March 30th, 2024
Munich, Germany @ Backstage
Photos By: Kim Baarda
Words By: Jason Deaville
Yeah, you have your Wacken and Summer Breeze and Inferno and Hellfest. Sure, those are all great festivals. If you haven’t been, we encourage you to hit one of them up… just for that super-massive festival experience. That said, there is an entire underworld of incredible festivals scattered all around Europe that are just as awesome; though, on a much, much smaller scale.
One such festival is the Dark Easter Metal Meeting in Munich, Germany. Founded in 2012, it is now one of the largest German indoor festivals that caters mostly to black and death metal. The focus of the festival is on the performances of the bands and the meeting of metalheads and bands from all over the world in a comfortable, easy to navigate setting. The name of the festival is telling, as the organizers book each edition on Easter weekend, which allows those attending more freedom for traveling, due to it being a holiday weekend and the extra days off. Making things even easier, within walking distance of the venue, sometimes only a few minutes on foot, there are several hotels, guesthouses and a youth hostel for visitors.
The festival grounds, though not sprawling like the bigger festivals, was absolutely beautiful. There were multiple outdoor beer gardens that connected via cosy, winding, tree-lined paths with plenty of places to sit and enjoy food, beverages, and good company. There were also multiple vendors, both indoors and outdoors, peddling a ton of decently-priced merch. The food selection was suprisingly diverse, with everything from traditional Bavarian fare, fully-stacked hotdogs, delicious/gigantic hamburgers, cone fries, samosas, chili, and more. The beer selection was quite good, mostly consisting of German Pilsner/Helles. If you weren’t in the mood for beer, there was also a dedicated spirits vendor with a wide selection of alcoholic goodies.
The festival consisted of three stages, two smaller stages (Halle and Club), and the big, headlining stage (Werk). All three stages were not more than a minute walk from one another. The acoustics in all three venues were, thankfully, quite good. Things never seemed to get too loud with an emphasis on clarity. The lighting in the two smaller venues was a bit dark, but not nearly as dark as other European festival venues (the press photographers were certainly happy about this). The two smaller venues did suffer from capacity issues. If you weren’t there quite early, good luck trying to get in at all, as they filled to the brim.
The headlining venue, Werk, was a moderate-sized area with a sunken floor lined by stepped seating (for those choosing not to be in the pit). The perimeter of the venue was raised and included some bleachers for seating as well as some standing tables and three easily accessible beverage bars. The venue did get quite full, particularly on the second day of festivities with Sodom and Benediction headlining.
As far as logistics, the running order was a bit wonky compared to other festivals of this size. One could not catch the full-set of every single band, as the two small stages would have acts playing at the same time. This meant you had to choose which band you wanted to see, or run back and forth between the two (this was not ideal, as the two venues would become packed fairly quick, as mentioned earlier). I get why the organizers ran things in this way, as the festival was only two days, which did not leave enough time to catch all 32 acts individually (which is how Beyond The Gates in Norway runs; though, to be fair, BTG is a four day festival). Thankfully, this method did not impact catching all the bands on the main stage, as there were no bands scheduled on the two small stages during a headlining band in venue Werk.
GRAND CADAVER (WERK)
Swedish newcomers Grand Cadaver started the fest off right with a brutal, down-tuned ode to the Swedish death metal sound of yore. The band ripped through songs from their two full-length albums and one EP to a sizeable crowd (for such an early start). Straight out of the left hand path, the guys hit with the song ‘The Forever Doom’ from last year’s Deities Of Deathlike Sleep. Without taking a breath, they pummeled their way through two tracks from 2021’s Into The Maw Of Death (‘Madness Comes’ and ‘Grim Eternal’, respectively). At this point, they had the three-quarter capacity crowd eating out of their hands. It was all out war from here on. A killer start to what would turn out to be an equally killer first day at Dark Easter Metal Meeting.
Setlist
The Forever Doom, Madness Comes, Grim Eternal, A Crawling Feast Of Decay, Disanimated, Empire Of Lies, True Necrogeny, Reign Through Fire, Vortex Of Blood, World Mausoleum, Serrated Jaws, Fields Of The Undying, Soul Infestation
THEOTOXIN (HALLE)
Austrian black/death metal terrorists Theotoxin christened venue Halle with an unholy, hellfire-spewing performance that truly would be hard to top. With fellow Austrian black metallers Jesajah playing at the same time right next door at Venue Club, it was certainly hard to choose which band to check out. Both bands pulled very sizeable crowds, so it seems the interest was split right down the middle.
