Sumac

It is, first of all, an enormous pleasure to welcome Aaron Turner to Roadburn once again. Having performed at the festival before with the legendary Isis, the dreamy Mamiffer and the colossal Old Man Gloom, not to mention the many Hydra Head bands that have already trodden the 013 boards, Aaron is one of the staples of Roadburn, and we’re delighted to have him back once more with a relatively new vehicle of expression, the mighty Sumac.

He comes in great company too. Completing the stellar line-up of Sumac are bassist Brian Cook, very well known for his past in Botch and These Arms Are Snakes and even more so for his glorious present in Russian Circles, whom we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming at Roadburn twice already in 2010 and 2015, and drummer Nick Yacyshyn, also of the amazing Baptists, whom Dave Grohl famously considered to be his favourite drummer a couple of years back. With this kind of musical agility and talent available, Sumac was bound to be special, and 2015‘s The Deal confirmed that in spades.

Denser than a black hole having a really bad day, heavier than a bag of the heaviest things you can imagine, and yet dynamic, constantly unpredictable and evoking a very real sense of dread, it was a record that firmly established the trio as so much more than a curious super-group, but something to really look out for in the next few years.

Fortunately they’ve wasted no time in following it up, and this year’s What One Becomes, released via Thrill Jockey last June, was even better. It’s like The Deal tested the waters and allowed the three sonic explorers to draw a map and realise where they could go together, whereas on What One Becomes they just said screw the map, tossed it, and marched ahead into uncharted territories without a care in the world, crossing boundaries of metal and heavy music in general as if they were never there in the first place. As if that wasn’t enough, in a couple of weeks a special release called Before You I Appear will offer us some of What One Becomes‘ pieces reworked a reconstructed by like-minded luminaries like Samuel Kerridge or Kevin Drumm, among others.

Aaron Turner commented: “Very happy to be returning to Roadburn once again. I’ve had a lot of great shows as a participant in Roadburn for what must be close to a decade now. Having played there with Mamiffer, Old Man Gloom and ISIS, I’m glad to have the chance to come with SUMAC this time around. Looking forward to it and grateful to be included yet again.”

The short but meaningful career of Sumac so far seems to be a constant adventure taking place beyond the wall of conventionality and limitation, and that’s exactly how we are expecting their show to be like at Roadburn 2017. That, and super-heavy, of course.

Sumac will crush and amaze Roadburn 2017 all at once on Sunday, 23 April, at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Roadburn Festival 2017 will take place April 20-23 at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Tickets are now on sale!