GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2025

By GardensTale

The story of Easter, detailing the gruesome death and supernatural resurrection of a cult leader, is pretty fucking metal, all things considered. So it’s fitting that the cream of the crop among underground heavy music festivals, Roadburn, coincides with the religious holiday this year. Not that it makes much difference to me, my partner, or the slew of friends we drag across the Tilburg city centre to enjoy some of the heaviest, strangest, and most envelope-pushing music that music has to offer. We’d murder our feet and livers for this fest any time of the year.

For the last few editions, Roadburn has spread its venues over several locations within a few hundred-meter radius. The 013 is the main venue, hosting the large Main stage with its signature staircase (a brilliant way to rest your feet while watching a show!) and the smaller NEXT. A 5-10 minute walk away, depending on your state of mind and soundness of body, is the old industrial hall known as Koepelhal, split for the occasion into the larger Terminal and smaller Engine Room. Attached is the diminutive Hall of Fame, where the smallest artists get to do their thing, with the ever-popular skate park next door regularly hosting secret shows, which are often announced only a few hours beforehand. Finally, the local jazz club Paradox is the place to be for the more unconventional material, which is saying something in this place.

What follows is a cleaned-up live thread I tapped out in hasty bursts between and during sets, my word-vomit witnessed in real time by my colleagues who gave frequent and often unhelpful commentary. Where applicable, I saw fit to include their remarks and any response I had to their tomfoolery. I can not promise this will result in a sane article, but I hope it can sketch a glimpse of what the greatest festival in the world is like.

Day 1 (Thursday, 17th of April)

2:51 PM — As usual, the larger sizes of the merch sell out lightning fast, and so I walk away with a single patch and disappointment. Let’s hope Glassing can obliterate the letdown.

Cherd of Doom: Surely they restock merch through the festival?

HAHAHA no
Everyone knows merch goes fast so everyone goes to merch first so merch goes fast
And they always underproduce the large sizes

sentynel: You’d think if the merch consistently sold out really quickly they might print more next time

3:12 PM — Yep, Glassing is fucking killing it. Pushing an almost Spartan setup to its limit. The drummer is just bonkers!

4:11 PM — Listening to Oranssi Pazuzu outside the main stage because we could no longer get inside. It sounds impressively oppressive. Wish we could have seen more of it, but I would not have wanted to miss Glassing. Choices choices.

4:24 PM — The electronics and psychedelics of Oranssi Pazuzu are really cool. I should have paid more attention to this band.

4:48 PM — Slowing things down a bit with Toby Driver’s new age project Alora Crucible. It’s pretty enough, but 10 minutes in, I am still waiting for it to develop into something more than a yoga class background music jam.

5:17 PM — It did not.

5:31 PM — Listened most of Alora Crucible from the lounge where they pipe down the music from that stage. Very relaxing, better way to experience it than the venue!

5:33 PM — Then sludge legends Kylesa reformed on the main stage. No second drummer sadly, but what a treat to see this band live again! Last time was at Graspop in 2011.

6:44 PM — Waiting for Faetooth to start. Their first European gig!

Dolphin Whisperer: love Faetooth, they got a new album on the horizon I believe

7:10 PM — Faetooth is decent but not amazing, the vocals are a bit one-note at least on stage. Some nice riffs and I wouldn’t have minded finishing the gig but my feet are too dead to settle for decent right now. At least we can still listen to them for a bit outside the venue.

9:20 PM — After a good big meal we went to the main stage for envy.
And it’s already entrancing just a few minutes in.

9:31 PM — I am in love, this is the greatest thing I discovered today. The intense and concentrated emotion divided between melancholic post-rock and colossal outbursts of post-metal-hardcore is divine.
This is their 2003 album, tomorrow they will play a modern era set.

Dolphin Whisperer: envy good

well WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME

Cherd of Doom: See, bands playing multiple themed sets is exactly why I’d love to go to Roadburn. The Inter Arma sets last year for instance

10:29 PM — Envy was my favorite show of the day easily. So intense, so emotional.

