With Desertfest once again bringing all manner of bedlam and riffs across their three day jaunt in Camden this year, we've scoured through the lower part of the poster and selected our top picks we STRONGLY encourage you get down to for a headbang or two. Alongside these picks, we also give an insight on a mini festival taking place within Desertfest to help promote another festival later in the year. FESTIVALS. Anyway, without any further ado - get to know some of this lot...
Skraeckoedlan - Friday - 22:00-23:00 - The Black Heart
Hailing from Sweden, Fuzzorama records bring the difficult to pronounce, but easy to jive to Skraeckoedlan. This trio follow a formula similar to Desertfest darlings Truckfighters in bringing a truly infectious level of groove and energy which will be absolutely perfect for closing out the Friday night at The Black Heart. Safe to assume this'll be a busy one - check out their latest record Eorpe which is out now!
We Hunt Buffalo - Saturday - 21:30-22:30 - The Black Heart
Like many of their counterparts across the Desertfest weekend, We Hunt Buffalo's reputation is quite strongly rooted in their live shows. The Canadians are now five records in, delivering music which is equal parts psych, heavy and fuzz. Similar to Skraeckoedlan the night before, this'll be a perfect closure point on proceedings at The Black Heart come Saturday night.
High Reeper - Sunday - 21:00-22:00 - The Black Heart
DOOM. High Reeper's short history covered online seems to suggest that this was a group who may never have made it out of jam room, but we're thankful they have. They bring a dose of old school Doom similar to the likes of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats but launch a barrage of Corrosion Of Conformity at it all. Given the fact that they formed just three years ago and only have a couple of records under their belt yet they're headlining a stage at the premier Stoner/Doom/Psych festival says it all really. Add them to your list of things to see as the festival reaches it's conclusion on Sunday.
Wren - Sunday - 15:15-16:00 - The Black Heart
Another band rolled out by the absolute MACHINE that is Holy Roar Records at the moment, Wren are a savagely intense and powerful unit hailing from London who blend huge doses of heavy, discombobulating sections with sludgy, dirty rough sounding riffs with one of those vocalists who you can constantly hear fucking FEELS every moment. There isn't heaps of recorded output from then but what is available is very strong indeed and we're very excited to see what they will bring to Desertfest midway through the final day. Huge potential for set of the weekend.
High Priestess - Friday - 16:30-17:15 - The Black Heart
All the way from Los Angeles, California, Psych Doom outfit High Priestess are another band who haven't got huge swathes of recorded output to get stuck in to but what they have released is of a real high quality. There is something almost effortlessly simplistic about it all but it carries a real charm - soaring vocals over crunchy, heavy riffs tends to pan out quite well in most circumstances and High Priestess have really hit the sweet spot with the formula. If you're a fan of the likes of Black Moth then you'll really dig these.
Black Deer Stage
What's that? Another festival have got their own stage at Desertfest? You damn right, and what a great combination it is too. Black Deer Festival is all set to take place in Eridge Park in Kent across 21st - 23rd June as an event which celebrates primarily Americana and Country Music but this year there is also a smattering of Desertfest friendly bands and artists including the likes of Brant Bjork, Steak and Radio Moscow amongst others. With that level of crossover between the two it's allowed for Black Deer Festival to take-over a stage at Desertfest in 2019 and give them the opportunity to give punters a small showcase of what to expect in Eridge Park this June. The line-up on the Black Deer Stage at The Devonshire Arms across the Sunday is as follows:
The Vanguards - 21:15-22:15
The Fargo Railroad Co. - 19:30-20:15
The Southern Companion - 17:45-18:30
The Outlaw Orchestra - 16:00-16:45
So whether you're already a keen follower of the Americana and Country scene or you just fancy hearing something a bit different within the Desertfest set-up this year, we highly recommend getting down to The Black Deer Stage at some point across the Sunday.
DESERTFEST is taking place this coming weekend, across 3rd-5th May. There are very limited amounts of tickets still available. Head over to http://www.desertfest.co.uk/ for more line-up info and purchases on last minute tickets!