Old Grave Fest 2015

Romanian Thrash Metal Club is proud to present OLD GRAVE FEST 2015, the 4th edition of the only metal festival in Romania organized by a fan club, for fans, the festival where your money helps us fund the next edition

Following the latest additions, the lineup so far looks like this: Deströyer 666 (Australia), Agressor (France), Dead Congregation (Greece), Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult (Germany), Obliteration (Norway), Baphomet’s Blood (Italy), Nekromantheon (Norway), Violentor (Italy), Mörbid Carnage (Hungary), Tyrant Goatgaldrakona(Hungary), Turbocharged (Sweden), Pyre (Russia), Void Moon (Sweden) and Slaughtbbath (Chile). More bands TBA! As you can see, this is one of the greatest metal festivals for 2015.

DESTRÖYER 666 / https://www.facebook.com/destroyer666page

Founded back in the early 90’s, DESTRÖYER 666 are arguably Australia’s finest metal export. The band spans a career of more than two decades, that has seen them releasing 4 full-lengths, 3 singles and 3 EPs, on their way to becoming one of the most prominent extreme metal acts in the world. What makes DESTRÖYER 666 unique and different from their peers in the blackened thrash scene is the versatility of their approach. Their always reliable mixture of angry Teutonic thrash and cold Norse black is often spiced up with speed/heavy metal riffs, with haunting melodic leads or with doom laden atmosphere, as the case may be. And all these diverse elements are effortless integrated into a unitary work, giving birth to masterpieces such as “Cold steel… for an iron age (2002)” or “Phoenix Rising (2000)”. The band’s famed guitar work can be meandering or straightforward, energetic or pensive, within the same album or even the same song, but it always radiates elegance and always commands attention. As do the evil vocals of K.K. Warslut, one of the most underrated extreme metal vocalists, and definitely one of the most intense presences onstage, as surely everybody in the audience of OGF 2015 will have the chance to discover.

AGRESSOR / https://www.facebook.com/agressor.fr

In the late 80s, a group of French bands straddling the border between thrash and death metal took the international scene by storm. Agressor, Loudblast, Mercyless and Massacra were household names, on par with the best the metal world has to offer. As time passed by, Agressor’s full-length debut, Neverending Destiny (1990 – Noise Records), gained cult classic status, mentioned as a major influence by musicians such as Proscriptor of Absu. In their attempt to add a bit of controlled chaos, and melody as well, to old school Teutonic aggression, the French quartet created an unique blend of death and thrash metal, a recipe that they would successfully apply on their subsequent records: Towards Beyond (1992), Symposium of Rebirth (1994), Medieval Rites (2000) and Deathreat (2006). Agressor are an excellent live band as well and it was about time – after nearly three decades of thrashing – that they had their first show in Romania and, to the best of our knowledge, the first in the whole area. Do not even think of missing it!

DEAD CONGREGATION / https://www.facebook.com/deadcongregation

Firmly committed to the underground, convinced that only there, on the one hand, traditional forms are maintained and respected, and on the other hand the future of the genre is forged, away from commercial considerations, we could not start better than with Greek deathers DEAD CONGREGATION. A vivid example of the fact that quality must prevail over quantity, their care for details and refusal to force the creative process led to the appearance of only two full-length albums in over 10 years, but these two have been near the top end of charts made by fans everywhere. The debut, Graves of the Archangels, Nuclear War Now !, 2008, carried on the dynamics of the death metal scene in New York to a new area in which dark, oppressive atmosphere prevails, generated just by riffing. Refusing to copy themselves or put out any generic material, they worked six years for the next album, Promulgation of the Fall, released by their own label, Martyrdoom, last year. The record and shows at the most prestigious events of the European underground or overseas cemented their status as a leading band of the genre.

DARKENED NOCTURN SLAUGHTERCULT / https://www.facebook.com/Slaughtercult

For almost two decades, Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult have never wavered from the path of uncompromising, raw black metal. This is as obvious while listening to the latest of their 5 full-length records, Necrovision, released in 2013 by War Anthem Records, as it is when one is spinning their early material. Onielar’s raspy voice is one of the most recognizable in extreme metal and it complements the no-nonsense approach of the riffs. There are no easy short cuts in black metal and just about every Slaughtercult song will take you to breakneck speeds and back in what will be one of the more intense shows of the festival.

OBLITERATION / https://www.facebook.com/obliterationofficial

From the opposite side of the continent, Norway, comes a band with a different stylistic approach to the same genre. OBLITERATION relies on rhythm breaks, the variations of tempo from thrashy or punk to doomy passages. With three albums to their credit – Perpetual Decay, 2007 Nekropsalms, 2009 and Black Death Horizon 2013, all cult classics in their own right for death metal enthusiasts, showed that not for nothing were they chosen, at one point, as Fenriz’ Band of the Week. Incidentally, this is not only connection to Darkthrone, they share the same hometown, Kolbotn, and the debut album was released on Tyrant Syndicate, the label run by Nocturno Culto. After exceptional performances at festivals like Inferno, Killtown or Hole in the Sky, Obliteration will be for the first time in Romania at Old Grave Fest 2015.

