It’s an honour to have one of Japan’s most uncompromising and original noise rock bands appearing at Supersonic’s 10^th anniversary bash – we are of course talking about the mighty Zeni Geva! Seeing as guitarist and vocalist KK Null has graced the Supersonic stage numerous times over the past decade (including an absolutely incredible performance with Zeni Geva themselves back in 2010 that melted the brains of everyone within a 10 mile radius), this seems like the perfect band to invite along for this year’s celebrations.

Zeni Geva’s sound doesn’t lend itself to easy categorisation, taking the primordial soup of death metal and blending it until it assumes the complex characteristics of prog rock, then lathering it in thick, turbulent layers of dissonance and serving the whole mixture up with a generous side portion of paranoia, anger and fear. Whilst KK Null has remained the core leader of the group, over the years the band’s personnel has read like a who’s-who of the early Japanese noise scene, featuring the talents of Acid Mother’s Temple guitarist Mitsuru Tabata and Boredoms/Hanatarashi drummer Ikuo Taketani, who has since been replaced by hyper talented Ruins sticksman Tatsuya Hoshida. Zeni Geva’s incendiary sound was too exciting to go unnoticed by the Western world however, and eventually caught the attention of such luminaries as Steve Albini and Jello Biafra, who signed the band to his Alternative Tentacles label in 1993 to release their classic ‘Desire For Agony’ record. As anyone who has witnessed them in the flesh before will attest, the Zeni Geva live experience is truly a force of nature. A whirlwind of distraught riffs, rapidly shifting time signatures and an almost unbearable tension threaten to overwhelm the listener, before the band’s abstract pummelling eventually ushers in a state of bizarre, transcendental euphoria. The band’s UK shows haven’t exactly been plentiful over the years, so grab this chance to see this incredible band while you can!

But of course, artists as prolific as Null and Hoshida aren’t just satisfied with treating us to just one mindblowing performance, and both artists will be taking to the stage under different guises this year too. KK Null will be teaming up for a one-off set with local tuba drone pioneers ORE, a two-piece dedicated to broadening the pallette of drone/doom with the vast, resonant sounds of the tuba. ORE’s Sam Underwood joined Null for his gut shatteringly intense performance with Lash Frenzy at Supersonic two years ago, which was evidently the start of a very fruitful partnership indeed. This unlikely combo will be playing a piece of music they’ve written specially for the festival, and will even have a few copies of an ultra-limited CD-R for sale. These are sure to sell like hot cakes, so act quickly if you want to snap one up! How ORE’s deep brass drones will play off against KK Null’s retina searingly powerful waves of noise is anyone’s guess, but this promises to be a fantastically esoteric journey into the furthest reaches of experimental music. Don’t miss out!

Tatsuya Hoshida will also be performing as Ruins Alone, the solo incarnation of his incredibly complex but endlessly groovy band Ruins. Sharing a similar style of frantic hyperactivity with bands like Naked City, Fantômas and Melt Banana but walking a path that is all their own, Ruins feed music through their own personalised meat grinder and string together the resulting strands into intricate patterns that make the Fibonacci sequence look like the 2x time table. Taking influence from French prog rock madmen Magma, Ruins songs are sung in their own language, a fitting trait for a band that so steadfastly refuses to adhere to conventional norms and structures. After being lucky enough to find 4 different virtuoso bassists to accompany him over the past 18 years, recently Hoshida has decided to go it alone, wowing audiences across the globe with his technical precision and flawless ability to leap between wildly different time signatures with the utmost grace. Ruins have always emphasised the power of immediacy and spontaneity in addition to their impeccable musicianship, making this a set that will be as gratifying to free wheeling hedonists as it is to beard stroking percussion experts.

Zeni Geva will play Supersonic Festival on Saturday 20th October, whilst Ruins Alone and KK Null & ORE will play on Sunday 21st October.