With four full-lengths under their’ bullet-adorned belts, the guys slayed their way through a set that comprised of songs from each album. Incredibly ferocious tracks such as ‘Golden Tomb’, ‘Demise Of The Gilded Age’, ‘Sanatory Silence’, ‘Devoured By Sin’, ‘Perennial Lunacy’, ‘World Burn For Us’, and ‘Philosopher’ prove why these guys are one of the best underground acts in Europe.
HELLBUTCHER (WERK)
Recent Metal Blade signees Hellbutcher are a band not to be fucked with… from the stage, these guys are all blackened thrash business. Hailing from Dals Långed, Västra Götaland (Sweden), the band features Per ‘Hellbutcher’ Gustafsson on vocals (ex-Nifelheim), Necrophiliac (guitars), and drummer Martin ‘Devastator’ Axenrot (Bloodbath, ex-Opeth).
For a band that got their start just under two years ago (with only one two song demo to their name) it’s truly an incredible feat to be invited as a headlining act at such a prestigious festival. Of course, considering the pedigree and past experience of Hellbutcher‘s members, maybe it’s not so suprising. Nevertheless, with only two songs released thus far, the guys surprised the packed house with eight additional tracks, which I can only imagine were pulled from their forthcoming debut album. Even though most of these songs were new to every ear in the house, each and every one went down like a classic.
Setlist
Sword Of Wrath, Perdition, Violent Destruction, Hordes Of Horned God, Death’s Rider, Possessed By The Devil’s Slaves, Satan’s Power, Inferno’s Rage, Die In Fire (Bathory cover), Black Metal (Venom cover)
BEWITCHED (WERK)
Old school blackened thrashers Bewitched have been raping eardrums for many years, which has earned them a credibilty and reverance unmatched. Opening their set with a triumvirate of destruction from ’97’s Pentagram Prayer (which included the ominous sounds of the album intro and the follow-up tracks ‘Blood On The Altar’ and ‘Night Of The Sinner’), the band immediately had the full attention of the near-capacity venue. Vocalist/guitarist Vargher is certainly a commanding figure onstage, with his long, well-groomed beard a focal point of the man’s presence, and of course those viciously old-school inspired vocals.
The guys then ripped into ‘Holy Whore’, ‘Hellcut’, and ‘Deathspell’, all culled from their debut album Diabolical Descreation, released way back in ’96. Next up was the track ‘Sabbath Of Sin’ from 1999’s At The Gates Of Hell. Unfortunately, they only played one other track from this criminally underrated album, that being the title track.
Bewitched were definitely one of the highlights of the festival, which could clearly be discerned by the reaction they received from the crowd. A highly energetic set that stood out as one of the most unique and fun performances of the weekend.
Setlist
Blood On The Altar, Night Of The Sinner, Holy Whore, Hellcult, Deathspell, Sabbath Of Sin, Triumph Of Evil, Hellcult Attack, Hellblood, Cremation Of The Cross, At The Gates Of Hell, Hard As Steel (Hot As Hell)
NORDJEVEL (HALLE)
It was a bit suprising to me that Norwegian black metallers Nordjevel were relegated to the smaller stage of Halle. As a long-time fan of the band, it is my estimation that they are in the same league as some other third/fourth-wave Norwegian black metal bands, such as Taake (who played the headlining stage later the same day). Heading over to Halle several minutes early, it was immediately clear that I wasn’t going to get anywhere near the stage without some elbow effort, that is. Fans were already spilling out of the entrance before the band even got started.
After managing to get myself to an optimal viewing position by squeezing my way through the sardine-squished crowd, I was immediately hit with the pummeling sounds of ‘The Shadows Of Morbid Hunger’ from the band’s 2016 album of the same name. Again, another band that meant serious business, decked out in corpsepaint, spikes and all the obligatory accountrements of their chosen sub-genre. They continued their barrage with ‘I Djevelens Skygge’ from the cold and slightly melodic album Gnavhòl, released back in 2016.
It was at this point that I realized just how proficient the sound-system and acoustics of venue Halle was. I mean, if it could handle – with clarity – the caustic, vicious auditory of assault of Nordjevel, it could handle anything. The band unleashed a few other goodies during their set, which, I might add, seemed to be quite short (at this point, I was hooked, and could have used another thirty minutes of a Nordjevel beating).
Setlist
The Shadows of Morbid Hunger, I Djevelens Skygge, Fenriir, Within the Eyes, Djevelen I Nord, Sunset Glow, Norges Sorte Himmel
TAAKE (WERK)
Having just seen Hoest and crew at Beyond The Gates in Bergen, Norway this past August, I was incredibly excited to hear that they would also be featured as a headlining band at Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2024. If you have witnessed Taake live, you will understand my excitement… the band is absolutely entrancing as a live act. Hoest plays the role of a cloaked black metal mage like an oscar winning actor. His moves are calculated and articulated with an artistry rarely matched by a black metal frontman (he makes Dani Filth look like a Looney Tunes cartoon character incomparison). The whole spectacle is reminiscent of Attila-fronted Mayhem, and that is a good thing.