10:39 PM — Black Curse is apparently overrun, so instead we decided to wait for Concrete Winds. Dame Area was still playing in that venue, so we thought we’d check it out. We walked in and walked back out like Grandpa Simpson.

Dolphin Whisperer: CONCRETE WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDS

11:30 PM — Concrete Winds sounds good for dense death metal but I am honestly too tired for death metal this dense.

12:42 AM — But I stuck it out! It was intense, but pretty cool. Sadly my phone died halfway through.

Day 2 (Friday, 18th of April)

12:49 PM — Heading in for the first performance on the bill today, a collab of Throwing Bricks and Ontaard. They’ve collaborated successfully before on record, but this is a new commissioned piece.

1:19 PM — It’s fucking awesome! 8 musicians on stage, massive sound, but the balance is great and it’s emotionally devastating.
The sound quality is also much better than most Engine Room performances.
Between the two bands you also have a lot of variety. Male and female vocals, synths, violin, two drummers. Gorgeous.

1:49 PM — I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of ‘beautiful serene passage, suddenly interrupted by the most devastating wall of noise.’

2:54 PM — Midwife was very pretty, very demure, and very much not what I was looking for right now. Sort of a shoegaze, dreampop, slowcore thing that feels more appropriate for a summer sunset than a dark crowded hall and foot pain. Will check again later!

3:20 PM — Now for one of my most anticipated shows of the festival: Messa playing their new album The Spin in full!

3:41 PM — Their stage presence is a bit static, but the album and execution thereof are so good it’s easy to forgive.

Dolphin Whisperer: They don’t typically have a big stage presence from what I gather. They didn’t when I saw em in a small club

5:11 PM — After Messa we intended to see CHVE, the solo project of Colin [van Eeckhout] from Amenra. The line was pretty long, so we declined to join it. But it was all speed 0 soundscapes and were even boring when listening from the lounge.

Dolphin Whisperer: why go fast when you can go sloooooooooooooooooooooow

5:13 PM — But now it’s time for round 2 of envy! Loved em so much yesterday, we wanted seconds. Today is the modern set, including all of Eunoia, their 2024 album.

6:36 PM — Envy was once again beautiful and crushing.

6:39 PM — After envy we went to queue for 40 Watt Sun. Patrick Walker is doing a solo show in Paradox, the jazz club, and it’s bound to be jam-packed. Thankfully we got in! Now having another beer and waiting for the man to make us weep.

7:02 PM — Walker surveying the crowd: “That does not look comfortable.”

7:34 PM — Between songs this man is the funniest fucker alive, then he starts playing again and instantly it’s misty eyes and goosebumps. What a character, what a musician.

8:52 PM — Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Korean fried chicken.

9:22 PM — Now waiting for Genital Shame.

10:20 PM — Genital Shame was decent, but couldn’t hold our attention. Also I was much too close to the speakers and the kick drums were overpowering the guitars. Caught a friend heading out and decided to follow her to Gnod Drop Out with White Hills.

11:04 PM — Gnod was very particular music for a very particular audience under a particularly large amount of drugs. Endlessly spooling 70’s space rock psychedelics. We didn’t stay long. Instead we opted for Thou, playing Umbilical on the main stage.

Dolphin Whisperer: THOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU

11:19 PM
I always kind of skirted around Thou, but they put on a good show. Unforgivingly harsh and unstoppably heavy, with the biggest riffs I’ve heard today. I don’t feel the amount of heart I got from the best performances today, but it’s a fun and filthy way to end the day.

Day 3 (Saturday, 19th of April)

1:54 PM — Scarfed down a fresh stroopwafel, brought my ebook for breaks and waits, and shuffled into the Terminal for Dødheimsgard!

They’re playing Black Medium Current front to back.

2:05 PM — It’s more of a sardine pressure vat than a sardine can in here.

