#Monotheist 2006

[gotankgo]

Celtic Frost “Domain of Decay”

• Monotheist (2006)

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

LESSONS IN BLACK METAL FROM ONE OF THE FOREMOST DARKENED MASTERS.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on the late, great Martin Eric Ain (1967-2017) onstage with CELTIC FROST, Los Angeles, California, 7th of October 2006. 📸: Natalie Ardet.

"We wanted to manifest our emotions. The more dreary our outlook on life, the more pronounced our urge to express ourselves. We did not care for show. We simply wanted to be taken seriously. This is also why we informed ourselves and read books about certain topics. Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Eliphas Levi, Aleister Crowley, Anton Szandor LaVey's The Satanic Bible, or the Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazred; these were our sources. I knew the Necronomicon from Lovecraft's writing, for example, and I asked myself: is it a literary invention or a real grimoire? I found the book to be very good.

Which takes us back to the topic of the occult: it is unimportant if something is real or not. The moment it becomes part of our thinking and inspires our imagination, it is becoming real."

-- MARTIN ERIC AIN (R.I.P.) on the occult

Source: http://fischerisdead.blogspot.com/2020/07/exclusive-martin-eric-ain-interviewed.html.

[metalcultbrigade]

Celtic Frost - Monotheist. 29/05/2006

[alwayswiselight]

While spending most of my time commenting and attending livestreams on YouTube regarding the genocide in Gaza, I've also returned to my study of Zoroastrianism, or Zarathustrianism, which is the oldest revealed monotheistic religion in recorded history. The major expert in the English language remains Mary Boyce (1920-2006). Because the images are self-explanatory, I'll only comment that the hexad diagram of the Holy Immortals reminds me that the Greek philosopher Pythagoras obviously obtained knowledge of Zoroastrianism while he was in Babylon. The Pythagoreans held the number Six as well as the Hexad to be perfect, respecting the creation of the world.

[90363462]

20 Greatest Comebacks in Hard-Rock and Heavy-Metal History

These artists shook the world by rising from the ashes

Heavy music is for underdogs and comeback kids, anyone who has been considered down and out, but kicked and scratched to earn respect and make their place in this unforgiving world. It's no wonder then that headbangers love a good comeback story — and that heavy music has been full of them.

From unexpected reunion tours to dazzling new albums that rival the records that made them famous in the first place, here are 20 of the most surprising and inspiring comebacks in all of metal, punk and hard-rock history.

Having sold over 50 million copies worldwide, Back in Black is the bestselling hard-rock album of all time, an accomplishment that's all the more incredible considering that AC/DC recorded it just months after the 1980 death of revered singer Bon Scott. The group considered disbanding but ultimately continued with the blessing of Scott's family, and their comeback album — with its opening bell tolls and equally resonant title — is heavy music's definitive statement of rebirth

When lead vocalist Layne Staley passed away in 2002, it seemed like the final nail in the coffin of Alice in Chains, who had already been largely sidelined for years due to substance abuse issues. But in 2005, the surviving members reconvened to play shows, and soon after, enlisted new singer William DuVall and made their first original record in 14 years, 2009's Black Gives Way to Blue. Named Revolver's Album of that Year, it stands up to anything in their discography, and they've continued to chug along ever since. 

No record inspired more contemporary metalcore (see Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Darkness Hour, et al) than Slaughter of the Soul, these Swedish melodic death metallers' final studio album, released a year before their 1996 breakup. To say that their return to the stage in 2008 was meaningful to a generation of metalheads who never got to see them live is like saying fans at those reunion shows were singing along to every word of "Blinded by Fear": They were fucking screaming along to every word.

Drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan was a childhood friend to his bandmates and a major songwriter to his band, so when he died unexpectedly in late 2009, it was a crushing blow that nearly ended the group. But Avenged Sevenfold rallied and called in one of Sullivan's idols, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, to record on and tour behind their mostly completed new record, Nightmare. It debuted at No. 1 on the charts, A7X's first album to do so, and re-ignited the band's passion to push ahead.

