FESTIVAL PREVIEW: DesertFest London 2024
Words: Julian Pepper
It hardly seems a year since the last riff from Desertfest 2023 was ringing out around Camden, but we now find ourselves just under two weeks away from the 2024 instalment and the excitement levels are most definitely on the up!
Once again the Desertfest team have pulled together a superb line-up of bands across the three days from the 17th to the 19th May. The festival has definitely become more eclectic in its musical styles over the years, which is evidenced by this year’s three headliners: the “fathers of stoner rock” Masters of Reality, hardcore crossover thrash legends Suicidal Tendencies and the UKs own industrial metal pioneers Godflesh. If that’s not enough to tempt you to attend, then the other 70+ bands spread across the 3 days sure should as it includes some absolute stalwarts of the scene along with some notable newcomers who will be gracing Desertfest with their presence for the first time – more of them below!
The Friday sees two legends of the stoner rock scene performing at The Electric Ballroom in a solo set from Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu etc.) and Nick Oliveri with his band Mondo Generator. Add to that the psychedelic stoner sounds of Colour Haze and you have a superb day at the Ballroom.
However, it’s definitely worth venturing out to the other venues to catch the likes of heavy German 2-piece Mantar (the loudest band I’ve ever seen at the Black Heart!) and Corby sludge monsters Raging Speedhorn at the Underworld, Pijn and Blanket at Dingwalls, New York instrumental psychedelic doomsters Clouds Taste Satanic and San Fran doom act Brume at the Black Heart and the UKs own Toad King worshipping doom band Goblinsmoker. My recommendation on the Friday is to not miss Mexicans Weedsnake at the Underworld as their blend of fuzzy doom, sludge and bits of hardcore make them the perfect Desertfest band!
Once you’ve recovered from the Friday shenanigans there’s another stacked day of bands on the Saturday to more than satisfy all tastes!
This year the Roundhouse hosts Desertfest on the Saturday rather than the usual Sunday and has a superb line-up of bands before we get to the 40th anniversary “Still Cyco Punk After All These Years” set from the legends that are Suicidal Tendencies. The double whammy of heavy as hell Instrumental doom beasts Bongripper and rock party animals Cancer Bats will set the scene in fine style.
Around the other venues you definitely shouldn’t miss Swedish Psychedelic doom act Domkraft (their Sonic Moons album was my album of the year in 2023) and stoner/space rock masters Monkey3 at the Underworld, Norwegian stoner doom outfit Saint Karloff and the superbly named Lord Elephant at the Black Heart and the mighty Acid Throne, whose combination of stoner rock, hardcore and blackened metal will shake the Dev to its foundations! I’d also suggest that you check out Under The Ashes at the Dev too, as their mix of trad doom, thrash and good old heavy metal will be of interest to a lot of you!
So, onto the Sunday, where the line-up at the Electric Ballroom will most definitely shake the cobwebs from your ears and heads! Before the festival is closed in style with a set from Godflesh we have prog rock and psychedelic luminaries Ozric Tentacles, Desertfest doom favourites Monolord and Italian Psychedelic doom trio Ufomammut to keep you entertained.
The Underworld has a great line-up with the two-piece noise masters that are Noisepicker, heavy stoners Astroqueen and Washington DC stoner doom stalwarts Borracho being the pick of the bunch for me!
Possibly the best line-up of the day though can be found at Dingwalls, which includes newcomers Silverburn (solo project of Jimbob Isaac from Taint and Hark), lively Norfolk two-piece Kulk, London’s own doom riffmasters Morag Tong and Edinburgh’s amazing heavy progressive rockers DVNE, whose recently released album Voidkind will undoubtedly be in the running for album of the year.
If that’s not enough, you can catch the “none more heavy” Orme and Northern Ireland three piece rockers Skypilot at the Black Heart and desert rockers Waxy and retro stoners Gramma Vedetta back at the Dev. My “not to be missed” recommendation for Sunday is Welsh three-piece doom act Goat Major, whose recently released debut on Ripple Music, Ritual, is a great slab of occult doom. They open proceedings at the Black Heart and sure will be a superb way to start the final day of Desertfest 2024!
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
