Text and Photos: Gemma Shaw
It’s finally that time of year again.
What seems like an eternity is now upon us. Roadburn is a high point for many worshipers of the riff and its strange relations. A newly expanded 013 venue with more tickets meant more people adding to the unbridled chaos that we have come to love.
The main stage at the 013, in its enlarged glory, is packed for Cult Of Luna‘s performance of their 2006 album Somewhere Along the Highway. Now that’s what I call a strong start; from the opening chords of ‘Marching to the Heartbeats,’ I’m caught in the grandiose sound that Cult of Luna graft with sublime musicianship. Atmospheric and captivating, even to the virgin listener. Cult of Luna are a powerful force of nature, tearing at the heart strings and then crushing the muscle with an iron fist.
Usnea play in the green room, and the doom fills the air like the stench of death and misery. A headbanger’s delight, they are slow and constant like a death march. I feel like it would have been better in a smaller room, to get the real dirty hatred flowing on a more up close and personal level.
We head over to the Het Patronat for Cult of Occult. This once glorious church is filled with filth; it’s an unflinching assault of the sludgiest order. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but more smashing it into a new shape.
Full of Hell is discordant sonic abuse. If you were having a hard time being stoned, these guys don’t help. It’s an aggressive performance, like watching a livid ape, minus the feces.
Converge play the genre-defying Jane Doe in full for a special once in a lifetime Roadburn experience. This means a rammed main stage. Possibly not the greatest live sound, however, like the seasoned pros that they are, they have the crowd hanging on every last chord, screech and drum hit. It’s like any Converge performance – regardless of the stage size, it’s emotional and energetic. One Converge show is enough to prove to most people why they are championed by so many, even outside of the hardcore scene.
Stay tuned for days two and three…
CULT OF LUNA
CULT OF OCCULT
HELL
USNEA
ABYSSION
FULL OF HELL
CONVERGE
