This May has seen more sun than all of Summer 2024, so you could not have asked for a better omen for the grand opening of this year’s Desertfest London. Spread across four iconic Camden venues, with a roster of stoner rock, noise, metal and blues and a crowd ready to wax and wane to riff and rhythm, there was much to see and even more to feel.
Elephant Tree
Making a triumphant return to a packed Electric Ballroom after last December’s sold-out residency at the Black Heart, Elephant Tree kicked the festival into full gear. Despite the early hour, the crowd was primed and ready for a good time. Having released the album The Long Forever with Lowrider late last year, that partnership saved the day, when Peder from Lowrider lent his bass to Peter from Elephant Tree when the low E string snapped halfway through the set. For a second, I had the naïve thought that they could buy some time playing a song without bass, but when the situation was resolved and they moved along the setlist with the chuggiest, sludgiest, heaviest song yet, I was chastised. You always need the bass. Rux.
Wallowing
Those who arrived early to The Underworld on Friday were rewarded with a performance by Wallowing, a band that seemed to land on stage from another planet, bringing with them a razor-sharp edge and a harsh, abrasive blend of death, sludge, and black metal. Their performance ensured you didn’t dare look away—some might describe them as “angry beekeepers” from a distant galaxy. They fully embody their sound on stage, moving in every direction, almost unleashing invisible g-forces on your eyes and ears. The more chaotic sections of the set were balanced by insane breakdowns that got you grooving. It was a perfect opening act that set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Nat.
The Devil and the Almighty Blues
Jumping from rocket-launcher rock to delta blues cemented once again how much of how we imagine the United States of America is born of their music. The alligator land of the Louisiana blackwaters, the mythology of dusty crossroads and blood pacts, much of modern America still feels like cowboy land, a feeling The Devil and the Almighty Blues heavily lean into, both seducing us into time-travel to a maybe-never-real maybe-better-than-real world and giving us the tools to dance our way out of hell. Dark without ever being despairing, they closed on The Ghost of Charlie Barracuda, like the heavy tread of a man about to die in the desert, awash in phased-out guitar and kept afloat by the pleading voice of vocalist Arnt O. Andersen. Rux.
Black Elephant
Their set brought an intense tonal shift, with music that told its story more through riffs than lyrics. Black Elephant, Italy’s representatives of a beautifully blended mix of blues, fuzz, hard rock, psych, stoner, and other genres under the typical Desertfest umbrella, heated up the crowd at the Black Heart. You know it’s good when you have to queue on the stairs to get in. It’s the kind of sound you can’t stop objectifying—sexy, hot, and irresistible, forcing you to sway left and right in near ecstasy. We were surrounded by loud, twisty guitar sections and deep, down-tuned bass, which left us all in a happy-go-lucky trance. I must give a nod to the almost Rage Against The Machine-like sections in some of their songs—I loved that influence shining through. Nat.
When not 6 feet underground in The Underworld or ensnared in Electric Ballroom, there was much running between venues. The beauty of a festival is its explorative nature: you have an hour to fill between two acts you’re familiar with, so where can you go? Check out an exciting new band in Black Heart? Take a sneak peek and listen from outside The Dev? It’s where a cool band name can help convince an undecided festival-goer.
Erronaut
Named after the lunar crater Erro, the Hertfordshire natives nearly blew out the windows of The Dev with what felt like if Sleep had gone grungier and tackled self-expansion through the metaphor of space exploration. With bass lines out of headbanging heaven, chorus turns and bridges that never went where you expect them to and the sort of forward-driving energy hinting at bigger things to come, the crowd was treated to a band on the cusp of breaking out. Especially the song Way Down Below, off their debut album The Space Inbetween, with its almost tribal drumming and soaring vocal line, made me think back to Darren Korb’s Transistor soundtrack, with an equal blend of melancholy, vulnerability and crushing anger. By far, my personal favourite of the day. Rux.
10,000 Years
I found myself locked into the Black Heart to catch these Swedish juggernauts, who leaned heavily into a noisy, sludgy mix of doom and stoner rock. It’s the kind of music that thuds and makes the space vibrate, sending electric shockwaves through the air. The building shook so much, you’d start to worry about whether the ceiling could handle it—especially since the venue is above a bar! All that movement had you grasping for fresh air as 10,000 Years made the room steamy, leaving us dancing and feeling the music with both our minds and bodies, quite vigorously. Through that near-puncturing noise, we were treated to surprisingly gentle, tender moments that brought balance to the whole experience. Nat.
Stoned Jesus
Theirs was the most inescapable riff of the day. It dug into my ears, that timeless melody you could easily believe to have been a folk song for some yet-unknown race of giants. The wonderfully subdued piece I am the Mountain (off their debut album Seven Thunders Roar) was instantly picked up by the moshing crowd, belting out the eponymous opening lyric and holding on to the melody for the many twists of what turned into a jam session. It allowed vocalist and guitarist Igor Sydorenko to jump into the sea of people and crowdsurf, as his bandmates kept the hypnotic groove going. What a song to be held up by a hundred pairs of hands to! Read more here. Rux.
Årabrot
I would call them the dark horse of Friday’s lineup—one that captured me intensely, along with everyone else who made their way toward The Underworld. Describing their sound is no easy task, as they dabble in a plethora of genres: new wave, grunge, noise, post-rock, to name just a few. I felt their dark Nordic gothic vibes shine through the lyrics, which, combined with tight rhythmic sync, made it feel like a goth disco bonanza—imagine Depeche Mode if it were Rock & Roll. Their stage performance was another highlight: from their all-white outfits and the coolest hat (worn by a Johnny Rotten-esque frontman), to the wild energy of every musician on stage. It felt like a demonic lyrical concerto that somehow doubled as a wedding afterparty, giving us a glimpse into a beautiful creative relationship. I couldn’t look away—Årabrot wove themselves into the fabric of my music taste. Nat.
Elder
Playing the album Lore in its entirety on its 10th anniversary, the quartet lived up to their reputation as virtuosos and masters of their craft. With the mosh pit frenzied into Brownian motion within minutes, this was a dream come true for many fans who have been with the band since they formed in 2008. Relentless in their pace, with very little room to catch a breath, it felt like being lassoed onto a bucking mustang or a hurling comet – hold on tight or miss out on seeing light break into its composing colours from the sheer speed of it all. At the helm of this cosmic ride was frontman Nick DiSalvo, showcasing his masterful layering of improvisational ideas on guitar, taking us into the far reaches of what the chord progression and key allowed and returning us, dishevelled and radiant, back to ourselves. Read more here. Rux.
Hexis
Hexis mixes sludge with black metal and hardcore, creating harsh and extremely violent sounds. On stage, we witnessed an aggressive performance that assaulted both eyes and ears. Blinded by sharp white backlighting, the band almost seemed as if they were being forged right in front of us by shocking bursts of lightning and thunder. Occasional moments of darkness allowed for brief rest before we were thrown back into their songs—almost as if they were wielding them with some of the hardest metal known on this planet. Desertfest marked the final show of their 15th anniversary tour, which had taken them across the world over the past few months. A metaphorical moment unfolded before our eyes as the microphone, dangling from a hook in the ceiling, got caught during the performance—their vocalist just left it there. But don’t be alarmed—they’ll be back. Nat.
That’s it for day 1. We’ll be back tomorrow with the shamanic ritual of Amenra, the revelation of Zeal & Ardor, and plenty of jamming and vibing across Camden.
