Written by:	Auntie Sahar, X-Ray Rod
Published:	May 25, 2015
Event:	Roadburn 2015: 20th Anniversary (Website)
Location:	013, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Galleries:	Roadburn 2015, Day 4 by X-Ray Rod (15) Roadburn 2015, Day 3 by Auntie Sahar (58) Roadburn 2015, Day 2 by Auntie Sahar (59) Roadburn 2015, Day 1 by Auntie Sahar (28)

Che: As you guys might remember, for the past six years or so Roadburn has been having a curator take command on this second day, a member of a fairly well known band who not only gets to headline with the band on that day, but also selects which bands will be playing on three of the five stages. This year, curating duties went to Ivar Bjornson of Enslaved and Einar Selvik of Wardruna, immediately raising my curiosity for this "Houses Of The Holistic" day far beyond Mikael Akerfeldt's curating last year. After making the voyage from Marcel's to Tilburg once again, and passing the time before the venue opened with some beer with Rod, it was time to get the action going once again.

Rod: After having a good night's sleep at Marcel's place in Utrecht, we headed right away to Tilburg. For us, these days are just Roadburn based. With bands starting around 15:00, ending around one in the morning, and the long ass way home? we don't really have a lot of things to do. So every small moment outside of Roadburn is worth remembering. Like arriving a bit early, having to wait around an hour, and enjoying some fries and a couple of beers with mah MS bros (I'm the kind of person that enjoys both the fancy and the terribly cheap beers, these ones being the later). With the tank full, and my jacket and bag in the locker room downstairs, I went to the Main Stage ready for a new day.

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VIRUS

Che: Day two began with this strange Norwegian group on the Main Stage. I first discovered Virus, curiously enough, through Yurei, as Bjeima had played bass for them on The Agent That Shapes The Desert, and I was eager to see them live. With Rod at my side, I was plunged into a peculiar world of Avantgarde psychedelic progressive something or other, with some nice off-beat drumming, an absolutely delicious bass tone, and the charismatic vocals of frontman Czral (trivia fact: this dude apparently fell four stories from a building at one point and subsequently can't use his legs anymore, hence why he just sits on a little stand in front of the mic now when he performs). All I have to say is... if you ever get the chance to see these guys live, do it. They are incredibly trippy and relaxing, having an inherent sense of bounce and groove throughout their music, and are much better live than on album. I was seriously not expecting them to be as excellent as they were.

Rod: These Norwegian veterans were definitely the surprise of the day for me. I know they are of high pedigree (all ex-members of the legendary Ved Buens Ende), but I didn't expect to love them THAT much. Virus were a powerful trio that made dissonance their bitch and entranced the whole audience with their unpredictable music. Some black metal tones lurking from the underground could still be heard, and the bounciness of the bass lines was almost danceable. Unfortunately Che and I had to leave a bit early on them, but we still got one juicy hour of psychedelia that assured me that I needed to check out more from their discography as soon as possible.

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SVARTIDAUDI

Che: Rod and I left a little early on Virus to secure a spot for the mighty Svartidauði. There were a good few black metal bands on the lineup this year (well, more than usual), but these guys were definitely the one I wanted to see the most. Icelandic black metal in general is not to be taken lightly, and for the next hour in the Green Room, this band proved why. This could quite possibly have been the closest I'll ever get to seeing Deathspell Omega live, as the two are in the same general stylistic area. Slow, menacing black metal riffs that create a hypnotic and ensnaring vibe combined with an absolutely thundering aggression of drums and bass when the band decided to pick up the pace, making for a set that left me in a strange zone of between dazed and drained afterwards. The Green Room has always had a reputation of being insanely hot when bands are performing, but it was especially so for Svartidauði. Even Mories would mention it to me when I interviewed him the following day!

Rod: We left Virus earlier to catch the full set of Svartidauði. Being one of the few black metal bands at the festival, it was a must see for the crew. Instead of the balcony, I went up front with Che. Sheer luck that I decided to not go upstairs since the heat rises and this was by far the hottest set of the entire festival. The abrasive black metal crafted by these Icelanders was certainly suitable with the heat of the room. It was an impressive wall of dissonance and wild blastbeats that passed through the audience like lava. Even the band thought it was way too hot, as they usually play with hoodies and masks, but this time they decided to skip the former.

