Rockstadt Extreme Fest (REF) 2024 – Review
Hey.
Since Türkiye is not a part of summer festivals and I don’t want to settle for bits and pieces, Rockstadt Extreme Fest (lets not forget the mighty Brutal Assault as well) became a reasonable choice for a few days of heavily drinking and headbanging. For its 10th year, REF really upped its game and announced a massive line-up, spread to 6 days. Its not just the cheapest metal festival of the Europe anymore, but also with one of the best line-up. DIMMU BORGIR, OPETH, TESTAMENT, AMON AMARTH, HATEBREED, SAXON and FEAR FACTORY were only few headliners among 100+ bands and bans like BEHEMOTH and CATTLE DECAPITATION performed on the warm-up/1st day of the festival.
I’m not going to review each band I’ve seen, because there are more than 30 and it would take forever. What I want to do is to talk about the general atmoshpere, organization, people and performances of REF2024. Thats why I’m doing it in English, because I want more people to learn about Rockstadt. Grab your favorite tankard, and lets roll.
“On the grounds of Transylvania”, its one of the best places for a metal festival. Sombre castles, thick forests and mist covers the festival grounds. Its my second time there, and its always mesmerising to walk among long, thick trees to reach the gates of REF. Its a special place, to say the least. Last year, there was in issue about the 3rd stage and its location, mainly due to limitations of the area, but this time they expanded the field and that 3rd stage (not a small stage by the way) was my favorite so kudos to organizators; they’ve listened and paid attention.
Talking about stages, one issue bothered me the most is the sound problems of the main two stages. After day 2, it got weird and sometimes all we can hear was the bass. Maybe its because the viking raids of Amon Amarth, but something happened and I’ve witnessed many people complaining about the lack of guitars. Fans even yelled “Fix the sound!” during Opeth show, where Mikael didn’t seem to be bothered and just got on with his usual jibberish. They played a by request set and it was sad to not to see any songs from early records like Still Life or Morningrise. Who would wanna listen In My Time of Need live? Well, apparently many people does.
Another sound issue appeared on ANAAL NATHRAKH show. Dave Hunt was hammered and he’s not on his top level but during Endarkenment, whole sound just vanished and the hilarious thing was that they didn’t noticed and just kept going. Crowd were kind of enough to clap, cheer and let the band finish its set but as a fan who loves this song, it was pretty disappointing. Last year was amazing soundwise, and I’m sure they’ll fix it next year but still, a bummer.
Well, thats the whole negative/disappointing parts of the festival, so I wanted to get it out of our way. Oh, maybe I should mention the bees. Not they are the reason the whole planet is alive kind of bees, but those chaos agent freak wasps who just wants a piece from you no matter what. My buddy got stung 3 times and they were still hunting him afterwards. One local told me its because of the lack of rain. I’m seriously considering to search about rain prayers if I’ll decide to go next year.
There are many amazing, electrifying sides of REF2024 of course, and maybe the most important part is the people. Really. I mean metal community is always looking for another (except NSBM assholes) but Romanian people are really kind, considerate and they want you to have a good time. There were many people from Latin America, Middle-East and different regions of Europe, and Romanians welcomed us all. I’ve lost my card (I blame Amon Amarth for chaining us to oars!) with a good amount of credits in it, and I was pretty sure it won’t be coming back (its not exclusively defined, so you can’t claim anything when its gone) but a kind lady named Madalina found it and gave it back to me after a day. Thanks to everyone on the Facebook Group who offered me beers, food etc. in the meantime. Not just this though, they’re all around cool people and its always fun to have a beer (or a couple, or maybe a bottle of Jameson I dunno) with them.
This is six days of headbanging on three stages; different musical styles ranging from pagan/folk music to old school death metal, from black metal to nwobhm to pure American hardcore, and everything in between. A surprising, yet welcomed performance was by the BRUTUS though. Belgian band led by drummer/vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts, Brutus provided a sonic shift with their blend of post-metal, post-hardcore/punk, and shoegaze. Her simultaneous drumming and vocal performance was a highlight, and her emotive delivery resonated deeply with the audience. As far as I’m concerned, I’m fine with this kind of diversity in extreme festivals, and there were many fans wearing Brutus t-shirts so I guess people were happy.
