DARK EASTER METAL MEETING 2025

Like clockwork, the yearly convocation known as Dark Easter Metal Meeting once again bled noise, darkness, and desecration in Munich, Germany over the Easter weekend. Day two saw everything from the raw northern blackness of the mighty Gorgoroth and Absu, to the epic and powerful blackened hymns of Greece’s Lucifer’s Child. As Europe’s preeminent celebration of underground extreme metal, this year was an unholy mass for the damned where chocolate Easter bunnies went to die and pestilence and rot reigned supreme.

DOOL

With 90% of the bands on this year’s lineup falling under the extreme metal category, the Netherlands-based Dool might not have seemed like the obvious choice to open the second and final day of Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2025. But for anyone in attendance who was on the fence, I can confidently say the band won over the packed crowd with a fierce performance led by the immersive and commanding presence of vocalist and guitarist Raven van Dorst. The set opened with ‘The Shape Of Fluidity’, its controlled chaos instantly drawing the crowd in, followed by the unforgiving face-fuck that is ‘Self-Dissect’. Raven’s delivery remained natural and humble, especially during ‘Venus In Flames’, where their voice projected through the house system with an assertive clarity. ‘God Particle’ brought a pummeling cadence that accentuated the booming cacophony of the bottom-end, while ‘House Of A Thousand Dreams’ filled the venue with a spacious-yet-brooding vibe. ‘Hermagorgon’ was an absolute standout, its tension intensified by Raven’s fixed stare across the room. They closed with ‘Oweynagat’, which felt like a final descent into something older and darker, less a big finish than a slow fade into the unknown, leaving the room completely captivated and satiated.

Setlist
‘The Shape Of Fluidity’, ‘Self-Dissect’, ‘Venus In Flames’, ‘God Particle’, ‘House Of A Thousand Dreams’, ‘Hermagorgon’, ‘Oweynagat’

LUCIFER’S CHILD

Formed in 2013 in Athens, Greece, by George Emmanuel, then-guitarist for Rotting Christ and previously of Chaostar, Lucifer’s Child would go on to craft a new vision of black metal rooted in rich Hellenic tradition but with a more esoteric, atmospheric, and ritualistic edge. Today, that vision was executed via a masterclass of all these elements to the blood-and-beer-thirsty crowd. The guys treated the eager punters to four songs from their 2018 sophomore effort, The Order, which included ‘Black Heart’, ‘Fall Of The Rebel Angels’, ‘Through Fire We Burn’, and the title track. Hot on the heels of their newly-released album, The Illuminant, they sliced their way through three songs from said album, which included ‘The Heavens Die’, ‘As Bestas’, and ‘Curse’. Overall, Lucifer’s Child delivered a highly professional and energetic set that certainly rivalled the incredibly well-oiled machine of their peers in Rotting Christ. Do not miss these guys next time they come your way!

Setlist
‘Black Heart’, ‘The Heavens Die’, ‘As Bestas’, ‘Fall Of The Rebel Angels’, ‘Through Fire We Burn’, ‘He, Who Punishes And Slays’, ‘Curse’, ‘The Order’

WITCHERY

The Swedes started their set with ‘Witching Hour’, which immediately set the tone… fast, loud, and straight to the point. With no banter, they just pummeled us with riff after riff, from songs such as ‘Popecrusher’ and ‘Nosferatu’. The combination of blackened thrash and death metal came across even heavier in a live setting. The cold, glacial-splitting vibe of ‘True North’ gave the crowd a brief respite before the guys resumed their war-like procession with the songs ‘Witchkrieg’ and ‘A Paler Shade Of Death’. ‘Netherworld Emperor’ and ‘Awaiting The Exorcist’ managed to keep fists and horns held high, while old-school fans of the band were treated to the classic ‘Restless And Dead’, which was one of the highlights of the set. The energy in the room swelled exponentially with the frantic trio of ‘The Storm’, ‘Witchburner’, and ‘Oath Breaker’. At this point, I was feeling a little overwhelmed and mentally exhausted, a feeling that the band certainly didn’t share as they launched into an incredibly caustic rendition of Entombed‘s ‘Chief Rebel Angel’. Witchery finished their set off with ‘The Reaper’, a fitting end to a tight, loud, and completely unrelenting performance that will go down in Dark Easter history as one of its finest hours of extreme music.