Plymouth’s Imperfect Cinema are keen proponents of DIY culture, specialising in exploring participatory production as a way to democratise and open up film making to individuals from all walks of life, reclaiming this art form from the high production values and billion dollar studios that many believe have corrupted it. With this year’s ‘Halide-Oxide’ workshop, the collective will be inviting the audience to arm themselves with vintage/redundant filming equipment (the titular ‘halide’ of super-8mm film and the ‘oxide’ of audio cassette tape used to capture video) and shoot the unique post-industrial setting of the festival, hopefully capturing some of the stark, mechanical aesthetic that played such a pivotal role in the creation of Heavy Metal. This footage will then be used in two different ways; Imperfect Cinema will be using some of your footage as an alternative visual document of the festival which will form a unique part of the archive of its tenth anniversary, and the rest will provide the visual backdrop for noise-rock titans Drunk In Hell’s set the next day, granting a unique opportunity to directly influence the very spirit of the festival itself!

To book a place at this workshop, please email [email protected] with ‘Imperfect Cinema’ in the subject line.

Speaking of Drunk In Hell, the band have recently made their demo cassette available as a free download via their Bandcamp page – a vicious, snarling recording doused with liberal splashes of piss and vinegar. If you abandoned Unsane and Eyehategod in a damp cardboard box on the cold streets of Middlesbrough, then checked back in on them a few weeks later, the aggressive, hopeless sound they’d be unleashing wouldn’t be a million miles away from Drunk In Hell’s cathartic uproar. To give you a further idea of what to expect, the band have also uploaded a full live set from Leeds last year, but we have a feeling not even this furious recording will adequately prepare you for the full-on brutality that these guys are going to bring to the Supersonic stage this year.

You can catch Drunk In Hell performing on Saturday 20th October – just don’t expect to come away unscathed!

We’re thrilled to announce that Ufomammut will be playing all of their new magnum opus ‘ORO’ at Supersonic this year! Birmingham is the perfect place for this spiritually charged metal odyssey to take place, not just because of its gritty, post-industrial aesthetic; the city is unquestionably where the screeching, fanged foetus of heavy metal was violently ejected from the cosmic womb and let loose to terrorize the world at large. Despite what some journalists will tell you, the exact moment when this happened is easily identifiable and can be pin-pointed when Tony Iommi first summoned that planet-obliteratingly evil chord that opens Black Sabbath’s infamous titular song. The streets and factories of Birmingham did more than act as the genre’s birthplace, as the industrial environment that Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward grew up in played a pivotal role in influencing the bleak and terrifying sound that epitomised the genre’s early classics. It’s hard to imagine ‘Electric Funeral’ coming out of anywhere but the turbulent mechanical landscape of Birmingham circa 1970, as metal’s most important 4 piece allowed themselves to vent away the pent-up depression brought on by menial factory jobs, against the backdrop of the most ominous riffs in existence -“dying world of radiation, victims of mad frustration” indeed.

As part of Capsule’s Home Of Metal initiative, we’re proud to present the Crossroads of Sabbath walking tour this year, an in-depth look at the city that changed the face of music forever led by music historian and Sabbath enthusiast Rob Horrocks. It’s heartening to know the world is still populated by a healthy number of Sabbath devotees as the tour is completely over-subscribed and is now fully booked! But don’t worry if you missed out on tickets as Supersonic has more than enough riff related goodness for you this year, with a couple of bands cut from the same recognisable lineage that Sabbath themselves prompted all those years ago.

First up is the hugely influential guitarist Dylan Carlson. His band Earth (which, incidentally, is what Bill, Geezer, Ozzy & Tony referred to themselves as in their early blues-rock incarnation) are perhaps the most extreme manifestation of Sabbathian lore to rear its head thus far. Records like ‘Earth 2’ and ‘Phase 3: Thrones & Dominions’ took gargantuan Sabbath style riffs and reduced them to a crawl, producing a long, resonant drone that enraptured many across the globe (not least two youngsters named Anderson and O’Malley). This special set finds Dylan distancing himself somewhat from his Earth colleagues, and branching out with a new set of musicians. Dylan’s solo work has been shrouded in secrecy so far, but it would not be entirely unfounded to expect a continuation of the mystical, folky direction Carlson has pursued on the last two Earth records, the ‘Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light’ duology. However, Dylan could well have a trick or two up his sleeve, making this an essential experience for Earth fans!

