Wow, what a great billing was my first thought when I saw the festival announcement a couple of months ago. I guess this was one of the best black metal billings during the last years and so I went very excited to Oberhausen very early at noon. Start was scheduled to be at 2 P.M., before I had the pleasure of meeting some friends I hadn't seen in years to do some gossip and punctually the first band started.

German Temple (which arose from the ashes of former "Forgotten Darkness") offered the audience some traditional black metal from their first demo. Their vocalist sounded pretty grim and a little bit as if he was suffering unbearable tortures and stylistically it was sort of a bastard between Scandinavian and French black metal. After about half an hour (and their four songs) their performance was over. It wasn't the best music I've ever heard but a good start into that long day and I am curious what is to come from the band in the future.

Setlist (don't know if it is in the correct order): Sacrificed Ego / Labyrinth / Die Of A Thousand Funeral Pyres / Torches

From the temple to the tombs – Sumerian Tombs hailing from Cologne, Germany really surprised me. I knew their first self-titled album but what the guys delivered on stage was much more energetic and rousing than the music on the album. Kicking off with a creepy atmospheric intro that makes you feel like you are trapped in an ancient tomb, the five guys (of which only their vocalist didn't wear a hood did a great performance that afternoon. A super crushing and brutal mixture of black and death which became better and better with each minute laid everything into ashes and left me quite speechless in front of the stage after 40 minutes. I guess I have to check Sumerian Tombs once again.

Setlist: Intro / Bloodgods Rise To Power / Altars Of The Past / Interlude / Edimmu Rising / Savage Dreams / Interlude / The Key – Bloodmeditation / Vampyric Dominance / Outro

After having visited the glorious Sumerian past it was now time for some more futuristic stuff hailing the pure chaos provided by the local tech-deathers Khthoniik Cerviiks. Maybe this band was the most polarizing one that day because their music truly is very bulky and strange. A lot of Voivod influences combined with some kind of black war metal are very obvious and if you don't like dissonant and harsh music, the guys probably aren't the right thing for you. High-pitched guitars, a lot of inexplicable breaks and guttural growls and insane screams maybe characterize the music best. I wonder why they still didn't perform any songs from their debut though…

Setlist: Odyssey 3000 / Magmatiik Moil / Scars 2.0 / Monochrome Man / Staiinless Archoliite / Elektriik Redeemer

Now it was time for some Belgian deli. Kicking off with one of his two bands to play that day (and with Slaughter Messiah, he is even involved in some more), Lord Sabathan (former Enthroned member) had a furious start with Heinous. Quite Scandinavian-sounding, the quintet were truly a blast. Harsh, furious and bestial black metal to the bone and probably their vocalist had a day-off from psychiatry. It was unbelievable how much power and energy he put into his performance. That was really an amazing show and there is to hope that the guys soon will release another album and maybe find a way to distribute their first full-length Ritual, Blood And Mysterious Dawn in an appropriate way – I was looking for it at the merch but a) I was too blind or b) it wasn't actually available.

Quickly after that French deathers Venefixion had quite an easy match. Delivering mostly stuff from their 2021 released full-length A Sigh From Below and also one new song from the Anointed In Nazarean Blood-EP ("Nocturnal Decit")they played harsh, brutal sulphurous death metal that touched my very blackish heart a lot. If you were looking for some innovative and technical surprises you surely were absolutely wrong with the French. Here some really old-school fans got a git with full guns and if you like stuff like Degial, old Venenum or Necrowretch you couldn't be disappointed from that gig.

Setlist: Veneficial Upheaval / Of Wolves And Ghosts / Summoned And Defiled / Aghori's Ashes Of The Dead / Nocturnal Decit / Necrophagous Abandon / III Chapel / As Light Goes Astray

According to a good friend of mine, nobody can nag as beautiful as Lord Sabathan. Well, maybe my wife can but unfortunately she isn't singer in a black metal band so there may be some other reasons for that. So now the time was right for Lord Sabathans' second band that evening where he had a bigger role than in Heinous, bass and vocals. Musically they played fast black metal quite similar to Slaughter Messiah (vocals) and old Enthroned (from the rest) and of course that's no big surprise if you know that he was a band member until 2006. And surprise surprise, they had a very special Enthroned set and for "Rites Of The Northern Fullmoon" they had a special guest on the stage – Onielar from Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. Wow, that was really impressive and I guess both were pretty proud about that (at least both mentioned the special surprise to me before their show).

Setlist: Intro / The Ultimate Horde Fights / Scared By Darkwinds / Ha-Shaitan / Rites Of The Northern Fullmoon / At The Sound Of The Millenium Black Bells / Bloodline / Evil Church / Radiance Of Mordacity / Hertogenwald / By Dark Glorious Thoughts

Hell Militia had a very strange disturbing background show and that was quite matching to their black metal. A little bit psychotic, morbid and full of hatred they really kicked ass. Just having re-released their first album Canonisation Of The Foul Spirit they also opened with "Burning Human Pigs" from that one. But also from the other three albums they played some songs and got a lot of support from the audience that evening. Although it wasn't that sort of easy listening black metal they were really cool and for the last track (G.G. Allin cover of "Shoot Knife Strangle Beat & Crucify") they got their countrymen from Venefixion as support on the stage.

Setlist: Burning Human Pigs (live version) / Goathrone / Black Arts Of Crime / Fili Diaboli / Dust Of Time / Jericho / Always The Same (sample) / Black Fucking Cancer / Jacob's Ladder / Shoot, Knife, Strangle Beat And Crucify

Finally the time has come for Bewitched and I have to confess that I was looking forward the most to see them live once again. Too long it has been (1996) and too long it has been that they released some new music. The Swedes knew how to satisfy the audience because they mainly focused on the first three albums. Although the sound actually wasn't the best that evening, their show which was full of energy was impressive and makes you feel as a teenager again. And if you know the old hits by heart and raise your fist and yell lines like "We desecrate, we violate, we burn the book of lies" or the refrain in "Hellcult Attack" everything is fine for that special moment. Let's hope for some new music from the guys, that would be great!

Setlist: Blood On The Altar / Might Of The Sinner / Holy Whore / Hellcult / Deathspell / Sabbath Of Sin / Triumph Of Evil / Fucked By Fire / Worship The Fire / Hellcult Attack / Hellblood / At The Gates Of Hell

And finally after some long nine hours it was time for Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. I had never seen them live before and have to state that Onielar (and she already impressed me at the guest appearance in Sabathan) with her ghastly masquerade alone is worth watching the show. She appeared like some kind of ghost / witch and that dress and everything was stunning and scary both. Her vocal performance was really sick, high-pitched screams and creaking vocal lines changed so fast, really unbelievable! Musically the band performed really well, also the sound was absolutely fine and with "Das All-Eine" and "To Necromancy" they had two songs I personally love very much. If you have never seen the Germans live, you should do that when you have the next opportunity.

Setlist: Intro / Mardom – Echo Zmory / In The Land Of… / A Beseechment Twofold / Bearer Of Blackest / Malignant Deathcult / Das All-Eine / In The Hue Of Night / Imperishable Soulless Gown / Spectral Runlets Of Tulwod / To Necromancy

That Saturday truly was a masterpiece of death / black metal and I hope that next year will be coming part IX of Odyssey To Blasphemy!