22.05.2025 Crossfaith

Graspop Metal Meeting

Dessel (Belgium)

The final day of Graspop Metal Meeting 2025 had dawned, and it was set to begin with guests from the land of the rising sun. Crossfaith from Japan had already appeared at the festival several times, usually on one of the smaller side stages. But today, they finally received the honor of opening the Main Stages, and they delivered a truly impressive set.
Anyone who wasn’t fully awake yet certainly was after the first notes of “ZERO” from their current album "Ark". High‑energy, synth‑heavy metalcore blasted out across the field, and every single band member showed just how much power they had in them. Not only did vocalist Kenta Koie whirl across the stage nonstop, guitarist Kazuki Takemura and bassist Hiroki Ikegawa matched his energy step for step. From time to time, Terufumi Tamano even left his synthesizers behind to hype up the crowd or to growl and rap alongside Koie. The audience didn’t need to be asked twice: soon everyone was jumping, the first circle pits opened up, and the crowd sang along at full volume. During “Jägerbomb” from their 2012 EP "Zion", Takemura couldn’t stay on stage any longer. He jumped down to the stage crew and let himself be lifted onto the hands of the crowd. There he continued playing his instrument without missing a beat while being carried across the infield.
Unfortunately, the band was hit by a technical malfunction. The atmosphere was boiling during “Catastrophe” and then catastrophe struck the Graspop crew instead. Suddenly, everything went silent. The entire speaker system had failed, and it took a moment to fix the issue. But the good mood didn’t suffer at all. The band simply joked around with the audience in the meantime. Luckily, the set could continue shortly after. With “Omen,” they even brought some The Prodigy vibes to Graspop, which worked brilliantly as well. Sadly, time flew by, and the final song “Leviathan” was already up — but not before Koie decided to throw himself into the crowd as well.
That was one hell of an opener for the day. I honestly didn’t know what to expect beforehand. From their video clips, they reminded me a bit of Electric Callboy, but these guys were definitely heavier. The atmosphere on and in front of the stage was simply incredible. It was huge fun to join in, and the band mirrored that energy perfectly. If you ever get the chance to see them somewhere nearby, you absolutely should. In terms of atmosphere, it’s 100% worth it.