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SOLSTAFIR

Rod: I love how a country as small as Iceland offers music with such a vast array of emotions and atmosphere. After the hotter-than-the-sun set from the oppressive Svartidauði ended a bit earlier than expected, I left to catch a breath in the main stage, where Sólstafir were performing. A huge contrast, that's for sure. The cold took over as Sólstafir transcended so many genres, from post rock/metal to folk tunes, and even short but impressive bursts of black metal here and there. The music was highly emotional and nostalgic, with beautiful visuals of the many landscapes the Earth has to offer. From ice to grass, from wind to volcanoes, these guys gave us one hell of a spiritual journey.

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FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM

Rod: It was quite amusing to see the signs that confirm just how influential this powerhouse of Goth really is. First of all, the band I saw right before these guys totally copied their cowboy image. Secondly, every time I listen to FOTN I instantly think "oh, this reminds me of X," where X is any band that obviously came much later in the game. And lastly, the main stage was absolutely full of people, which is unusual. The moment Mr. McCoy entered the stage in his classic attire, looking like some sort of post-apocalyptic cowboy, people were screaming at the top of their lungs. The band displayed some of the finest Goth tunes you could've heard, and showed how the genre should really sound: mysterious, elegant, psychedelic, dark, and oddly sensual thanks to the imposing vocals. I was forced to leave early in order to catch some other legends, but I left hungry for more, and fortunately they had another set the next day. I was there just for a couple of songs, so I won't mention them in the next article.

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EYEHATEGOD: ROUND TWO

Che: There were a handful of bands, particularly the big name ones, that were playing two sets this year at Roadburn, a wise move on the part of the festival organizers to allow people greater maneuvering around potential set clashes between bands. One of them was Eyehategod, and, being desperate for more after their Thursday set, I just couldn't say no to being right front and center in the Het Patronaat with my boy Rod for their Friday one. While their Main Stage performance definitely had a better overall sound, this one was without question where the real party was at. Both the band and the crowd just fed off that energy that results from being in such close contact with each other. And there were many memorable moments in this set outside of the groovy riffs and mosh pits in the crowd, such as Mike Williams saying "aren't you guys getting tired of that shit? Yeah, we are too" after playing "Agitation! Propaganda!" again, and Jimmy Bower telling a guy in the crowd who kept heckling the band for certain songs to "shut up, you white nigger," an obvious reference to the band's song of the same name. It further proved to me why I prefer shows in small venues any day, because you just don't get this kind of audience/band interaction in a huge stage area. By far one of the most fun performances of the festival.

Rod: Eyehategod were without a doubt in my top three list of bands I had to see at Roadburn, as I never got around seeing them perform before. It meant a lot since they are, together with the equally legendary Acid Bath, the main soundtrack of my adolescence. I already got a great preview on Thursday, but this time I was up front in the first line. While the show in the Main Stage had a better and clearer sound, the show in the Het Patronaat was simply the most savage one from the day. At their rawest, these veterans summoned mosh pits from the very first song to the last one. Being more or less the unholy mix of Black Sabbath and Black Flag, Eyehategod punished the audience with a chaotic ensemble of the grooviest, punkiest, catchiest riffs from the genre. Together with the fact that I got Mike's book of poems signed by the man himself, this was truly one of the highlights of the festival that I won't soon forget.

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WARDRUNA

Che: I was the only one in the MS crew really interested in seeing this folk project of Einar Selvik's, the other curator for this year's edition of Roadburn (your loss, Rod, Johan, and Marcel!). Leaving a little early on Eyehategod so I could be sure to see them start, I entered the Main Stage area for a performance that can only be described as transcendental. Having over ten members, all decked out in traditional Norwegian clothing and on various non-metal instruments, the band created a dense and hypnotic atmosphere of percussion, chants, and native stringed instruments. I would like to say that their sound is something like Negură Bunget without the black metal, but even that doesn't fully do it justice, as there's something about Wardruna that is just far more dark and mysterious. With Einar at the helm singing, and the sounds of Norway's musical ancestry behind him, this was a very special, mesmerizing performance, and probably the most epic of the entire festival for me.

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ENSLAVED

Rod: Well, since we're all going to die, there's one secret I feel I have to share with you? I did not care for Enslaved. Ok, ok, not REALLY. But I only started caring and checking out their albums last year when it was announced that they were going to be both headliners and curators for the festival. This was the first of two sets Roadburners were about to enjoy, and after having a quick look at the setlist for the second show (which I missed), I think I made the right choice, as the second one was heavily dominated by the band's last two albums, while I got to listen to a more balanced set ranging from the classic Hordanes Land EP up to and including Axioma Ethica Odini. Introducing each track with a narration of a specific character of Norse mythology, the concert was extremely consistent and tight just like you'd come to expect from veterans like these guys. I really appreciated the more savage moments, but their skills displayed during the more progressive passages were a pleasure as well. The visuals were also beautiful, each one based on a character, and giving that special charm to each track. After their set I confirmed that I seriously need to listen to more of their catalog!