Italy’s finest space-doom trio Ufomammut are making the pilgrimage to Supersonic this year, riding a wave of inspiration off the back of their recent two-part album ‘ORO’. Despite sharing traits with many of their amp laden, doom saying peers, Ufomammut’s style is very unique and distinctive, with a rich psychedelic aura and a visceral, gut-punching intensity. If you replaced Electric Wizard’s weed stash and horror movie collection with several grams of peyote and a copy of Pink Floyd’s ‘Meddle’, the ensuing voyage would seem like a pleasing parallel to the path Ufomammut have carved out for themselves. In the two years that have passed since their humongous modern day classic ‘Eve’, the band have returned from the wilderness like psychedelic visionaries, armed with the two records that comprise ‘ORO’, ‘Opus: Primum’ and ‘Opus: Alter’. A dense and imposing body of work, the ‘ORO’ saga is more than the sum of its parts, and Ufomammut have a real treat in store for us this year. In addition to this exclusive sneak peek at their new video, the band has just revealed that they’ll be playing ‘ORO’ in its entirety at the festival, offering an ecstatic voyage into a vast, deep space riff utopia that will consume and unravel the very fibre of your being. And what self-respecting Sabbath fan wouldn’t want that?

Dylan Carlson will play Supersonic on Saturday 20th October, and Ufomammut will appear on Sunday 21st October.

*NOW FULLY BOOKED – SORRY NO PLACES LEFT*
A 90 MINUTE WALKING TOUR IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BLACK SABBATH 1948 – 1970

PERRY BARR, WITTON, ASTON & NEWTOWN

Join us for a special Black Sabbath themed walking tour, in the birthplace of Heavy Metal. Along the way you will be walking in the footsteps of Tony, Bill, Ozzy and Geezer and learning about the environment they grew up in and how they formed to be one of the most important bands in music history.

Sign up for a free, guided tour of Black Sabbath’s early environment by music historian Rob Horrocks.

About Rob:

“I was never a metal-er at school. Around the age of 14 (1986) when musical identity lines were drawn I was into punk and new wave. I would argue endlessly with my metal head friends over the merits of 1000 note a minute guitar solos, poodle hair and spandex versus the emotional rawness, honesty and relative poppy simplicity of the stuff that John Peel played. I was increasingly out numbered  – Iron Maiden went straight in at number one and Echo & The Bunnymen split up. The outcome of those endless discussions is that I got to know how the whole metal scene fits together. I know my Venom from my Poison.

20 years later I came to an appreciation of Black Sabbath through a band I was working with. Einstellung love Sabbath and many of their colossal riffs are dropped tuned.  Soon I too came to appreciate Ozzy era Black Sabbath. That’s an understatement. I have grown to love those first albums.

I read Record Collector magazine, The Quietus blog and occasionally The Sunday Times.”

This special event will take place on Saturday 20^th October and is free to all Supersonic weekend ticket holders, but booking is essential. To do so, email [email protected] with ‘Crossroads of Sabbath’ as the subject title.

You can learn more about the birthplace of Heavy Metal via our Home of Metal project

Lash Frenzy return to this year’s festival to present ‘Vir Heroicus Sublimis’. Celebrating a decade of Supersonic, Lash Frenzy will be taking inspiration from their own decade’s worth of performances and throwing them into a blender, along with your brain. Whatever comes out is whatever comes out, so expect everything and expect nothing.  All we know for sure is that there’s more than one person involved and less than 1000. Featuring members of Anaal Nathrackh, Beestung Lips, Benediction, Sally, Einstellung.

If you weren’t able to get in to the Lash Frenzy vs KK Null performance at Supersonic 2010, then make sure you don’t miss out twice!

This performance is one of a number of special collaborations taking place at the tenth edition of the festival.

