Under The Black Sun Festival - Friesack, Germany - Day 1

I haven't been for 29 years to a festival so I was pretty excited to get to the "Under The Black Sun" festival which is located close to Berlin for many years now. Apart from that fact it also took me quite a way (and a lot of time) to get there, driving through half of Germany from west to east. And of course as it is always when you are in a hurry, the typical German traffic jam was to be found after half of the way and I arrived with about three hours delay in Friesack. So, I unfortunately missed the Germans of Flammenaar and the Brazilians of Sodomizer.

French Hell Militia were the first guys I was able to see and like the last time I saw them back in February, they really kicked ass. I don't know but somehow their music comes over much catchier and more powerful than on the albums (at least that's my opinion). The sound was very good and the audience was celebrating them excessively. That was definitely a good start the get the right festival feeling.

Setlist: Goathrone / Black Arts Of Crime / Fili Diaboli / Dust Of Time / Jericho / Always The Same (sample) / Black Fucking Cancer / Jacob's Ladder

After that Sextrash (best band name of the festival) hailing from Brazil entered the stage. And what shall I say – the name isn't chosen wrong. Covered with spikes and masks, the guys came over pretty antisocial and super casual. Equipped with a beer in my hand this band made a lot of fun. Playing super rumbling and raw black thrash in the vein of old Sarcofago, Mystifier and co the guys rocked the early evening in a very brutal, bestial way.

Now it was time for mighty Vader. I guess everybody who knows them (and has ever seen them live) is expecting nothing else than total devastation and a full blast. And so did the Poles. The sound was very powerful and the choices of the songs were too. With all their routine and many-year-experience in the death metal scene it was really a pleasure seeing them live once more. Peter did a murderous job with his deep-throated voice and so did the other guys on the stage as well. And with the dark, the light show was very impressive, too. That was one of many highlights of the festival for sure.

With the late evening came the Greeks from Lunar Spells as the last band for the first day. Dressed in some kind of monk's habit and with a lot of corpse paint, the guys spread a slight gloomy and scary atmosphere. Musically they performed some super melodic black metal which doesn't sound too Greek at all but goes more into the Scandinavian direction, but with that you cannot do anything wrong, I guess. The only thing the guys have to improve is their stage acting. That reminded me of good old Deicide when the Hoffman brothers were still members and moved maybe about 6 foot during the whole show. But all in all they did a really good performance and I guess that Lunar Spells got some more fans that evening.

Setlist: Intro / Beyond Our Darkest Paths/ Necromantical Glorification/ Ejaculate The Masses Of Holiness / Malefic Incarnation / Sorcery of Death / Anguish And Sorrow

Day 2

Before the second festival day started there was a lot of time to check the village and get some food and drinks. No surprise that the Aldi was invaded by many metalheads that Friday morning (and of course the locals were also disturbed during their Saturday shopping-spree by them) but I guess after all these years Under The Black Sun is located here, Friesacks' inhabitants are already used to see these strange people annually. And hey, at least the guys visiting UTBS aren't that freaky as many goofy guys at Wacken.

2 PM it was time to be at the stage when Maggots opened the day, an East German band that isn't locted far from the festival location. I didn't know them actually (like many other bands on the festival) but a lot of the people in the audience obviously knew them and celebrated them. The music was really cool - they played some mixture of black-death with a lot of rock n' roll attitude and some war metal outbursts here and there which often reminded of Celtic Frost / Hellhammer (which is quite obvious if you look at the song titles and the cover song).

Setlist: Dethroned / Warchrist / Black Whore Of Total Eclipse / Humanity Decay / Vulgar Undercover / Corpse Delicti / The Rise Of Doom / Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost cover) / Rigor Mortis / Place To Hide / Burn Your Church

Next Thronecult from Saxony wanted to offer the fans some hellish black metal. The only album they have released is already three years old ("Essence Of Eternity") but quite worth checking if you like some brutal black metal. And also live the music came over quite well. But what wasn't too cool was the very bored stage-acting, especially from their vocalist. I don't know if he had a hang-over or was pissed because of the sun that was shining during the gig but this is something that the band has to make better.

Setlist: Dark Desire / The Cult Of The Throne / Essence Of Eternity / Human Decay / Saturnian Black Mass / Amor – Psyche II / Plague Eternal

With Grabunhold a band from my hometown was next. And almost like Thronecult, their latest sign of life is also 2 years old (a split with Circle Of Shadows) and their one and only released album "Heldentod" was released in 2021. I guess it is time for some new stuff guys! Presenting their Tolkien-based songs during 80° F isn't maybe the best base but nevertheless they did a good job. The sound might have had been better but it was an okay gig though.