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PROFETUS

Che: After taking a little break after Wardruna, I then walked on over to the Patronaat again for some class A Finnish funeral doom in the form of Profetus. Finally, one of these bands that was playing at night as they should! Anssi Mäkinen and Matti Mäkelä had been at Roadburn last year performing with Tyranny, but while Anssi is just a live keyboardist in Tyranny, in Profetus he takes front command on guitar and vocals. For the next 40 or so minutes, I was smothered in a thick layer of keyboards, heavy, sorrowful guitar melodies, and Anssi's deep, imposing growls, creating an eerie and enveloping atmosphere of melancholy. The setting couldn't have been better to build upon this atmosphere; the Het Patronaat is the annex of what used to be a church, and the moonlight shining on the stained glass windows, coupled with the organ-like tone of the band's keyboards was an absolutely perfect combination.

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MORTALS

Che: Mortals were another band playing two sets this year, and since I didn't get to see them on Thursday due to their partial clash with Primitive Man, I settled on seeing them last on Friday. I left Profetus a little early to get a good spot for them in the tiny Cul de Sac, a little pub with a stage down the street from the main Roadburn venue that's been being used as a fifth stage for the past four years or so. Having greatly enjoyed their debut, I was eager to see what these ladies of sludge were capable of live. Quite a lot, to say the least. The riffs were crunchy and catchy as all hell, but, as the band also have a slight black metal edge to their personality, when the music picked up with some blast beats, tremolo picking, and the powerful shrieks of frontwoman Lesley Wolf, things got really interesting. It's not every day that you get to see an all woman metal band, and it made for an incredibly fun set to watch, especially in regards to the highly energetic Caryn Havlik, who was just banging away on her drum kit with a huge smile on her face the entire set. A great closer to this second day from some metal as hell women who were also total sweethearts when I went to get a shirt and CD from them at their merch table later.

Rod: The day before, I caught a small sample of what these filthy sludge gals were made of when I was walking around stages on my way to see Primitive Man, and I truly enjoyed the few minutes that I heard: sludge with a catchy riffing with black and even some thrash influences thrown into it. This time Johan and I even got the chance to talk to them a little before the set (well mostly Johan, I was way too tired to make a coherent sentence at the time). It turns out they are extremely nice (and beautiful!) ladies. Needless to say I was glad they had another set. Now this is my opinion? but damn, I couldn't hear shit even with my earplugs. They played in the smallest stage, the Cul de Sac, which is a bar that became a part of Roadburn a few years ago. Considering the quality that I heard the previous day, it was clear that some sort of technical crap was going down. While I still got some enjoyment out of it during the clearer and groovier moments, the more aggressive ones just sort of turned into a messy blur. A shame indeed.

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WRAP UP

Che: The curated day of Roadburn this year was without question better than last year's installation in the tradition. I'd like to say it was a day of the known and the unknown, as I saw a few bands that I'd been listening to for a while and was eager to see live, and others who I'd only just started listening to (if at all) who firmly convinced me I needed to check out more of their material. It was a much more balanced day in terms of styles of the bands I watched. I mean I essentially went from some weird psychedelic/prog metal, to black metal, to sludge, to neofolk, to funeral doom, and finally to sludge again. How many other festivals could you say that for? I wouldn't put my money on many. As great a day as it was though, this day and the following would really kick the MS crew's ass in the process of getting back to Marcel's place, between of the long bus and train ride combination. But if there's one thing I've learned sore feet, a sore neck, and a quieter-than-usual voice from all your yelling tell you, it's that you had one hell of a good time.

Rod: I can conclude that Friday was the festival's day of discoveries for me. There were the bands that I barely knew anything about (Svartidauði and Virus) as well as bands that confirmed that I need to expand my knowledge of (Enslaved and Fields Of The Nephilim). The fact that I got to see some legendary acts do their thing like few others was definitely the best part of it all though. After a long day, we all left the place completely exhausted. A long buss ride and walk was waiting for us, but at least I slept like a rock at 4 am or so, with that charismatic ringing in my ears confirming that I, once again, had a blast.

Halfway there, guys! Stay tuned for days 3 and 4, and check out our day 2 gallery in the meantime