Brutal Assault 2020 Adds Cattle Decapitation, Fever333, Katatonia, Life of Agony and More!


Brutal Assault has added a plethora of new bands for 2020! Among the new bands playing the festival include Cattle Decapitation, Fever333, Katatonia, Life of Agony, Shadow of Intent, Fueled By Fire, Katatonia, Psykup, Mysticum, and Imperial Triumphant. The twenty-fifth edition of Brutal Assault Festival takes place August 5 – 8th at historic Fortress Josefov, in Czech Republic and will feature 130+ bands on five stages over four days. Watch a new trailer for the fest right now!Continue reading


Cradle of Filth, Static-X, Kvelertak, Havok, While She Sleeps and More Added to Brutal Assault 2020


Brutal Assault has added twenty more bands for their 25th anniversary in 2020. Now joining the bill (in alphabetical order) are 1914, Arcturus, Author & Punisher, Beyond Creation, Cradle Of Filth, Draconis Infernum, Frontierer, Havok, Kvelertak, Mass Infection, Me And That Man, Necrophobic, Ottone Pesante, Pensées Nocturnes, Ring Of Saturn, Sigh, Static–X, Toxic Holocaust, Vader, and While She Sleeps. Brutal Assault 25 takes place August 5-8, 2020at the legendary Fortress Josefov and boasts 140+ bands on four days over five stages. Tickets and full band list below. Continue reading


Brutal Assault Announces Dark Funeral, Asphyx, Myrkur, Evoken and More For 2020 Festival


Brutal Assault came to a close last night and has already announced the first bands for their 2020 festival which will be their 25th Anniversary! The fest handed out flyers with their first announcements of Dark Funeral, Asphyx, Myrkur, Evoken, Razor, Manes, Nocturnis AD, Hentai Corporation as the first bands on the bill with many more to come. Brutal Assault 2019 played host to 140 bands performing inside legendary Fortress Josefov, a historic war fortress, in Czech Republic.Continue reading


Parkway Drive, Azusa, Nordjevel, Combichrist, Caspian and More Added To Brutal Assault Fest 2019


Brutal Assault 2019 has added another bunch of bands for the next edition of the festival! New bands added include Parkway Drive, Azusa, Nordjevel, Combichrist, Caspian, Violent Magic Orchestra, Caspian, Déluge, Frog Leap, and Hexis. the bill with more to come. One-hundred and thirty bands will play in the ancient and legendary Josefov Fortress castle on four stages all weekend from 7 -10 August 2019. The full list of bands so far can be seen below and tickets are on sale now from the event page.

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Soilwork, Monster Magnet, Triumph of Death, Coven, Demolition Hammer, Walls Of Jericho Added to Brutal Assault Fest


10/27/18, LPR X, NYC. www.ghostcultmag.com


Brutal Assault 2019 has added another bunch of bands for the next edition of the festival Soilwork, Monster Magnet, Triumph of Death, Coven, Demolition Hammer, Wall Of Jericho, The Arson Project, The Contortionist, Vampilla, and Skeletal Remains to join the bill with more to come. One-hundred and thirty bands will play in the ancient and legendary Josefov Fortress castle on four stages all weekend from 7 -10 August 2019. The full list of bands so far can be seen below and tickets are on sale now from the event page.
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Sodom, Sick Of It All, Therion, EyeHateGod, Gost and More Added to Brutal Assault 2019


Brutal Assault 2019 has added another badass batch of bands for the next edition of the festival. Joining an incredible bill that already features greats such as Dimmu Borgir, Godflesh, Anthrax, Meshuggah, Carcass, Sacred Reich, and Carpenter Brut, new additions to the fest include Sodom, Sick Of It All, Therion, EyeHateGod, Gost, Wormed, and Vulvodynia. One-hundred and thirty bands will play in the ancient and legendary Josefov Fortress castle on four stages all weekend from 7 -10 August 2019. The full list of bands so far can be seen below and tickets are on sale now from the event page.Continue reading


Brutal Assault Shares 2018 Recap Video, New Bands Added


Brutal Assault Festival 2019 continues to gain steam, as they recently added Voivod, Violator, Dr. Living Dead, Slapshot, Ensiferum, Decapitated, Animals as Leaders, Car Bomb, Letters From The Colony and Zuriaake to the bill. One-hundred and thirty bands will play in the ancient and legendary Josefov Fortress castle on four stages all weekend from 7 -10 August 2019. Already booked are legends and future legends like Dimmu Borgir, Godflesh, Anthrax, Meshuggah, Carcass, Sacred Reich, Carpenter Brut, Iron Reagan, Venom Prison, Thy Art Is Murder, Prong, Alien Weaponry, Deicide, Cult Of Luna, Get The Shot, Daughters and many more. The full list so far can be seen below and tickets are on sale now from the event page.

