Metal Festivals summer 2013 round-up (recap!)

Posted by EW on 01/07/13

The festival season is well and truly under-way and we at Rockfreaks.net have brought you a heavyweight selection of reviews so by the start of July already - just take a lot at Royal Metal Fest, Groezrock, Nordic Noise, Copenhell, Northside, Download and Hellfest!


And here for your browsing pleasure are details of some of the other metal festivals still to come this summer, for those yet to make up their mind.


MetalTown (Sweden) (4th-6th July)

Boasting a top line of high-profile mainstream metal acts in Slipknot, Korn and Sabaton, MetalTown is sure to appeal to the younger Swedish metal fan but with underground acts like Marduk and Pentagram further down there is at least something for the underground hordes to be tempted by. Full line-up here.


Hell's Pleasure (Germany) (19th - 20th July)

From the point of view of this writer quite possibly the most enticing line-up of this whole very metal list is at Hell's Pleasure where a worthy and inspiring collection of big name underground warriors are assembled together. Included in this are Dead Lord, In Solitude, Portal, Acid King and Necros Christos supporting the big guns in Repulsion and Electric Wizard.

Full line-up here.


Hammer Open Air (Finland) (19th - 20th July)

A new one to this list, Hammer Open Air in Lieto, Finland, boasts a fine line-up headed by big names in Candlemass and the seemingly indestructible Venom, but it is the undercard where this underground line-up comes alive, including lesser seen names like Latvia's Skyforger, Finland's Deathchain and Archgoat and this writer's personal pick, the mighty RAM.


Metal Days (Slovenia) (21st - 27th July)

Previously known as Metal Camp, the beautiful location of Tolmin will this year play host to the first edition of Metal Days with a melodic-looking top line (Hypocrisy, Iced Earth, Wintersun, Sonata Arctica and In Flames) but further down the line-up is both big and strong: if Candlemass, Primordial, Ensiferum and Meshuggah among countless others don't do it for you you're probably reading the wrong article. Full line-up here.


Wacken (Germany) (1st - 3rd August)

As usual Wacken was sold out long before Santa was doing the rounds, as is now tradition, much like the traditional power/heavy metal dominated line-up which this year include Alice Cooper, Anthrax, Motörhead and Deep Purple bringing in the German hordes. Full line-up here.


Brutal Assault (Czech Republic) (7th - 10th August)

Based mainly around the extreme metal end of the spectrum (the clues in the name) the widely respected Brutal Assault line-up this year ranges from the surprisingly mainstream in Trivium to the core-tastic, We Butter the Bread with Butter to the black (Carpathian Forest), death (Benedicton) and much else in between - how about Opeth, Fields of the Nephilim and Amorphis for starters? Full line-up here.


Party San (Germany) (8th - 10th August)

Traditionally one of the best for black & death metal, this year features established names such as Carcass, Suffocation, Korpiklaani and Primordial rubbing shoulders with worthy up-and-coming acts such as Procession, Attic and Hooded Menace. I'm salivating just looking at it.


Bloodstock (England) (10th -12th August)

Britain's biggest contributor to the summer metal festival circuit, Bloodstock has a mixed bag of genres represented at it's top with King Diamond (him again), Lamb of God and Slayer the daily headliners and support coming from the likes of Voivod, Avantasia and Devildriver. The Sophie Lancaster Stage as usual hosts a number of worthy bands further down the radar like Mael Mordha and Scar Symmetry worth watching. Full line-up here.


Dark Bombastic Evening (Romania) (15th -17th August)

Set amongst the walls of the historic Alba Iulia Fortress in legendary Transylvania is a small festival which plays host to a pleasant mix of black metal, doom, folk, post rock, neofolk and avant-garde acts that differ greatly from all the above, whom are far more homogenous in their line-ups. Some of the more recognisable names here include Altar of Plagues, Mourning Beloveth, Esoteric and Electric Orange. Full line-up here.


Candlefest (UK) (23rd - 25th August)

Showcasing the great collection of British bands on their roster, Candlelight Records is holding a three-day extravangza at London's Underworld with big name acts including Anaal Nathrakh, Altar of Plagues (making one of their last ever performances), Winterfylleth, Mael Mordha and Wodensthrone. Weekend tickets cost just £30 for all this goodness.


And one for later this autumn…


Damnation (England) (3rd November)

Consideration of wet, cold November is not a pleasant thought having come off the back of seemingly years of it, but for those dark nights is Damnation Festival, a indoor one-day festival held at Leeds University that always manages the distinction of plucking great underground acts to support top drawer headlines. A few more bands announced since my previous posting, including Cult of Luna, Crippled Black Phoenix, SSS and Voices to join the likes of Carcass, Vallenfyre, Negura Bunget and Moss for a veritably grim autumn evening up north. Full line-up (many acts still to be announced) here.

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