Carcass' comeback came in waves. The Birmingham, U.K., death-grind trailblazers blew people's minds when they re-materialized onstage in 2008 after a whopping 12 years out of the game, and the tours that followed weren't just lazy cash grabs — the dudes could still rip. However, even more impressive was their 2013 comeback album, Surgical Steel, arriving 17 years after their last and legitimately rivaling all of the material from their Nineties heyday. It's one of the greatest reunion albums in metal. Period. 

Celtic Frost's reunion was short-lived but monumental. Having been a crucial building block in the extreme-metal fortress, the Swiss band — helmed by the core duo of Thomas Gabriel Fischer, a.k.a. Tom G. Warrior, and Martin Eric Ain — came roaring back in 2006 with the stunningly great Monotheist and a career-celebrating world tour, including U.S. dates with Type O Negative. Sadly, the album proved to be both reunion record and swan song, the final nail put in the band's coffin when Ain died in 2017 at age 50.

applewebdata://player.vimeo.com/video/136869950?color=

There's only one word to describe what it was like when Faith No More reunited to play shows over 10 years after the alt-metal superheroes fell to pieces: EPIC. With vocalist Mike Patton's calendar seemingly always packed with a variety of zany projects, it seemed impossible that he would ever find the time. That FNM would then later release their first new album in nearly two decades, 2015's Sol Invictus, and it would be awesome — well, that was a minor miracle.

How do you pick up the pieces when you're the drummer of the most important rock band on the planet and your frontman dies by suicide? Well, you become the frontman of your own band, of course, write hit single after hit single, and sell over 10 million albums in the U.S. alone. Amid this, you use your now-astronomical fame to spotlight your favorite metal singers with a killer side project (check Probot ASAP, if you're not already in the know). Dave Grohl now faces another tragedy — the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins — but we know he'll come back again, stronger than ever.

The name of GN'R's initial reunion run says it all: The Not in This Lifetime... Tour. Because that's how improbable the reconciliation of Axl, Slash and Duff seemed for a long-ass time. Bad blood and bitter words constituted their decades apart, but it turns out, all fans needed was a little patience. The trek — which spanned from 2016 to 2019, and marked the core trio's first performances together in nearly 25 years — owns the title of the third-highest-grossing concert tour of all time. Even more amazing, the guys are still getting along and the reunion continues.

At the end of Bruce Dickinson's then-final concert with Maiden in 1993, magician Simon Drake "killed" him, using the band's titular torture device. Far from dead, the vocalist pursued a successful solo career while his bandmates recorded their two least successful albums to that point, with singer Blaze Bayley. But when Dickinson returned in 1999, it sounded as if they hadn't missed a step. These days, Maiden continue to sell out stadiums playing great material both new and old, cementing their spot as metal's still-vital pioneers.

In 2005, after becoming a born-again Christian, OG guitarist Brian "Head" Welch left the band that had made him famous: As the joke went, "Korn gave Head to God." The nu-metal godfathers soon also split with founding drummer David Silveria, and spent years trying to re-find themselves creatively. When Head re-joined the group onstage at Carolina Rebellion in 2012, it seemed like a heartwarming one-off, but a year later he was back for good. Korn have been on a hot streak ever since, with 2019's The Nothing standing out, in particular, as their best album in over a decade.

"No warning?" asked Dave Mustaine when Metallica booted him over his erratic behavior in 1983. "No second chance?" He wouldn't get one from them, but the thrash-metal world welcomed him back later that year with a new group, named after a word he found on a pamphlet during his bus ride home to L.A. from Metallica's New York abode. Within the decade, Megadeth would become the second-best-selling metal band of their generation, and they're a still a genre pillar to this day. 

2016 was an amazing year for reunions. First, GN'R, then the Misfits. In fall of that year, founding members Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only — plus Only's brother, guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein — performed together for the first time in 33 years, under the name the Original Misfits. For a gnarly, underground horror-punk band that played basements in their first incarnation, the results were incredible, culminating in a monumental sold-out headlining gig at Madison Square Garden.

