We keep showering you with festival announcements, but they usually come down to one of two themed groups: art and theatre, or dance and electronic music. So today, instead of yet another DJ extravaganza on a fort somewhere, we present you with something entirely different. This weekend, the former paper factory Hartera in Rijeka will host the Dark ‘O’ Metal festival, dubbed the darkest festival in Croatia!
On Friday and Saturday evening, July 14 – 15, heavy guitar riffs will have the walls of Hartera vibrating. For the 4th edition of the festival, the Ri Rock asocciation is bringing 13 carefully selected local and regional metal bands covering all metal genres, so even the most fastidious metal lovers will find something to their liking.
The organisers are proud to present the central attraction of Dark ‘O’ Metal fest – Melechesh. Formed in 1993, the band is considered to be one of the pioneers of black metal, their unique ‘Mesopotamian metal’ sub-genre withstanding the test of time for 25 years and counting. They are known for their melodies influenced by middle-eastern folk music, as well as for their lyrics inspired by Mesopotamian and Sumerian mythology.
Coming from the neighbouring countries are the bands Eruption (Slovenia), Mist (Slovenia), Ad Nauseam (Italy), and Ultra Violence (Italy). Croatian forces are coming in bigger numbers; we’ll see Cold Snap (Varaždin-Rijeka), Czaar, Old Night, Epicentar and Diamond Dust from Rijeka, Chemical Exposure from Slavonski Brod, and Meant to Be from Umag. Let’s not forget the best known local band to perform this weekend: Po’ Metra Crijeva (Half a meter of intestines), the only music group in Croatia known for their ‘ča-metal’ approach of drawing inspiration from Istrian legends and myths, as well as for mixing the Istrian scale and death metal.
Festival tickets can be bought at a price of HRK100 in presale or HRK 130 at the entrance, and daily tickets are available for HRK70 or HRK80 at the entrance. You can get both on Eventim or in Dallas Music Shop in Rijeka.
If you’re starting to get a bit bored with all those fluffy music festivals along the coast, stop for a weekend in Rijeka and try something a bit more juicy and intense, in the unique industrial setting in the core of our city. See you in Hartera!
Image source: PR