Dragging themselves towards their tenth anniversary like a sloth in a heavy metal parking lot, Mothertrucker are no strangers to the almighty riff. They’ve crafted  a sound built on thick dirty distortion, menacing atmospherics, head bopping tempo changes and rewarding climaxes. Not content to sit alongside the navel gazing, post-metal, Neurosis wannabes so prevalent this century, Mothertrucker have evolved their sound into something far more unpredictable without losing sight of what brought them together in the first place – the power of the riff. Once you have found yourself trapped in the headlights of the Mothertrucker, you can but only lay back, stretch your sack & make peace with your maker.

http://www.myspace.com/mothertrucker

Ufomammut is a power trio formed in 1999 in Italy by Poia, Urlo and Vita, worldwide recognized as the creator of a unique brand of psychedelic sludge. With long songs, droning vocals and massive effects the band combines a monumental riffing attitude with the psychedelia of the more visionary Pink Floyd. Ufomammut’s live show is supported by the internationally acclaimed graphic and video art of Malleus.

http://www.ufomammut.com/

ZENI GEVA is a Japanese prog-hardcore band, led by singer and guitarist KK Null, a pioneering group of innovators and legends.
ZENI GEVA was founded in Tokyo in 1987 and quickly found a dedicated fan base in Europe and the US. Their popularity in the west enabled ZENI GEVA to be one of the first Japanese bands to tour in Europe and the US with bands like Neurosis, Melvins, Dazzling Killmen, Don Caballero, Eyehategod, Pain Teens, Shellac, Bastro, Crash Worship and more.

http://zenigeva.jpn.org/

Turbonegro interview with Bring The Noise

Get the lowdown from new vocalist Tony Sylvester on what to expect from Turbonegro’s exclusive Supersonic show.

http://www.bringthenoiseuk.com/201110/music/interviews/interview-with-turbonegro

Supersonic interviews

A number of websites have been asking Capsule for our take on the festival – why we do it, highlights from previous years, things to watch for this year. Check out our take on things below via Rockfeedback and Wiki Festivals.

Rockfeedback interview link

Wikifestivals interview link

Orthodox is a trio from Seville, Spain playing experimental doom metal, inspired by religious folklore and even jazz.

“We started with a concept”, could be read in the album cover of the seminal band Earth. The Spanish trio Orthodox could say the same. Their music, their performance, their artwork, everything is made in order to develop their own concept.

Their musical influences Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Melvins and Sleep get mixed with their peculiar perception of the South-Spanish religious folklore. The result is a liturgical music with obsessive repetitions, minimalism, feedback, distortion and endless drones.

http://www.myspace.com/orthodoxband

Monarch! Q&A
For our tenth Q&A, we welcome Basque country sludge-metallers Monarch!  With some of the slowest tempos and heaviest dirges around, Monarch! promise to be a revelation at Supersonic 2011.  Read on.

1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Rob Shaffer : Respected international experimental music festival.
Michell Bidegain : Criminally loud public address systems.
Shiran Kaidin : Eclectic, surprising, loud, classy and crunchy.
Emilie Bresson : Fun, fucking good loud music

2. What can people expect of Monarch at the festival?
Rob S. : Extreme nothingness.
Michell : A 13bpm black mass.
Shiran : Slow and loud vibrations.
Emilie : A slow motion march to the end of all.

3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
Rob S. : Music forces one to exist in the present moment, and provides the possibility of expressing true emotion which listeners could choose to feel as well .
Michell : Denim and leather. No explanation as to why, just a constant driving need to make music.
Shiran : Music is the way to express what cannot be described.
Emilie: It makes me be myself and, for a moment, it makes me forget about anything else but the music we play.

4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?)
Rob S. : There are many legendary performers playing this festival, i am hoping to see zombi because their music makes me feel good, electric wizard for their crushing rythm and volume, zu3 for david tibet, secret chiefs 3 for their non pretentious technicality. i hope to see as many artists as possible really.
Michell : Zombi, Turbonegro, WITTR, Electric Wizard, Secret Chiefs 3.
Shiran : Electric Wizard, TRBNGR, Wolves in the throne room, Bardo Pond and Secret Chief 3.
Emilie : Same here!

5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Rob S : Good friends.
Michell : Beer.
Shiran : Ears and eyes will be enough I think.
Emilie : My ear plugs.