Even though fans clamored for it for years, Mudvayne didn't come back until it was fully on their own damn terms, which made their eventual comeback all the more special. The alt-metal aliens ended their 12-year hiatus with a few chaotic festival shows in 2021 (including one when frontman Chad Gray played while suffering from COVID) and then hauled ass across the country on a 2022 summer tour that rejuvenated them as bandmates and fully made up for all the lost time. Now, new music is even on the way.

To many punks, metalheads and goths who grew up in the 2000s, My Chemical Romance are their Nirvana. The New Jersey band lifted emo's ragged hooks and raunchy guitars out of VFW halls and into stadiums, built up a formidable discography — and then dipped for six years while their legacy metastasized. The way they've conducted their momentous reunion — playing shows with young openers, packing the setlists with hits, and dropping their heaviest song yet as a one-off single — has ensured that they've still got their edge.

Rage Against the Machine's latest reunion has been one of tension and release. After nine years, they were supposed to hit the stage in 2020 until the pandemic squashed that — and then again, and then again while the world grew shittier and the band's political screeds became more relevant than ever. Finally, they took the power back in summer 2022, and played riotously hard through Zack de la Rocha's leg injury, staying true to their convictions and reaffirming their status as all-time greats. 

Sepultura were at the height of their power and popularity in 1996, having released a career-defining album, Roots, early that year. Then everything went to shit, and the Brazilian metal trailblazers acrimoniously split with founding frontman Max Cavalera, whose brother, Igor, remained in the band. Suddenly unmoored, Max had a lot to prove and lots of pressure. He responded with a new band, Soulfly. The group's self-titled 1998 debut was a "life-changing" success, Max told Revolver, complete with the song he's most proud of: "Eye for an Eye."

System of a Down had only been releasing music and touring at a national level for eight years when, at the height of their Grammy-winning notoriety, they decided to go on hiatus in 2006. Suddenly dissolving at the peak of their powers like that was devastating, so when they reunited for a string of shows in 2011, it felt like an act of divine intervention. After gigging sporadically in the ensuing decade, they dropped their first songs in 16 years in 2021. C'mon, guys: Now we need that album. 

Sent from my iPhone

[jrocksmetalzone]

17 YEARS AGO TODAY (May 29, 2006) CELTIC FROST RELEASED THEIR 5TH & FINAL STUDIO ALBUM 'MONOTHEIST'.

Did you know?

Preparation and development work for the project had been ongoing since 2000. Working titles for the album included Probe and Dark Matter Manifest.[

Which is your favorite track?

https://www.jrocksmetalzone.com/

#TodayInMetal #celticfrost #monotheist #tomgwarrior

[esmelogos]

SUBJECT: RESEARCH METHODS

Lecturer: Dr. Waseem Akhtar

Brief: 400-word précis of bridgingthegaps.ie interview with Prof. Darren McMahon.

BIOG:

Academic and author Darrin McMahon is currently Professor of History at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

Specialising initially in French history he is the author of Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (Oxford University Press, 2001), Happiness: A History (Atlantic Monthly Books, 2006), and Divine Fury: A History of Genius (Basic Books, 2013).

THE WHY:

I chose this as a counterpoint to Dr. Katie Mack’s field of theoretical physics, as it presents a more historical and humanities-based approach to the study of ideas around existence and the human mind.

The idea of ‘genius’ is one which originated in the human mind about the human mind, a way of identifying those personal qualities which can lead an individual to great heights in their specific field of endeavour, be that art or maths, farming, physics, music etc.

As such it gives us a window into those human minds which are considered to drive progress, high achievement and unconventional and creative modes of thinking.

PRÉCIS:

Prof. McMahon examines ancient and modern ideas of genius, and tracks the modern conception of genius to the Enlightenment, an 18th Century moment characterised by a focus on reason, logic, clear thinking. Modern ideas of happiness and genius arise at this time, and put both of them within reach of the ‘ordinary’ person, unlike in previous ages.

Historically, the word ‘genius’ emerges from Ancient Rome, suggesting a guardian spirit accompanying each person from birth. In Ancient Greece a genius was a figure who possessed a ‘quidem divinum’ or a divine portion, something godly or godlike. Before monotheism this equated to a Socratean ‘daemonium’ , a daemon being a personal guardian spirit akin to a Christian guardian angel.

