Metal | ARTE

A return to Hellfest 2022, when blackgaze pioneer Neige brought his post-black metal project Alcest to the festival. A set packed with material from their seventh album Spiritual Instinct, released in 2019 on the legendary German label Nuclear Blast.

Hellfest 2022

The romantic blackgaze of Alcest soothes the crowd at Hellfest 2022.

Alcest

Highlight

Mongolian folk metal megastars the Hu pull together an unlikely combination of throat singing, traditional instruments and ancient battle cries with propulsive grooves and danceable riffs. The international excitement and acclaim that has greeted them since their beginnings in 2016 show that it works. Catch them live at Hellfest 2023.

Hellfest 2023

Mongolian heavy folk metal sensation The Hu bring the power of the plains to Hellfest.

The Hu

As one of the pioneers of death metal, Florida band Obituary have been criss-crossing the globe since the 80s. In the early days frontman John Tardy dispensed with lyrics, preferring to scream whatever came into his head into the microphone. Lyrics were added over time, to the point that the vocals are now central to the band. They continue to reap new fans. 

Summer Breeze 2023

Obituary turn the stage to lava and pour it over their audience at Summer Breeze 2023.

Obituary

Zeal & Ardor may be avant-garde, but they are far from inaccessible. An intriguing blend of African-American spirituals and black metal burrowing into the horrors of slavery and police violence, frontman Manuel Gagneux's music tackles serious subjects while drawing on influences from Mayhem and Burzum to Deftones. 

Avant-garde metalist Zeal & Ardor has a unique sound, mixing African-American spirituals with black metal. Statement music that packs a punch.

Zeal & Ardor

Critically-acclaimed Paris region band Hangman's Chair stood up once again to draw the Hellfest crowd back into their dark limbo.

A look back at Hellfest 2022, when Paris region band Hangman's Chair took the stage for their third appearance at the festival.

Hangman's Chair

Unmissable

Every August Summer Breeze calls around 45,000 metal fans to the pit in Bavaria. In 2023, towering metal icons Megadeth rub shoulders with rising stars like Our Mirage and cult acts like Amenra. 

Every year Summer Breeze brings around 45,000 metal fans together in Bavaria for this highlight of the summer festival circuit.

Summer Breeze Festival 2023

Once a year, the idyllic little French town of  Clisson is transformed into the European capital of metal. This is the real deal.

Extensive coverage of Europe's biggest metal festival.

Hellfest

There's more to punk than three chords and spiky hair. Come and explore the energetic and confrontational world of punk rock with ARTE Concert.

There's more to punk than three chords and spiky hair. Immerse yourself in the world of punk rock.

Punk is not dead

Pop & Rock

Electronic

Hip-hop

Parcourir les genre

Hellfest takes over the Philharmonie de Paris for an evening of extreme music. Death metal band Benighted will be on hand to shake us to our very foundations.

Philharmonie de Paris

Hellfest invites Benighted to turn the Philharmonie de Paris inside out with their hair-raising death metal.

Benighted

Fans of soft and subtle sounds be warned: Hellfest have invited ten56. to the stage of the Paris Philharmonie. Prepare for a barrage of sound.

Storm ten56. hits the Philharmonie de Paris. Everything will shake.

ten56.

The foundations of the Philharmonie de Paris better be stable as they take the full impact of a concert by Behemoth, Poland's most famous metal band. As much a visual shock as an aural one, in the purest metal tradition.

These Polish metal giants storm the Philharmonie de Paris.

Behemoth

Regarde les hommes tomber bring their thunderous black metal to the Philharmonie de Paris. An exceptional setting for an exceptional band.

Regarde les hommes tomber shrouds the Philharmonie de Paris with their somber, narrative universe.

Regarde les Hommes Tomber

Ultra Vomit have been making metal fans laugh for over 20 years with songs like Je collectionne des canards ("I collect ducks") and Evier Metal ("Sink Metal"). An unmissable French metal experience from nauseous Nantes.