Setlist: Intro / Grambergs Fluch / Flammen und Schatten / Caras Galadhon / Hügelgräberhöhen / Der Zorn der zwei Türme / Gespenster

One of the biggest surprises of the festival was the next band I never had heard of before: Streams Of Blood from Germany. With their superfast and relentless black metal they did not only convinced me during their first two songs but also many of the folks in the front of the stage. The Scandinavian black metal influences are clearly to hear but nonetheless they play a very unique and entertaining sort of music. And in comparison to some other bands that day, they had a very impressive and aggressive stage-acting. Well done and if you have to opportunity to get an album by them, just grab it – you can't do anything wrong with that.

Setlist: Detox / Freitodmaschine / Nychts / The Sense / Deepest Abyss Of My Soul / New World Order / Fullmoon Era

Now it was time for some barbarian black metal. Thorybos which is another band from Germany took their chance to offer some real sinister ultra brutal war black metal and that hit like a demolition hammer into the face. Melodies were to find here like you can find some stracciatella ice cream in the very pits of hell (with exception of the instrumental in "Monuments Of Death Revealed") but that wasn't a big problem. The bigger problem was the sound which sounded so unbelievable shitty but according to the sound crew the band wanted to sounds exactly like that. Ah well. By the way, with Ryan Förster they have a very prominent member in their row having played in bands like Conquerer or Blasphemy. I guess there is no reason to explain anything more, is it?

Baxaxaxaxaxaxa!!!!!! My absolute favorite band name you still can pronounce after 30 beers and also a legend in the black metal scene. Although it still wasn't dawning, the eerie atmosphere the Bavarians spread on their albums came over live also very well. Fully disguised in heavy robes I guess the guys had to sweat a lot in their dresses. Nevertheless they did a very energetic gig and had the crowd on their side. And just like on CD, their old-school black metal with a lot of Celtic Frost / Hellhammer-influences was a killer. Not to think of what could have become out of that band if they didn't split up in the early 90s. I guess they could have become one of the global players in the scene.

Setlist: Church Of The Antichrist / Above The Stellar Gateway / As The Moon Inhaled All Sunrays / Walpurgis Dancers / Catacomb Cult / The Great Malicious Tongue / Nocturnal Mass / Ghosts Of Tötzburg / Hellfire

With Naxen another German band (hailing from my town of birth) followed afterwards and they also did a good show. Although everything on stage was quite minimalistic (no super evil items nor corpse paint) they performed very well. Their atmospheric, slight doomy black metal might not be the music for every day but with the right mood the songs are able to catch you quite well. At this gig the band mainly focused on their latest album "Descending Into A Deeper Darkness" which was released in 24, it is a really cool gem which you should check for sure.

Setlist: To Welcome The Withering / A Shadow In The Fire - Pt. III (A Life Led By Loss) / The Fate Of All Flesh / Triumphant Tongue Of A Thousand Sword

Finnish Curse Upon A Prayer were one of the bands I was really looking for because I like their albums very much. Very harsh, uncompromising Finnish black metal in the style of Horna, Behexen etc – with that you cannot do anything wrong. So they kicked ass from the first tunes and with the grim announcements from their vocalist they came over very evil and powerful. The sound was really good so you could hear the songs very clear and their performance was also top notch.

Setlist: Ortopraxia / Black Venus Erotica / Blood Poetry / Haram / Al-Mash Ad-Daijal / Cunt God / Infidel / Rotten Tongues / Let Thy Kingdom Come

After that black metal inferno the time had come for legendary Impiety. I guess they don't need any further explanation since they are active since the mid-90s and have released many really good black metal albums since then. Rabid, hyper-fast music blew the audience straight away, there was almost no time for breathing. This was truly a lesson in relentless black metal and a remarkable statement that the band is still alive considering the last full-length is from 2019. So there is some hope that another full-length will follow.

Also the next band doesn't need a further introduction – Swedish Marduk. I have seen them a couple of times live and they never disappointed. Not back in 94 when I saw them for the first time or 31 years later. At that show had probably the most people attending and of course this is no surprise when you consider the popularity of Morgan and co in the scene. Offering a very cool collection of older and newer songs, the Panzerdivision Marduk successfully waltzed over the battlefield of Friesack. That evening was really unforgettable – the sound, the light, the mood – everything matched perfect!

