From the deepest depths of the industrial heartlands of Middle England comes a small ray of light. Since late 2003 a warm glow has steadily grown into what can only be described as a fireball. From this point on let this gentle fireball be known as Einstellung.
Blending glorious monotonous Krautrock with melodic tones and heavy slabs of Sabbath riffage, whilst finding time to declare sonic warfare on those tinnitus victims who have passed the point of no return.
www.myspace.com/einstellung

Acid Mothers Temple

Japanese psychedelic band founded in 1995 by members of the Acid Mothers Temple soul-collective. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with 4 core members and frequent vocal guests.

The band have a reputation for phenomenal live shows and releasing frequent albums on a number of international record labels, as well as the Acid Mothers Temple family record label which was established in 1998 to document the activities of the whole collective.
http://www.myspace.com/acidmotherstemple

Stearica

During the past ten years Stearica have been touring around Europe with legends of the independent scene such as Nomeansno, GirlsAgainstBoys, Damo Suzuki, The Ex, Karate, Acid Mothers Temple and Tarentel. 
A rare story for an Italian band, made of international collaborations with artists like Dälek (Ipecac), Amy Denio (Fred Frith, Derek Bailey), Jessica Lurie (Bill Frisell, Nels Cline), Nick Storring (Damo Suzuki network, Picastro).  

http://www.myspace.com/stearica

Gum Takes Tooth

A thunderous rampage of noise tempered with an aptitude for precise rhythms and splintered melody. Gum Takes Tooth is a single headed beast with two bodies: a duo of Thomas Fuglesang on live acoustic drums, physcially wired into home grown electronic instruments, bare circuit boards, tweaked, moulded and mangled in real-time by Jussi Brightmore.

http://www.myspace.com/gumtakestooth

 

It has been five years since Wolves in the Throne Room emerged from the rain-soaked Cascadian underground with a singular musical alchemy. The band’s previous two studio albums, Diadem of Twelve Stars and Two Hunters, in tandem with their incendiary live performances, have unquestionably established the band as a swiftly rising force in the extreme music world.

Their new meditation, cryptically titled Black Cascade, will be released by Southern Lord in the Spring of 2009. With this record Wolves in the Throne Room wholly transcend the limitations of the black metal label to be reborn as an entity entirely unto themselves. The energy conjured by the music is a distinctive manifestation of a personal vision that is not beholden to the rules of any genre.

Black Cascade is characterized by a heavy and powerful analog sound and a deft touch with songwriting and arrangement. The crumbling roar of decidedly old-school tube amps unite with layers of mossy analog synthesizer and cataclysmic percussion. Blazing and crystalline Metal riffs slowly collapse and shift into ritualistic dirges that invoke endless rain falling upon the ancient cedars of the pacific North West. It is as if the instruments are controlled by shadowy and elemental forces of nature rather than three forest-dwellers from Olympia,WA.

http://www.myspace.com/wolvesinthethroneroom

Tweak Bird is a brother duo consisting of Caleb and Ashton Bird. Produced under the helm of Deaf Nephews (Melvins’ Dale Crover and Altamont’s Toshi Kasai), the duo’s debut is a sweeping seven-song intro to a band exploring the depths of heavy experimental, progressive, and psych-infused rock. A sort of musical Armageddon that’s constantly on the horizon, looming. Tweak Bird has played shows with the Melvins, Ancestors, Earthless, and many others.
www.myspace.com/tweakbird

Chrome Hoof are an experimental orchestra based in London, England. The group was formed in 2000 by Cathedral bassist Leo Smee and his brother Milo Smee. Initially performing as a duo, their music was mostly electronic. Since the start, however, the group have continuously recruited new members playing various instruments. As of 2007, the group had about ten members and instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, bassoon, violin, guitars, bass and drums. Being a large orchestra, Chrome Hoof’s music spans several diverse music genres such as metal, electro, funk, jazz, disco and chamber music. Their music has been described as progressive, futuristic and psychedelic.

