Dark Funeral (SE) and Vltimas (US) are the main attractions at Death Coast Festival 2022, where legendary death metal band Maceration (DK) is making a comeback after 30 years in hibernation.
Death Coast Festival is a 2-day festival that kicks off for the first time on 10–11 June 2022 at Tobakken in Esbjerg, Denmark and the ambitious line-up offers both local, national and international acts. Death Coast Festival will be a recurring event and not a one-off festival.
The location is not random! Back in the 1990s Esbjerg was the capital of extreme metal music in Denmark - and it was in Esbjerg back then that the 3 organizers behind Death Coast Festival met for the first time. Michael H. Andersen from the city Næstved often travelled 300 km by train to Esbjerg to experience his favorite death metal bands, and here he met René Blavnsfeldt and Morten Nissen.
Lots of experience from the death metal underground
Since the 1990s, the 3 organizers have been part of the death metal underground scene. At the time, they published underground fanzines, ran underground record labels and distribution companies. Since then, they have continued their work in the music industry in various fields. Common to all 3 is that they are still passionate about the extreme metal scene. The idea for the festival has been brewing for a long period of time - because no matter where you go in the metal scene, there is still talk of "Esbjerg back in the 90s, when all the big bands visited the city."
“Our ambition is to bring Esbjerg, Denmark back on the extreme metal map, and we can assure you that this festival will not be a one-time venture, but instead a festival that year after year will present the legends, the reformed and the best, new talents within oldschool metal!” says René Blavnsfeldt, who is the organizer and spokesman for the festival.
Exclusive concerts with Dark Funeral and Vltimas
The main attractions, the two metallic mastodons Vltimas and Dark Funeral, prove that the ambitions are being fulfilled. American Vltimas consists of David Vincent (ex-Morbid Angel, ex-Terrorizer, etc.), Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen (Aura Noir, ex-Mayhem) and Flo Mournier (Cryptopsy) who released the album "Something Wicked Marches In" in 2019 and subsequently delivered one of the best concerts at Copenhell the same year. Swedish Dark Funeral has existed since 1993 and has won both Swedish P3 gold and the Metal Hammer Awards in 2016 for their album "Where Shadows Forever Reign" released the same year. Both bands play exclusively at Death Coast Festival and thus cannot be experienced live elsewhere in Denmark in 2022.
Maceration is making a long awaited comeback after 30 years of hibernation
Legendary Maceration (DK) has already achieved cult status with their album "A Serenade of Agony" from 1992 - the first Death Metal album to be released from a Danish band and featuring members from Invocator and Dan Swanö on vocals. After several concerts in DK and abroad, the band stopped, but has now been revived with the two original members Jakob Schultz and Lars Bangsholt. They are playing their first concert in almost 30 years at the Death Coast festival. From the same era comes Denial Of God, who have been active since 1991 and have achieved cult status worldwide with their black horror metal.
Death Coast Festival is visited by bands from the USA, Sweden, Slovenia, the Netherlands and of course Denmark, and in addition to the mentioned bands you can experience Cor Vacante (DK), Detest (DK), Helge (DK), Thorium (DK), Chronicle (DK), Toxaemia (SE), Hellsword (SLO), Inquisitor (NL), Bloodphemy (NL), Ensanguinate (SLO). There will be a very special Metal Talks-session with key persons from the local death metal community of that time.
Covid as an indirect cause of the festival
The idea for the festival actually arose with Covid as the indirect cause. Covid made it very difficult to travel abroad in the summer holidays, and instead Michael H. Andersen decided to visit Danish cities with his family. Of course, due to Michael's good experiences back in the early nineties, through the years as a performing musician at the venue Tobakken and as the owner of a record company working with Esbjerg bands such as Kellermensch, The Floor Is Made Of Lava, Chiro and Black Oak County, Esbjerg was one of the destinations. The reunion with Esbjerg brought back memories and the idea of recreating Esbjerg as a city for metal music arose. Shortly afterwards, he contacted René Blavnsfeldt and Morten Nissen to find out if they were interested in doing the festival with him.
They were! And now the 3 organizers are looking forward to the 10th & 11th of June next year.