In the 18C the idea of a genius began to evolve into a kind of cultural hero, and individuals with a gift for business or other commercial functions could also be held to be manifesting ‘genius.’ While the (particularly) Western belief in a monotheistic God is beginning to wane at this time, the importance of an individual’s agency and personal qualities start to move to the fore. Likewise as the pantheon of gods is swept away, a Panthéon of proletarian heroes is enshrined in the French Revolution, and accords with ideals such as liberty, equality and fraternity.

By the 18C the genius could be seen to create ‘ex nihilo’ and is conflated with a more scientific concept of ‘ingenuity’, although this is still seen as an innate or inborn quality, genetic but still somehow exceptional if not quite transcendent in the ancient sense.

Perceived contemporary geniuses, such as Newton, were studied and analysed in a more scientific way, using the new sciences of phrenology and physiognomy, although the genius himself (it was for the most part ascribed to males) was still subject to high admiration, sometimes reverence and even an idolatry of sorts. In the case of dictators such as Hitler, the case was made for a pseudoscientific ‘genetic’ or inborn lineage of superiority, with appalling results.

In our own time, individuals such as Steve Jobs, prominent in the media and with a celebrity following, still fulfil the role of genius, with occasionally eccentric or ‘mad’ qualities, as befits one who ‘thinks outside the box..’ In any case the idea persists to the modern time..

[musicandotherdelights]

Daily Listening, Day #738 - January 7th, 2022

Album: Monotheist (Century Media, 2006)

Artist: Celtic Frost

Genre: Doom Metal

Track Listing: 

“Progeny”

“Ground”

“A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh”

“Drown In Ashes”

“Os Abysmi Vel Daath”

“Obscured”

“Domain Of Decay”

“Ain Elohim”

“Totengott”

“Synagoga Satanae”

“Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale)”

Favorite Song: “Obscured”

[metalsongoftheday]

Tuesday, May 10: Celtic Frost, “Progeny”

Although Celtic Frost officially and gloriously returned in 2006 with Monotheist, that record was actually not the first time Thomas Gabriel (Warrior) Fischer and Martin Eric Ain tried to resurrect the band.  The two first reunited around 1995 with the intent of putting out an industrial/nü metal-tinged album called Prototype.  And if the demos circulating around offered any indication, if released it might’ve done even more damage to the Celtic Frost name than the infamous Cold Lake. With that in mind, while “Progeny” fit within the context of Monotheist, it shared some DNA with the material conceived during the Prototype sessions, as it had a bit of a mechanical and processed feel to it.  But in a strange way, it was timed perfectly, as the track maintained Celtic Frost’s penchant for antisocial aggression and idiosyncratic experimentation- of course Fischer and Ain would attempt something like this at a time when extreme metal was in a completely different place, and in that context and environment it didn’t sound at all opportunistic, but rather like two intelligent and irascible guys belching out snarling and ugly music on their own terms.  “Progeny” didn’t sound like To Mega Therion or Into the Pandemonium, and the group was smart to realize that not only didn’t it need to, it really shouldn’t have.  

[kb-p2730]

Farewell Martin Eric Ain

CELTIC FROST_A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh/Monotheist_2006

[triste-guillotine]

CELTIC FROST “Monotheist”, LP 2006 (The Emperor’s return to the blackest abyssal journey of crushing heaviness & impenetrable obscurity)

1. Progeny 2. Ground 3. A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh 4. Drown in Ashes 5. Os Abysmi vel Daath 6. Obscured 7. Incantation Against You 8. Domain of Decay 9. Ain Elohim 10. Totengott 11. Synagoga Satanae 12. Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale)

“In this forest of harbored thoughts There's demons in my mind And I entrust myself to the lure Of leaving this existence behind”

[thevisualartofmetal]

Artwork by Michel Casarramona Celtic Frost - Monotheist (2006) Doom Metal

[alarawriting]

WIP - No Drama

Some day maybe I will master the art all you kids are so good at of making fancy beautiful posts and finding faceclaims or commissioning artwork and all that for your WIP promotion posts. That day is not today.

