Rockstadt Extreme Fest – Festival deep dive #LiveReport
Festivals are easily one of the best parts about being a metal fan, and ever since I knew they existed I found myself becoming more and more passionate about attending them. That being said, Rockstadt Extreme Fest was the one that I attended first, and ever since I didn’t look back. This year was my fourth time attending it, and if that says anything, it’s that it’s always a great time, and the fact that it takes place in my home country of Romania makes it all the more of an appealing option. In terms of lineups, it is the kind of festival where anyone can find something they like, as they bring bands from all corners of the metal world, and even if they could do with more black metal bands, I won’t complain because for that there’s stuff like Underground for the Masses, but that’s a whole other event entirely. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
The festival spans five days, usually from Wednesday to Sunday, and until now has been taking place in the town of Râșnov, near Brașov. That, however, will change in 2026, when it will be moved to another town in the area called Ghimbav, mostly due to concerns regarding space and bigger productions. This year the lineup consisted of 99 bands, and rumours say that number will continue to become bigger and bigger. All these bands are shared across three stages.
My experience at this year’s edition was marked by a surprising amount of performances by bands that I had been waiting to see for a long time. I would say the best way to go about them is by taking them day by day. Please keep in mind however, that I will not be talking about every band, but about the ones that stood out the most.
Rockstadt Extreme Fest – Festival deep dive #LiveReport by #Ioana
Day 1:
Midnight were the first band I saw, and they definitely brought some much needed energy in what ended up being a gloomy, rainy day full of mud. Their concert went by without any major hiccups, the setlist contained all of their best material, new and old, and, as I said, they did a great job getting the crowd going. This was my second time seeing them, and the quality of their performance was just as high as last time. Simply put, the best way to get in the festival mood.
After catching up with my friends and standing in line for about an hour to get drinks, I made my way to see Katatonia. Compared to some of the other bands playing that day, the introspective energy of their music stood out in a touching way, and I found myself enjoying their performance more than I expected. At the same time as this was happening, I was also preparing for the other two bands I wanted to see that day.
Kanonenfieber were the highlight of day 1, in my opinion. I had been familiar with their work for about two years, and I enjoyed it, but I was not too blown away. Well, I’m here to say that they are a completely different beast live, and the amount of effort they put into their stage presence and overall performance is more than respectable. I got to hear “Der Maulwurf” live, which was the best part. At some point a friend of mine told me that she was feeling like she was watching a play in a theater more than an extreme metal concert, and I can definitely agree with that perspective. In any case, I am looking forward to seeing them again.
My last band of the day was Emperor, which, of course, as it is expected, delivered an epic performance. Most of their songs feel much more impressive live, which took me by surprise, because their studio material is generally pretty epic. What killed the mood, at least in the beginning, however, was the fact that the sound was completely messed up, with the guitars and vocals being completely inaudible behind the drums and bass. The problem got more or less solved in the course of the performance, but at the same time I can’t help but wonder what their sound engineer was doing.
Day 2:
1914 opened day two with what I can only describe as a once in a lifetime performance. Although they are based around the same theme as Kanonenfieber, the First World War, there was something much more real and visceral about their performance. It felt less like a movie and more like a documentary. While they performed, they also had actual footage from that time being showcased in the background, which included everything from airshots to images of necrotic limbs and typhus patients. They also spoke about the war in their home country of Ukraine, which only drove their anti war message further. Simply put 1914 served an unflinching dose of reality, and me, along with everyone in the crowd, were profoundly moved by that.
Obituary was one of the few death metal bands that I was looking forward to, so one can imagine my frustration when I was met with one of the nastiest crowds imaginable. The amount of crowdsurfers was reaching thrash metal concert levels, and many of them were middle aged, 100+ kg men, who did it for the whole duration on my show. The worst part was when one of them slapped my glasses off my face and they almost got stepped on. The crowd aside, Obituary delivered one hell of a show, with plenty of songs from their Cause of Death album. Conclusions? Concert: Great! Public: Not so much.
The Kovenant ended the night with what I consider to be the epitome of a catchy black metal performance. They played their legendary album Nexus Polaris in its entirety, which was something to behold in itself, but what got me about them was how much more lighthearted their performance was compared to the likes of 1914, for example, so it was the perfect way to end the day on a positive note.
Day 3:
Right of the bat I started the day with Hellriper, whose performance was nothing short of electrifying, to the point where the stage might have moved a couple centimeters left due to the sheer intensity of it. The fact that their designated time frame was on the rather short side also made the experience even more punchy. No classic song of theirs remained unplayed, and by the end of it the crowd was cheering loud enough to wake the dead. Luckily, I also stumbled upon them afterwards and exchanged a couple of words, which was great!
One of the most bizarre moments of the whole event came in the shape of the performance by experimental doom metal band Doomnezeu ( the name of the band is a pun on the Romanian word for God), which came on stage looking and acting almost like characters from some twisted folktale. Personally, I couldn’t keep my eyes off it, it’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder if you’re watching a concert or having a fever dream.
Blood Fire Death, the clear frontrunner of the night, delivered the most powerful mix of glory and nostalgia that one can imagine. As one may know, they are a supergroup with the mission of keeping the memory of Quorthon and Bathory alive, and that is exactly what they achieved. They featured an impressive lineup of guests, some of the most proeminent being Nergal of Behemoth, Pelle Hellbutcher, Nemtheanga of Primordial and many others. And as it is the case by now, Erik Danielsson breathed fire into the performance. It definitely got some tears out of me, and I’m definitely adding this performance to the “Moments that altered my brain chemistry” list.
