than a festival, it’s a celebration of music. Even though I got sick on the last day (for the third year in a row – I’m starting to see a pattern… well, at least it was milder this time around), I loved every second of it. It’s also the first time I brought my partner to Roadburn and she’s said it’s been the best festival she’s ever been to, and she’s a very smart woman so you can trust her.
Now here are some random pics:
in fact, it was way overdue that she finally arrived at Roadburn 
