WARHORSE AT ROADBURN 2020

“Cult classic” is a very overused expression in these days of easy nostalgia digging, but Warhorse‘s single, iconic full-length As Heaven Turns To Ash… is truly as perfect an example to illustrate what the term really means as you can get. A kind of culmination of the heaviest, most monumental stoner and doom the 90s had to offer, it’s a timeless gem that should be mentioned in the same breath as the legendary early works of past Roadburn superstars like Sleep and Electric Wizard, or even Kyuss. To make things better, Warhorse always had a harsh, nasty streak to their colossal pieces that brings to mind the equally cult Winter. Heavy, and with an edge, what can go wrong?

Well, the fact that the band never release another album and split up shortly after, mainly. There was still an EP, I Am Dying, in 2002, which looks great on the shelf alongside the previous two the band had put out before As Heaven Turns To Ash…, Lysergic Communion (1999) and The Priestess (2000), and obviously all those releases bear the Warhorse mark and are clearly essential (not to mention the Warhorse and Winter demos, completists and general people of great taste!), which made it all the more painful that Warhorse ceased to exist in 2005.

In 2018, tragedy struck as guitarist Todd Laskowski sadly passed away, aged 46. And because from terrible things sometimes a few good ones are born, Warhorse reunited for a one-off performance to honour their fallen comrade, and also marking the 20th anniversary of the band. But as drummer Mike Hubbard told us, that quickly grew into something else: “What started as a one-off tribute to Todd’s passing has become so much more.

After all these years, we never expected to get this sort of response to us playing live again. It’s really quite amazing. Breathing new life into these songs has reinvigorated us. Walter was an early supporter of the band, so playing his Roadburn Festival is like coming full circle, and it’s pretty emotional. We are extremely honoured to be invited to play, and we plan to make this performance something that we, and our fans, will never forget.”

So, here we are – announcing the first European Warhorse show since 2002, as a Roadburn exclusive! We are looking forward to reliving the glorious past of Warhorse at Roadburn, and sharing the outpouring of their emotions.

Warhorse will play a career spanning set at Roadburn 2020 on Friday, 17 April.

José Carlos Santos / September 2019