The Roskilde Festival got heads banging today when they announced the addition of five American acts with a distinctly Southern feel. Four of the five acts were metal bands: Baroness, Crowbar, Red Fang, and Weedeater. Rounding out the new additions was Hank3, also known as Hank Williams III, grandson of the legendary country crooner Hank Williams.
Baroness offers a refined, majestic and a crushingly-brutal brand of rock. Similar in style to previous Roskilde such as Mastodon and Kylesa, Baroness has gained in popularity following their two successful releases, Red Album and Blue Record. The band is currently working on its third album, so Roskilde fans may get a chance to experience some previously unheard material.
Crowbar, unique in its style and one of the most influential bands from the New Orleans metal scene, have survived the many fads to come and go in the music scene. They have retained their style of lazy grooves, heavy songs, fast hardcore punk passages and roaring vocals since their creation in the ‘90s.
Although they hail from the Pacific Northwest, Red Fang’s testerone-driven update of Kyuss, Black Sabbath and Melvins has a Southern feel. Having opened for Mastodon in January, Danish fans are likely to be familiar with the band’s head-banging good-time music. To get a sense of their act, just check out their hilarious beer-fuelled music videos.
Coming out of North Carolina, Weedeater’s music is a mixture of fast riffs, whipped drums and growling vocals. Weedeater has released four full-length albums.
Hank3 may not be entirely metal, but Roskilde organisers included this “tattooed cowboy” with their batch of metal releases because he’s “still badass”. Hank’s backing band of good-natured Southerners are known to thrown down metal.
The new additions follow the recent announcement that legendary extreme metal act Behemoth would make their first festival appearance.
