Samhain Maastricht 2025
Samhain Maastricht
25-26th October 2025
Muziekgieterij, Maastricht, NL
Review by Oli Gonzalez
Traditions. We all have them. The nights get longer and colder at this time of year as we’re reminded that winter is near, as the calendar enters the 10th month of October. In the past, this time of the year would have been marked as the celebration of the harvest season’s end and the beginning of the Celtic New Year. This coincided with the ever-thinning veil between the living and spirit realms, and the increase of encounters between the two.
Samhain.
In modern times, this time of year is celebrated with different traditions. Horror movies crop up on our TVs, social media is filled with pictures of those in spooky outfits at various parties and gatherings, and pumpkin stocks in our supermarkets rise. In the city of Maastricht, Netherlands, a new annual tradition is forming and becoming a more and more recognised cog in the autumn European Extreme Metal circuit, along with the likes of Damnation and Soulcrusher, to name just a few.
Samhain.
I was in attendance this year once again in what’s becoming an annual tradition for myself, along with many of those based in the south of the country and surrounding areas – as well as what’s becoming a much larger international community. I made the journey once again to immerse myself in 2 days of extreme and niche Metal bands, with a delicious blend of post, Black, Doom Metal, and other genres. This is an account of my highs, lows, and surprises from this year’s festivities.
Highs
Morast
Old school bruising Death Metal combined with the gnarly bludgeoning hammer of Doom Metal. This was everything I had expected and much more! My head involuntarily rocked back and forth more than I had anticipated during their solid set early on the Saturday. Hopefully they make it to the UK some day!
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMorast
Schammasch
The bar was high. Very high. They released my favourite album of 2024. They were one of the main reasons for coming to The Netherlands. They did not disappoint. Just observing the sound check meant you could tell they put a lot of effort into their sound and care about the details. After all, with their mindbogglingly complex sound, it’s easy to make them sound like atmospheric slop with a bad mix. The sound engineers earned their wages and they sounded absolutely immense! Especially during ‘They Have Found Their Masters’, with the utterly powerful crescendo of a chorus. Though the intricate melodies of ‘Paradigm Of Beauty’ were captured equally well in what was a truly spellbinding set and well worth the 1000 mile round trip to see in the flesh!
https://www.facebook.com/SCHAMMASCH
Waldgefluster
Emotion. The Black Metal act emerging from the woodlands of Munich’s sound is based all on emotion. Whether it’s the scorching lead guitars or the haunting wails of angst from inside vocalist Winterherz’s soul, a live performance from this band has the capacity to move you in multiple directions. This Saturday evening was no exception as they dazzled many in the Club stage. Another underrated Black Metal band who really ought to come back to the UK.
https://www.facebook.com/BlackMetalWaldgefluester
Author and Punisher
Justin Shone, accompanied by guitarist Doug Sabolick laid waste to Maastricht with his bruising brand of Industrial Metal, all being the result of his delightfully devilish homemade instruments! The thunderous low end rumble was t-shirt shakingly heavy, ensuring that good quality hearing protection was essential for this unique set. A set which has to be seen in the flesh to fully appreciate his genius!
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorandPunisher
Necrot
Another punishing old school Death metal band. No glitz or glamor. Just good old fashioned riffs played at blistering pace and punishingly heavy. In my experience, we rarely see pits at this festival. Though the Sacramento power trio offered just the right amount of encouragement to get the crowd charging into each other like rams dripping in testosterone! One of the few death metal bands on the lineup, they stood out for all the right reasons and made quite an impression on the festival.
https://www.facebook.com/cyclesofpain
Venue Improvements
Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. For instance, creating a small merch village freed up so much more space in the hallway for additional seating and a social space, and just generally making it a clutter free area! Also, a few raised platforms in the second stage meant getting a good view of the bands was always an option.
While not new, being able to watch the two stages from raised balconies is another example of the brilliant infrastructure at the venue.
Venue Staff
To the member of security staff who helped me find my lost t-shirt, hopefully you read this and get the praise you deserve. See, I rented a locker on the Saturday and left a t-shirt there but COMPLETELY forgot about it until the next day. The venue policy is to empty them overnight so by all rights, I had accepted that I had lost that bit of merch due to my own forgetfulness and stupidity. Though this absolute hero helped me track it down and now I’ve got another Samhain t-shirt for the collection.
