BLACK RHAPSODY brought refreshment to steaming hot Zagreb on Midsummer!
First Kutina extreme metal festival had a new edition that was held in Zagreb, but hopefully the festival will be held in many further years to follow in the primary and original location: Baraka, Kutina. Last years addition was almost banned as it was supposed to be held on Easter which bothered highly conservative local officials. This year’s edition stared on Midsummer, a celebration of the season of summer which was also the hottest day in Zagreb up to now and the second day of the festival was held on the Day of Antifascist Struggle, so no one got worked up about the bands or iconography.
21.6.2024 LINEUP:
DREADNOUGHT
BEZDAN
ZLOBNIK
ASAGRAUM
KOLAC
WAYFARER
DREADNOUGHT (Progressive Doom Metal; USA) opened the festival and presented their version of fusion of sounds and styles in a complex and progressive approach to doom with highly emphasised melodic elements with transcend all borders of previously set metal genres. The performance was very interesting, but majority of the audience were keen to see other bands. This kind of experiment of including bands that stand out from the rest genre-wise should be welcomed as it creates interest in other attendees of the concert and broadens perspectives!
BEZDAN (Black/Thrash Metal; Croatia) presented their unique combination of black metal with thrash elements which gives the band a special boost and high attractiveness. Their hit “Satanska Kurva” sounded perfect live and they showed high potential for further success.
ZLOBNIK (Black/Death Metal; Croatia) is a very interesting and prospering band from Šibenik, Croatia which combines black metal atmosphere and themes with the brutality of death metal with special emphasis on brutal lyrics that are fluent and understandable but contain just enough brutality to be considered brutal enough. Singing in Croatian makes them exotic and a not-pretentious band and hopefully we’ll see them many times in the future also!
ASAGRAUM (Black Metal; Netherlands) were the favourites of the audience as many came to see them as a priority and we couldn’t wait for their gig to start. Asagraum is an all-female Dutch black metal band and it consists of vocalist/guitarist Obscura (Hanna van den Berg), drummer A. Morthaemer (Amber de Buijzer) and Norwegian bassist Makhashanah (Henriette Bordvik). The name combines Asag, a demon from Sumerian mythology, and Raum which translates as room, this refers to a site of ritual, which suits with the Satanic themes the band portrays. We fell in love with the band even more after the gig as it was astonishing and highly uplifting, seeing the passion and energy all of them transferred to the audience was just astonishing. They sounded and looked way better live than we could possibly hope for!! They do represent the darkest spheres of the genre as they cover themes like occultism and satanism, but with our favourite fast uplifting bass and drum black metal pace that leaves us feeling nothing but the love for the band!!
KOLAC (Black Metal; Serbia), formed in 2006 matured into an inevitable band that must be mentioned and considered when discussing metal bands from these areas. They have delivered their traditional interpretation of black metal with such fierce and power that the atmosphere of blackened doom and decay of human race and society could be sensed and felt thought out their gig! And we mean that in the most positive sense possible!
WAYFARER (Atmospheric Black/Folk Metal; USA) came from Colorado to present their interpretation on how atmospheric black metal combined with folk influences should sound like. The band was formed in 2011 and they cover themes such as: nature, history, American frontier which makes them different and interesting in this constellation of bands. They have offered a refreshment and a different atmosphere which wasn’t quite expected from all but overall it was a positive switch into a different world their fusion and vision offers.
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