This story may be of interest to fans of Q from Star Trek, Lucifer from the show of the same name, or to a lesser extent Discord from MLP. The main character was originally based on Q. (However, there is no Picard analogue in the book, and in fact no romantic entanglements with humans at all.)

John Deer (no relation to the tractor) is an investigative journalist who’s hot on the trail of a huge story... that will probably never be published on Earth. Because John Deer is also one of the Aleph Host, a post-eschatonic society of near-omnipotent beings, and the story he’s investigating is about how an important leader among his own kind is gaining illicit power by tricking pre-eschatonic societies into worshiping him as a monotheistic god. Such as our pre-eschatonic society here on Earth.

Every time an Aleph uses their godlike powers, they upload their memories at the same time as they draw power from the Host. John knows his corrupt enemy can get at his memory files... so he’s on Earth in a human body and he can’t use his powers. Not most of them, anyway, though he does have the semi-psychic ability to seem to belong anywhere that he goes, from backstage at a concert to a private meeting at the White House.

With the aid of his disabled best friend among the Aleph (who lacks the bandwidth to fully upload or draw power in any reasonable amount of time), a guy who is basically Trent Reznor, and his long-suffering photographer, John’s going to track down God and the evidence of his influence on humanity to megachurches, Las Vegas, and into the past to meet figures like Jesus Christ. But there’s only so long he can hide what he’s doing from the Host... and the guy he’s investigating is gaining more and more power among the Aleph.

I’ve been working on this since around 2006? And all I have is a first chapter and some warmups, probably because I don’t have anyone but my husband who’s reading it. Gonna post the warmups and what I have for the first chapter (not all at once.)

Tag for this one is #no drama .

[wolverineblues]

1994, 2006, 2013

1994- WHEW there's a lot of good stuff from this year! but i have to go with When The Kite String Pops by Acid Bath

2006- if Blood Mountain by Mastodon didn't come out this year, I would've gone with Monotheist by Celtic Frost lol

2013- i gotta go with Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age. so many other good albums from this year but this is one of my favorites of all time.

[doomedandstoned]

THE ROADBURN DIARIES

~By Willem Verhappen~

Photographs by Sally Townsend

Preface

When Billy asked me to review Roadburn Festival 2019 for Doomed & Stoned, I was a bit hesitant. Live reviews have never been my specialty and I prefer to enjoy shows instead of being critical. However, when he suggested a diary-style review, I got the idea to do just that; write a diary.

I went all out and paid a whopping two Euros and some change to buy a notebook. After four days of Roadburn, it will probably be as wrecked as I expect to be, but hopefully it will still be readable. [In hindsight it was money well spent, as the notebook survived Roadburn without too much damage.] Whether its pages will be literary gold or the drunken ravings of a madman, only time will tell. The truth will probably be somewhere in the middle. [The fact that I had not been feeling well all week and decided to drive to Tilburg by car each day probably helped me not fucking this up, though.]

Day 1

14:30 -- Ticket booth

The sun is out, Crypt Trip's Haze County was blasting through my car speakers on the way here and the queue to get my wristband went smooth. That's about as good a start as it can get. Sadly, my first dilemma of the day is already coming up: See Myrkur perform her Folkesange set or Bismuth. For now I'll just sit and wait in the sun for my friends T and S to arrive.

Tanya Byrne of Bismuth

16:30 -- Studio Tilburg

We compromised. We started Roadburn with Bismuth engulfing us in the epic 'The Slow Dying Of The Great Barrier Reef' in the Hall of Fame. Sadly the band had some technical issues which fucked up the dynamics in the beginning, but otherwise it was an intense experience.

before the end of the Bismuth set, we moved on to the main stage. On the way there, we ran into some friends who decided to join us to see Myrkur. The Scandinavian folk songs were moving and well performed, but not what we needed, so we set our sights for Vile Creature, who were preparing to destroy the Patronaat.