2:11 PM — But the show is great! The big hall works for the expansive spacy black metal and the band is performing with fire

2:38 PM — We escaped the crowd to join a different one and check out Haatdrager, a project from students at the Metal Factory in Eindhoven. Claustrophobic electro-laden sludge. It’s fucking awesome!

2:44 PM — The vocalist is a very talented young woman. Throat ripping screams, but she also focuses on flow and rhythm in a more hip-hop fashion which gives the music an urban fusion flair akin to Backxwash and dälek.

Dolphin Whisperer: Like and subscribe

3:42 PM — We left for ice cream, then headed back to catch the off-kilter hardcore punk of Gillian Carter.

3:49 PM — Instrumentation is cool, sharp riffs with unexpected turns and skronks. Vocals are very one-note though. Will try to get into Grey Aura instead.

3:52 PM — Samantha compared the vocals [of Gillian Carter] to Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit sinking into the Dip and it is 100% accurate.

4:29 PM — Grey Aura was worse though. Embarrassing vocals honestly. Yelling like he wanted the kids to get off his lawn.

Tyme: Boooo! Too bad. I dig Grey Aura.

Dolphin Whisperer: That’s really sad to hear :(

5:09 PM — We grabbed a drink and intended to get in line for Uniform. And so we did, but the Terminal filled to capacity before we got there. Not willing to face another sardine pressure vat, we went with plan B: a collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother. Now waiting for that while giving our feet a rest on the main stage steps.

Tyme: Sumac?? Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Dolphin Whisperer: Sumac + Moor Mother sounds the kinda collab that is so high art it may be impossible to sniff it. Hope it’s enjoyable

You’re not far off. It doesn’t feel like they managed to glue freeform activist hiphop and sludge doom together cohesively. More like switching between the Moor Mother bits with heavy guitars, then Sumac bits where they play actual riffs.

6:23 PM — We left to see Coilguns instead. That turned out to be the right decision. Frantic hardcore punk with ketamine energy and acidic left field swerves; it’s not always sane but it’s highly entertaining!

6:25 PM — The vocalist is especially all over the place, pulling himself across the stage by the afro and using 5 different styles and inflections in the same song

6:29 PM — Also met one of our Discord users, inkster.

Dolphin Whisperer: inky is very social + nice

She was! We left before the end because it was a long set and our feet are so fucked, but Sammy and I had fun watching Coilguns with her for a bit

8:52 PM — Caught a couple songs from Denisa after dinner. A sort of raw post-punk meets Emma Ruth Rundle from Indonesia. Not extraordinary, but solid, sung and played with heart.

9:38 PM — Also a few songs from Doodseskader’s set. First saw them opening for Alcest, and their stark, raw nu-sludge, with intense visuals synced to the music, hasn’t lost its potency.

9:43 PM — Altın Gün is a big change of pace, though. They play a mixture of psychedelic rock and Turkish traditional music. It’s very danceable, but for me it lacks a little oomph, a bit of grit.

11:21 PM — Bidding the day goodnight with Chat Pile. They play their music well, but I was hoping that’d be enough to make me enjoy their music more, and it isn’t. Still, it’s an effective, brusque brand of spasmodic aggression. The frontman pacing back and forth barefoot in shorts like he’s in the Ministry of Funny Walks is quite the choice.

11:38 PM — Okay, “Why” was a hoot, fair is fair

Tyme: Still sounds like you’re having a blast tho!

I gotta admit it, that was a pretty fucking fun show yeah

Day 4 (Sunday, April 20th)

10:04 AM — Mild hangover. Went to the local metal dive bar last night with some of our festival pals. Partied til 3:30 am. I am getting too old for this shit. Except fuck that, it was a ton of fun and I’ll fucking do it again!

2:01 PM — Dragged my husk to the Terminal to see Vuur & Zijde play Boezem, which I gave a very positive review a few months ago. Curious to see how it plays on stage!

