This spring there will be a lot of announcements from Rockstadt Extreme Fest’s camp. As we’re slowly closing in on summer, the organisers have vowed that this March they will unveil the complete line-up, along with the much-requested daily line-up. The wait is almost over, so let’s celebrate with another round of exciting confirmations!
Soulfly
The stuff of legends in the metal community, Max Cavalera and Soulfly are coming back to Europe for a limited run of shows which will include a stop at REF as well. They will play a complete set of Soulfly songs, new and old, and be sure that you will also hear the all time Sepultura classics.
Soulfly’s twelfth album, Totem, has been released in 2022 via Nuclear Blast Records. Order yours at https://www.soulfly.com/totem!
Legion of the Damned
Since we’re in the thrash domain, another confirmation is Legion of the Damned, one of the most iconic thrash/death names of the 21st century. The Dutch machine is coming back stronger than ever with a new album, The Poison Chalice, scheduled for release on the 26th of May, via Napalm Records – talk about perfect timing! This shredding monster delivers the most delicious pitch-black brew and tortures dark souls into demonic underworlds.
Deez Nuts
Now, going to the other side of the world, you will want to have Deez Nuts. Who can say no to some street hustle punk, hardcore and hip hop? We sure can’t! This non-stop touring machine is all about having fun, spreading all positive vibes, getting into moshes and generally hustling everyday. Perfect setting for a summer festival. Deez Nuts, always a pleasure.
Their latest release is You Got Me Fucked Up from 2019. Check out this single:
The Acacia Strain
For the first time in Romania, please welcome one of the most influential names of the 2000 American metal scene, The Acacia Strain! They have said they dislike genre labels, and instead describe themselves as “heavy.” “You might hear other music that sounds like it, but those bands can’t touch what we have. We have heart. We mean it.” Lyrically, they base their music on “hatred, nihilism, humanity’s dependence on technology, and abhorrence for existence.” Nonetheless, The Acacia Strain is responsable for one of the most heavy records of the 2000s, the legendary Wormwood.
They also have a new album inbound: prepare for Step into the Light, available starting with May 12, 2023! Check out the latest single off of it, Fresh Bones, below:
Eyehategod
All the way from New Orleans, the city that brought us some of the most influential names in the stoner/sludge scene, please welcome Eyehategod. Formed in New Orleans in 1988, Eyehategod quickly ascended to the top tier of a Southern sludge-core scene that included bands like Crowbar and Down, all of whom were heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and The Melvins. Their music is an uncompromising blend of doomy, bluesy punk, and misanthropic metal that quickly pushed them to the fore of the fertile international scene. Shortly put, they label themselves as post-amplification blues.
Their latest release is A History of Nomadic Behavior, released in 2021 via Century Media Records.
Hierophant
Hailing from Italy, Hierophant‘s music can be summed up as controlled chaos.
Since their previous album – and the first one released under Season of Mist – Mass Grave in 2016 – originally described as a vicious mix of black sludge and death metal – many things have happened. It started with the release two years later of a two-track EP called Spawned Abortions: “a good indication of where we were going but still not quite there”.
The band’s fourth full-length Death Siege was written during the first months of the pandemic, from March 2020 until May 2021, a dark period described by Lorenzo as a “Fucking long process but it was worth it. Until then, we were maybe missing a bit proper song structures and arrangements. In retrospect, Mass Grave is more grind-ish whereas the new is far more metal and riff-oriented. The songs are longer and have more things happening in them, the album is overall far more ambitious and more, well, musical.”
Messa
Messa is Italy’s most elegant combination of jazz and post-metal. Messa‘s music has been described as classy, artful, soulful, and seductive. This is a band that combines doom, jazz, blues, and occult rock into a rich mixture of sonic flavours that is delicious, with Sara Bianchin’s irresistible voice on top. It is clear that they have different musical backgrounds and that they incorporate them into their doom metal sound, there is a jazz component, with the use of the Rhodes piano and the saxophone.
The musicians also use traditional eastern instruments (oud and duduk) and influences (i.e. Arabic folk) to create their atmospheric and expressive sound.
Their latest full length is Close, released last year, 2022, in March.
