Eyehategod, Dwarves

On 25 June 2026 Eyehategod and Dwarves will take over the Patronaat in Haarlem.

Eyehategod, formed in the late 1980s in the New Orleans underground, builds its sludge metal from slow doom, abrasive hardcore and dissonant blues. There is prominent use of feedback, gravelly vocals from Mike IX Williams, and guitarist Jimmy Bower as a central figure. The band belongs to the NOLA scene alongside Crowbar and Down, characterized by lumbering tempos, repetitive riffs and lyrics about addiction, paranoia and southern urban life. Albums such as In the Name of Suffering and Take as Needed for Pain brought their breakthrough, followed by Dopesick and Confederacy of Ruined Lives. After setbacks around Hurricane Katrina and the death of drummer Joey LaCaze, Eyehategod returned with the self-titled album and A History of Nomadic Behavior; live, the friction between crushing slowness and brief punk bursts remains central.

Dwarves were formed in Chicago in the early 1980s and later established themselves on the West Coast, centered around singer Blag Dahlia and the masked guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed. Their sound is straightforward and fast: hardcore punk with rock ’n’ roll and garage edges, short songs, dark humour and deliberately provocative lyrics. From the raw early years to the more concise material on The Dwarves Are Young and Good Looking, and later with The Dwarves Must Die and The Dwarves Invented Rock & Roll, the thread remains the same. On stage, Dwarves deliver compact, fierce sets with hooks that stick immediately and a wink toward pop culture and B‑movie aesthetics.