Vic of Vile Creature

Arriving outside, we noticed that we weren't the only ones. The queue to the Patronaat was leading pretty much up to the Cul de Sac. Since the weather was still nice, we decided to go for a beer in the sun instead.

19:05 -- Veemarktstraat

Molasses was something I had been looking forward to, since it was for a large part a The Devil's Blood reunion. Their set was in general an honest and loving tribute to TDB leader Selim Lemouchi. At some points though, the band seemed possessed by Selim himself. I desperately hope they will release this as a live record. [Later, at the merch I discovered that the band had already recorded an EP. That satisfies me for now, but I still need a live record!]

Farida Lemouchi of Molasses

After that intense show, it was time to get some food. I decided to go for some Vietnamese street food. A good choice, but I should have been more careful with the sambal. I love that stuff, but a full bite at once was a bit much.

19:30 -- Green Room balcony

Luckily, I was just in time to hear the last, hauntingly beautiful song of Lingua Ignota. I had a hard time getting in and when I managed to get in, I couldn't get closer than the back of the balcony. Only when the show was over, I could see that she sat behind her keyboard in the middle of the Green Room. An eccentric choice that befits the woman.

Kristen Hayter of Lingua Ignota

21:20 -- Ladybird Skatepark

Emma Ruth Rundle was more Doomed & Stoned appropriate than I expected. Last time she did a solo show, but this time she brought her full band. Her songs were sometimes dark and doomy, sometimes rocking, but always unique.

Emma Ruth Rundle

But the best kept secret of today are certainly the heavy psych astronauts of Mythic Sunship. Even though it's not crowded, they know how to throw a party on a skatepark. [Mythic Sunship was the first band to be programmed on the Skatepark, but during the weekend more bands were scheduled to perform on this special location. More on that later.]

22:45 -- Koepelhal

I'm not sure why a band like Midnight is performing at Roadburn, since it's pretty much the odd one out this year, but I'm not complaining. I really enjoyed their filthy, sexually laden mix of Venom and Motörhead sleaze. And judging from the large crowd that gathered in the Koepelhal, I wasn't the only one.

00:40 -- Main Stage

Post rock is a hit or miss for me, but the combination of guitars and classical instruments often brings a smile to my face. The latter convinced me to watch MONO perform their Hymn to the Immortal Wind record, supported by the Jo Quail Quartet. I'm happy I did this, since the show was pure aural bliss. Rarely have I heard such a natural mix of metallic guitars and classical instruments. Although it certainly wasn't boring, the floating melodies did make me a bit sleepy.

2:xx -- Eindhoven

I guess I went full circle today. I started with Crypt Trip and ended with them as well. After MONO, these Texan rockers were exactly what I needed. Their country infused hard rock really got my energy levels back to par. Then again, anyone who can stand still during a Crypt Trip show, must be dead. It was also very nice to see my Doomed & Stoned colleague Calvin again. Roadburn is off to a good start.

Day 2

15:25 -- 013

T, S and I started our second day at Roadburn queuing up for Gold. I lost sight of the Dutch band after being disappointed by their second record, when they traded in their occult rock for a more post rock sound. Today, however, I was not disappointed at all. Their pounding post black/punk/rock really grabbed me by the balls. Charismatic frontwoman Milena Eva and her accomplices are back on my radar.

I'm currently enjoying one of the three sets of Seven That Spells. Between all the avant garde stuff, it's nice to see some proper heavy psych/stoner rock. Very well executed!

Milena Eva of Gold

17:00 -- Ladybird Skatepark

Between all the good stuff, Triptykon was my most anticipated concert of the festival. As I said, I'm a sucker for metal mixed with classical music, so I wouldn't want to miss the Swiss band performing with the renowned Metropole Orkest, the world's leading pop orchestra. Today they are playing something heavier, namely the requiem penned by Tom G. Warrior. The first and third parts date back to the Celtic Frost days, namely Into The Pandemonium (1987) and Monotheist (2006). The piece never had a middle section, until now.