Another one of the highlight moments of REF2024 was definitely Amon Amarth. They’re on another level and from their epic stage show to interaction with the audience, from their blistering sound to Viking valor, once again they’ve left me stunned by their majestic performance. I’m not the biggest fan of their post-2008 records, but they’re one hell of a live band. I’m also surprised by the inclusion of Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags again, first time since their 2017 tour.
The “Klash of the Teutons” was also a major event, occured in unholy grounds of Transylvania this year. KREATOR, SODOM, DESTRUCTION and TANKARD are all made the dust fly around with classic but spectacular shows. German thrash bands always deliver but having the “Big 4” on board at the same time was something else. TESTAMENT, another thrash titan, also delivered an auditory masterclass. The dexterity, the energy was just unparalleled. Chuck Billy’s vocals are top notch and songs from the first two records (old school set baby!) blasted through my ears, pummeling on my chest with that thundering fretless bass of Steve DiGiorgio. One younger thrash band that etched an ineffaceable mark upon the REF was HAVOK though. Younger is a relative term; these Americans are around for almost 20 years and witnessing an uncalled wall of death three times during their show clearly indicated how passionate, how crazy are their fans. This was the year of thrash for REF, and fans made the most of it.
One thing allows fans to enjoy the festival at full speed is the prices. Rockstadt really is a cheap festival and still, you can delicious food with many vegetarian options as well. Just check the price list of this year and see for yourself. We bathed in Jameson with no hesitation, haha.
Lets wrap this up with my favorite shows of the REF2024. Dimmu Borgir was on my bucket list for a really long time, so surely its the crown jewel but some bands were unexpectedly left a mark upon my memory. WATAIN emerged with blazing torches, and an unholy aura rippled from the stage as Erik started his dark ritual. He has a commanding presence and when combined with props, flames and sinister melodies, Watain becomes a tempting dark entity. Although it was a short set, they easily beguiled the crowd with their otherworldly, haunting show.
1349 was a different kind of beast though. With almost no props and effects, they just smashed our eardrums with relentless blast-beats and razor-sharp riffs. Norwegian bunch are no newcomers so that was not totally unexpected, but I didn’t know that Ravn is such a powerful frontman. As he led with his frenzied screams, 1349 conjured an eerie atmosphere with pure Norwegian black metal energy. One of the tightest, most intense performances of REF2024 belonged to them. I’m still shivering when I think about the raw passion of the band whilst playing old classics like I am Abomination, and Sculptor of Flesh.
Bands like NANOWAR OF STEEL, FROG LEAP and GUTALAX are the needed dose of parody and fun of the REF2024. Especially Gutalax has an absurdly passionate fanbase and their dedication to bring the most silly costumes and props to their show is just amazing. Plungers, toilet papers, blow up sex dolls, inflatable t-rex costumes… I can keep going on. Grindcore was never this fun before and Gutalax always ensures that everybody have a good time. Nanowar of Steel was also hilarious. Their songs are just over-the-top metal parody and full of catchy melodies and sing-a-long parts. Seeing people with nihilistic tattoos and black metal tshirts shaking their asses while Norwegian Reggaeton and that Wall of Love is still making me giggle by the way. Check it out:
ABBATH playing IMMORTAL classics, doombringer AMENRA making people who don’t know but yet hug and comfort eachother, EIVØR who is known for her ethereal vocals and evocative sound creating a cool Viking ambient and HATEBREED, that hardcore masters bringing 30 years of experience to the stage are some other noteworthy mentions. Overall, REF2024 featured a range of unforgettable performances and moments that’ll linger in my head forever. Rockstadt Extreme Festival is now a major event in Europe for metalheads and although there are room for some improvements, its very fascinating as it is now. I’ll share some of the pictures I took during the festival, and let the post-festival depression sink in.
