Sometimes, late plans shatter only to make room for something even darker. Due to technical reasons, Cradle of Filth will not perform at this year's edition. In place of the British gothic theater, we are bringing in the icy North, which needs neither lace nor corsets to cast its spell. Entering the ranks is the Norwegian black metal elite – Satyricon.
The duo of Satyr and Frost has long outgrown the band that defined the second wave of black metal in the nineties with landmarks like Nemesis Divina or Dark Medieval Times. While others got stuck in an endless loop of blastbeats and lo-fi buzz, Satyricon opted for evolution. They stripped away the excess ballast, slowed down the tempo, and forged a unique subgenre – black ’n’ roll. The result is a collection of monolithic, mid-tempo anthems packed with the kind of groove that even the finest heavy metal riff-masters would envy.
To think of Satyricon is to imagine a perfect symbiosis of icy cold and precise rhythm. Behind the kit, Frost operates like a surgical instrument of destruction, his relentless beats driving forward Satyr's charismatic, venomous snarl and hypnotic guitar lines. Tracks like "K.I.N.G.", "Fuel for Hatred", or the monumental "Mother North" are not just setlist items. They are anthems that shaped the face of modern extreme metal, and live, they act as an uncompromising steamroller flattening everything in its path.
Satyricon return to Josefov in full force, ready to prove why they still sit at the absolute top after more than three decades. This late-stage guard change will inject raw, pitch-black energy directly into the historic ramparts of the fortress.