Lows
Enisum
The Italian atmospheric Black Metal band had some quality instrumental elements which offered a more melodic and immersive twist on the genre. Unfortunately, their vocalist seemed to get drowned out in the mix and visually, the poor lighting and excess smoke didn’t help.
https://www.facebook.com/enisum
Heretoir
Finding out that one of the main draws and a major bucket list band for me had pulled out a day before their performance was a major blow. Nothing could be done by the festival though and they got a quality replacement at the last minute. Still, it wasn’t the same.
Pint thrown into sound desk
I thought this was a British problem. But apparently this happens in The Netherlands too. STOP THROWING YOUR DRINK IN THE AIR DURING A PIT!
You’re not funny, you’re an idiot. To the person who did this, your drink landed on the sound desk! Only a few drops but any more could have seriously damaged electrical equipment and potentially derailed the festival. You’d feel clever doing that now wouldn’t you?
Talking during Author And Punisher?
Why do people feel it’s ok to talk during sets? Go outside into the foyer. Don’t ruin the immersive experience for everybody else by talking to your friend about your mortgage repayment or what you had for dinner last night.
Surprises
Wiegedood
Imagine booking a very rare set from a band performing not 1, not 2, but 3 albums back to back. Surely that’s headline material, right? Not in this case. See, Belgium’s Wiegedood were confirmed to perform at a staggering early 12.20pm, 20 minutes after doors on the Sunday. Far too early for some which caused some negative reactions on social media.
Personally, I was glad to see this fresh, shortly after doors. As opposed to late at night after a long day of headbanging leaving my aching back, neck and feet in need of rest. They tore through the 3 albums with ferocious aggression and speed making you wonder how they could possibly maintain this for a whole 2 hours and to not even break a set in doing so! Unlucky to those who couldn’t make the early doors I guess.
https://www.facebook.com/wiegedood
Thra
Opening up a festival is never easy. Some see it as being given the short end of the stick and may even go into the halfhearted in front of a smaller crowd. Not for Thra though. Their ferocious flavour of death metal was witnessed by a respectably large crowd as they opened the Club second stage with a quality light production sound making you feel like they could have easily commanded a slot higher up on the card! They left everything on that stage and whilst I knew very little about them, I left Samhain as a new fan of the band.
https://www.facebook.com/Thraphx
Hemelbestormer
A late addition to the lineup after the fall of Heretoir. Though the seasoned post-Doom veterans were ready to lay siege to the Club stage with a stunning concoction of swirling atmospheric melodies and punishing low end thunder. After all, any band on the Pelagic Records label is worth their weight in gold and the band upheld this reputation. I went from never having heard of the band to bingeing their discography on the journey back home to England!
https://www.facebook.com/Hemelbestormer
Lowen
It took me a while to understand Lowen. Seeing them in the flesh made so much sense. See, they’re not like any other Doom metal band. Successfully enhancing the low and slow riffs of this subgenre with a Middle Eastern spice is making the band one of the most respected and standouts in the scene. Vocalist Nina was a force of nature behind the mic and a crucial cog in the band’s sound. A sound that nobody else is doing at present!
https://www.facebook.com/Lowenband
Dodheimsgard
Honestly a band I was going to skip. That would have been dumb! Falling under the Avant-Garde Black Metal tag, they’re about as left field as you can get. Superbly blending experimental psychedelic jazz passages with more traditional, straight up in your face Black Metal ferocity ensures that you’re always being challenged and unsure of what’s coming next. Kind of like a Black Metal version of Blood Incantation! It’s rare to see Black Metal frontmen as fun and engaging as Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez, but his energy and flamboyance was so entertaining! Although they take their music very seriously, he clearly does not take himself anywhere near as seriously, and I love that! They come to the UK at Fortress Festival 2026 and I’ll make sure I’m there.
https://www.facebook.com/DODHEIMSGARD
Final Thoughts
All in all, a wonderful weekend in such a beautiful city in a country that truly embraces and appreciates the arts in all their forms. Despite travelling on my own, staying in a local hostel meant that I got to meet a few new people and some friendly faces to talk to in between bands. In fact, I neverwas really ‘alone’ while being there. Promoter and organiser Ben was an excellent host, and sent a very warm message to thank me for attending whilst I was on my way home. Imagine that with the bigger festivals. That wouldn’t happen. This is just one of many reasons – alongside the killer bands – that is making this little trip to The Netherlands in late October an annual tradition for me.
Samhain.
Video review:
2026 Trailer:
LINKS:
Promoter:
Venue:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Oli Gonzalez and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
