Rhune Festival: Back to the Future in a Post-Ozzy World!

We Weren’t Invited to the Party

As the casual, mainstream world of rock revels in the afterglow of the Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne final hurrah and deals with the aftermath of Ozzy’s passing, the stoner rock world shrugged its shoulders and declared, “WTF?!, where were WE in this conversation?” Well, “WE” definitely weren’t in Birmingham that day, at least, not on the world stage participating in what was part amazing, part superstar/celebrity circle jerk.   

“WE” are the forgotten: The bastard stepchildren who “rock” radio, Sirius XM, and the overlords of streaming place in the junk drawer instead of on display in the curio cabinet of relevance. Undoubtedly, our genre clings tightly to the OG Sabbath vibe, and it’s a damn shame that not one representative from our world was invited to participate that day.

 Surely, Black Sabbath has had a long reach, influencing millions of musicians and holding a deep place in the hearts of countless music lovers. The streaming of all things “Back to the Beginning” over the past month demonstrated that the world has been greatly affected by our forefathers from Birmingham. It also demonstrated that the stoner/doom world could use a little help in the marketing department. Sabbath deserve all the accolades leading up to that day, and their greatness will be forever etched in the annals of time.

Our brother Sunil Singh wrote an article in Metal Talk about the event, including some perfect examples of those bands worthy and deserving to be on stage that day, reflects what most of us were probably thinking. Realistically, nobody outside our tight-knit realm would know any of the bands he mentioned, including the worthy Acid Mammoth. However, I don’t think that it would have been too far of a reach to welcome the likes of Corrosion of Conformity or even Clutch into the Back to the Beginning concert. Imagine just one band from our orbit being part of that event! I suppose that WE are the true Masters of Reality and are used to the shunning at this point. WE proudly wear the scarlet letter on our hearts and battle jackets, and I suppose that we should carry on as usual, being content or “relatively happy”, instead of waiting for the mainstream to somehow magically discover us.

The Stoner/Doom World Keeps Turning With Them Gone

Regardless of all the lack of notoriety for our genre, magic is REALLY happening in our little stoner/doom world! Whether you are a veteran or a newb to the stoner/doom festival scene, you know fully well that our festival scene turns community into family. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to become family with many of you, partly due to my stoner/doom festival experiences. They truly are the future of this scene. If done correctly.

Festivals are taking a huge hit. Desertfest New York cancelled this year. JB from Maryland Doom Fest announced that this year’s fest would be the last. Our friend and Grand Magus of all things stoner/doom, John Gist, states that his Planet Desert Rock Weekend keeps squeaking by from a financial standpoint.

Venues are charging more. Visas to tour in the US have priced so many international bands out of consideration for US festival promoters.

Other than waving some magic wand, I don’t have the answers to turn this trend around. I do, however, have some observations.

What I’ve observed over the past few years is that festivals that start small with a focus on not getting too big for their britches continue to grow in attendance and quality of bands. John Gist frequently calls out the once successful Psycho Las Vegas as a once great event that eventually tried to spread its wings by hosting artists outside of the original demographic and trying to pack too much into one event with overlapping schedules and venues. A recipe for failure.

Two of my Shadow of Jupiter bandmates flew from Chicago to Las Vegas for Gist’s Planet Desert Rock Weekend V and had an amazing time! The festivities weren’t even over, and John was announcing some of the lineup for PDRW VI!!!

My experience at Ripplefest Texas last year was nothing short of perfection. It’s refreshing and encouraging to see that festival continue to grow! Ryan Garney and crew continue to host quality bands and quality people for four days.

I met one of those quality people at Ripplefest Texas during the Pre-Show event at the Sagebrush that Thursday. Ryan Hilton of Black Throne Productions based out of Canada, has been grinding and promoting his artists and our genre since 2021. I knew Ryan from social media and closely follow all the incredible talent that Black Throne represents. We had some great talks during the fest, which eventually led to my band being invited to play at Rhune Mountain Festival II.  

La Rhune Mountain: Magic, Mystery, and Mythology

The Rhune Mountain Festival began in 2024 as La Rhune Mountain Doomfest. Taking its name from La Rhune Mountain (located in Basque Country, an area that straddles the border between Spain and France), our Canadian friends at Black Throne Productions found the magic, mystery and mythology surrounding the mountain to be a perfect title for their festival.

Black Throne Productions, along with their ancillary tribe (Toten Apparel & The Northern Tundra Wizard Assembly) are steeped in the esoteric, and the many tales surrounding the festival’s namesake are incredibly appropriate for such a magical fest!

Now known as Rhune Mountain Festival, it has morphed into a true international event. Volume I consisted primarily of Canadian bands. Over the course of one-year, Black Throne has managed to turn Rhune Mountain Fest into an incredible destination for heavy underground bands from around the world!

This year’s location at the No. 6 RCAF Museum was a great venue! A retired Royal Canadian Air Force Base for training; plenty of room for two stages, food, drink, merch, local vendors, an indoor load in garage close to the stage. A large outdoor area allowed festival goers to gather; this is where the family bonds in between sets. Additionally, the vast property enabled camping for those who chose to stay on the grounds for the weekend. Chef’s kiss.

Continuing with its proud Canadian heritage, most of the fest highlighted some of Canada’s best heavy underground bands. With the likes of AAWKS, MOOCH, Cannabus, Dopethrone, and Sons of Arrakis (and soooo many more!), Canada’s stoner/doom scene is strong and well represented at Rhune Mountain!

From the USA, Wyndrider, GOZU, Doomboyz, & Shadow of Jupiter (featuring yours truly) went full-on Elbows UP that weekend!

Traveling all the way from Greece, the legendary Acid Mammoth made their way to Canada for a short run of dates leading up to Rhune Mountain Festival II. I had the honor and privilege of talking to the guys in Acid Mammoth backstage. The cost of US visas came up and it is definitely one hell of an obstacle for oversees bands trying to tour in the States nowadays.

I cannot shower enough accolades upon the Rhune Mountain Festival II crew! From being greeted and checked in by Randylin from AAWKS the second I arrived, to the incredible hospitality and vibes from all the crew and bands. Rhune Mountain, in only its second year, is a well-oiled machine and I assure you that their wheels are well in motion for next year’s Rhune Mountain Festival III!

Back to the Future!

As stated many times by some of our friends in the stoner/doom festival world, the UK and Europe continue to grow and succeed in hosting festivals. The USA is big, expensive, and somehow, we are programmed culturally different than our fellow oversees stoner/doom enthusiasts, making large US festivals a difficult mountain to climb.

I’m thrilled to know that our very own HMFIC, the Nopesmoker, Scott Spiers, sponsored the Asheville Doomed and Stoned festival! He put his money and support where his keyboard is, and we here at Clean and Sober Stoner are a proud sponsor of what was an incredible event!

The future is us, kids. I highly recommend you attend at least one festival! You’ll finally understand what the rest of us have experienced: community becoming family.  If you can’t make it to a festival, perhaps you can reach out to the promoter and order a shirt and/or a poster. Maybe you can buy a ticket or two from the promoter and have them gift it to a deserving local.

So, while Black Sabbath bid adieu from Ozzy’s black throne last weekend, our friends at Black Throne Productions, along with countless others in the stoner/doom festival world, aren’t going back to the beginning; they’re taking us back to the future! We’re now in a Post-Ozzy World, and it’s up to us to carry on the legacy.

Whether Mainstream Metal cares or not!