Taake started their night off with ‘Fra Vadested Til Vaandesmed’ from 2011’s Noregs Vaapen. With the crowd wholly invested, the cloaked one and crew hit with ‘Denne Forblaaste Ruin Av En Bro’ from their latest album Et Hav Av Avstand, released this past August. The guys then returned to Noregs Vaapen with the track ‘Nordbundet’ and then, again, dropped another one from their latest album with the song ‘Et Uhyre Av En Kniv’.
If there was one band this weekend that encapsulated, with perfection, the iciness and frigidity of Nordic black metal, it was Taake (of course, Mortem gave them a run for their money the very next day, but more on that in Part 2 of this retrospective).
Setlist
Fra Vadested Til Vaandesmed, Denne Forblaaste Ruin Av En Bro, Nordbundet, Et Uhyre Av En Kniv, Hordalands Doedskvad 3, Myr, Hordalands Doedskvad 1, Nattestid Ser Porten Vid 1
TIAMAT (WERK)
Is it just me, or was the addition of Swedish experimental metallers Tiamat an odd choice for this festival billing? Don’t get me wrong, I have a long history with this band, going all the way back to their 1990 debut album Sumerian Cry. To be honest, I lost track after their Wildhoney (1994) album, as they took things completely out of the realm of metal and into areas that really did not interest me. With that being said, my curiosity was piqued when it was announced that Tiamat would perform at Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2024. Would they focus solely on their early-to-mid 90s ‘extreme’ material, or would they mostly hit us with their not-so-metal fare?
Starting things off with the track ‘Vote For Love’ from their 2003 album, Judas Christ, I was immediately sucked in by the song’s gothic rock stylings à la The Sisters Of Mercy and The Mission. To be completely frank, it was a nice change of pace from a day full of extremity. This was followed up with another post-Wildhoney track, ‘Wings Of Heaven’, from 2003’s Prey. Again, another song that travels that same road of occult-tinged gloom rock. Things get decidely heavier with the next track, ‘Mountain Of Doom’, from 1991’s The Astral Sleep. With its reliance on crushing doom-like riffing, the song certainly woke those in the crowd who might not care about the later Tiamat material covered so far. They followed this up with the Pink Floyd-like dreaminess of ‘Wildhoney’, which definitely seem to win over a good portion of the crowd.
The rest of the set consisted of an assortment of songs cherry-picked from their ten full-length albums, so there was definitely something for everyone. I’m almost certain that every ear in the place was primed and ready for a track from the band’s only extreme/death metal-inspired album, Sumerian Cry. Unfortunately, that song never came. Nevertheless, the guys gave an inspired performance from a band who certainly sits atop the gothic metal mountain.
Setlist
Vote For Love, Wings Of Heaven, Mountain Of Doom, Wildhoney, Whatever That Hurts, The Ar, Divided, Cold Seed, Phantasma De Luxe, Cain, Do You Dream Of Me?, Brighter Than The Sun, The Sleeping Beauty, Gaia
KAMPFAR (WERK)
Ending the first night of festivities was pagan black metallers, Kampfar. Hailing from Bergen, Norway, the band got their start way back in the mid-90s with their highly-acclaimed debut album from 1997, Mellom Skogkledde Aaser. Since then, the band have released nine full-length albums, along with a handful of EPs.
Kicking things off with the track ‘Feigdarvarsel’ from the 2008 album Heimgang, the guys moved around the stage with a fury and ferociousness of caged, leather-and-denim clad demons. Without taking a breath, they blasted their way through the track ‘Ravenheart’ from the 2006 album, Kvass. It was at this point that I had to stop and take notice of just how exceptionally tight Kampfar are in the live setting. This is undoubtedly a result of the guys being a go-to band for many of the festivals throughout Europe for many, many years. They certainly had earned themselves tonight’s headlining spot.
The rest of their set consisted of songs culled from their extensive back catalogue, with each and every track seeming to whet the ravenous appetites of the by now exhausted festival goers. After a long twelve hour first day, I was surprised by how many people stuck around instead of opting for their cushy bed awaiting back at the hotel.
Setlist
Feigdarvarsel, Ravenheart, Skogens Dyp, Ophidian, Troll, Død Og Trolldom, Lyktemenn, Mylder, Urkraft, I Ondskapens Kunst, Tornekratt, Hymne, Det Sorte
Stay tuned for a full retrospective of day 2 of Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2024!