With the inclusion of the Bong-Ra headed Future Occultism segment, Roadburn has taken another courageous jump towards – well both the future, but also simply towards always keeping ahead, staying on top of any musical development – and in that (action and risk-taking rather than name) proves itself to be the embodiment of the actual meaning of avant-garde.
So, let’s take a look at what can be expected from Bong-Ra, Phuture Doom, and Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave (please scroll for the latter two ;-) )
Bong-Ra
Jason Köhnen
Now, with some of the bookings for the later editions of the festival, Roadburn have in some ways prepared their audience for expecting… well, almost anything.
But with the booking of Bong-Ra, I’m quite certain that some genre-purists are scratching their heads and muttering something to the effect of “ahem – does this music really belong on something as venerable as Roadburn”
But, apart from such statements having been repeatedly proven wrong over the past years, Bong-Ra’s inclusion on the festival is perhaps a lot more straightforward than some of the other curveball’s Walter have delivered.
While Bong-Ra’s break-core spasms draws influence from all over the board (everything from reggae to dungeon-synth and then some), there is actually something akin to the gung-ho attitude of black metal in how Bong-Ra approaches his quite anarchistic take on music.
Bong-Ra ‘666MPH’ in HQ video clip
Bong-Ra ‘666MPH’
666 MPH – official video
There are of course all the trappings one might expect from breakcore: the spasmodic beats, the 8-bit (and 16-bit) sounds, the occassional chipmunk vocals, the general madness and unpredictability. But there is also the depth (and psychedelic components) one would more likely expect to find in trance.
Perhaps the real scope of Bong-Ra‘s artistic work becomes apparant when viewing the Venetian Snares collaboration in conjunction with the 2006 concept album Soldaat Van Oranje. His art is much more than a simple collection of albums released – it’s a vehicle for both exploration and explanation.
And, as such, of course a perfect fit for Roadburn.
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Roadburn • Facebook • Bandcamp • Discogs
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| New Millenium Dreadz | Album (1998) |  |  | |
| Darkbreaks | Single (2001) | | | |
| Riddim Wars | Single (2002) | | ||
| Peel Session | EP (2003) | | ||
| Breakcore A Go-Go!: The 666MPH Remixes | EP (2003) |  |
||
| Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! | Album (2003) | | | |
| Praying Mantis | EP (2004) | | ||
| Old-Skool Armageddon | single (2004) | | ||
| Renegade Bubblin' | Collaboration EP w. The Dirty Dred (2004) | | ||
| Monsters of Mashup | Collaboration Single w. Enduser & Shitmat (2005) | | ||
| Colony Of Electric Machines | EP (2005) | | ||
| I Am The God Of Hellfire | Album (2005) | | ||
| Warrior Sound | Album (2005) | | | |
| 4 Adaptations Of Rossz Csillag Alatt Született | EP w. Venetian Snares (2006) | | ||
| Stereohype Heroin Hooker | Album (2006) | | | |
| Soldaat Van Oranje | Album (2006) | | ||
| The Kill | Split EP w. Enduser (2007) | | ||
| Full Metal Racket | Album (2007) | | | |
| Vitus Blister | EP (2008) | | ||
| Monster | EP (2010) | | | |
| Megasaurus / Gargantuan | single (2010) | | ||
| Grindin' The Goldtooth | single (2011) | | ||
| The Hard Way | single vs. Limewax vs. Thrasher (2012) | | ||
| Monolith | Album (2012) | | | |
| Monolith: The Remixes | EP (2013) | | | |
| Tombs / Pallbearer | single vs. Igorrr (2013) | | | |
| Experiments In Nihilism | Album (2015) | |
Phuture Doom
The elusive US artist-collective Phuture Doom brings art with a deeply dark and occultist veneer – while sporting a giant sneer.
Doom might perhaps not be the best nomer to use as what Phuture Doom deliver is a truly enticing mix between techno, breakcore and black metal that quite simply has this individual head over heels in love.
Phuture Doom – Burn The Knowledge (Official Music Video)
Uploaded by Phuture Doom on 2013-06-28.
Burn The Knowledge – official video
The beats are allowed to develop and linger much more than with say Bong-Ra or Igorrr, which perhaps makes the transitions into the other parts of the music come as more of a surprise. In essence you’re lulled into a high-intensity trance, only to repeatedly having the carpet drawn from under your feet, exposing huge bottomless pits for you to fall into.
Pits they will most certainly bring with them to Tilburg.
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Roadburnn • Facebook • Discogs • Official Page
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| Phuture Doom | Album (2013) | | ||
| II | Album (2017) | |
Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave
Jason Köhnen
Jurgen Desmet
The last component of the Future Occultism séance is this collaboration between Bong-Ra and Sickboy (aka Jason Köhnen and Jurgen Desmet)
Originating perhaps more in hardcore techno, there is definitely a lot more sinister and evil feel to SOTAGR than to either Bong-Ra or Phuture Doom, giving everything a much more immediate, even panicky feel – as if this is really a trek through the mirror into an evil, twisted alternate reality that turns out to be surprisingly, unpleasantly real, invoking in me equal parts nausea, fascination, revulsion and awe.
SERVANTS OF THE APOCALYPTIC GOAT RAVE ‘WORSHIP’
Get the album here : https://svartlava.bandcamp.com/album/queen-of-darkness Svart Lava 004
Worship – official video
And, with the newly released second (and absolutely amazing) album Queen Of Darkness it becomes apparant how much time has gone by since that first album (12 years) – this outing is even more focused and pointed. Scaring the shit out of their audiences now comes as second nature for these guys.
These Servants are genuinely fitting in right between extreme metal and the newer generation of darksynth – and it is literally as extreme as the fringes of black metal or the likes.
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Roadburn • Facebook • Bandcamp • Discogs
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| Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave | Album (2006) | | ||
| Queen Of Darkness | Album (2018) | |
“We can’t wait for Bong-Ra to lift doom into it’s futuristic path at Roadburn 2018. His visionary performance on Thursday, 19 April – along with Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave (the binary view and vision of Future Occultism), and Phuture Doom (their preachings: digital sonic alchemy) – will mark such a seismological shift from Roadburn‘s more traditional doom-leanings.”
Quote from the official Roadburn presentation of Future Occultism
Bong-Ra on February 22, 2017 at Churchill’s Pub, Miami, FL
Bong-Ra (from Rotterdam, NL) on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at Churchill’s Pub in Miami, FL, USA as part of the Monsters of Mashup tour 2017. Projections by Silent Strangers. Bong-Ra: https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/bong-ra https://www.facebook.com/bongra/ Silent Strangers: http://silent-strangers.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SilentStrangers/
Bong-Ra liveset, Churchill’s Pub, Miami – February 2017
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