Spring comes with a lot of news! We’re happy to let you know that March will see the complete lineup for Rockstadt Extreme Fest, along with the daily lineup that alot of you have asked for in the last couple of weeks. We promise, it’s going to be a non stop roller coaster. But why wait until then? Let’s start out strong with a new round of amazing acts!
Festival passes can be purchased internationally via Iabilet.ro or on https://tickets.rockstadtextremefest.ro/
Legendary Max Cavalera and SOULFLY are back in Europe for a limited run of shows and of course that includes a full stop at Rockstadt Extreme Fest! One of the long lasting icons of the thrash metal scene will grace us with a complete set, comprising of Soulfly songs, new and old, and all time Sepultura classics. Max Cavalera has been delivering punishing, neck-snapping riffs since the 1980s, first as a founding member of influential Brazilian thrash legends Sepultura, and later as the ringleader for the more cerebral, yet similarly punitive Soulfly. Emerging in the late ’90s, Soulfly’s sonic attack is built on a foundation of multiple subgenres of metal and worldbeat, drawing heavily from groove, thrash, nu-metal, and Brazilian tribal music
Since we’re in the thrash domain, please welcome LEGION OF THE DAMNED, one of the most iconic thrash/death names of the 21st century. The dutch machine is coming back stronger than ever and also with a new album, scheduled for release in May, via Napalm Records! Talk about perfect timing! This shredding monster delivers the most delicious pitch-black brew and tortures dark souls into demonic underworlds.
Now, going to the other side of the world, you will want to have DEEZ NUTS. Who can say no to some street hustle punk, hardcore and hip hop? We sure can’t! This non stop touring machine is all about having fun, spreading all positive vibes, getting into moshes and generally hustling everyday. Perfect setting for a summer festival. Deez Nuts, always a pleasure.
Our journey continues to another far corner of the world, the old US and A. This time, for the first time in Romania, please welcome one of the most influential names of the 2000 american metal scene, THE ACACIA STRAIN! The Acacia Strain have said they dislike genre labels, and instead describe themselves as “Heavy.” “You might hear other music that sounds like it, but those bands can’t touch what we have. We have heart. We mean it.” Lyrically, they base their music on “hatred, nihilism, humanity’s dependence on technology, and abhorrence for existence.” Nonetheless, The Acacia Strain is responsable for one of the most heavy records of the 2000s, the legendary Wormwood.
There’s one more stop before we leave the american continent. All the way from New Orleans, the city that brought us some of the most influential names in the stoner/sludge scene, please welcome EYEHATEGOD! Formed in New Orleans in 1988, Eyehategod quickly ascended to the top tier of a Southern sludgecore scene that included bands like Crowbar and Down, all of whom were heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Melvins. Their music is an ugly and uncompromising blend of doomy, bluesy punk, and misanthropic metal that quickly pushed them to the fore of the fertile international scene.
Coming back closer to home, please welcome HIEROPHANT from Italy!ince their previous album, and first for SEASON OF MIST, Mass Grave in 2016 – originally described as a “vicious” mix of black sludge and death metal – many things have happened. It started with the release two years later of a two-track EP called Spawned Abortions “a good indication of where we were going but still not quite there”.
The band’s fourth full-length Death Siege was written during the first months of the pandemic, from March 2020 until May 2021, a dark period described by Lorenzo as a “Fucking long process but it was worth it. Until then, we were maybe missing a bit proper song structures and arrangements. In retrospect, Mass Grave is more grind-ish whereas the new is far more metal and riff-oriented. The songs are longer and have more things happening in them, the album is overall far more ambitious and more, well, musical.”
And one other name that will grace us with their presence, MESSA, Italy’s most elegant combination of Jazz and Post-Metal. Messa’s music has been described as classy, artful, soulful, and seductive. This is a band that combines doom, jazz, blues, and occult rock into a rich mixture of sonic flavours that is delicious, with Sara Bianchin’s irresistible voice on top. It is clear that they have different musical backgrounds and that they incorporate them into their doom metal sound, there is a jazz component, with the use of the Rhodes piano and the saxophone. The musicians also use traditional eastern instruments (oud and duduk) and influences (i.e. Arabic folk) to create their atmospheric and expressive sound.
Last but not least, it’s time for some slamming brutal deathcore. Please welcome WITHIN DESTRUCTION! Formed in 2010, this slovenian machine is one of the most respected european deathcore names in the scene, delivering the most punishing performances you can ask for. And Rockstadt Extreme Fest will surely be no different!
That’s it for now, but stay tuned, only a few weeks remain until we reveal the full lineup to what is shaping up to become the biggest and baddest Rockstadt Extreme Fest yet! You won’t want to miss history in the making.
Guarded by the Rasnov Fortress up the close by hill, Rockstadt Extreme Fest 2023 will take place between the 2nd and the 6th of August, 2023 just 30 minutes away from Brasov, in Rasnov City. The festival grounds will host 3 stages and no less than 70 bands on all 5 days but this is not all of it. You can enjoy tasty food or surpass your personal beer drinking record at unexpected good prices you will find nowhere else. And we’ve also got some top tourist sites around the festival area: the Rasnov Fortress, Valea Cetatii Cave, LiBEARty bear reservation or, nonetheless, the infamous Dracula’s Bran Castle.
For further information on the festival, please visit https://www.rockstadtextremefest.com/
We’re looking forward to greet you in August, on the amazing lands of Transylvania
