Samhain Antwerp: A Preview
Samhain Antwerp: A Preview
29-30th March 2025
Trix, Antwerp Belgium
Disruptive. Ambitious. Some words that spring to mind every time I look at the poster for the next addition of Samhain Extreme Metal festival, returning to its homeland for its 5th anniversary. Any festival lineup that features the outrageous combined fire power of Suffocation, Enslaved, Anaal Nathrakh and an extremely rare appearance from Dragged Into Sunlight to occupy the headline and upper card slots should command instant respect! At the time of writing, the festival has still not sold out. Which is remarkable considering the Maastricht 2024 edition sold out 4 months in advance!
See, Samhain is a little personal to me, given that my trip to the south of The Netherlands in autumn 2024 was a truly life changing and unforgettable experience for me (read about it here Samhain Festival 2024, Maastricht (Netherlands) – Ever Metal). Which is why I feel compelled to tell you about it and hopefully convince you as to why you should go.
From my perspective in the UK, it’s an opportunity to catch bands that very rarely venture to this island. Whether it’s the likes of Groza, Sunken, and Vemod supplying more Modern approaches to Black Metal in the lower/middle card, Wyatt E. and Pothamus providing more Experimental offerings to Extreme Music, or the Speed and Thrash induced chaos of Hellripper and Butcher, there is an absurd variety and exceptional range of genres available. Is that not enough? If you want riffs with more weight to them, Ahab, The Ruins Of Beverast and GGU:LL have you covered. Maybe more Atmospheric and Theatrical Black Metal is your thing? Cult Of Fire, Thy Light and The Great Old Ones are rocking into town. As well as the aforementioned headlining acts.
‘What about clashes?’ I hear you cry. Well. Damnation 2024 featured one of the most gruesome and heartbreaking clashes of all time; Ahab and Dragged Into Sunlight. But, I’ve been told that, for Samhain, they’re mainstage acts! The idea of being able to enjoy both acts is a truly salivating prospect for me.
Some may point to the festival being a ‘Damnation clone’. Whilst there are some overlaps, yes, promoter Benjamin has openly admitted he was inspired by this festival and wanted to bring similar bands to his home country. Any promoter than convince Dragged Into Sunlight to play a show in any shape or form is surely the real deal! Plus getting to escape the hustle and bustle of my home in Manchester to experience all of this in a city with a rich cultural heritage like Antwerp is another major selling point to me (I’ll make some time to do some sightseeing).
Maybe the idea of going to a huge outdoor festival where you become lost in a sea of 20,000+ bodies whilst being ankle deep in mud and exposed to the elements isn’t your thing? Samhain always intends to offer a much smaller, more intimate inner city feel to its festivals. As I attended Maastricht last autumn, I feel that I’m qualified to say that this is exactly what they delivered! I really appreciated that much more homely, less suffocating atmosphere and I’m sure I’ll have a similarly positive experience in Antwerp (my first visit to the city, and Belgium as a whole) as attendance is predicted to be no more than 1100.
So, grab yourself a ticket to one of the fastest growing and most ambitious festivals on the continent, one that’s making enough noise to make itself gain serious respect and traction that’s already disrupting the established extreme metal festival scene.
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