There are dozens of rock, metal, hardcore and punk festivals that take place all across the world, so if you say there isn’t one you want to go to next year, then you clearly haven’t done your research. And we’ve taken some time to do some research for you.
Of all the hyped fests you’ll hear in 2020, Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most appealing.
Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2020 will take place at Backstage in München, Germany on April 11-12, 2020.
I
The first festival day will bring us Katatonia, a dark rock band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band’s love of death metal. Increasing popularity lead them to add more band members for live performances, though outside of the band’s founders, the lineup was constantly changing, a revolving door of musicians throughout the 1990s, notably including Mikael Åkerfeldt of the band Opeth for a period. In December 2017, the band announced it would go on a “short-term hiatus” following their tour in Feb/March 2018 due to “recent issues and injury”. The band played the tour as a four-piece, without guitarist Roger Öjersson. The hiatus ended in 2019. And we hope to see Katatonia with brand new songs.
Belphegor is an Austrian extreme metal band from Salzburg. They originally formed in 1991 under the name Betrayer before changing their name in 1993. They are named after the demon Belphegor. This band has created their own unique and diverse style of death and black metal and really hit hard on stage. The newest album, “Totenritual”, is just perfect. It’s so good. It’s promising before listening, it’s promising during listening, and you’ll definitely be satisfied with this when you finish the whole thing, no doubt at all.
Gaahls Wyrd is a black metal band based in Norway, formed by the former Gorgoroth and God Seed vocalist Gaahl. In September 2015 (one month after God Seed’s final show), Gaahl announced his new band, Gaahls Wyrd, who played their first live show at the Blekkmetal Festival in Norway on November 13, 2015.
Before starting Bethlehem, Bartsch and Matton used to play in a thrash metal band called Morbid Vision.
Until Dictius Te Necare, Bethlehem faced censorship and was even banned from playing in some German cities.
Depressing is the word that describes this band best. This is a band that truly invokes feelings of sadness and misery. The only band that can come close to being this negative sounding is Thergothon, though they go about it in a different way.
Imperium Dekadenz comes from Germany and is active since 2004. In 2006 they released “…und die Welt ward kalt und leer”. The always boundary-pushing German Black metal duo released an amazing album in 2019 and might contend for one of the better ones I’ve listened to. With the increased popularity, in more atmospheric, and melodic black metal and the rise of Blackgaze, Imperium Dekadenz is in a perfect place to release this album.
Varathron represents one of the statement bands of the Greek metal scene.
Runemagick is a Swedish death/doom band, formed in no other place that Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was started by Nicklas “Terror” Rudolfsson under the name Desiderius, which was quickly changed to Runemagick. First, the band consisted solely of Rudolfsson, but he was later joined by Robert “Reaper” Pehrsson. We’re living in an ever-changing world where at least one thing seems to stay the same year after year; Swedish Runemagick delivers a new death/doom metal album once in a while and excellent live-shows.
Mork needs no introduction. Mork is one of the torchbearers for modern Norwegian black metal, keeping the classic black metal sound alive whilst endeavouring to push it forward. The newest album from Mork, Det Svarte Juv, further cements their legacy as one of the progenitors of modern Norwegian black metal, having a leaner, yet still dirty and abrasive sound.
Wormwood approach melodic black metal. They are from Sweeden and their newest album, “Nattarvet” was released in 2019.
Mephorash released this year, a well-received full length named “Shem Ha Mephorash”. Mephorash is a black metal band hailing from Uppsala, Sweden. Lyrically, their music is themed around occultism, Qliphoth, and misanthropy.
While beginning their career with a more metal sound they’ve grown into a juggernaut of a band. Improving their craft to a fine point, they delivered their best album in 2015, heading the band in a new direction.
Grave Desecrator are hailing in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. They approach death/black metal.
In the first festival night, we will see Demonical, Crescent, Vargsheim, Ars Veneficum and Eridu.
II
The second-day brings us well-known bands as well as new, intriguing ones.
Marduk is a Swedish black metal band. The group formed in 1990 in the city of Norrköping and released their first album in 1992. Their name is derived from the Babylonian god Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon.
Marduk was formed by Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson in order to form the “most blasphemous band in the world”. Their musical style was that of straightforward death metal influenced take on black metal music, but as the years progressed their style and imagery became more of a fast and intense form of black metal.
Primordial is an extreme metal band from Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. It was formed in 1987 by Pól MacAmhlaigh (bass) and Ciarán MacUiliam (guitars). Their sound blends black metal and doom metal with Celtic music.
The band’s roots stretch back to 1987 when Pól and Ciarán first began playing together with Pól’s brother, Derek. The band (who were called Forsaken for a brief period) initially played a rough, hybrid mix of early, primitive thrash and death metal (playing covers of Death, Sepultura and the like).
Vocalist Nemtheanga joined the band after seeing an advertisement for a singer in Dublin.
Upon Nemtheanga’s joining the band, the band started to pursue a darker direction citing influence from Bathory, Celtic Frost and the emerging Greek and Norwegian black metal scenes.
Grave is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1986 by vocalist and guitarist Ola Lindgren, who is their only constant member. The band had particular success in the early 1990s, and their first four albums, Into the Grave, You’ll Never See…, Soulless and Hating Life, cemented their reputation as one of Sweden’s foremost death metal bands. Grave went on hiatus in 1997 but got back together two years later. Since then, they have released seven more albums, making a total of eleven studio albums. Along with Dismember, Entombed and Unleashed, Grave is considered one of the “big four” of Swedish death metal.