ORE interview – Sam Underwood
by Ross Cotton

Sam Underwood is a familiar face to the Supersonic stage, after performing in various guises including the manic-acid-circuit-bending Glatze, and the more delicate, electro/acoustic Mr Underwood. This year sees Sam returning to Supersonic as one-third of drone doom tuba band Ore.  Along with Ben Waddington and Stuart Estell, the trio have developed a heavy metal sound, featuring tubas at its core.

“Ore was an idea that me and Ben had in a pub, quite some time ago now”, says Sam. “It was one of those ideas that could have gone nowhere. We spotted the potential and we wanted to take the bass end, very heavy slow riffs. But when it involves two out of three of you learning to play tubas from scratch, that’s quite an epic task”, says Sam.

“Basically Stuart Estell is the only person who’s an accomplished tuba player at the moment.  He’s also heavily into doom metal, which was key. It really required someone open-minded enough to embrace the concept.  He’s writing the pieces as I’m learning how to play”.

Sam also played the tuba at last year’s Supersonic with Lash Frenzy.  “That was the first time I did the tuba stuff live. It serves as a proof of concept!”, he says. “It was an improvised noise gig, and I was playing it through some effects pedals and a massive bass amp. I couldn’t play, but I could make some interesting noises. My decision was to learn an instrument seriously during my year long sabbatical. And because I liked tuba, and because we had an idea for a band, I decided to do that”.

The whole idea of Ore seems to reflect the industrial past of Birmingham magnificently, something that the trio had in mind from the start. “It has it’s influences in all of that”, says Sam.  “Obviously (the tuba) is a massive great lump of metal for one thing, and that’s part of it, they’re a very physical thing to play”.

While this subverted-stereotype of brass instruments will certainly act as a surprise to many who clasp eyes, and ears, on Ore. “We aim to create epic experiences, where people come along and are wowed by the scale, the sound and the sense of witnessing something totally new”, he says. “It’s a luscious, heavy epic vibe, a different vibe to a lot of other stuff going on. But that’s what Supersonic is all about. It’s the blend of acts put on that’s pretty unique”.

Make sure you don’t miss Ore and their blend of heavy doom tubas as part of this year’s line-up.  Sam Underwood recommends you check out:  “Secret Chiefs 3 (I really like the mix of influences they bring to bear), ZU93, Fire! With Oren Ambarchi, Tony Conrad, Pekko Kappi and Alva Noto”.

http://www.soundofore.com/

My Pecha Kucha 20×20 – Birmingham 01/02/11 from Sam Underwood on Vimeo.

Supersonic Q&As : White Hills

Hopefully you’ve kept up-to-date with all our artist Q&As.  They’ve kept us pretty busy here at Capsule HQ, so we’re thankful to the lovely people at The 405 for doing this Q&A with kraut-glam-space-rockers White Hills.  You’ll want to clicky-click this link here for all the action.

http://whitehillsmusic.tumblr.com/

SUPERSONIC Q&A no. 8: SLABDRAGGER

The eighth in our series of Supersonic Q&As, introducing you to the artists playing in 2011 and giving you an insight into their world.  Today, hailing from London, a little known treasure named Slabdragger.  A band who sing about epic quests to Nepal to find killer weed, rubbish Roman Centurions, battling huge Octopian creatures and drinking rum.  They also feature the one and only Sam Thredder (Dead Swans, More Than Life, Last Witness, Throats).  And, as their label Holy Roar says, they’re sludge as.  Answers courtesy of bass player Yusuf Tary.

1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
THIS IS SOME HEAVY SHIT.

2. What can people expect of Slabdragger at the festival?
A lot of massive, driving, noisy riffs that your mum would not like very much.

3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
It takes away the pressures of the ‘life competition’ that we all seem to be involved in. Music seems to be the one thing in our existence that is not (or shouldn’t) be competitive because everything else seems to be. People are generally so wrapped up in what their job title is, how much money they’re earning, what car they have blah blah blah. Our music, for us, transcends all that….. and we get to shout a lot.

4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see?  (And why?)
I for one am looking forward to Electric Wizard as I’ve seen them before and they were amazing. I would also like to see Zombi as they have a real interesting sound.

5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
It’s probably going to be fucking freezing in Birmingham so warm clothes and lots and lots of BEER.

