The festival was slowly but surely coming to an end. But not before Rage took the stage. Compared to the other bands of the day, they were in a completely different league. Rage have been touring the stages of the world for 40 years now, and on this night they were the ones to close the show. The lineup has changed many times over the decades, with only Peter “Peavy” Wagner remaining as the constant. Joining him this evening were guitarist Jean Bormann and drummer Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos.
A large crowd gathered in front of the stage for Scalpture, the biggest audience of the day so far, eager to witness the five musicians from Bielefeld. They didn’t waste any time and kicked things off at full speed with “The Fall…” from their current album "Landkrieg". Once again, death metal was on the menu — though in a noticeably different flavor than the genre’s earlier representatives that day. On top of that, their sheer, unrestrained energy made a huge impact as they constantly stormed across the stage.
After the musicians of Symbtomy, Kozoria had the second-longest journey of the day. The sound remained heavy, but the musical direction shifted. The four guys from France brought more melodic riffs and occasional clean vocals back to the stage. Combined with some synth elements, this created a truly tasty mix that definitely didn’t leave the audience cold. To me, it felt like a blend of Gojira with hints of Children of Bodom.
Another death metal act was up next, and once again they came from the Netherlands. Having invited Rotting Demise and Symbtomy earlier in the day, it was now Necrotesque’s turn to show what they were capable of. Compared to the previous bands, they can look back on the shortest band history. The four Dutch musicians only formed in 2021, yet they have already released one full-length album and several EPs.
Symbtomy probably had one of the longest journeys of the day. The Czech band sounded quite promising based on the festival announcement. But first, they had to be patient: technical issues prevented their set from starting on time. Only after a 15-minute delay did things finally get going. Like Rotting Demise before them, they were invited to Grafschafter Metalfest by Necrotesque, who were scheduled to play after them, and, as they put it themselves, they brought old-school death metal to the stage.
The barely readable band logo already gave it away: things were about to get dark. Rotting Demise pulled out all the stops of classic black and death metal in the style of Behemoth and Cradle of Filth. With corpse paint, monk robes, inverted crosses, and a pentagram, the guys from the Ruhr area also offered plenty of visual flair. In their eight-year career, they had already released two full-length albums, showcasing an exciting mix ranging from slow, slightly doom-tinged tracks to faster, more aggressive songs.
After the crushing soundwaves of Abrupt Demise, things were about to get more melodic again. Up next were Chiffre, a band that can only look back on a fairly short history. Founded in 2018 in Osnabrück, they’ve released just one album and several singles so far. Still, their performance felt as if they had been making music together for much longer. Their musical style blends metalcore with 80s-inspired synths and slightly pop-tinged elements.
After the fairly melodic metalcore opener, things continued, following a short changeover, with classic death metal from Abrupt Demise from the Netherlands. The five guys formed in 2010 and have since released several EPs and one album. Vocalist René Brugmans didn’t need much warm-up time before hurling his growls at the audience, matching the sheer force of the music that rolled over everyone instantly.
Today was a premiere for me: Grafschafter Metalfest took place for the third time on March 14th, 2026, and opening the lineup was the metalcore band A Place To Fall from Lingen. Since their formation in 2013, the guys have gone through quite a few stylistic and lineup changes. By now, they’ve firmly settled into metalcore and released two albums (“Resilience” from 2022 and “Lost Myself” from their early days in 2016).