Memoriam is an English death metal band from Birmingham which is under contract with Nuclear Blast.It was founded in 2016 by former Bolt Thrower singer Karl Willetts and Benediction bassist Frank Healy. Scott Fairfax plays the guitar, Andy Whale is on the drums. The band has released three studio albums, two of which reached the charts in Germany, For the Fallen at #16 and The Silent Vigil at #32. On 21 June 2019, the third album Requiem for Mankind was released. The band played at several notable festivals such as Wacken Open Air (2017) and Rock Hard Festival.
Bewitched is a Swedish black and thrash metal band from Umeå, which was founded in 1995.
The band was founded in 1995. In the same year, they started the demo Hellspell and thereby got a contract with Osmose Productions. The debut album Diabolical Desecration was recorded in the same year and released the following year. In 1996 they had a tour of Europe with Ancient Rites, Sacramentum and Enthroned. The EP Encyclopedia of Evil also appeared in the same year.
Root were formed by vocalist Big Boss and guitarist Blackie in late 1987. According to Big Boss, in the beginning, they knew no foreign bands and could do no tape trading. Although the first demo recording mentioned on their homepage’s discography section is Deep in Hell, according to their biography, they recorded their first official demo tape Reap of Hell after a few rehearsals. Root played their first concert in September 1988. The next demo cassette, War of Rats, was released in 1988, followed by Messengers from Darkness in 1989. Vocalist Big Boss played drums on these recordings. Whereas Messengers from Darkness is mentioned as “the third and last” demo cassette in their biography, the discography section lists The Trial as the last one. In 1990, the band released the single 7 černých jezdců / 666, with artwork done by Master’s Hammer vocalist František Štorm. To promote their first album, Zjevení (again with artwork by Štorm), they recorded a video for their song “Hřbitov”, released on the Czech Death Metal Session compilation, with photographs by Štorm. Zjevení was also released as The Revelation.
Panzerfaust was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 2005 and consists of singer Goliath, guitarist Kaizer, bassist Morbid and drummer Lord Baphomet. So far the band has released four albums: The Winds Will Lead Us … was released a year after the group was founded. The Dark Age of Militant Paganism followed in 2008. In December 2010 Panzerfaust played as a supporting act for Watain in Toronto, Ontario. In May and June, 2011 Panzerfaust was the opening act for Marduk on her tour through Canada and the USA. In 2013 her fourth studio album, Jehovah-Jireh, was released: The Divine Anti-Logos, which was produced and mastered by Marduk bassist Devo Andersson. Panzerfaust was also a participant in the Wacken Metal Battle in Canada. However, Crimson Shadows won the competition and flew to the international final at the Wacken Open Air. Previously, the group was seen in the opening act of Einherjer in Canada.
Sulphur Aeon is a German Death Metal band founded in 2010. The band has released three full-length albums. The first album, Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide was released in 2013 and the most recent, The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos in 2018.
The band was founded in 2010 by Torsten Horstmann. Along with the producer Simon Werner, the first demo was recorded and released. Simon Werner and Torsten Horstmann had previously played together in the band December Flower.
The band’s albums thematize the Cthulhu Mythos, which can also be found in the artwork of the albums. In 2013, Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide was released on the Imperium Productions label. After signing to Ván Records, the second album Gateway to the Antisphere followed in 2015
In the January 2019 issue of German Metal Hammer magazine, the album The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos, released in 2018, was voted “Album of the Month” by the editors The album received many positive reviews upon its release with the reviewers of powermetal.de website calling it a “Meisterwerk” (masterpiece). Also, the Rock Hard magazine called the album a “masterpiece” and rated it 9 out of 10. Musikreviews.de rated the album 13 out of 15. A music video was released for the song Yuggothian Spell, based on Lovecraft’s The Haunter of the Dark.
1914 – is about the whole theatre of fighting the Great War – the Battle of Gallipoli and the involvement of Ataturk, Brusilovsky breakthrough, the Battle of Verdun, gas attack at Ypres, Italian troops Arditi, Christmas truce and the bombing of London by German Zeppelins, Carpathians winter war, Germans and Austro-Hungarian army against Russian. And It’s neither about politics nor about propaganda – it’s just war, trenches, fear, hopelessness and endless death around of you.
Dordeduh is one of the most notorious Romanian metal bands. With only one full-length and one EP, this band was able to capture the essence of the Romanian soul and traditions. Dordeduh comes from three Romanian words, put together. “Dor de duh” means “Longing for the spirit”. according to the musicians, this fusion represents the struggle to express those meaningful values that make us human by uniting the soul and the spirit. On this occasion, the band unveiled three new songs, stunning pieces of art that transports you to other worlds, as they always do. I wrote about the ten-year anniversary show here.
On this last festival day, Denial of God, Ellende, Merrimack, Messa, Enisum and Perchta will also play.
- April 2020:
KATATONIA + BELPHEGOR + GAAHLS WYRD + BETHLEHEM + IMPERIUM DEKADENZ + VARATHRON + RUNEMAGICK + MORK + WORMWOOD + MEPHORASH + GRAVE DESECRATOR + DEMONICAL + CRESCENT + VARGSHEIM + ARS VENEFICIUM + ERIDU
- April 2020:
MARDUK + PRIMORDIAL + GRAVE + MEMORIAM + BEWITCHED + ROOT + PANZERFAUST + SULPHUR AEON + 1914 + DORDEDUH + DENIAL OF GOD + ELLENDE + MERRIMACK + MESSA + ENISUM + PERCHTA