Slabdragger’s Holy Roar page

The almighty Kings Of Deathpunk play a UK exlusive headline performance at Supersonic 2011. Bringing all the glam, good tunes and great vibes (and hopefully hordes of denim-clad followers) we couldn’t be more excited!

A Norwegian punk band formed in 1989, their style infuses glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band calls ‘Deathpunk’.

The line up includes, Tony Sylvester (Vocals), Happy Tom (Bass), Euroboy (Guitar), Pål Pot Pamparius (Keys/Guitar), Tommy Manboy (Drums/Percussion) and Rune Rebellion (Guitar). Tony Sylvester comments on playing the festival:

“I was so chuffed that Lisa and Jenny asked Turbonegro to headline Supersonic and that the first show with the new line up in the UK will be there. Not only are they the best promoters in the UK, but I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with the festival itself since its second year: announcing bomb threats, swimming in the fountains, playing Northern Soul, arguing on panels, you name it. This will be the first time I’ve actually played there however!”

For more information you can visit www.turbonegro.com and follow them on twitter @TurbonegroHQ.

Wolves in the Throne Room  announce new album ‘Celestial Lineage’ (artwork pictured)

We’re delighted to have finally booked Wolves in the Throne Room for Supersonic.  The band have wanted to play for some time now and 2011 is the year.  The band, from the Pacific NorthWest of the US, have been highly acclaimed since their debut album ‘Diadem of 12 Stars’ in 2006.  Core members Aaron and Nathan Weaver formed the band with an intention to blend 90s Norwegian black metal with something approaching “a sense of spirituality that is rooted in the landscape and natural cycles of the Northwest”.

And, just in time for Supersonic, the band will release their new album ‘Celestial Lineage’ on 13th September through Southern Lord.  Intended as the final part of a trilogy begun with their 2007 album ‘Two Hunters’ and continuing through ‘Black Cascade’ from 2009, the album is in their own words “about temple building and establishing traditions – we wanted it to have a more refined and imperial quality [than the two previous records].”  Judge for yourself, as an exclusive preview track has been shared via NPR.  Featuring vocalist Jessika Kenney, ‘Woodland Cathedral’ is a pagan hymn that partly explores the influence of folk rituals and traditions on the band.

Listen to the track here.
Wolves in the Throne Room website here.

Lastly, illustrator, and past Supersonic collaborator, Simon Fowler has also just unveiled his fantastic submission for the ‘Celestial Lineages’ tour print series.  Here it is:

Meet and watch White Hills

“Fuzzed-out motorik space-rock” is what the band call it.  There’s more than a little twisted psychedelic glam in there too, but White Hills are really one of those bands that creates their own worlds.  Check out bass player Ego Sensation’s video channel to get an insight into their visual style.  It reminds the Supersonic team of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films like El Topo and Sante Sangre – they’re filled with violently surreal imagery, all warped-out montages and jump-cut shocks.  It’s hard to work out whether this is serious, fun, deliberate or insane – or all of the above – but the sensory onslaught definitely starts to get a little more understandable when you hear from Ego Sensation:

We can barely pay our rent each month but we are willing to pull out our credit cards and go into debt each time a new iPhone promises a better connection. The joke is on us. Our greater connectivity has caused us to disconnect from our humanity. We have been sold the religion of consumerism to feed the corporate machine. We have been tricked into believing that wanting our tax dollars to pay for our own health care is treacherous to the ideals of a democratic society. H-p1 is symbolic of the simplification of complex ideas to keep the masses from questioning the system.

Amen.

http://www.thrilljockey.com/artists/?id=12183

Formed in 2006 by Jon Porras and Evan Caminiti, Barn Owl use their guitars to paint broad musical strokes on a canvas stretched between the framework of ambient, drone, americana, and black metal. In 2010, this unique blend of stylistic references coalesced into their debut Thrill Jockey release, Ancestral Star, an album that marked the evolution of the Barn Owl sound intro something wholly their own, transcending the sum of its influences. The arrival of Ancestral Star fostered comparisons ranging from Sunn O))) to Ennio Morricone, often within the same critique.