2:53 PM — Though the music was performed perfectly well, a giant industrial hall is probably not the ideal venue for Vuur & Zijde. I think they’d do better in a more intimate setting. But some minor sound issues aside, it was a pretty good show overall.

2:56 PM — Halfway through we decided to move to the smaller Hall of Fame to check out Bacht’n de Vulle Moane, a band that’s only a year old and supposedly plays some intense black metal festuring analog electronics.

3:05 PM — “Good evening Roadburn!” Dude it’s 3 pm.

3:14 PM — This sounds less like black metal with electronics and more like someone yelling over muddy hardstyle.

3:26 PM — It didn’t annoy me, but it did bore me. I didn’t come here for techno.

Dolphin Whisperer: Every time is the evening if you’re playing black metal

That’s great, maybe they should have tried that instead of playing techno haha

4:01 PM — Just watched an animated short movie called The Hunter made by Costin Chioreanu. Quite cool, though the plot was lost on me. Pretty imagery though!

4:32 PM — Frente Abierto plays flamenco, but a dark and heavy variation thereof. Interesting, but not really to my tastes.

6:11 PM — Michael Gira’s set with Kristof Hahn (both from Swans) was an exercise in patience. Slow droning soundscapes, eventually joined by slow droning vocals. At some point I could no longer stand the slow droning.

6:13 PM — Turns out Sumac has quite a lot of slow droning soundscapes as well. I don’t need to like everything Roadburn has to offer, but gee golly, I hope I’ll enjoy at least one thing more than Vuur & Zijde today.

7:37 PM — With a belly full of noodles we plowed on back to the Terminal to catch a slice of Big|Brave. More slow droning soundscapes, but the vocals help give it a slightly better sense of progression. Still, when the song devolves into crash cymbal taps and nothing else for a few minutes, I do get a bit restless.

7:41 PM — When the buildup is more noticeable the music is much more enjoyable, thankfully, and the vocals are powerful.

7:48 PM — All in all a good performance that requires a bit more patience than my exhaustion has left me with.

9:03 PM — Bo Ningen, heavy psych rock from Japan, is a lot of fun and the first thing with this much energy today. Quite diverse, exploring different moods and textures.

9:25 PM — They manage both heartfelt space-outs and extended high-octane jams. Exciting show and excellent musicians!

9:35 PM — “This will be our last song!”
They still had 15 minutes.
They still went over time.

10:58 PM — Closing out the festival for us is Haunted Plasma. The glitzy darkwave with an edge reminds me of that scene in Blade with the vampire nightclub. The woman on the mic has a sweet spectral presence. A bit one-note, but otherwise very enjoyable and a worthy festival finale.

Even though the line-up was a bit frontloaded this year, it still resulted in some of the most hardest-hitting and affecting live music I’ve yet experienced, even from bands I’d never heard of in the first place. Both envy shows and the Throwing Bricks collaboration with Ontaard were the stuff of legends, and this kind of discovery is what makes Roadburn such a joy to return to, year after year. And it’s all the sweeter having a great group of friends to experience it with, as my partner and I attended few shows without at least one other friend by our side. So dear reader… same time next year?

#40WattSun #Alcest #AloraCrucible #AltınGün #Amenra #BachtNDeVulleMoane #Backxwash #BigBrave #BlogPost #BlogPosts #BoNingen #ChatPile #CHVE #Coilguns #ConcreteWinds #Dälek #DameArea #Denisa #Dödheimsgard #Doodseskader #EmmaRuthRundle #Envy #Faetooth #FrenteAbierto #GenitalShame #GillianCarter #Glassing #Gnod #GreyAura #Haatdrager #HauntedPlasma #InterArma #Kylesa #Messa #Midwife #MoorMother #Ontaard #OranssiPazuzu #Sumac #Swans #Thou #ThrowingBricks #Uniform #VuurZijde #WhiteHills

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2024

By GardensTale

Roadburn is a unique festival. Many have no idea what it is, but those who know it often revere it. Starting in 1999 as a traveling stoner festival, it has grown into one of the most adventurous, envelope-pushing celebrations of music worldwide. The line-ups have grown increasingly experimental, and a few years ago the festival adopted the slogan Redefining Heaviness. It’s a mission statement that indicates the wide scope of the festival, exploring other forms of heaviness through the inclusion of genres beyond metal.

