Thursday 18th
The weather can be unpredictable in the Netherlands this time of the year, so after preparing for multiple possibilities (will it get colder? Warmer? Windier? Will there be storms? Who knows!), the day started relatively early with some breakfast at the Airbnb. I walked to the center, collecting the festival wristband, media pass etc., and of course a quick coffee at the press area – which this year was combined with the crew/volunteers room (didn’t really get to spend much time in there).
The schedule allowed plenty of time before the first stage appointment, so why not stopping by LOC Brewery for some sandwich, bitterballen and nice drinks?
Once lunch was sorted, I had all the energy to dive into the festival, this year with a different state of mind and a better plan: “every now and then just stop, live the moment, if there is a band you want to see or you enjoy it’s OK to follow that gig instead of running left and right all the time”.
The first stop of my newly-found zen approach to Roadburn (still in a rather packed, carefully crafted plan), consisted of some very familiar faces. Hexvessel opened the day at The Terminal and laid down a polar veil over the festival, performing as you should have guess by now, their latest record. The more dark, heavy, black and doom-sounding composition – a big contrast with the earlier works of the band. This fit quite well to the ambience in the big hall of the Koepelhal. The nature-themed visuals did the rest to fully immerse the crowd into the experience, to the point that you could almost feel the chill of the cold northern wind.
Hexvessel
Since there was enough time – and it usually is relatively easy at this hour of the day to sneak in – I still caught a glimpse of The Infinity Ring on the way to the Main Stage. Mixing dark folk with gothic undertones and drone elements, their debut record (from last year) sure made an impact enough to bring these Americans for their first European adventure. The ominous and gloomy sound seemed to evolve with the show and between the songs. It was a pity that something of a certain brilliance – and marked with a big red circle in my schedule – was going to begin soon on the bigger stage: Wiegedood’s own soundtrack for “A Page of Madness” performed live during the movie screening.
The Infinity Ring
It’s not often that you get to see a movie with a band playing the music at the same time, which adds multiple layers to the overall experience. It’s even more unique and a bit peculiar that the Belgians took a century-old black and white, mute Japanese horror movie, and decided to compose a soundtrack to it.
The result can be summed up in the first comment that came to my mind few minutes into the performance: “This is what happens when Wiegedood tries to be Ulver”. The music had their distinctive tone, but in a far more cinematic approach, setting the rhythm along with the movie flowing on the back of the stage. It was beautiful. I sat down in the back for the entire screening – yet one other step in the journey of discovery and not rushing. I then headed to the Hall of Fame, with a quick ice-cream stop on the way.
Wiegedood
An old acquaintance in the recent history of this festival was awaiting, in the shape of Seán Mulrooney, lead force of Tau and The Drones of Praise who performed in the festival a couple of years back. The musician has been busy, and came out with new solo material to present at the festival. Unfortunately, this was one of the more packed moments of the day. I could only catch a glimpse of the show (along with a good part of the final soundcheck), before heading to the next thing. The first of the three shows of this year’s artist in residence UBOA.
Seán Mulrooney
The first of the three shows of this year’s artist in residence UBOA. The Australian divided the weekend’s performance in three distinct moments representing her journey with the diagnosis of autism and ADHD. On this first day, entitled “Meltdown”, she plunged the audience into the path the artist went through with a harsh noise set. It was an auditory overwhelming experience that echoed throughout The Engine Room.
UBOA
Somehow, the next show I went to see wasn’t less unsettling. Attila’s Void ov Voices took perhaps a more meditative, almost spiritual direction. This was nothing but a fleeting moment as Inter Arma was calling us to The Terminal. Highlight goes to the wings-alike panels that two women attached – not without trouble – to the back of the artist of Mayhem’s fame.
Void ov Voices
Inter Arma this year seemingly took the role of Thou a couple years ago. Performing multiple, incredibly energetic shows (including a secret one at the new “Skatepark”) that impressed everyone. On hindsight, it’s a bit regrettable that I could only see this days performance. The band was presenting their upcoming opus “New Heaven”, a fine treat just for the Roadburn audience. They did so with an exceptionally good show, at which point I just have to assume that the other special gigs they had planned were at least as powerful and engaging as this one.
Inter Arma
While chilling and checking the selection of the new (and amazingly nice!) additional space “The Junction”, suddenly it hit that on the nearby Engine Room the long-awaited White Ward show was about to begin. Luckily for all Roadburners this time around the Ukrainians made their way here (unlike last year – or in 2020, for different reasons). Third time is the charm, right?
It goes without saying that the fans were very enthusiastic and the applause in support to the band began already before the show. The set appeared to be equally divided between “False Light”, “Futility Report” and “Love Exchange Failure”, and it was a real pleasure to finally be able to witness live the jazzy post-black metal of this talented combo.
White Ward
This was also the day of the solo shows from returning artists, as Duma’s own Lord Spikeheart. Which filled the Next Stage to the brim for the third year in a row. Presenting more personal material, the show itself – at least the final part I could witness – transpired the same feeling and intensity as what the artist got us accustomed. This is a performance that is always worth seeing.
Lord Spikeheart
The “piece de resistance”, the highlight and most cherished memory of the entire weekend for me it was Chelsea Wolfe’s show. Taking over the Main Stage, she simply surpassed everything that came before and after. A few days after the festival, someone said they had cried multiple times during the show, and that they don’t think they will ever see Chelsea Wolfe in such a perfect setting. A statement I agreed upon.
In over one hour of performance, the band delighted us with the new record in full. I must admit I hadn’t been able to fully appreciate it until I got to hear these songs live. For me, the album has reached a whole new dimension ever since.
The emotionally-charged performance was aided by some of the most impressive and well-timed light and visual effects. The stage was extremely captivating and made it very easy to let oneself be transported into the music.
For the final part of the set, the other members abandoned the stage and the performance became an acoustic show with the spotlight on Chelsea. This was one of the highlighted moments of this year’s Roadburn.
I didn’t even remember that there were other gigs overlapping elsewhere from how deeply immersed I was in this show. Only the need to grab some refreshments after its conclusion ultimately broke the spell.
Chelsea Wolfe
However, the night was not yet over. It was announced earlier in the day that the Canadian rapper Backwash would have made a surprise comeback appearance to fill in that one empty Main Stage slot in the running order. Everyone was wondering about this lineup slot and perhaps this was a disappointment for those who were hoping in SUNN o))).
Backwash
There was still some extra fun going on, but midway through I decided to join some familiar faces into the weird canyon for some traditional festival socializing.
After all, these are also very important moments of the festival’s overall experience!
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