When we started this whole thing, we didn’t really set ourselves any stylistic limits as to what we want at our festival, as long as it was metal (“and fairly old school!”, I hear somebody shouting, behind me). But there were some bands at the very center, genre-wise, of what we were trying to do. You know, that place somewhere off the deep end of thrash metal but not entirely within the realm of either death or black metal. We did our best, but some of the most label-evading acts turned out to be only just out of reach, and perhaps none more so, and none more desirable to us, than Adorior.
I say “only just” because even though there was no word of the band playing shows, there was always an underlying buzz that kept us hoping. Like a facebook post, years ago, reading “No Crionics solo no Jadedlungs no Adorior”: even if we’d not heard one Adorior song, that would have made it enough for us to save them a spot on our bill, for whenever (if ever) they would decide to start doing gigs again. Fast forward to the 9th edition of our festival and here they are – things sometimes just fall into place.
Adorior came to be in 1994 in the UK and it would take a few years for the debut record to come out. Like Cutting the Sleeping (1998) was, with its sonic depiction of the most destructive (and self-destructive) urges of man, quite unlike anything at the time. Of course, violence and war had been brilliantly transformed into sound by many, but this was arguably the most vivid depiction of the frenzy of killing combined with the more visceral and sensual aspects of sin and demonic ritual, in black/death/thrash metal. The second album, Author of Incest (2005) would make it obvious from the get-go – it takes all of 4 second to have Melissa scream at you “Hater of fucking humans!” – that they’ve taken the intensity up a notch. More hateful, more defiantly Satanic, with more than a handful of nods to the darker instances of thrash metal, and with a crisper sound as well, it would be, for some of us, the definite expression of that stylistic epicenter I was rambling about earlier.
What the future holds for the band, we don’t know, but we are honored to have them – finally! – play for us at Old Grave Fest 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/adorior/
https://adorior.bandcamp.com/
One would have just as difficult a time assigning our following band to any one genre – unless, that is, South American extreme metal were its own thing, which undoubtedly it is. ANAL VOMIT – oficial is Peru’s answer to greats such as Sarcofago, Holocausto, Pentagram or Mortem. Formed in 1992 in Lima, the four-piece play rapid fire blackened and thrashy death metal… or I could just describe it as alcohol-soaked Satanic, hellish metal.
Among a host of demos and splits (amongst others, with fellow Peruvians Goat Semen and Finnish deathgrinders Cadaveric Incubator), Anal Vomit have released four full-length albums during almost three decades of blasphemy. Demonic Flagellations (2005), the long-awaited debut, was followed in relatively rapid succession by the frantic Depravation (2007) and the old-school Satanic headbanger that is Gathering of the Putrid Demons (2009). Six years were needed to perfect their latest release to date, Peste Negra, Muerte Negra, their most mature offering to date, but don’t let the longer songs fool you, the intensity is all there, and then some. But don’t take our word for it, come see for yourselves!
https://www.facebook.com/Anal-Vomit-137462179609890/
https://analvomitper.bandcamp.com/
Put on your bullet belts and prepare yourselves for a trip back to 80s hell. RTMC is proud to present German thrashers Hellish Crossfire, ready to make your ears bleed. Their two LPs, Slaves of the Burning Pentagram (2006) and Bloodrust Scythe (2010), provide the proper recipe any thrash metal purists need to follow to obtain the “100% old-school” label. Hellish Crossfire set up a relentless sonic wall of fury reminiscent of bands like early Sodom and Onslaught, but also add to the mix some more traditional mid-tempo thrash riffage as well as slow heavy metal transitions to chaotic, sloppy, Slayer-esque solos. The rough production and haunting madman-like screams further contribute to the albums’ ultimately nasty, evil atmosphere. Best enjoyed after a gory B-movie or, even better, live for the first time in Romania at Old Grave Fest 2020.
http://www.hellishcrossfire.de/
Last but not least, turning our heads towards black metal, we have a special treat for you. Sacrilegious Rite hail from Germany and, while a quick look over your favorite metal encyclopedia would suggest they’re relatively new to the scene, their members’ history within the genre stretches back to the late ’90s, as the band was formed following the breakup of Capitis Damnare.
With the follow-up to their excellent debut (Summoned from Beyond, 2017) scheduled to be recorded in May, some new songs will undoubtedly pop up on their setlist at the Old Grave, so beware!
https://www.facebook.com/SacrilgiousRite/
https://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/summoned-from-beyond
The other big announcement is that we’re moving to a new venue. Certainly not an easy decision to make, as we’ve felt great at fabrica and we have lots of great memories at the place, they’ve always been as accommodating as one could wish for, but as our 2019 edition was sold out, we felt we needed a step up, to be able to welcome more of our friends.
Club Quantic is the new place and we’re sure there are many years of mayhem there ahead of us. So stay tuned for the next updates + tickets and save the date!
Old Grave Fest IX, October 9th and 10th 2020
Adorior (UK)
Anal Vomit (Peru)
Hellish Crossfire (Germany)
Sacrilegious Rite (Germany)
+Many more
Club Quantic, Soseaua Grozavesti 82, Bucharest, Romania
