By BRENDAN DELAVERE
THE European summer festival season has kicked off! We’ve just seen Parkway Drive headline Graspop and Hellfest, Metallica perform two monstrous sets at Download and the recently reformed Pantera crush all across the continent. The Australian contingent is killing it too, with RedHook, Polaris and The Chats all pulling humongous crowds at numerous festivals and sideshows.
Continuing our deep dive into the more niche and lesser known festivals of which you may not have heard just yet, next on the list is a special one held deep in the gothic forests of Transylvania: Rockstadt Extreme Fest. Watched over by Rasnov fortress on the outskirts of Rasnov city – and yes, that is Dracula’s castle – this is quite possible the most metal setting for any festival ever.
Like ArcTanGent Festival in our previous article, Rockstadt Extreme Fest is also reaching a decade of noise, having first appeared in 2013. A multi-day camping festival by a river in a forest synonymous with the vampire legend of Dracula… where else would you rather be?
A look at previous years’ lineups yields a sordid history of all facets of extreme metal: Obituary, Gojira, Mayhem, Carcass, Napalm Death and more. Death, thrash, black metal and grind, if it’s brutal and heavy, they’re playing. Held across five days in early August, this year’s bill boasts a huge number of acts with Heilung and Dropkick Murphys headlining day one, along with Soulfly, Eyehategod and Australian metalcore partiers Deez Nuts. Day two sees black metal enigmas Zeal and Ardor, Imperial Triumphant and Triptykon share stages with two of the biggest names this year, Architects and Sleep Token. Day three gets even heavier as Meshuggah, Mayhem, Igorrr and Marduk rain down hell on earth.
Day four, witness hardcore versus death metal with In Flames, I Am Morbid, Knocked Loose and Agnostic Front going head-to-head in unbridled fury. And if you’re still alive by day five, Arch Enemy, Trivium, Epica and Alestorm bring the party to a crushing finish.
Two stages, five days, all in the picturesque setting of medieval Romania. Tickets are almost gone for this year’s festival. Should you jump on the next plane to Bucharest? Hot Metal thinks you should. See you there! Get your tickets for Rockstadt now.
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