GALLERY: 17.4.2026 Roadburn – Day 2 @ 013, Tilburg

June 19, 2026

The second day of the festival began with specialty coffee and some excellent pancakes, so we were in a pretty good mood heading towards the first show of the day, not to mention the weather had been pretty great for the season, especially when being used to Finnish “Spring.”

Coming from New York City, New York, this experimental black metal band led by the Skarstad brothers under the moniker of YELLOW EYES did a really good job in waking up the early crowd with raw energy and abrasive guitar playing. What stood out the most was their drummer, who literally looked possessed, and eventually ended up singing later on in the show. After this show, we had to pick up their latest “Confusion Gate” record for a proper spin.

Conveniently placed next door at The Terminal, TEARDRINKER‘s commissioned work “I Hope This Hurts” was certainly the most emotionally intense work of the weekend. Rotterdam-based Kim Hoorweg (which we saw perform in the 2023 edition with her duo VULVA) has been very active socially as an artist, and her own words best describe the idea behind this unique piece: “This commissioned piece is meant to hurt, scratch and itch, and it is meant to be uncomfortable, mirroring the horrors of living in a persecuted body under patriarchal, colonialist, white supremacist and capitalist rule. Simultaneously, it is meant to connect and radiate compassion, healing, and a manifesto for choosing kindness collectively, by remembering on whose shoulders we proudly stand.”

There are truths that need to be said, facts that hurt that need to be talked about, discussed, and addressed, and this performance touched these themes with a grave emotional weight and intensity that hopefully had the same impact and effect on everyone in the room that it had on us. Such a brilliant way to expose the reality of these topics with this post-metal project, especially the lyrics and visuals were very powerful.

Eventually, we decided to check out something a bit more “light” on one’s mind, with the solo project of UFOMAMMUT‘s vocalist and bassist, Urlo. Quite many people were curiously approaching the Hall of Fame for this previously kept under wraps show, only to be announced just a few days before the festival. This dark folk with psychedelic connotations and a calm, introspective atmosphere felt more like finding your inner peace compared to the emotional turmoil of the previous show.

A bit of a walk and an ice cream break along the way, we were soon at the 013 for the much-anticipated collaboration between WIEGEDOOD and the BL!NDMAN collective. We are getting quite used to these special shows or collaborations from the Belgian band, and frankly, this wasn’t even the weirdest one (thinking of their Japanese horror movie soundtrack performance). This time the theme is “drone with saxophones? yes please!” Offering a more “abstract” take on their material, as well as new compositions, the show has had the audience transfixed on the big stage. The use of the theremin – not a first for WIEGEDOOD, and the two big metal plates resounding on both extremities of the stage, combined with the other instruments, added almost a sense of gravitas to the show. Once again, the guys, with the essential contribution of the quartet performing with them, have been pushing their boundaries in exploring their own sound in a very intriguing way. This was quintessential Roadburn at play!

While everyone seemingly went to The Terminal for the much talked about KOWLOON WALLED CITY, we opted for something more quiet, acoustic in country style. Sadly, after waiting for a while in front of the stage, we had been told that Jesse Sykes – obviously the driving force behind JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER – had completely lost her voice. She insisted on performing, even though you could see she felt really crushed about not being able to sing for her fans, and it was a very touching moment. We still spent about half of the show – all we could afford before having to go back to the main stage – watching the performance out of respect for the artist and her will to not cancel the show and still give the audience at least something. We deeply appreciated it, and we were at the same time saddened that many people did not share the sentiment when we turned around and found the Next Stage hall was half empty at that point. Sending some love to Jesse for this unfortunate circumstance, and we hope to see her perform in full shape sometime soon!

As mentioned, we had to get back to the main stage of 013 for AGRICULTURE. presenting their new “The Spiritual Sound” to their Roadburn fans. Their “happy” take on black metal is something the crowd was very keen on, given their success in the previous festival appearance (this year, there was also a solo show from the guitarist Dan Meyer, which we sadly had to miss). We didn’t quite feel the same vibe from their early performances in this particular show, and after a short while ended up going to The Engine Room to catch a glimpse of HEAVEN IN HER ARMS, before coming back for more ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE in the Next Stage. The first of the two Japanese acts was performing their acclaimed “White Halo” record in full. Post-metal, screamo sounds of this kind are not our typical thing, but we were curious enough to give it a shot. Unfortunately, this for us was very brief as we didn’t want to miss the second show from their compatriots this weekend, knowing that we would have likely had to skip the third one later on.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE was even better here than on the previous day. The “Present” set offered an overview of the current status of the band in a more appropriate setting, such as the smaller Next Stage, instead of the vast Engine Room. That in itself was a big bonus. United with the fact that the Japanese ensemble was still as hypnotic and trippy as hell, and the interesting conversation we had on the balcony during the show, this set resulted was much more enjoyable even, in overall terms of atmosphere and fans engagement, but also sound and music-wise the band fell more into a natural “cosmic flow” of psychedelia, perhaps also because being the more regular set, they had been playing these songs more throughout their ongoing European tour.