My partner and I have visited every Roadburn since 2017, when I last wrote a report on the experience. At the time, we had a sweet arrangement allowing free entry by playing host to a performing artist. Unfortunately, this option no longer exists since the pandemic, so instead we have been inviting random festival goers, which has netted us a steadily growing slew of festival buddies from across Europe. This year was no different, with a few old friends and a few new ones taking up residence in our living room. With the fires of friendship thus stoked, we set off on our sixth voyage into the depths of the heavy underground.

Day 1 (Thursday, 18th of April)

2:34 PM — Got to Hexvessel’s set playing Polar Veil a little late, because one of our guests needed a bracelet still. Good doom, played well, but doesn’t blow me away. Room is crammed, but it’s the first show of the festival.

2:44 PM — Watched a few songs, then went to grab merch. Hoodies were already sold out in several colors.

3:11 PM — Sunrise Patriot Motion is like “what if Ashenspire swallowed a synthwave band” and I like it. It’s a strange contrast but it works.

4:03 PM — Wiegedood were doing a live soundtrack to a Japanese experimental silent film from 1926 and it was as odd as that sounds.

5:44 PM — Grabbed some food during a gap in the schedule and afterward watched a few songs of Sean Mulrooney’s set (from Tau and the Drones of Praise). Dark folk with sparse vocals doesn’t really work unless the vocals are good, and these weren’t.

5:47 PM — Now sitting outside the venue where UBOA is doing her thing and it sounds like two supercomputers on train tracks colliding head-on. Bit above my maximum noise-to-music ratio.

7:16 PM — Inter Arma is pretty dang massive. Sound in the venue isn’t great so the guitars aren’t getting their due but faces are caving in.

8:26 PM — WHITE WARD IS FUCKING AMAZING

8:35 PM — Their saxophone player is in the army so they had to make do with samples, but after 4 canceled appearances due to Covid and the war, it was worth the wait.

9:46 PM — Everyone and the family dog wants to see Chelsea Wolfe, so being 20 minutes early still meant nosebleed spots in the balcony. Wolfe fills the room anyway. I don’t always click with her albums that much, but man she is a force to behold on stage.

10:54 PM — Shows hadn’t left much time for food today, so a big fat doner wrap will have to do. A fellow with too little blood in his alcohol walked into the door and cracked his head on the tiles. Walked away 10 minutes later. Hope he survived.

11:37 PM — Goddamn, Backxwash is heavier with her hip-hop than most bands are playing metal. No one on stage but a black woman in a poofy dress laying down the law over raw industrial beats. Fucking awesome set.

Day 2 (Friday, 19th of April)

3:14 PM — Started off crammed into the room like sardines to hear Fluisteraars do an experimental set: the droniest of drone with birdsong on top. Handled about 10 minutes of that before bailing. Not my jam and way overcrowded.

3:39 PM — Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst of Hexvessel and others) doing a commissioned piece called Music For Gloaming: A Nocturne. Very gothic doom/black mixture, pretty cool set with loads of atmosphere.

6:33 PM — After a meal we went to check out Lucy Kruger + The Lost Boys in the Hall of Fame venue. Very nice weighty dream pop, not unlike Emma Ruth Rundle.

8:31 PM — Good thing we were there because Inter Arma was drafted for a second performance, a secret set of material from their classic albums. Also in the Hall of Fame, the smallest venue of the festival. Absolutely brainscramblingly colossal. Easily the heaviest thing on the festival so far.

9:52 PM — Another secret set, this one by Couch Slut in the skate park. Harsh music under the harsh glare of the tubes. Great performance and the venue brought out their punky DIY spirit, looking forward to seeing them again early tomorrow for their new album playthrough.