*one moment of recollection and a cocktail later*
Primordial came in as the best way to unwind and calm the chills that came with the Blood Fire Death show. Their slow paced, introspective music fit perfectly with the atmosphere of the cold night and woodland around the festival area. Nemtheanga, the vocalist, has a powerful stage presence, and his vocal performance was unique and definitely on the expressive side. Primordial is the type of band that you need time for, so, I can’t help but feel like I didn’t observe them carefully enough due to the circumstances. Nevertheless, now I have one more excuse to see them again.
The night ended with another electrifying performance, this time by Hellbutcher. By that point me and my friend were getting hyped up again, and for good reason. There are very few things in the world that are as fun and energizing to witness as a Hellbutcher performance. A striking, yet almost comical stage presence, strong old school energy, a pumped up crowd… what more can one ask for? Towards the end of the show they ended up playing “Die by Fire” by Bathory and “Black Metal” by Venom. It doesn’t get more iconic than that. And me and my group also ended up having a rather hilarious conversation with the man himself! Seems it was worth staying on festival grounds until 3 AM.
Day 4:
Among all of them, day 4 ended up being the least memorable, simply because I was too tired from the day before and ended up more tipsy than I expected. Nevertheless, there were two great performances that I have to share from that day.
The first band is, of course Aura Noir. Well known black thrash powerhouse, plenty of interaction with the crowd, a solid gig, to put it simply. They may not have been as intense as Hellripper, but I couldn’t help but feel a great deal of respect for how they presented themselves on stage. I am not that familiar with their work besides the Black Thrash Attack album, so I guess it’s time to check out their discography in a more responsible way.
The other band in question is Fleshgod Apocalypse, a band that I had been looking forward to seeing for several years at this point, and, as one may expect, they delivered their best. Their vocalist, Veronica Bordacchini is somehow even more incredible live than in studio, and I found myself completely mesmerized by her voice, especially during songs like “Epilogue”, and the fact that she is also an incredibly sweet person makes me all the more happy to be a fan of her work. Speaking of “Epilogue”, it ended up becoming another reason for me to tear up, but a good reason nevertheless. I would’ve been surprised if I hadn’t cried, to be honest.
Day 5:
This one ended up being the most intense and undoubtedly memorable day of the whole festival, and the main reason for that was that I was about to see my favourite band, Marduk, for the second time. However, I will get to that in due time.
That being said, almost boiling with anticipation, I went on to pay attention to the music, with the first band that stood out to me being Swallow The Sun. Their concert had an air of “calm before the storm”, which only further amplified the expressive, emotive quality of their music. It definitely offered me a moment to get away from all the hype building up in my system, essentially allowing me to just get absorbed in the music and not think about much. Doom metal in general tends to do that really well.
Dying Fetus came in with an obvious shift, and a crowd that resembled the one at the Obituary show, but fortunately no glasses were hurt in the process. Nevertheless, it helped get the crowd pumped up again after their predecessors, with them having a mostly high paced, right in your face setlist, and leaving aside most of their slower, more slam influenced material. There was also a lot of dark humour involved, as one can expect.
The emotional rollercoaster continued with Draconian, who managed to pull at my strings even more so than Fleshgod Apocalypse, even though I was nowhere near as well versed in their discography. The particular instance that made me start to almost sob was definitely hearing “Bloodflower” live. I had no idea about that song, but my very anxious brain interpreted it as a therapy session. It also gave everyone time to recover from all the crowdsurfing and just generally unwind. As you can tell at this point, this edition of Rockstadt Extreme Fest pushed me into some weird unexplored emotional territories.
Of course once that was over we got back to the crazy stuff really fast, because the band that followed was Terrorizer. The amount of headbanging I engaged in during that performance left me with a sore neck for two days, but I regret none of it. As a black metal gig, I had no idea by that point that I would be enjoying a grindcore show that much, and the fact that no surfer ended up landing on me only made it better. However, towards the last minutes of the show, I was only thinking about Marduk, so my mind was once again in foreign territory.
Maybe if I weren’t completely biased I wouldn’t be writing this, but this is my review, so death with it. Marduk had by far the best performance in the whole festival, and the fact that they were the band that actually closed the whole thing made their show even more significant, as it was the last metal performance to take place in Râșnov, at least for a while. And even though it was 1.35 AM by that point, they still managed to have an unmatched energy. “Shovel Beats Sceptre” and “Slay the Nazarene” got burned in my brain, as well as “Accuser/Opposer”, during which they brought Nemtheanga to perform with them. Honestly I was not expecting them to change the setlist for this show in particular, but that made the whole experience all the more memorable. I could not have asked anymore from that show. The cherry on top was getting to meet the legend himself, Morgan Håkansson, but I shall not bore you with the details of said encounter, as this article is already becoming too long. I can only mention its rank at the top of the list I mentioned when talking of Blood Fire Death.
Obviously, this is nothing close to the full scale of the festival, but simply my best experiences from that event. Obviously it wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t been there with my friends, who made an already wonderful event even more worthy of rememberance. If I were to offer a semblance of a conclusion to this monstrosity of an article, it would be that Rockstadt Extreme Fest is the kind of festival I can warmly recommend to anyone. That is, of course not only because of the music, but also because it’s the kind of event that makes life a little more bearable, and I am grateful I got to experience it.
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