Katatonia, Terrorizer, Counterparts, Rivers of Nihil si Blood Fire Death vor canta la Rockstadt Extreme Fest 2025
Over the course of an unbelievable thirty years and eleven studio albums, Katatonia have never shied away from evolution. They have embraced the concept of growing through rejuvenation to soothe their blackened hearts and scarred souls—coming back stronger and more unified than ever after their hiatus with City Burials in April 2020. Yet at the very core of this entity, there still lingers the essence of their remarkable passage through time and space. Their music is pure and heartfelt from the northern wilderness; cast in mournful dirges for a world that needs renaissance. Their long way out of the darkness and into our hearts has taken up many shapes ever since their first two genre-bending milestones: Dance of December Souls (1993) and the unforgettable, the immortal, the rightfully revered and oft-copied classic Brave Murder Day (1996). Whatever you might call their artful and soul-searching tunes ever since these records, they have always remained true to the very principles on which this band was based in the dawn of the nineties. Musicality over scene, progression over deadlock, collective over ego—Katatonia is their whole lives and will always be. What’s more, their ever-expanding fanbase has evolved with them. While the nineties would never have allowed such a high level of tolerance nor forgiveness towards erstwhile death/doom trailblazers, today each new Katatonia offering is greeted with veneration and gratitude.
The beginnings of grindcore are often pinpointed to Napalm Death’s 1987 masterpiece Scum and the early work of Carcass, but the 1989 release World Downfall by the overlooked outfit TERRORIZER is often talked about in revered tones by extreme metallists worldwide. Featuring members David Vincent (bass, vocals), Pete Sandoval (drums), Jesse Pintado (guitar), and Oscar Garcia (vocals), Terrorizer’s lone album has spawned countless imitators over the years, due to its groundbreaking merger of both speed and aggression.
Produced by renowned thrash/death metal producer Scott Burns, all you have to do is check out some of the song titles to know what type of a hellacious musical ride that’ll soon be in store — “Fear of Napalm,” “Strategic Warheads,” “Enslaved by Propaganda,” “Dead Shall Rise,” and the like.
TERRORIZER’s current lineup consists of Pete “Commando” Sandoval (MORBID ANGEL, I AM MORBID) on drums, David Vincent (MORBID ANGEL, I AM MORBID) on bass, Brian Werner (VITAL REMAINS) on vocals, and Richie Brown (EXMORTUS, THE ABSENCE, TRIVIUM, I AM MORBID) on guitar.
A fierce Canadian hardcore band with a relentless, technically precise attack, COUNTERPARTS emerged from Hamilton, Ontario, at the end of the 2000s, though it wasn’t until their fourth release, 2015’s Tragedy Will Find Us, that they began to see widespread success. In spite of a major lineup change, their popularity increased with 2017’s You’re Not You Anymore and 2019’s Nothing Left to Love, which earned them their highest chart placement yet. Counterparts returned in 2024 with both a live album and an EP, Heaven Let Them Die.
Since forming in 2007, Counterparts–made up of Murphy, guitarists Alex Re and Jesse Doreen, bassist Tyler Williams, and drummer Kyle Brownlee–have gone from the Hamilton, Ontario, underground to touring the world as hardcore heavyweights. But with 15 years already under their belts, Murphy couldn’t help but consider a day where his well might run dry.
“I started to think about what it would be like to write a record as if it would be our last, to try and make something that I knew I would be satisfied with if it was,” the always candid singer explains. “I love this band, it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done and I’m very fortunate to have it, but we put a lot into it and it’s not the most sustainable way to live.” Murphy’s forthrightness is part of Counterparts’ appeal, and it’s earned them a loyal fanbase who have come to appreciate the unflinching honesty that’s at the heart of everything the band does. “We’re just totally transparent,” Murphy says. “Almost to a fault. I don’t hide how I’m feeling lyrically, I’ll say whatever publically, there’s just no secrets. So although there’s some ambiguity with this record, I also think people will understand where we’re coming from.”
Counterparts is a powerhouse in the Canadian hardcore scene, known for their passionate lyricism and explosive sound. Their commitment to authentic storytelling and musical excellence has made them a staple in the community, with impressive releases that showcase their artistic evolution.
