With only three weeks to go before DesertFest London opens its arms, Metal Junkbox is here to highlight some of the women musicians who will grace Camden’s stages over the 3-day run. So if you don’t know where to start with the lineup, let’s take it vibe by vibe.
Dark High-Octane Metal
If you’re like me and April has been equal parts wonderful and chaotic and if, like me, you’ve not had a good healthy way to release that tension since, you’re probably bursting at the seams for a moshpit. You can warm up Friday in the Underworld with Norwegian band, Årabrot, with Karin “Dark Diva” Park holding it down on synths and backing vocals. Early Saturday, the Dev rocks with sibling trio, Witchorious, featuring bassist/vocalist Lucie Auclair, the sound of the band far outsizing the room. Later that night, the epic Amenra themselves will host their own ritualistic blend of meditative metal at the Roundhouse, with Amy Tung Barrysmith reshuffling your bones on bass.
Rolling Rock’n’Roll
No better act to start with than Bobbie Dazzle. Hers is probably the most joyful sound of the whole lineup, joining fellow Americana bands Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol and The Devil and the Almighty Blues for what will be the most bluesy DesertFest yet. Sophie Keith (vocals/bass) of Scott Hepple and The Sun Band will bring their Texas-via-Newcastle rock vibe to the Underworld Saturday, while Friday, be sure to catch Black Heart headliners and deathy rock’n’roll band, Hippie Death Cult, fronted by the inexhaustible Laura Phillips (also on bass).
Pure Death
The festival’s only female-only band, death/doom metal outfit Konvent, is also one of the heaviest acts on the lineup. Hailing from Copenhagen, the sheer density of sound brings back to mind the churning crushing waves of a winter sea. If afterwards, you still have some hearing left, there will be two stages curated by Human Disease, featuring Italian noise prodigies OvO (with Stefania Pedretti on vocals and guitar), black metal Londoners OldBlood (with Arianna Pinto on bass and vocals), but also Yur Mom (with Anelise Kunz on bass and vocals), bringing Brazilian polyrhythms to a punk audience.
An episode of Xena playing on an old TV in a hotel room
Not just one, but two bands fit that mental image. Sunday’s Castle Rat, with their lofi music videos and fur-covered outfits, seem made to have debuted in 1978, but their music is very much a 21st century tribute to and expansion of bigger-than-life rock culture and dungeon-core aesthetics. The Rat Queen herself would not have looked (or sounded) amiss as a Xena villainess, nor would Saturday’s Lust Ritual, fronted by Ieva Isabella Ruiz.
Earth
Residing in their own otherworldly realm, Seattle’s Earth have been legends of the genre since their debut in 1989. Minimalistic in their setup, with Adrienne Davies on drums and Dylan Carlson on guitars, they are pioneers of drone metal, as well as precursors to the meditative shamanic energy of bands like OM and fellow DesertFest lineup member, Black Willows.
See you in the desert! Weekend and Day Tickets via www.desertfest.co.uk