http://www.facebook.com/chromehoof

BO NINGEN

“They’re a mesmerising sight, and you can hardly ignore their sound. It’s a squall with shape, albeit of the inchoate variety: Can meets Sabbath is one way of describing their, not melange, no, that’s way too polite – charnel house of charged riffs, funk with a mathematically improbable rhythm (is that a 24/6 beat we can hear?)” Paul Lester- Guardian

http://www.myspace.com/boningen

Grails is evocative, sinuous and unpredictable – like all great music should be. So, it stands to reason that nearly everything written about the instrumental band’s music expounds on how much it reminds listeners of particular experiences, sights, moods or dreams. People react emotionally to the Portland, Oregon quintet’s powerfully evocative songs because they compel us to fill the gap between music and language. To quote one 20th Century sage, ‘instrumental music is Total Music’ There’s no voice to quaintly tell us how we should feel, only the emotive musical force moving us to understand and empathize.

www.grailsongs.com/

Windscale was formed in 2005 as the musical arm of the Birmingham based Circuit Bending company “Happy Robot”, and Guitar Effect Pedal company “Ghost” which are both run by Ian Sherwen. Needing some way of showcasing Ian’s handmade devices in a musical recording and performance context, Windscale seemed an ideal solution. Bassist Neil McAuley (Seeland) joined in 2006, leading to the recording of 2 albums – “Schwarzes Ei” in 2007, and “Conflicts in Time” in 2008.
In 2009 drummer Neil Spragg (Omnia Opera/Sand) joined making the band a 3 piece further emphasising the influence of Neu and Galaxie 500 on their sound.

www.myspace.com/00windscale00
www.happyrobotmusic.co.uk

Mothertrucker have been combining the riff power of Sabbath and Kyuss, the quiet menace of Slint and Mogwai and the epic ambience of Isis and Pelican to create a powerful rock onslaught since 2003 and are still rolling. The band have released a number of records in that time, including the album Trebuchet released by Argghh records in France, and have shared the stage with the likes of Boris, Mono, 27, Jesu, Aereogramme and Truckfighters. 
http://www.myspace.com/mothertrucker

“Three Trapped Tigers are a trio from the UK who make some rather noisy, electronic instrumentals. Check out the proggy, time-shifting “1” and head over to their MySpace to hear a few more numerical tracks!”
Pitchfork

“Twinkles and booms like a star being born, this feels like being hugged by a computerized god. this’ll make fans of Lightning Bolt, Battles and Aphex Twin cream themselves”
NME

“It sounds like the end of music as you know it and the beginning of something dazzlingly fresh”
Clash

“This loud and twisted trio are the safest bets to take death-improv to the masses”
Time Out

http://www.myspace.com/threetrappedtigers

Humcrush is chockfull of astonishingly vigorous interplay at the same time as it assimilates the influence of oriental theatre music, electronica, rock and free jazz in a whirlwind processional that’s much more than the sum of its parts.

“…a wonderful stimulus to the imagination, provoking all sorts of exotic images. Humcrush are open to the resonances of sound. As such, they’re sonic as well as musical explorers.” BBC Music

http://www.myspace.com/humcrush

This event is produced in collaboration with Birmingham Jazz

They’ve been called doomcore, sludge and stoner rock, survived line-up shuffles, label hassles and a short-lived split. And after more than a decade of creating some of the most corrosive, vile music known to man, EyeHateGod still hasn’t lost the piss and vinegar that fueled them back in ’88.
www.myspace.com/eyehategod

Totimoshi

Totimoshi carve out their own path with explosive performances, dark emotive lyrics and hypnotic sound…truly a force and new direction for music made by musicians who follow no trend but their own. Deftly combing heroic sludge rock with epic guitar squalor and smart discordant noise. Grungy guitar noise is met with vocal lunacy that Oxbow fans wouldn’t nudge aside and crunchy doom-riddled metal with just a hint of old school punk rock.

http://www.totimoshi.com/

Stinky Wizzleteat

‘Three-piece groove assault straight outta Birmingham combining heavy riff-mongering

a la Melvins with guttural, tortured vocals and occasional stoner and math-rock

moments. For those who dig Iron Monkey, Dystopia and the afforementioned Melvins.’

http://www.myspace.com/stinkywizzleteat