RIVERS OF NIHIL have never fit neatly into a box, but with 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, they transcended all labels applied to them. Returning in 2021 with The Work, they forged further into new territory, once again upending any expectations fans had placed on them. And now, with a new album on the horizon in 2025, following a series of singles released over the past one and a half years, the band has once again shattered the ceiling of how far they are willing to go in search of new sonic terrain.
The band spent 2021 and 2022 burning the candle at both ends with a frenzied tour schedule including headlining runs of the US and Europe, a jaunt on the European festival circuit, and two runs in support of The Black Dahlia Murder and The Contortionist in North America. But once the latter tour wrapped up, they were short a band member; for personal reasons, founding vocalist Jake Dieffenbach and the band went their separate ways.
In March 2023, RIVERS OF NIHIL wrapped up a recording session that saw the now four-piece band birth a considerable amount of new music featuring their previous bassist/backup vocalist Adam Biggs as the new lead vocalist/bassist. These sessions also marked the first recorded appearances of new guitarist Andy Thomas (Black Crown Initiate), whose vocals also play prominently in the music, as a full-time member of RIVERS OF NIHIL.
Released throughout 2023 and 2024, the new singles were the first to showcase the band’s new lineup in full-on collaboration, and demonstrate that while this is a new, brave sound with tons of potential, it also carries the band’s classic energy.
The band recently wrapped up the recording and mastering of their fifth full-length album slated for release in 2025. The record will feature two previously released songs — “The Sub-Orbital Blues” (2023) and “Criminals” (2024) — plus eight new tracks. Stay tuned for a new single to be unveiled in early 2025.
In the meantime, RIVERS OF NIHIL have been revisiting their catalog, satiating ongoing fan requests to release instrumental versions of Where Owls Know My Name and The Work, and reissuing a remixed and remasteredversion of their 2010 debut EP, Hierarchy (November 8, 2024 via Metal Blade).
On June 3rd 2004 the metal world lost one of it’s biggest icons. Thomas ‘Quorthon’ Forsberg was instrumental in redefining metal as we knew it. With the seminal 1984 debut, “Bathory”, Quorthon single handedly laid the foundation of what has become the world-renowned phenomenon, that is black metal. There was Venom before him, but musically he laid out the blueprint for myriads of bands that followed, especially from Scandinavia, in the coming decades.
Upon his passing a wide array of celebrated musicians from the Norwegian black metal scene was summoned to pay their tribute to the fallen pioneer. At the annual Hole in the Sky festival in Bergen, Norway, musicians from bands like Darkthrone, Emperor, Enslaved, Satyricon, Immortal, Gorgoroth and Aura Noir performed a carefully selected set of Bathory classics that helped shape the sound of the Norwegian scene.
In 2024, on the 20th anniversary of Quorthon’s passing, the core members of the original tribute constellation got together again at the Beyond the Gates festival, held in the revered Grieghallen, to once again pay their respect to the legend and the music of Bathory. This time the line-up also included E from Watain, who also contributed to the
stage design and concept. The result can be summed up by two words: Pure magic. As people have lamented their praise for the show, we have decided to do some select shows with the concept at some carefully selected summer festivals next summer.
Blood Fire Death – A tribute to Quorthon and the Music of Bathory will feature the same band that fronted the 2024 edition:
E (Watain) – vocals
Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) – guitar
Blasphemer (Vltimas, ex-Mayhem) – guitar
Apollyon (Aura Noir) – bass & vocals
Faust (Djevel, ex-Emperor) – drums
In addition to the band, the concert will feature guest singers and musicians such as Grutle (Enslaved), Gaahl (Trelldom, ex-Gorgoroth) and Frederick Melander (ex-Bathory) along a variety of other guests that will vary from festival to festival. The show is based on Quorthon’s own vision of how he pictured a Bathory concert would look like should he ever bring his music to the live stage.
– 20 years after his passing, Quorthon continue to shiver our spines, curdle our blood and fuck our brains up with his music (E – Watain)
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