The new material on Shadowland takes inspiration from the devotional sounds of Popol Vuh and Alice Coltrane and also possesses the pitch black weightlessness of Fushitsusha and early Tangerine Dream. With waves of guitar soaring over liquid synthesizers tones, Barn Owl combine lush, melancholic serenity with cacophonous, deconstructed guitar to exhibit a visceral meeting of light and dark.

http://www.myspace.com/barnowlband

Monarch.
Described in one review as a “deep black minimalistic, slow, humongous doom monster”, Monarch are not a band for the faint-hearted.  Since their 2002 founding in the Basque region of southern France, the band’s concept hasn’t change drastically – in some ways, it’s the slow, persistent hunting-down of a single thread.  Guitarist Kaïdine says simply: “The main idea was to play slow and loud as fuck. We were all playing in fast bands so we wanted to play something very different, something new and challenging for us.”  The band toured the US last year with fellow Supersonic 2011 artists Wolves in the Throne Room and Village Voice concluded a review of their New York show by saying “a focused, intense performance, utterly lacking the catharsis that’s metal’s usual stock-in-trade”.

http://www.myspace.com/monarchuberalles

You can see that focus in this nicely shot full-length set from Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran in the Basque region of Spain.  Slow, yes, but also strangely uplifting.

Monarch from Charly Never Scene on Vimeo.

Monarch Part2 from Charly Never Scene on Vimeo.

Supersonic Q&A no. 2: Part Chimp.

Here’s our second artist Q&A to give you an insight into the inner-workings of Supersonic 2011. Part Chimp bring their heavy noise-rock to the festival in what will be one of their last ever performances.  It’s a real shame they’re splitting up, but that could also give you reason no.137 to book your ticket.

1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Harvey
Milk
Birmingham
Dirty
Burgers

2. What can people expect of Part Chimp at the festival?
One of our last UK shows. If you haven’t seen us before, or it has been a while, now’s the time. If you’ve seen us loads of times, come celebrate the death throes.

3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
It’s a team version of primal scream therapy.

4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see?  (And why?)
Alex Tucker, Kogumaza, and a bunch of other mates. Bardo Pond, Alva Noto, WitTR, Tony Conrad and others. Supersonic’s a good opportunity to check out an extreme blend of stuff.

5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Earplugs, spare earplugs, the green cross code, & the paperback of “how black was our sabbath”.

http://www.partchimp.com

“Slabdragger can, and will, stand toe-to-toe with Torche, YOB, Floor, Sleep and Electric Wizard. Big words for a largely unknown band from South London. But we genuinely feel that we have an undiscovered gem on our hands with Slabdragger – they are that good.

Two years in the making, and ridiculously fully-formed and fully-realised, Slabdragger  sing about epic quests to Nepal to find killer weed, rubbish Roman Centurions, battling huge Octopian creatures and drinking rum. ” Holy Roar Records

http://www.myspace.com/slabdragger

Hello folks. My name’s David and I’m the Marketing intern for Supersonic 2011. I’m based in Manchester so I have the dubious pleasure of getting to know the M6 in intimate detail over the next few months. One of my first jobs has been to put together a Spotify playlist for artists performing at this year’s festival. It’s been great to check out some fantastic acts – hope you enjoy listening. Personally I’m excited about Skull Defekts (their current record ‘Peer Amid’ with Daniel Higgs is superb), Wolves in the Throne Room, Nathan Bell and Bardo Pond. Cloaks are my newest discovery too. Liking them a lot.

Listen here:
http://open.spotify.com/user/littleredrabbit/playlist/1G2nW0tTKUmIoANAR4t14a

Fresh from their artist residency at Roadburn Festival, Supersonic are delighted to announce that both Circle and Pharaoh Overlord will join the festival bill.

Pharaoh Overlord are a self described “Stoner Rock” side project of Circle, but don’t go getting visions of Nebula and Kyuss in your head just yet: this is more like “Stoner Minimalism.” Pharaoh Overlord deconstruct the standard rock song creating vast soundscapes that stretch time and space. Riffs capable of moving mountains repeat endlessly and when the silence finally comes, it’s deafening.

http://www.ektrorecords.com