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Dimmu Borgir, Godflesh, Anthrax, Meshuggah, Carcass, Sacred Reich, Carpenter Brut And More Booked For Brutal Assault 2019


Long-running metal festival Brutal Assault has made a massive announcement for 2019. One-hundred and thirty bands will play in the ancient and legendary Josefov Fortress castle on four stages all weekend from 7 -10 August 2019. So far the festival lineup is stacked with Dimmu Borgir, Godflesh, Anthrax, Meshuggah, Carcass, Sacred Reich, Carpenter Brut, Iron Reagan, Venom Prison, Thy Art Is Murder, Prong, Alien Weaponry, Deicide, Cult Of Luna, Get The Shot, Daughters and many more. The full list so far can be seen below and tickets are on sale now from the event page. Continue reading


Manes Share New Music Video, New Album Due Out Next Month


Norwegian experimental metal band Manes have shared a music video for their new single ‘Endetidstegn’. The track is the opening salvo from their new album Slow Motion Death Sequence, due out 24th August via Debemur Morti Productions. Directed by Guilherme Henriques, whose past visual collaborations with artists such as Belphegor, Wormed, and Hideous Divinity; the clip for ‘Endetidstegn’ is a bleak horrorscape, which matches the trippy music perfectly. Watch it now! Continue reading


VIII – Decathexis


VIII - Decathexis thirdeyerex ghostcultmag

The PR notes accompanying Decathexis (Third-I Rex), the second album from Cagliari firebrands VIII, advise comparisons with Extreme experimentalists Deathspell Omega and Manes. The reality, however, is a progressive aural violence full of invention.

Opener ‘Symptom’s early exchanges see a stripped down, Blackened underpin, quirky in its structure and graced by WLKN’s snarled growl, suddenly tempered by maudlin drops which lend themselves to a Shoegaze feel. That Manes comparison manifests itself with a Jazzy sax, which introduces a dream-like sequence: a piano-led ambience; a street walk followed by a nightmarish descent through rapid atonal chords, Freeform pace changes and hostile growls, with those ivories beginning the road to a sample-laden coda in hair-raising fashion.

The early stages of the ensuing ‘Diagnosis’ beautifully blend an emotional, atmospheric Doom with more of that wistful saxophone and the kind of Deathly, downward spirals perfected by the likes of Pyrrhon. A meander through eerie gentleness is followed by a rampant, horrific explosion, the throat morphing from growl to Blackened rasp in a terrifying escalation of anger. This is the depiction of a war zone yet, replete with a subtle piano centrepiece, the apocalyptic, heartbreaking aftermath of battle is gloriously displayed also.

There’s a Blues-Punk edge to the bludgeon of closer ‘Prognosis’ which lends a more traditional edge but the experimentation is still evident: the sparing, neurotic riffs given a tremolo effect; the atmospheric blast of classical acoustic; the brief, gradual drop once again full of melancholy and portent. It’s WLKN’s voice which again provides the savagery, especially in the tolling, Avant-garde atonality of the second movement: his screams and whispers demonical in accompanying the hydraulic Industria and Marco Porcu’s staggering stickwork.

This constant movement through disparate fundamentals can lead to ‘Prognosis’ occasionally feeling a touch difficult to engage with, its cosmic yet serene finale an ineffectual end to the urgency of the previous 45 minutes. The whole is nevertheless an absorbing tour de force, its manic nature running in perfect tandem with a moving ambience to incite all manner of emotion. By no means an easy listen, Decathexis is nevertheless a hugely rewarding journey.

8.0/10.0

PAUL QUINN