Setlist: Werwolf / Steel Inferno / Shovel Beats Sceptre / Slay The Nazarene / Marching Bones / The Sun Has Failed / With Satan And Victorious Weapons / Those Of The Unlight / Christraping Black Metal / Blond Beast / The Black… / Wolves

As the last band of that Friday Order Of Nosferat (and with that some of the guys in Curse Upon A Prayer) praised the Lord down below. I always thought that the band would play some more ambient stuff but what my ears got to hear was some really grim and rough black metal in the typical Finnish way (let Sargeist or Satanic Warmaster be some reference for that). The guys came over very authentically and were a very cool nightcap. If you like that style of black metal you should really check them.

Setlist: Crossing the Shadowland / Vampiric Wrath Unleashed / Followed Path Of The Carpathian Bloodwolves / Beyond the Eternity Gates I Wait / Rats and Pestilence Shall Conquer / Fear The Unchained Ghoul / My Final Breath Cruel Awakening

Day 3

Getting waked up by the machines that clean the portable toilets at 7 am isn't the best thing on a Saturday, especially when the day is going to be that long. Fortunately I have a good sleep so I feel asleep again after the toilets were emptied. So with empty toilet tanks and empty stomach my morning started. Fortunately the crew brewed some good coffee so that I could get my daily caffeine dose.

At 2 PM the last day of the festival started with German Magoth, a band that has already released three really good albums. I was very excited to see them live for the first time and didn't get disappointed by them. Okay, the weather (sunny and hot) wasn't the best again for some hateful black metal music but the quartet bravely defied the sun. I guess it must have been quite tough wearing the goat heads the whole show which was full of energy and hatred. With "Lucifer Ascendit" we got a song premiere from the album and they also presented two more songs from the upcoming album ("Declaring Eschaton" and "Converging The Void"). Let's hope that the guys will release their new album quite soon, at the moment they are recording the album at Soundsight Studios in Bonn.

Setlist: Lucifer Ascendit / Sinister Forces Arose / Declaring Eschaton / Above the Sacred Lands / Sola Scriptura / Converging The Void / Thorns

Now it was time for King Demogorgon and Sardonic Witchery. I had the pleasure meeting him and his girlfriend the previous day and I have to say that he is really a crazy cool metalhead. So I was pretty curious to see him and his band on stage. They did a really cool show with spikes, axe and sword and their music was perfect for a festival. A lot of casual rock n' roll attitude mixed with some rumbling death / black metal – that was a lot of fun and with some beers even double.

Setlist: Sacrificial Storm Ritaul / Sofriemnto Da Ordem Do Tempo (Disciplina) / Lusitanian Wolf (Viriathus) / Barbaric Bastards Of Mass Destruction / Horizon's End / Merciless Warrior Of Steel / Nocturnal Wanderer (Goddess Of Desire)

Unfortunately the black metal party was over way too soon but one surprise hunted next that Saturday. German Amystery had a total blast that day. I knew the name of the band but never heard much of their music what I terribly regretted that day. They absolutely kicked ass and played the kind of black metal I personally like most - super catchy with a lot of Celtic Frost vibes mixed with frosty Scandinavian influences, nothing else it better than that. Their latest album "Chaos Empire Satan" is really a fierce beast and if you have the chance to get the album, you'd better do that!

Setlist: Introduction / End Of infinity / Incense Burning / Intro Grim Satanic Blessing / Nailed / Awake The Dead / Goddess Of Sins / Winds Of Chaos / Imperium Terror

Pestlegion did convince me the last time I saw them (which is about three years ago). This time they had the time for corpsepaint and everything so the prerequisites were fine. And from the first tunes the guys from the Ruhr Area did a good job. A symphonical intro and off we go. Fast black metal prevailed here and tempo-like they come pretty close to bands like Marduk or Dark Funeral. The sound was really good, only the vocals were a little bit too load at the beginning. But after some minutes the problem was solved and so this was a really good gig.

Setlist: We Deny Thy Name / The Witchhammer / The Portal / Of Gods…Evoke Hastur / Entsage Gott / March To War / Into The Golden Valley / The Warlocks Curse

Gorgon are one of the oldest French black metal bands, having released their first album "The Lady Rides A Black Horse" in 1995. I don't know why they never got the well-deserved attention, musically they are absolutely convincing and also the label on which they released their last three records isn't the smallest one (Osmose Productions). So they came, saw and conquered that early evening. Also equipped only with some pentagram flags, they focused more on the music than on stage setting. This worked really well. The audience also wasn't distracted by some stage stuff but had time to enjoy just the music which was really groovy and catchy. Fantastic show.

