HAARLEM, April 17, 2024 – Today, Complexity Fest announces the final five names for the eighth edition of the adventurous heavy music festival. Sigh, Avalanche Kaito, NAH, Machukha, and Defacement complete the lineup. They will join previously announced acts Plini, Night Verses, Frail Body, and Squid Pisser on the various stages of Haarlem’s Patronaat. Tickets are available for purchase via www.patronaat.nl.
With this announcement, the lineup for the festival catering to fans of adventurous and boundary-pushing heavy music is now complete. Similar to previous years, the festival will take place from late afternoon until late evening across various rooms of the Haarlem venue. This marks the second time that Complexity Fest is held in the summer.
Debutants and Familiar Faces
The experimental metal band Sigh from Japan came into existence in April 1989, immediately drawing attention from figures like black metal legend Euronymous. Over the years and across numerous albums, the band has continued to evolve, incorporating more classical and avant-garde elements, as well as explicit influences from Japanese folklore and instrumentation, with the theatrical rollercoaster ride ‘Shikhi’ as its latest achievement.
Avalanche Kaito‘s vocalist, Kaito Winse from Burkina Faso, is a griot, a guardian and storyteller of orally transmitted traditions and history. As a multi-instrumentalist, he alternates between calabash, bow, Fulani flute, kora, and tama. Combined with the unconventional noise-punk sound of Belgian guitarist Nico Gitto and the polyrhythmic salvos of drummer/dataist Benjamin Chaval, the trio presents a truly unique musical world in 2024, as demonstrated by their recently released second album, Talitakum.
Since the release of his first demos in 2011, percussionist, sound manipulator, and visual artist NAH has developed his own dynamic synthesis of textured noise and genre-defying percussive rhythms, rooted in DIY punk, noise, avant-jazz, electronic music, and the restlessness of hip-hop. Performing live with little more than a drum kit and various samplers, he channels a hectic energy that teeters on the edge of sonic hostility and playful chaos.
Machukha (Ukrainian: “stepmother”) incorporates elements of post-black metal, dark hardcore, and punk. Their debut album, “Мочарi” [Mochari], will be released on June 7 by the Ghent-based label Consouling Sounds (known for acts like Amenra), focusing on resilience. Sung in Ukrainian, the band explores humanity’s ability to withstand cruelties and continue surviving day after day.
Originally formed in Libya as Deathcrush, the band relocated to the Netherlands before changing their name to Defacement. Their latest album is set to be released this summer through [add name], with the vinyl distribution handled by the enthusiast label Total Dissonance Worship. The earlier teaser in Patronaat last March promises ethereal cosmic death metal packaged in lengthy, dreamlike, narrative compositions at extreme speeds.
Next to Plini, Night Verses, Frail Body and Squid Pisser we guarantee this day not be missed and we hope to see all of you digging souls this summer.