Day 3 (Saturday, 20th of April)

1:24 PM — Knoll for breakfast is kind of terrifying and overwhelming but also kind of awesome in a “my skull is now 2D” kind of way.

1:26 PM — Suddenly a wild trumpet appears!

2:25 PM — Couch Slut playing their new album. Raw as all fucking get out. Great show! Excellent live band both performances, visceral as fuck. The frontwoman confessed to only sleeping 90 minutes that night, and occasionally it showed, but by and large, she killed it.

2:50 PM — Oneiroporeia is a super young band and it shows, but their blackened prog-goth sound is solid and promising.

5:04 PM — Roadburn has a queue problem this year, especially today, and primarily at the Spoorzone venues. It’s always unclear when a venue opens and the queues have gotten gigantic. After wasting some time in a queue in an attempt to see Agriculture, we decided to settle in at the Main stage and wait for The Keening.

5:52 PM — The Keening is as beautiful and fragile as the titular Little Bird, but could use a few more dynamic stanzas to balance out the mid-weight atmodoomfolk a little. Still quite pretty though.

8:37 PM — Between rain and queues we settled on Ni in the Paradox jazz club. Super skronky instrumental jazzmathcore is healing my soul right now.

10:44 PM — Ni turned out one of the best things I’ve seen at the festival this year. Cult Leader’s acidic sludgy hardcore made a run for the podium, but their gothic-doom passages just aren’t as captivating. When these guys go full blast though, they’re absolutely vicious.

11:32 PM — In the spirit of trying new things, we ended the day with a few Frail Body tracks. Safe to say that screamo is not my new passion.

Day 4 (Sunday, 21st of April)

3:05 PM — We dragged our exhausted husks to the Terminal for the final day. Kicking off with Laster is a good start. The weird psych black band with ghoulish masks are pretty much studio-tight. It does feel a little clinical or impersonal as a live show but it’s a very solid performance.

4:47 PM — Today really is black metal day at the Terminal. No complaints from me! Verwoed tears down the place with their ritualistic and reasonably melodic take. Good sound and a spirited performance. The Dutch black metal scene proves to be thriving once more.

6:27 PM — After all the doom and gloom, a little black thrash that’s all riffs and no brakes is just the ticket, and Devil Master hits the spot. Doing the second half of the set sitting on the floor by the wall because my feet are withered stumps at this point.

6:31 PM — I’m also surprised by the amount of delighted surprised faces I get from bartenders when I show them my order on my phone screen. Is it really that uncommon? It’s so much simpler than shouting!

8:32 PM — Biological necessities (aka food) and a queue meant missing the first half of Fluisteraars’ full black metal set. This is a shame because fuck me this is one of the best performances of the whole festival. It’s apparently only the second time the band performs live and they put most of their peers to shame.

10:18 PM — Dödsrit led a 50-minute war band to raid and pillage the Terminal. Baller set, tons of energy and extremely fun! Sound was a bit off, as is tradition in this venue, but it didn’t spoil a good time. Thought this would be the last show for us, but in the interest of a last drink with a few friends we went to…

11:29 PM — …the main stage for Cloakroom. Not a terribly engaging band even by shoegaze standards, but a nice lullaby to sing the festival to sleep.

Between collaborations, commissioned pieces, secret sets, and integral album presentations, not to mention a lot of bands that would not fit in at many other festivals, Roadburn’s line-up is always unique. I’d never have found bands like Ni or Lucy Kruger without the concerted efforts of Walter Hoeijmakers and Becky Laverty to keep Roadburn one of the most forward-thinking festivals out there. I found some new favorites and checked out some bands I knew only by reputation. But best of all is experiencing it all with an ever-expanding gaggle of friends. We’ve rarely watched a show with just the two of us; nearly every time we had the company of friends, and come rain or queues, that is the best way to experience this festival.