BAPHOMET’S BLOOD / https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baphomets-Blood-official/116241875112834

For the first time in Romania as well, BAPHOMET’S BLOOD is now one of the most prominent exponents of the scintillating Italian heavy/speed/thrash scene. Dedicated to velocity, BAPHOMET’S BLOOD practice a satanic, incendiary brand of speed metal, under the sign of great classics like EXCITER, RAZOR and, obviously, MOTORHEAD (especially in the vocal department). Highly enthusiastic, but precise masters of composition and execution, the Italians already have 3 full-lengths and 2 EPs under their name, each one with a notable impact in the underground, at the time of their release. And if the first album was dominated by powerful thrash leanings, the next ones saw Baphomet’s Blood’s speed get ever more pervaded by classic heavy metal elements (many, many riffs with a subtle JUDAS PRIEST flavour), all the while remaining just as hot-blooded and effusive as in the first day. Led by guitarist/vocalist Necrovomiterror, whom some of you may remember as the manic drummer in the fierce BLASPHEMOPHAGHER live show 3 years ago, BAPHOMET’S BLOOD promises to be one of the main attractions of OGF 2015.

NEKROMANTHEON / https://www.facebook.com/nekromantheonofficial

From the same town of Kolbotn, with two common members with Obliteration, NEKROMANTHEON is one of the most furious thrash bands of the last decade. References are also excellent, Fenriz’ Band of the Week, shows at Live Evil or Maryland Deathfest, but what really matters are the two excellent studio albums, Divinity of Death and Rise Vulcan Spectre, released in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Both materials are pummelling, don’t offer a single moment of respite between a sharp riff and the next and send a single message to the audience of Old Grave Fest 2015: get ready for the moshpit!

VIOLENTOR / https://www.facebook.com/VIOLENTOR666

VIOLENTOR, considered by many the revelation of our very first edition, back in 2012, return with their explosive brand of thrash metal, mixed up with punk and heavy metal elements. With two excellent full-lengths under their belt, and a new one in recording, VIOLENTOR is slowly but surely becoming a force to be reckoned with in the European metal underground.

MÖRBID CARNAGE / https://www.facebook.com/morbidcarnageofficial

Mörbid Carnage will be back in Bucharest after two years, and while the thrash metal roots are as present as ever, one can hear some hints of death metal in their latest EP, The Golden Sin (2015). With two excellent full lengths under their belt as well, Merciless Conquest (2012) and Night Assassins (2010), the Hungarians are a force to be reckoned with, their show at the Old Grave Fest should not be missed.

TYRANT GOATGALDRAKONA / https://www.facebook.com/tyrantgoatgaldrakona

One very pleasant surprise for the death metal crowd will be Tyrant Goatgaldrakona, a band you certainly don’t get to see play every day. Their debut LP, Horns in the Dark, have been welcomed with rave reviews by anyone who knows their old school death metal and this is a rare chance to see them live. The crushing, heads-down breed of the aforementioned genre is a perfect addition to an already intense bill.

TURBOCHARGED / https://www.facebook.com/turbochargedswe

An old acquaintance that those who attended their Bucharest show in early 2014 will rejoice to reencounter is TURBOCHARGED. Led by Mister Ronnie Ripper of Vomitory and Gehennah fame, the blasphemous Swedes are sure to set the stage ablaze with their highly flammable mixture of crust, death and thrash metal.

PYRE / https://www.facebook.com/pages/PYRE/183665955062494

PYRE is a young band that comes all the way from Sankt Petersburg, but listening to their debut album, Human Hecatombs, 2014, you feel like they have been doing this for a long time. Old school death metal to the bone, in the vein of Dismember or Asphyx, they will be a presence both exotic and familiar the festival stage.

VOID MOON / https://www.facebook.com/VoidMoonMetal

After enjoying last year’s Old Grave Fest as spectators, this year Void Moon of Sweden will take to the stage to bring us solemn, melancholy epic doom. Formed in 2009, they debuted with the solid On the Blackest of Nights record (in 2012), bringing to mind the classic Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass works while getting accolades from the specialized media.

SLAUGHTBBATH / https://www.facebook.com/Slaughtbbath

As always, we need some South-American raw power and this time it’s Chile’s turn to send us their demons: SLAUGHTBBATH, a band that, in over 10 years of activity, has expertly mastered the savage, muscular approach to black metal that Latin America is famous for.

We conclude here with the promise that there will be many surprises until the Old Grave Fest 2015 lineup will be completed, the only certainty is that it will be a purely underground, DIY experience, a celebration of the scene in which everyone, before being a promoter, band member or tour manager is a fan, because everything starts from there.Details about ticket prices and how to get them you’ll find here: http://www.rtmc.ro/tickets/ or this one here https://www.facebook.com/RomanianThrashMetalClub