It is our pleasure to announce two bands from totally different sides of the Metal spectrum that come together to perfectly embody our vision for Old Grave Fest: Arkhon Infaustus from France and Ranger from Finland!
More than two decades ago, one of the filthiest, most extreme blackened death metal acts out there came to life in Paris. By the time Arkhon Infaustus released their first full length record – Hell Injection (2001) – one could already expect an amalgamation of everything perverse, sick and disgusting in the black metal and death metal arsenals. It’s all there including the kitchen sink, full of drugs, vomit and other bodily fluids, from the agonizingly slow to breakneck speeds, all distorted to kingdom come almost like a black metal Angelcorpse. Dual vocals and all, it looked like a band that had already thrown everything they had into a debut album. But no. Filth Catalyst (2003) made the first record look like a chaotic mass of malevolence. More focused, with a better production, more established technically, it was a step forward in all regards. It took only one year for a new album to come out. Perdition Insanabilis dispensed with the gory artwork but kept the evil intact, adding further layers of atmosphere and songwriting. More and more emphasys was added to individual riffs – see the track Six Seals Salvation for prime examples -, an almost martial undertone started to creep up, in a way foretelling the direction Orthodoxyn (2007) would take. The last album before the band took a eight-year hiatus, it was all at once evil, sharp, and austere, confirming the band’s need to keep evolving yet stay true to their original purpose.
2017 came with excellent news for those in need of sonic filth: Arkhon Infaustus were back! To mark this event, along with select shows, a new EP was recorded and released. Passing the Nekromanteion further expands the band’s mastery of both black and death metal, leaning perhaps more towards the latter than ever. A fine comeback that convinced us to make the final push to bring Arkhon Infaustus for the first time to Romania!
Speed metal is sometimes hard to define. It’s not heavy metal, it’s not quite thrash, it would be indeed difficult to describe it using words, but there’s no need to when you can just listen to the prime example: Finnish speedsters Ranger!
What began in 2008-2009 in Helsinki as a passion for all things fast, rude and loud soon developed into an underground sensation. The Combat Metal demo (2013) coined the Ranger sound – riffs, riffs and more riffs, pounding drums and banshee screams. The gap between Exciter and Slayer was suddenly filled, with a touch of NWOBHM, into what would be coined as Skull Splitting Metal – also the name of a 2014 compilation of all the demos and the 2 EPs: Shock Skull and Knights of Darkness. Things never slow down for a genuine speed metal band, so the vortex of denim and leather, blood and violence continued with no less than 2 full length records: Where Evil Dwells (2015) and Speed & Violence (2016), cementing their status as the go-to band for face-melting metal. What better chance to witness this than at Old Grave Fest VII?
Old Grave Fest VII, 12-13 October 2018, fabrica, Bucharest, Romania
Official: Pagan Altar – Alan Jones (UK)
Demilich (Finland)
Arkhon Infaustus Official (France)
Ranger (Finland)
Dawn Of Winter (Germany)
Malokarpatan (Slovakia)
Nocturnal Witch (Germany)
Phrenelith (Denmark)
Chevalier – FIN (Finland)
Eggs of Gomorrh (Switzerland)
Vultures Vengeance (Italy)
Two day passes available via paypal at http://www.rtmc.ro/tickets/ for the price of 30 euro and at https://www.iabilet.ro/bilete-old-grave-fest-editia-a-vii-a… and through the iabilet network, for 140 lei.