Preferring KRALLICE again, this time over SLOW CRUSH, we ditched the final part of AMT set to walk to the main stage again and watch their “Past” set, which also happened to be their second of the weekend, much like their Japanese colleagues. For the old fans of the band, this was the show to attend, the viciously aggressive black metal counterpart to the more experimental sets of the more current and new material. The earlier discography, after all, is what brought a vast majority of the people who are here at the festival to enjoy this band in the first place, given their long absence from European soil, so today they hit much closer to home, and it was a pleasure to see how intense (and loud!) it sounded live.

In what now started to feel like a constant back and forth between main and next stage inside of 013, we decided to go for BACKENGRILLEN next, seeing how this had been kind of hyped before the festival. Introducing themselves as “anti-fascist, anti-racist, free form Death Jazz”, it’s no surprise that this weirdness would be signed under Svart Records, since the guys tend to find some really strange, often cool stuff. A mix of death/doom, noise rock, HC punk, and free jazz sounds already strange enough; put it all together and have it played by a group of Swedes from Umeå, and you’ve got an explosive mix in your hands. This show was genuinely fun and pure dynamite to the ears, the kind that you could never get bored with. Eventually, we finally left the 013 to go towards the Hall of Fame, having seen at least part of the previous CULT OF LUNA set yesterday, which was, anyway, the one we wanted to see. Here we ended up dancing at the sound of STREET SEX, the other project from the duo behind STREET SECTS (having another set under the latter name on Sunday).

Technically, this was also their first-ever show under the “sex” counterpart to their name, in which they played the songs from their “Full Color Eclipse” record. The mood was indeed colorful, and everyone got to move their body to the more party-like side of this duo, minus the part in which I had been looking for my fallen lens cap around the hall (which I found by the way!).

A very, very quick late evening snack and a walk to The Terminal after, it was time for some more extreme sounds with PORTRAYAL OF GUILT. In theory, their relatively short set would have given us the chance to attempt for Paradox to see the Italian band ZU, but we underestimated the queue and the inflexibility of the security at said venue. In any case, the Texan trio poured on the crowd a massive dose of their aggressive sound, blending black metal, hardcore, screamo elements, and other experimentations. Their vocalist particularly stood out during this violent performance, a fitting way to conclude the ceremonies for the day here at The Terminal.

Our night, however, was far from over. In fact, it would have been the longest one of the weekend. So after giving up the first time to try and see ZU, we went for BOSSE-DE-NAGE at the Engine Room, being way more up our alley than, say, NOTHING. We never use the labels “post-” this, and “post-that” as much as when we go to Roadburn once a year, and the American band is just post-everything. Having freshly released a new record five weeks ago, “Hidden Fires Burn Hottest,” that was clearly their focus for this show, and in general, they centered their set on the most recent material. Their vocalist looked like someone who just had a really long day at the office and had to vent out all the frustration, which I suppose worked quite nicely, as they did deliver a good show after all, with some nitpicking on the sound here and there. It was quite hard to fully get into it, though, definitely due to the fact that it had been a really long day with an extremely wide range of different genres, so our brains were kind of going into overdrive.

That’s why it was a good thing that – after a second failed attempt to check out ZU – we landed in the midst of the DJ set frenzy in the Next Stage. No need to think or focus there! Just let the music move your body and tickle your mind. The idea was to wait for KING WOMAN‘s Kris Esfandiari‘s project NGHTCRWLR (which is a real pain to pronounce as someone stole all the vowels), which fell in between two DJ sets, for the happiness of the younger part of the audience. Yes, we are starting to feel old. The rugged vocals of the charismatic artist and the dark electro beats made for a nice energy, and I definitely would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t that my legs were not really up to the task any longer once we were past 1 AM. It was still quite fun, although not as exciting as it could have been had we been in full shape. So we dragged ourselves out and towards our accommodation, with a stop to the night store to grab some soda, beaten yet unbowed. Tomorrow would have been another intense day, but strangely, this one felt heavier, maybe also as we had already planned to end our Saturday much earlier. A plan we successfully managed to stick to!