It’s an exciting and sometimes bewildering thing to encounter a group of musicians joining forces to create something that almost defies logical explanation, and most certainly can’t be boxed into a neat little genre-descriptor. FIRE! is one such band, and despite the challenge of doing justice with mere words to the sounds that this trio conjure up, we’re delighted to have them be a part of Roadburn for our upcoming edition.
Uniting the considerable talents of Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin, FIRE! are an unholy amalgamation of frenetic jazz, angular rock and avant-garde experimentalism. Their electrifying work together has taken them all over the globe and now it’s pointing them directly to Tilburg. The latest studio album, Testament, was recorded by Steve Albini and does a fine job of weaving the many strands of FIRE!’s oeuvre into a 40 minute chunk of brain-spinning sonic explorations.
“To be playing at Roadburn means the world to FIRE! one of the best and most creative festivals existing right now. The mix of hard, extreme and creative music is pretty much ultimate to our ears and mind – and we cannot wait to make our FIRE! music for such an audience! ”
It seems nothing is off the table in terms of how these musicians approach their work. Be it morphing into a 43-strong international orchestra, debuting a seven-part, two hour long original composition or reinterpreting the work of a jazz all time great, FIRE! Are sure to approach each assignment with their typical gusto. But don’t be downcast; if you fear that ‘just’ a regular performance from the three-piece wouldn’t be something of note, then you have really missed the point of this band. Nothing they have put their name to so far has been lacking vibrancy, verve, and – yes – fire, and they don’t intend to start now.
– Becky Laverty