Hellfest 2024 Books Metallica, Foo Fighters, Avenged Sevenfold, Machine Head, Body Count, Biohazard, Mr. Bungle and More


Hellfest, held every year just outside of Paris, in Clisson, France, continues to up the ante every year with forever growing and impressive lineups! Taking place from June 27 to June 30, 2024, Hellfest will once again be four days long and over 200 bands appearing on six stages. For 2024, the headliners for each night will be Avenged Sevenfold, Machine Head, Metallica, and Foo Fighters. The full daily lineups, including one more major band tba, and the ticket link are coming soon!

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CONCERT REVIEW: Batushka – Swallow The Sun – Stormruler Live at the Brooklyn Monarch


 

Mid-August always carries a wistful air as the summer heat reaches full swing but so does our knowledge of its impermanence. What better way to quell our gloomy pondering than with a black metal show at The Brooklyn Monarch?

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PREVIEW: 70000 Tons Of Metal 2023 Announces Running Order, Sets Sail Today


The 2023 edition of 70000 Tons of Metal Cruise is here! Setting sail today with 61 other world-class metal bands and 3000 fans on board the Freedom of the Seas, sailing from January 30 – February 3, 2023, from Miami, Florida to Bimini, Bahamas, and back. Ghost Cult will be there! For a last-minute addition to the cruise, Hypocrisy has joined up. The cruise has announced its running order, singing schedule, and more. If you missed the boat (sorry ?) this year, stay tuned to Ghost Cult for our review of the cruise, and how you can go next year!

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CONCERT REVIEW: Batushka – Hate Live At The Brooklyn Monarch


 


Batushka and Hate took on The Brooklyn Monarch! I was very excited to be able to see these two Polish black metal titans together on the same bill. Hate, who I’ve seen a few times, always brings energy to the crowd and effectively keeps me coming back for more. Their rifts are heavy and evil, filled with anger and that undeniable black metal spirit. In direct contrast with their crowd, who were surprisingly friendly for being fans of a band called Hate. They were very accommodating to me coming in late and taking photos, and for that I would like to thank them. Fans would let me pop right in and out with ease, though my luck ran out when the almighty Batushka took the stage.

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Diabolical and Batushka Book The “Black Liturgy Pilgrimage” Tour This Spring



Following the very successful Black Rituals tour in northern/central Europe this fall, Diabolical and Batushka will reunite for another tour in 2022 to do another European tour, this time focusing more on the southern regions of the continent. The “Black Liturgy Pilgrimage” will see Diabolical celebrating 25 years as a band, Diabolical are preparing a special set with songs that haven’t been performed live in recent years, but also new material.

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GUEST POST: Andrew Mikhail of Serpents (US) – Top 25 Albums of 2019


 

It’s time for another Ghost Cult “End Of Year” Guest post! We’ll be sharing lists, memories, and other shenanigans from our favorite bands, partners, music industry peers, and other folks we respect across the globe all month long! Andrew Mikhail and his Orchestral Blackened Death Metal band Serpents (US) released their immaculate Temet Nosce release, played some tour dates formulated many plans for 2020. Andrew took some time out to share his personal Top 25 albums of 2019, and he also curated a Top 50 Spotify playlist available on the Serpents U.S. Page that deserves your attention too! Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2019


Now in its nineteenth year, the annual metal pilgrimage to Bloodstock Open Air at Catton Hall in Derbyshire was joined this year by a very special, but highly unstable, guest.

The weather.

Yes, I know it’s England in August, and we should be more than accustomed to inconsistent weather conditions, but this really was something else. Tents too hot to be inside one moment were waterlogged the next. People soaked to the skin by sudden, torrential downpours were suffering sunburn minutes later. Grass turned to mud, mud became rivers, and the unprecedented winds would go on to cause problems all of their own.Continue reading


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2019


The time is nigh! Bloodstock 2019, the best major independent music festival in the world is here! Ghost Cult’s crack team will be on-site as we have been every year in our existence, bringing you this vital heavy music event and experience! Featuring Sabaton, Parkway Drive and Scorpions, along with Anthrax, Batushka, Children Of Bodom, Code Orange, Cancer Bats, Powerwolf, Soilwork, Cradle Of Filth, Thy Art Is Murder, Tesseract, Metal Church, Soulfly, Death Angel, Dee Snider, Queensryche, Eluveitie, Swallow The Sun, Evil Scarecrow, Ross The Boss, Grand Magus, Krysthla, Rotting Christ, Aborted, Skeletal Remains, All Hail The Yeti, Incite, Hypocrisy, Taake, The Lazys, Xentrix, and many more on the Catton Park stages this August. More bands are still being announced, but see the line-up so far here. Check out our day by day list must-see list below and everything else you need to know! Continue reading


Batushka Added to Bloodstock This Weekend, Dimmu Borgir Cancels


Polish Black Metal band Batushka (Bart version) has been added as a late addition to Bloodstock 2019 on the main stage third from the top on Sunday, replacing Dimmu Borgir who have canceled due to illness. The band released their album Hospodi through Metal Blade Records. They will play directly before Queensryche and Scorpions on Sunday 11th August. Continue reading


Batushka Announces North American Headline Tour Dates, New Album Out Now


Batushka (Bart version) has released their epic new album Hospodi is out now via Metal Blade Records. The band has now announced a headline tour of the U.S. and Canada in November and December. The tour kicks off on November 29 in Toronto and runs through December 21 in Los Angeles. All dates are below. Tickets go on sale on Friday, July 26 at 10 am local time.Continue reading