Tom Gabriel Warrior and Vanja Slajh of Triptykon

The show wasn't perfect. There were some flaws here and there and at certain moments it felt like the orchestra was overtaking the band. Altogether it was an impressive performance, but somewhere I feel like there could have been more. Still a highlight, though.

I'm currently enjoying some surprise sludgy goodness of Vile Creature, while the queue for the Hall of Fame is reaching new lengths while A.A.Williams is performing there as part of the Holy Roar x Roadburn showcase.

19:55 -- Studio Tilburg

After getting my eardrums destroyed by Vile Creature, it was time for a beer with friends. Consequently, that meant I missed Conjurer, but I did manage to see the last half hour of Anna Von Hausswolff on the main stage. On record I find her music very calming, but live the tiny lady and her band deliver a massive tidal wave of sound. 'The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra' was even more impressive than on record.

22:20 - Koepelhal

After enjoying watching Calvin struggle with a massive burger from the Studio café and between the neck snapping sets of Svalbard and Pijn (both part of the Holy Roar showcase), I conquered my first queue at the Koepelhal. This was for the collaboration between artist in residence Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle. It was well worth the effort. This noisy matrimony sounded exactly as you'd expect from the two factors.

Bryan Funck of Thou

3:xx -- Eindhoven

After Pijn's set, it was straight off to the Patronaat to grab a good spot for another show I highly anticipated. That turned out to be a good decision, since I heard afterwards that the queue for Messa turned out to be huge.

My love for these Italians stems from their ability to make old school doom sound fresh again. The band manages this through the incorporations of jazz elements, as well as sporadic black metal outbursts. Today, the band brought along a saxophone player, which truly added an extra dimension to their music.

Day 3

17:20 -- 013

Today we started off with Have A Nice Life. The new wave was enjoyable, but we had other priorities, for Wolvennest was about to perform their latest effort, Void, in its entirety. The Belgian band went all out for this show, bringing several guest musicians, as well as brand new visuals. Musically, Wolvennest definitely made a step up from their debut, WLVNNST. Their black metal with psychedelic and doom influences pleased the many people who came to witness this ritual. The only negative comment one could have, is that the altar looked very small on the large main stage.

Henrik Palm is no stranger to most Roadburners. The Swede used to be a member of In Solitude and Ghost. You can clearly hear this in his solo work, but his eclectic rockers always feel unique. I remain with only one question. Why the early Judas Priest videos?

19:20 -- Ladybird Skatepark

I'm not much of a fan of most of the bands from the Exile on Mainstream roster, but Treedeon I had to see. These Germans make for some noisy, primitive doom, which is right up my alley. There are some clear Conan vibes here, but the double vocals make it just a tad more brutal.

23:15 -- Koepelhal

I always enjoy good times with good people, so I was happy to join a small Doomed & Stoned meetup with Calvin and Sally [whose photos add some color to this article]. Contrary to my instincts, I left my friends behind to make it in time for what is probably the highlight of this year’s Roadburn. Coming near the 013 was like walking into a coffee shop (the Dutch kind), with the smell of weed greeting you from far away. Not surprising, since it wouldn't be long before the almighty Sleep would perform their classic record Holy Mountain in one go. When I arrived, some 20 odd minutes before the show, the hall was already crowded, with people queuing up, not more than five minutes later.

It was quite the magical experience to hear one of my all-time favorite records being performed live. The first notes of 'Dragonaut' already gave me goosebumps and headbanging became a priority for nearly two hours. Sleep performing 'The Clarity' and a part of 'Dopesmoker' surely was an extra treat.

Al Cisneros of Sleep

4:xx -- Eindhoven

Doolhof was a typical case of the right band at wrong time. The drone outfit, with Aaron Turner of Old Man Gloom and Sumac fame in its ranks, sounded highly intense and mesmerizing, but after Sleep, I was looking for something more energetic.

Luckily, I received a push message after the Sleep show, saying that Thou would perform a special set at the Skatepark. There had been rumours that the band would perform a set of Misfits covers somewhere during the weekend and this was it. A couple hundred people had shown up and the band was going through classics like 'Die, Die My Darling' and 'Hybrid Moments' like the audience was going through beers.