Setlist: For Those Who Stay / Traditio Satanae / Tower Of Gargoyle / The Lady Rides A Black Horse/ As a Stone / Still 666 / Depraved Conception / In Another Sea / Path of Doom / Tod. Mort. Death. / My Filth Is Worth Your Purity / The Jackal Pact / Time to Murder Your Family

What do have Denial Of God and Metallica in common? Yes, they both have a Danish drummer but that's not the thing I wanted to say. If you have a look at the time span between the releases they are both hot competitors for the slowest song-writers, I guess. I mean, Denial Of God exists since 1991 and just have released three albums. But so you don't need to learn so many songs by heart, that's the positive thing. On the stage, and that was to expect, they built on some opulent show with a lot of skulls and a coffin (not like King Diamond of course) to underline their morbid songs and musically they also convinced. With "Funeral" they also played my personal fave, so I was very satisfied with the show.

Setlist: Intro / The Curse Of The Witch / Undead Hunger / The Crypt Has Eyes / Funeral / The Book Of Oiufael / Robbing The Grave Of The Priest / The Horrors Of Satan

The last time I saw Swedish Bewitched I had to drive back home so this was a very dry gig for me. This time it was a little bit different and so I could party during the songs. "Diabolical Desecration" and "Pentagram Prayer" are still one of the most perfect black-thrash albums that were ever released and so I was very pleased that the guys played a lot of the songs from these two albums. Of course songs from the other three albums also found their place in the set but they don't kick that much ass in my opinion. This was a really perfect gig, the band enjoyed playing and Kristoffer told me after the show that they are going to record a new album soon. Let's hope this will really happen.

Setlist: Blood On The Altar / Night Of The Sinner / Holy Whore / Hellcult / Deathspell / Sabbath Of Sin / Triumph Of Evil / Fucked By Fire / Worship The Fire / Hellcult Attack / Hellblood / Cremation Of The Cross / Hard As Steel

I hadn't seen Mika Luttinen and his chaos hordes in Impaled Nazarene for about 30 years since that Saturday and they still appear that anarchic and cranky like they did back in 1996. Of course the line-up has massively changed since then but the songs still sound punky and evil as they did when they originally were released. What I personally really liked was that they played a lot of songs from "Tol Comrpt Norz Norz Norz", "Ugra-Karma" and "I Am The Killer Of Trolls" which still is one of the best ones. Maybe the musicians could have moved a little bit more on stage but the choice of songs and the sound plus light were absolutely fine.

Setlist: Stratagem / Absence Of War / Sadogoat / Something Sinister / For Those Who Have Fallen Eight Headed Serpent / Coraxo / Soul Rape / Steelvagina / I Am The Killer Of Trolls / Motorpenis / One Dead Nation Under One Dead God / Goat Of Mendes / Sadhu Satana / The Day Of Reckoning / Goatzied / The Horny And The Horned / Armageddon Death Squad / Total War, Winter War / Outro

And so the time for the last band had already come. Norwegian Abyssic were an absolute counterpart to every band that had played on the festival. Their music is much calmer, a very pleasant mixture between death and doom mixed with some orchestral parts. The night time was absolute perfect for this gig and the stage illumination did the rest to give that gig a very scary but pleasant atmosphere. I had seen Abyssic before and like on the previous gig I was again very impressed from the intensity the band creates on the stage. Especially vocalist Memnoch playing the contrabass and bass player Makhashanah are very impressive on the stage and it is truly a pleasure seeing them live. Let's hope that they will release a new, fourth album soon, at least they told me that there some plans for that next year.

Setlist: Funeral Elegy / Cold As A Winterstorm / Skoddeheimen / Sombre Dreams / Djevelens Lys

Well, that was the Under The Black Sun Festival 2025. What is my conclusion after these three very intense days? Well, first of all the line-up was really a killer line-up if you like extreme metal. Here weren't any shitty bands you can find so often on City XY Death Fest et cetera. All the bands had a lot of time to perform and this is also not usual. The sound and light crew did a really good job and also the other crew members were very nice. The food trucks had a really good choice of food (BBQ, Asian, ice-cream), the drinks were tasty (you could even get cocktails) and the prices were really fair. What I (and a lot of other people) missed, were some showers. There is a problem with the water supply to the festival area so this all is a little bit tricky but they are working on a solution for Under The Black Sun 2026.

I often heard rumors that the festival was a Nazi festival but this isn't the case. First of all, I know people from the more left-spectrum that go there and also the organizer of UTBS isn't into that but here and there I saw some guys with not such inappropriate shirts. But there is always the question how to deal with that, especially in an area of Germany where a Nazi-party is quite popular. If you restrict it, will there be even more of these people? If you don't are you tolerating it and accept that these persons are part of the festival? I guess it is hard to find a good solution for this.

Under The Black Sun was a really great festival where I met a lot of nice new people and also some friends I hadn't seen for many years. Let's hope that the next UTBS will be such a great one again!