Gig Review: Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Romania – Days one and two

Live review: Rockstadt Extreme Fest, Rasnov, Romania, August 2 – 6, 2023

By BRENDAN DELAVERE

DAY ONE

ROCKSTADT Extreme Fest, the little festival you’ve never heard of, surrounded by pristine Carpathian forest in the heart of Transylvania. That’s right, the home of Dracula himself. And bears. Lots of bears.

For a decade now this festival has hosted a who’s who of metal, including a headline in 2016 by Parkway Drive. This year sees 70 of the best bands descend into the wilderness of Raznov, Romania for five days of metal and beers.

This year’s edition hosts a third stage, with New Orleans sludge beasts Eyehategod drowning all in a tar pit of nasty, dirty riffs and Legion of the Damned tearing us back out with some rip snorting guitar licks, and howling screams. Just good solid thrash.

Next up on the main stage is a double dose of metalcore with the UK’s Employed To Serve opening up the pit from the get go, also the first wall of death for the weekend. “We Don’t Need You” and “World Ender” had the pit ninjas running rampant as Justine Jones’s banshee scream echoed pierced hearts. Without much hesitation, Aussies Deez Nuts brought the party to Raznov, pounding bass like a punch right to the chest, frontman JJ Peters stalking around the stage, smile creeping through that sneer, loving every minute as the crowd flood across the barrier, keeping security busy. “Stay True” had the whole crowd chanting, and absolute banger “Like There’s No Tomorrow” tore things up another level.

The beauty of only two main stages means you don’t miss a band, no clashes! American thrashers Sacred Reich were in awe of what they saw, jokes about vampires and bears in between solid bouts of thrashy goodness. Unable to play in 2022, they screamed through a career spanning set.
In what may have been a slower follow on, The Ocean certainly didn’t end that way, meandering melodies give way to absolutely crushing prog death metal, frontman Loic Rossetti clambering the barrier to deliver screams with snake-like aggression. Immense performance and not to be missed when they tour Australia in September.

Before I go on, I need to mention the beer and food situation: $2 for a beer and $8 Australian for festival food is an absolute steal! Australian festivals cannot compare.

Continuing, UK heavy hitters While She Sleeps got the pit roaring! Circle after circle, wall of death, the crowd ran ragged. “Eye to Eye”, “Four Walls”, “Systematic” –  non stop until band and festival were sapped of energy. A slight reprieve came in the form of the phenomenon that is Heilung. An art form like no other, this is history, amplified. The entire festival stood in awe for the 20-piece performance of traditional Germanic and Nordic folk music. Utilising traditional instruments, throat singing and a troupe of warriors to perform what can only be described as a fever dream of Viking musical accomplishment, amazement and awe. A ceremony to behold.

Closing out the main stage for the first day, from Boston, Massachusetts, The Dropkick Murphys! Similar to Heilung, but in complete contrast, the packed festival grounds lost their minds, dancing a jig until the ground beneath turned to mud. All your Irish punk favourites: “Rose Tattoo”, “The Fields of Athenry” and the barn storming “Shipping Up To Boston” rang out as the seven piece danced the night away. Confetti cannons rained down coloured paper, CO2 cannons sprayed constantly and the energy never let up. What a way to end the first day.

DAY TWO

Day two of Rockstadt Extreme was an absolute scorcher. Europe is suffering an unprecedented heat wave and Transylvania isn’t spared despite the elevation. Nonetheless, the people turned out in droves for New York jazz metal experience Imperial Triumphant. Most likely sweltering under the black cloaks and adorning gold masks, the trio cooled down with champagne showers, spraying and watering the front few rows. Discordant jazz, screeching, strangling guitars and weird drum signatures, Imperial Triumphant are the whole package.

Up next, the second of the Australian contingent at Rockstadt, Caligula’s Horse. Despite being sun kissed Aussies, the boys were sweating buckets on stage. Meandering melodies give way to bursts of intense riffs, Jim Grey calling for a crowd chant, the crowd all yelling “G’day Mate” back, bloody beaut!

This reviewer had no idea what he was in for when Czech grindcore bastards Gutulax took the main stage. In sperm suits and gas masks, the audience similarly dressed, with gas masks, gimp suits and necklaces made from toilet seats (ripped from the festival toilets no doubt), running rampant through the pit. An absolute cacophony of noise, you haven’t heard pig squeals until you’ve heard Gutulax. In complete contrast to the reckless abandon displayed, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons rocked the shit out of Rockstadt. Playing pure rock’n’roll, the Welshmen belted out a set of Motörhead covers. “Ace of Spades” and the raucous “Born to Raise Hell” had left vs. right screaming the refrain. Closing with “Overkill”, the spirit of rock n roll is still alive. RIP Lemmy!

Between sets, those $2 beers are going down a treat, with the sun still beating down at 8 o’clock in the evening. One band that deserves to play at a darker time of day is Swiss-American Zeal & Ardor. The three pronged vocal attack building layer upon layer to Manuel Gagneux’s guitar riffs, electronic samples and haunting chants make for an ominous sounding take on black metal.

Unfortunately death metal stalwarts Deicide weren’t able to make it due to the intense storm activity in Germany. Fortunately, Triptykon were there to fill the gap. If you caught them in Australia for their Dark Mofo appearance, you’ll know just how heavy and unsettling the four piece can be, especially under the gaze of kvlt metal figure Thomas Gabriel Fischer. Immensely heavy, the hour of blackened doom had all bowing down before them.

In this day of surveillance and social media, maintaining secrecy is difficult, let alone as one of the fastest rising rock bands. Somehow the enigma that is Sleep Token have managed to keep their identities quiet as the cloaked figure only known as Vessel emerged from the thick smoke accumulating on stage. It’s an odd mix of bass heavy trap riffs, pop melodies and death growls. The music doesn’t fit the aesthetic which lends to more of the enigma surrounding this band. Energetic as a kid on speed, the cloaked figures utilised every inch of stage, stopping on a dime for a 180 change of pace, from frantic to soulful in a second, with a trio of cloaked vocalists adding harmonies to the mix.

Hypocrisy were last to hit the Brasov stage, the death metal titans stormed out of the gate, crowd surfers were already flooding over the barrier. Romanians will crowd surf to anything, I love it! “Chemical Whore”, “Warpath”, “Roswell 47″… guitars screech, double kick drumming right to the face, for lack of a better word, brutal. Hypocrisy are long overdue for an Australian tour.

Tonight’s headliner is one of the biggest metalcore bands in the world, Architects. For the next 75 minutes all fists were in the air, crowd surfers, that blow up boat was still going strong, at one point Sam Carter commenting on the Titanic going down as the boat dropped into the crowd, “In five years billionaires will go looking for that and never return”. Running through a jam packed set of old and new hits, Carter had the crowd eating out of his hand. Confetti poured out and Co2 cannons and fire spewed forth, all hands in the air throwing horns or hearts for closer “Animals”.

Another day done and dusted, time for the after party!