Playlist: 15 bands we can’t wait to see at Brutal Assault 2024!
Like every year, the festival season is approaching and it is time to take stock of an enormous number of proposals that each year gather a good number of fellow metalheads throughout the planet. Many times it is difficult to keep track of all the bands that participate in each festival, such as the case of Brutal Assault, who in 2024 has managed to bring together 150 bands in four days, so today we wanted to compile twenty of the bands that we are most looking forward to. to see on Josefov’s stages. Which of them are you most looking forward to?
Mental Cruelty: Tormentum (2019, Unique Leader Records) (*)
German band Mental Cruelty have been waging war for a decade of brutality, combining deathcore with very intense symphonic touches that give their four studio albums an enviable energy. Mental Cruelty has not been to Josefov before and this first time promises to be a real delight. You can find Tormentum on their second and highly recommended album Inferis released in 2019.
Satyricon: Fuel For Hatred (2002, Parlophone Music)
Satyricon will always be one of the bands that introduced me to black metal. Both Dark Medieval Times (1993, Moonfog Productions) and The Shadowthrone (1994, Moonfog Productions) paved my way towards the dark side of heavy metal that I had come from since I came into the world and it is something that I can never thank Satyr and Frost enough. His not-that straight black metal age has grown on me over time and part of the blame lies with the albums The Age Of Nero (2008, Roadrunner Records) and Now, Diabolical (2006, Roadrunner Records), although Volcano (2002, Moonfog Productions) features one of my favorite Satyricon‘s songs, Fuel For Hatred.
Khold: Misgrep (2024, Soulseller Records)
The Norwegian black metal band Khold has been active since 2000 and has released eight studio albums in more than two decades of activity, the most recent being Du Dømmes Til Død, which was released in March 2024 through Soulseller Records. If you are looking for a quality black metal band, Khold will more than meet your expectations.
Severe Torture: The Death Of Everything (2024, Season Of Mist)
More than two and a half decades support the death metal proposal of the Netherlands Severe Torture who will release their sixth studio album titled Torn From The Jaws Of Death in just three days from the publication of this article. The Death Of Everything is the song that we have selected from their long-awaited new album that is also responsible for kicking off the album, a good dose of violence that takes no prisoners, judge for yourself.
Misery Index: You Lose (2010, Relapse Records)
The United States has a good track record when it comes to old school death metal bands and Misery Index is one of the bands we are most looking forward to seeing on the Josefov stages. To date they have 7 studio albums, the most recent of which is Complete Control (2022, Century Media Records) although in 2023 they released the EP Strategies Of Manipulation (Century Media Records). With You Lose we go back to their fourth studio album Heirs To Thievery (2010, Relapse Records), one of the most interesting of their very interesting career.
Akhlys: Maze Of Phobetor (2024, Debemur Morti Productions)
The career of the American quartet Akhlys is brief but very intense. Their dark and direct black metal is an evolution of the dark ambient that they produced during their first days of life that has evolved in a masterful way, resulting in three intense albums to which in a month will be added the fourth work that the band will publish under the title of House Of The Black Geminus (Siempremur Morti Productions) whose second single we have chosen for this playlist, Maze Of Phobetor. This will be their first appearance at the festival, which in itself is cause for celebration.
Village Of Ioannina City: Father Sun (2019, Mantra Records)
We move to Greece to focus on a proposal that combines stoner, folk and post-rock with elements of psychedelic rock from the hand of Villagers Of Ioannina City who since 2007 have expanded and broken down some musical barriers with the three albums of study they have published to date. Their most recent album Age Of Aquarius from 2019 includes the song we have selected today, Father Sun. This will also be the band’s first appearance at Brutal Assault.
Red Fang: Hank Is Dead (2011, Relapse Records)
The stoner rock quartet from Portland (Oregon) Red Fang visited Josefov for the last time in 2014 and will return to their stages a decade after their first and only visit to delight attendees with their very interesting proposal that also combines wonderfully heavy and sludge. Their second album Murder The Mountains (2011, Relapse Records) remains one of the best albums released that year and at the same time one of my favorites of the genre.
Legion Of The Damned: Slaves Of The Southern Cross (2019, Napalm Records)
I was able to interview Legion Of The Damned last year before the release of their new album Poison Chalice and I was looking forward to seeing them live presenting their eighth album live, so this is one of the opportunities to enjoy their combination of thrash/death as it deserves, also being the first time they have stepped onto the Brutal Assault stage.
Unto Others: Heroin (2021, Roadrunner Records)
One of the bands that has surprised us the most in recent years is without a doubt Unto Others. The band from Portland (Oregon) became known as Idle Hands in 2017, debuting in 2021 with the album Mana under that same name before changing it to Unto Others for legal reasons. That same year they released their second LP Strength, which perfectly combines gothic sound with heavy metal in a sublime way, and Heroin is the song that opens the album.
Triumph Of Death: Messiah (2023, Noise Records)
It’s always a real pleasure to enjoy Tom G. Warrior live, whether it’s paying homage to his early days with Hellhammer, performing a full Celtic Frost setlist or plunging the audience into total darkness as Triptykon. Their recent appearance at UK’s Fortress Festival is probably one of the performances that has hurt me the most to have missed in 2024 despite having enjoyed them on several occasions, although I do not plan to miss their appearance at Brutal Assault performing the Hellhammer classics with a more than enviable lineup among which we can find drummer Tim Tot (Matterhorn), bassist Jamie Lee Cussigh (Sacrifizer, Letten 94) and guitarist André Mathieu (Neolithic Regression, Impalement) as well as Tom G. Warrior (Celtic Frost, Triptykon).
Emperor: Inno A Satanna (1994, Candlelight Records)
Ihsahn is one of the most creative characters in the metal scene and that is something he has not only demonstrated with his main band but also in his solo projects. The same goes for Samoth, a true warrior of the scene who has not only been part of more than a dozen bands but is still active as a guitarist in The Wretched End and the currently inactive Scum. Delighting Emperor live is one of the greatest pleasures that someone can enjoy in the metal world, even more so if we take into account that 2024 marks thirty years since the release of their seminal debut album In The Nightside Eclipse (1994, Candlelight Records), this could be a special occasion to review one of extreme metal’s fundamental albums.
Cytotoxin: Quarantine Fortress (2020, Unique Leader Records)
Germany has a good base of death metal bands, one of them being Cytotoxin. The quintet from Chemnitz (Saxony) has been active since 2010 and has released four albums to date, and all of them have received great reviews from the specialized press. Although their debut album Plutonium Heaven (2011, Independent) is an excellent album, we have chosen to select Quarantine Fortress from their brutal latest release Nuklearth (2020, Unique Leader Records), an album that takes no prisoners and that will surely make extreme metal music lovers fall in love with.
Imperial Triumphant: Devs Est Machina (2010, Independent)
Partly known for having among their ranks Max Gorlick, daughter of well known musican Kenny G, New Yorkers Imperial Triumphant have developed a unique musical style, bringing together an enormous amount of elements and influences in almost two decades of history. The trio formed by Zachary Ezrin, Steve Blanco and Kenny Grohowski has released five albums to date, their debut Abominamentvm (2010, Independent) being one of the most striking of their career.
