The line-up for this year’s edition of Prophecy Fest is already taking shape, with only the Thursday bands left to be announced. As not all things in life are as immutable as the ancient stones that provide the backdrop for this one-of-a-kind festival, this round of confirmations is also paired with a few cancellations. Let’s dig deeper.
Dymna Lotva
The Belarusian blackened post-metal outfit played two sets at Prophecy Fest 2023 on the second stage and left the audience craving for more. Dymna Lotva will return with more live experience under their belts and will perform tracks off of their latest album, released last year: The Land under the Black Wings: Blood (Зямля Пад Чорнымі Крыламі: Кроў).
The question we can’t wait to find the answer for is this: Will the singer Katsiaryna “Nokt” Mankevich be able to deliver an even more outrageous show?
Until we discover any answers, we invite you to listen to Яма (The Pit):
Blazing Eternity
Blazing Eternity have been away for a long time, but this year the Danish metal stalwarts return to Germany! From the shows they have announced so far, this is their only live appearance outside of Denmark for 2024.
Mixing melodic death metal with doom and gothic elements, they have just released their third full-length album, A Certain End of Everything. A huge milestone for the band, giving that this is their first new material in 21 years! Blazing Eternity will certainly bring those new songs to the cave, along with some of their classics. The organizers of the festival stated that Blazing Eternity have asked them for more time than a regular set, so make sure to be there for their blazing return to stage.
Check out the title track, A Certain End of Everything, below:
Valborg
Valborg had to cancel their last year’s performance due to conflicting obligations. This time, they are ready to shake the Balve cave to it’s core.
Valborg are a band with an unusually clearly-defined artistic vision that transpires in their consistent artwork as well as in constant musical experimentation. Coming from a death doom background, the productive trio loves to explore new alchemistic mixtures of sound on all eight studio albums. The massive tracks from the latest album Der Alte will make the walls shake. For a sneak peak into the complexity of their music, we had to go with the festival’s theme and pick, from their newest album, the song titled Höhle Hölle:
Tchornobog and Aureole had to step down
Speaking of cancellations, the two US bands with a shared line-up, Tchornobog and Aureole sadly had to call off their shows this year. The reason being that an essential member of the bands has medical issues that will unfortunately take several months to be resolved. Hopefully, these two fascinating bands will be able to cross the Atlantic for a future edition.
Prophecy Fest comment: “First of all, our well wishes go out to Markov Soroka’s ill band member”, fest and label founder Martin Koller states. “We are of course sad that his acts cannot play, but the well-being of everybody involved with the festival always has highest priority. On the bright side, we are getting close to conclude our booking for the cave with Blazing Eternity, Dymna Lotva, and Valborg. We sincerely hope that you like these additions as much as we do. We will soon announce the bands for Thursday, so please watch this space.”
Current line-up
With only the bands that will perform at the opening ceremony left to be announced, here is the line-up so far (in alphabetical order): Alcest & Nicolas Horvath, Arthur Brown, ARÐ, Aureole, Austere, Blazing Eternity, Dool, Dymna Lotva, Empyrium, Farsot, Fen, Fortíð, Germ, Hexvessel, In The Woods…, Paradise Lost, Perchta, Solstice, Tchornobog, Thief, Triptykon, Valborg.
About Prophecy Fest
Prophecy Fest is held annually in the Balver Kulturhöhle (“Balve culture cave”) near the town of Balve in the Sauerland region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The closest airports are Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt and Hannover. The three-day event will begin on Thursday, September 5 and it will conclude with a final concert starting before midnight of Saturday, September 7.
Tickets
The 2024 ticket price has been set to 139 €. Please see the official festival site for tickets, additional comfort passes or for any other details. And bear in mind, about 87% of all available tickets have already been sold.