Setlist
‘Witching Hour’, ‘Popecrusher’, ‘Nosferatu’, ‘True North’, ‘Witchkrieg’, ‘A Paler Shade Of Death’, ‘Netherworld Emperor’, ‘Awaiting The Exorcist’, ‘Restless And Dead’, ‘The Storm’, ‘Witchburner’, ‘Oath Breaker’, ‘Chief Rebel Angel’, ‘The Reaper’

AURA NOIR

Aura Noir hit the stage with zero fanfare, launching straight into ‘Black Thrash Attack’ like they just returned from a back alley fight with no clear winner. The crowd didn’t need warming up—it was chaos from the first riff. ‘Sulphur Void’ and ‘Gaping Grave Awaits’ were delivered like a buzzsaw carving a slice out of the skull, driven by Apollyon’s equally vicious vocal attack, while ‘Trenches’ steamrolled through the pit like a Panzer division on speed that left brains rattled and beers high in the air. Without pause, the guys segued into the blistering duo of ‘Belligerent ‘Til Death’ and ‘The Obscuration’, the perfect combination of songs to showcase Blasphemer’s talent on his six-stringed instrument of death. ‘Black Deluge Night’ tore the room up again before they ripped into ‘Conqueror’ and ‘Shadows of Death’, both delivered with the kind of intensity that only comes from years of destroying grimy clubs and not giving a damn. ‘Hell’s Fire’ and ‘Unleash the Demon’ pushed the set toward its boiling point, and by the time ‘Condor’ closed things out, the Dark Easter faithful had transformed into a mess of sweat, beer, and satisfied grins. No theatrics, no speeches… just filthy, punishing black thrash from a band that still sounds like they mean every second of it.

Setlist
‘Black Thrash Attack’, ‘Sulphur Void’, ‘Gaping Grave Awaits’, ‘Trenches’, ‘Belligerent ‘Til Death’, ‘The Obscuration’, ‘Black Deluge Night’, ‘Conqueror’, ‘Shadows Of Death’, ‘Hell’s Fire’, ‘Unleash The Demon’, ‘Condor’

GORGOROTH

You can always count on a Gorgoroth live show to be a hypnosis-inducing unholy mass of blackened Nordic extremity. From the opening notes of ‘Bergtrollets Hevn’, the ambience in the large hall was grim and unmistakably evil. ‘Aneuthanasia’ and ‘Prayer’ cut through the unnatural stillness, pressing down on the shoulders of the congregation with a nauseating mix of cold incense, old blood, and blasphemic tension. The sounds of ‘Katharinas Bortgang’, ‘Revelation Of Doom’, and ‘Forces Of Satan Storms’ had every set of eyes and ears transfixed as if the stage had transformed into an ancient, unsealed tomb. ‘Ødeleggelse Og Undergang’ and ‘Blood Stains The Circle’ cured the crowd’s hunger for something violent and unfiltered. By the time ‘Cleansing Fire’ and ‘Destroyer’ hit, the band had become a well-oiled war machine blasting through riffs with cold, clinical ferocity. ‘Incipit Satan’, ‘Krig’, and ‘Kala Brahman’ followed in rapid-fire succession. They closed with ‘Unchain My Heart!!!’, an anthem of trve black metal delivered with absolute conviction.

Setlist
‘Bergtrollets Hevn’, ‘Aneuthanasia’, ‘Prayer’, ‘Katharinas Bortgang’, ‘Revelation Of Doom’, ‘Forces Of Satan Storms’, ‘Ødeleggelse Og Undergang’, ‘Blood Stains The Circle’, ‘Cleansing Fire’, ‘Destroyer’, ‘Incipit Satan’, ‘Krig’, ‘Kala Brahman’, ‘Unchain My Heart!!!’

ABSU

Bathed in the venue’s lone torchlight and clad in ritual garb, Proscriptor McGovern stormed the stage like a possessed oracle, summoning the arcane fury of Texas’ Absu with a voice both shrill and commanding. The set opened with the seething chaos of ‘Apzu’, plunging the by now exhausted Dark Easter faithful into a mythic maelstrom of horns and fists thrust to the rafters, ready to quench their thirst for ancient Mesopotamian black metal. ‘Feis Mor Tir Na N’og (Across The North Sea To Visnech)’ and the aqueous incantation of ‘Cyntefyn’s Fountain’ were both delivered like a spell torn from ancient tablets, recited by an ancient, diabolical madman behind the mic. ‘A Quest Into The 77th Novel’ unfurled its serpentine wings with phantasmic glory, while the cryptic geometry of ‘Our Lust For Lunar Plains (Nox Luna Industries)’ cast a final trance on Munich. ‘The Coming Of War’ erupted like a battle cry from an ancient cosmic army. At the same time, ‘The Sun Of Tiphareth’ radiated its esoteric brilliance, while the cosmic dirge of ‘…And Shineth Unto The Cold Cometh’ collapsed the hall into a single, pulsing point of darkness. The night ended in the flickering shadows of ‘Never Blow Out The Eastern Candle’, McGovern snarling like a high priest delivering a curse, sealing the final performance of Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2025 in a rite filled with blood, myth, and thunder.

Setlist
‘Apzu’, ‘Feis Mor Tir Na N’og (Across The North Sea To Visnech)’, ‘Cyntefyn’s Fountain’, ‘A Quest Into The 77th Novel’, ‘Our Lust For Lunar Plains (Nox Luna Inlustris)’, ‘The Coming Of War’ (Morbid Scream cover), ‘The Sun Of Tiphareth’, ‘…And Shineth Unto The Cold Cometh’, ‘Never Blow Out The Eastern Candle’