Whithin Destruction
Last but not least, it’s time for some slamming brutal deathcore: Whithin Destruction! Formed in 2010, this Slovenian machine is one of the most respected European deathcore names in the scene, delivering the most punishing performances you can ask for. And Rockstadt Extreme Fest will surely be no different!
Lotus is their latest album, set off into the world in 2022, accompanied by an instrumental version of it.
About Rockstadt Extreme Fest 2023
Rockstadt Extreme Fest 2023 will take place between the 2nd and 6th of August, in the heart of Transylvania, at the base of the medieval Râșnov fortress.
This year, on the grounds of Transylvania there will be 3 stages, camping, cheap drinks, a welcoming food court and around 70 bands. We will celebrate together the 9th edition of Romania’s biggest extreme metal gathering.
Some of the top tourist sites around the festival area include: the Rasnov fortress, Valea Cetatii cave, LiBEARty bear reservation or, nonetheless, the infamous Dracula’s Castle in Bran.
You can join the community down at their official facebook event page.
An A-Z of confirmed bands
We’re almost there: only a few weeks are left until the full line-up is revealed. Until then, check out the full list of bands confirmed so far for Rockstadt Extreme Fest 2023, in alphabetical order:
| Agnostic Front (hardcore punk/ crossover, US) |
| Alestorm (pirate metal, UK) |
| Allochiria (sludge/ post-metal, GR) |
| Anthrax (thrash/groove metal, US) |
| Amorphis (melodic/progressive death metal, FI) |
| Arch Enemy (melodic death metal, SW) |
| Architects (metalcore, UK) |
| Avatar (heavy metal, SWE) |
| Deicide (death metal, US) |
| Deez Nuts (hardcore/punk, AU/US) |
| Dropkick Murphys (celtic punk, US) |
| Dying Fetus (brutal death metal/grindcore, US) |
| EYEHATEGOD (sludge/doom metal, US) |
| Employed to Serve (heavy metal, UK) |
| Epica (symphonic metal, NL) |
| Gaerea (black metal, PT) |
| Gutalax ( grindcore, CZ) |
| Hangman’s Chair (doom metal, FR) |
| Heilung (experimental folk/amplified history, DE/NO/DK) |
| Heriot (heavy metal, UK) |
| Hierophant (black/death metal, IT) |
| I am Morbid (death metal, US) |
| Igorr (experimental/avantgarde metal, FR) |
| Impaled Nazarene (black metal, FI) |
| Imperial Triumphant (avant-garde/ neoclassical black metal, US) |
| Infest (death/ thrash metal, SRB) |
| In Flames (metalcore/ melodic groove, SWE) |
| Knocked Loose (hardcore punk, US) |
| Lionheart (metallic hardcore, US) |
| Legion of the Damned (death/thrash metal, NL) |
| Marduk (black metal, SWE) |
| Mayhem (black metal, NO) |
| Meshuggah (technical groove metal/ djent, SWE) |
| Messa (doom metal, ambient/drone, IT) |
| Midnight (black/speed metal, US) |
| Misþyrming ( black metal, IS) |
| Obituary (death metal, US) |
| Perturbator (darksynth, FR) |
| Sacred Reich (thrash metal, US) |
| Sleep Token (alternative/progressive rock, UK) |
| Soulfly (groove/thrash/death metal, US) |
| Spectral Wound (black metal, CA) |
| The Acacia Strain (metalcore, US) |
| The Ocean (progressive metal, DE) |
| Therion ( operatic/symphonic metal, SW) |
| Triptykon (gothic / death/ black metal, CH) |
| Trivium (metalcore, US) |
| Villagers of Ioannina City (post/stoner/psychedelic rock, GR) |
| While She Sleeps (metalcore, UK) |
| Within Destruction (nu-metal/metalcore, SVN) |
cancelled tour |
| Zeal & Ardor (avant-garde metal, CH) |
Tickets
Tickets are available online, on the IaBilet Platform and on the Rockstadt Extreme Fest official website.
Here are the two remaining price tiers:
Fourth tier: 1500 passes at 690 lei (~141 EUR) from December 27th – April 3rd 2023
Fifth tier: 1000 passes at 760 lei (~155EUR) from April 4th – July 3rd 2023
On July 3rd 2023 and at the gates tickets will cost 850 lei (~173EUR).