This set was absolute mayhem with the crowd moving as one mass and there was pretty much constant crowd surfing. The band was joined by Emma Ruth Rundle on a couple of songs, and for their final song, 'Last Caress', they were joined by Converge/Old Man Gloom's Nate Newton and Gilead Media chief Adam Bartlett. The former even went stage diving. If anyone was doubting why Thou is the artist in residence this year, they get it now.

Recharged by the insane show I had just witnessed, it was time for some after-partying in the basement of the 013 until the lights came on.

Day 4

Up until a few years ago the Roadburn Sunday was more of an after party, or Afterburner as it was called, but in recent years it changed into a full day. This year, all stages but the Koepelhal have bands playing, but thankfully my schedule is far less busy than the previous days.

17:30 - Main Stage

The intensity of three days of Roadburn appears to have had an effect not only on me, but on most of the visitors. That's why T and I decided to take it easy. This meant we missed Lucy in Blue because we arrived in Tilburg at 3pm. Since for the first time this weekend, temperatures reached comfortable levels, we decided to enjoy the sun a little before diving into another day of musical adventure.

my first band of the day was Supersonic Blues, a last minute addition to the program. The young band from The Hague had the honor to play the now infamous Ladybird Skatepark. Their heavy blues rock wasn't that special, but it surely was a welcome energizer for the rest of the day.

The first highlight of the day was TankZilla, a newcomer from my hometown Eindhoven, who got to warm up the Hall of Fame. Even though this was their second gig ever, the two members are anything but new to the scene. Singer/guitar player Peter van Elderen has enjoyed success for over twenty years with Peter Pan Speedrock, but also has more stoner credits with bands like Repomen and Four Headed Dog and drummer Marcin Hurkmans is known for his work with rockers Wolfskop. Although there's just two guys on stage, they manage to produce some fat-sounding stoner rock with the signature riffs and lyrics of van Elderen. Today saw the release of their first 7", but this show leaves me hungry for more!

20:45 -- 013 Lobby

With an hour to kill, I decided to walk to the 013 to check out a few songs from today's Thou set. Even though it was their fourth set this weekend, the main stage was packed with people wanting to see the artist in residence one more time. And rightfully so. Even after four days of playing, the last time being only 16 hours before, the band played another energetic set of nasty doom.

Mitch Wells of Thou

This made it somewhat difficult for me to leave early, but I had been looking forward to my second chance of seeing Bismuth ever since it was announced this morning. The Skatepark has become my favorite venue and the acoustics are perfect for the intensity of "The Slow Dying of the Great Barrier Reef". This time not troubled by technical difficulties, the UK duo's perfect performance of 'The Slow Dying of the Great Barrier Reef' is one of my absolute highlights of the festival.

Fuel is important on days like these, so I decided to skip the beginning of Old Man Gloom to grab a delicious pancake filled with spinach and goats cheese, walnuts and honey. By the time I reach the crowded main stage, the OMG set is almost over, but judging from the enthusiastic crowd, the New Mexico sludge machine managed to deliver.

Aaron Turner of Old Man Gloom

2:xx -- Eindhoven

Roadburn is over, but not before we were treated to another two-hour set of Sleep. This time the sonic titans performed their most recent effort, The Sciences, in its entirety, with the addition of "Leagues Beneath", "Dragonaut" and another section of "Dopesmoker". Sadly, the band was troubled by technical difficulties, to the great annoyance of Matt Pike, who even had to switch amps mid-set. This prevented the show from being the legendary event it could have been.

Matt Pike of Sleep

After Sleep, the time had come to slowly start Brexiting (saying you are leaving, but staying as long as you can).Saying goodbye to friends, both old and new, is always difficult, but it was fun to hear all the great stories everyone lived this weekend and see the joy in everyone's tired eyes. And just like Great Britain, we stayed until we were kicked out, leaving Tilburg behind with many new memories.

☀

[metalcultbrigade]

Em 29/05/2006, o Celtic Frost lançava "Monotheist", seu quinto álbum de estúdio. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeKC8eGJV5x/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=