THE BEAST

Roadburn Festival and the Church of Ra are certainly no strangers; and there's no doubt they've left an impression on the wider music community. When Roadburn's 2017 curator, John Dyer Baizley was so enthusiastic about having them as part of his event, they knew it was a no-brainer to have them return to the Roadburn stage.

Baizley comments: "As I round out the lineup for my curated stages at the upcoming Roadburn Festival 2017, I'm again thrilled to announce one of the last acts I've booked: the uncontested visionary of monochromatic heaviness, AMENRA. The last time I witnessed an AMENRA performance was at Roadburn 2013, when they could still fit (barely) inside Het Patronaat. The line out the door was hundreds of show-goers long, and I was somehow able to force my way inside to see the band perform. To say they blew us all away would be a grossly undersold miscalculation. They set a new standard for me that afternoon, demonstrating just how forward-thinking and discovery-rich DIY music can be; a transcendent marriage of heaviness, artistry, non-linearity, energy, and soul which vaulted from AMENRA's stage and through the audience.

"It is with the greatest pleasure that I announce their 2017 performance will be the first 'heavy' set they've done in quite some time. They were at the top of my list of invitees when I was first asked to curate, and I wouldn't skip their 013 set for any rational reason. They are the penultimate Roadburn band; they're a modern band, they defy categorization, and they are single-minded in their commitment to an unwavering artistic vision of beautiful cacophony. If this music could take physical form, it would render mountains to dust. Those faint of heart attendees beware, this is music that leaves a trace. I'll see you all there."

AMENRA has recently completed work on their upcoming album Mass VI, which will be released later in the year via Neurot Recordings. In the meantime, the ever-prolific creative forces behind AMENRA have teamed up with fellow Ghent musicians, Raketkanon to create AMENRA X RAKETKANON X MICHAËL BORREMANS, a split 10" to be released in May via Consouling Sounds.

AMENRA's Colin Van Eeckhout will present a short documentary filmed throughout 2016, entitled Noisey Meets: Colin Van Eeckhout as part of Roadburn Cinema. Directed by Duco Coops for Vice/Noisey this short documentary follows Amenra's frontman at various points throughout 2016. Colin comments: "I wanted to put emphasis on the human aspect of being a musician; everybody always pictures us living in cellars drinking blood from skulls, but there's more to our lives than that. You see my mom, my kids, my work, rehearsal space, some spots where it all began for AMENRA in the skatepark...you see what its really like behind the scenes. The free moments we have in our lives we dedicate it all to art, creation and music. We want to give form to that world inside our heads."

AMENRA will perform on the main stage of Roadburn at the 013 venue, as part of John Dyer Baizley's curation, on Friday, April 21st, 2017. Stay tuned for more AMENRA and Mass VI news very soon.

AMENRA Tour Dates:
3/17/2017 Neushoorn - Leeuwarden, NL *acoustic show
3/18/2017 Effenaar - Eindhoven, NL [info] *acoustic show
3/19/2017 Tivoli - Utrecht, NL [info] *acoustic show
4/21/2017 013 - Tilburg, NL @ Roadburn Festival
4/28/2017 Smoke The Fuzz Fest - Athens, GR
5/25/2017 Church St. - Denijs, BE [sold out]
5/26/2017 Church St. - Denijs, BE [sold out]

http://www.churchofra.com
http://www.ritualofra.com
http://www.facebook.com/churchofra
http://www.neurotrecordings.com