Strasbourg 2022

Ultra Vomit have been making metal fans laugh for over 20 years with their novelty songs and sense of the ridiculous.

Ultra Vomit

The wolves have been set loose on Hellfest, bringing their signature pyrotechnics, cinematic riffs and corpse paint with them. They've also got a new album: Interludium was released only a few months before they came howling onto this stage. 

The wolves have been set loose. The grandiose German group bring pyrotechnics and pure power to Hellfest.

Powerwolf

Thrash overlords Testament have been reigning supreme for 40 years now, and are widely considered among the undoubted kings of the genre. They bring their huge back catalogue to Hellfest, along with new material from 2020's Titans of Creation.

Widely considered one of the most influential American thrash metal bands, Testament play Hellfest. 

Testament

JInjer are Ukraine’s official ambassadors of metal. Led by the voice and charisma of singer Tatiana Shmayluk, they are bringing their special blend of progressive groove metal to the world.

Jinjer

Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish perform at Hellfest 2022.

Nightwish

Kataklysm are now a Summer Breeze staple.  Back in 1991, when Sylvain Houde, Jean-François 'JF' Dagenais, Maurizio Iacono and Ariel Saied first emerged screaming from the Canadian forest, they were met with a rather modest response. Several well-received albums and configurations later, they're now one of the most popular bands on the death metal scene. Epic moshpit jostling guaranteed!

Epic Canadian death metallers Kataklysm descend on Summer Breeze.

Kataklysm

A flock of ravens has appeared at Summer Breeze to grace the crowd with rousing rhythms and ancient sounds. Since its formation in 1989, Corvus Corax has been one of the most influential groups in the medieval metal movement. The seven-piece band's immersive art fits perfectly with the spirit of the German extreme metal festival.

A spectacle of medieval metal accompanies Corus Corvax to Summer Breeze 2023.

Corvus Corax

It's been eleven years since Bleed From Within last appeared at Summer Breeze and there's no doubt since then that these Glasgow metalheads have made a quantum leap forward. As shown by their mushrooming fan base.

Scottish band Bleed From Within bring a circle pit with them to Summer Breeze 2023.

Bleed From Within

Wolfheart are known for their ability to deliver one melodic gem after another, with the improbable effect of making death metal catchy.  Their star is definitely rising on the Finnish scene, where they have been based since forming in 2012. They're now ready to bring winter to international stages.

Melodic death metallers Wolfheart blow a Nordic chill across Summer Breeze 2023. 

Wolfheart

Powerful screams, jagged riffs and anthemic choruses: You know what you're getting with Stick To Your Guns, and you know it will be mega. This modern hardcore group from Orange County was brought together in 2003 by singer Jesse Barnett, spending years as a killer support act before singing to a label. Fast forward a few years and here they are with a prime spot on the bill for Summer Breeze. 

Modern hardcore from Orange County sweeps into Summer Breeze with Stick To Your Guns.

Stick To Your Guns

With almost four decades under their studded belts, Rage are true veterans of metal. Plenty of time to hone their breathtaking live shows, filled with the most powerful of power metal hits. 

Rage serves up a decent portion of power metal at Summer Breeze 2023.

Rage

Hundreds of covers, over 4.6 million YouTube followers and over 1.2 billion video views! Everything Frog Leap touches seems to turn straight to gold. The recipe to their success is quite simple: Take a well-known song and make it heavy. 

Frog Leap have one mission: Taking pop classics and making them go harder. 

Frog Leap

The departure of guitarist Olve Eikemo brought down popular black metal group Immortal in 2015. Fans of the genre need not despair, however, becasue Olve soon returned with his new group Abbath to ressurect the spirit of his first band. Time has not been wasted: Abbath already have three critically acclaimed and fan-approved albums under their belts. 

An oppressive darkness descends on Summer Breeze 2023 as Abbath takes the stage. 

Abbath

Most recent

Fans of technical death metal had been waiting five years for a new album from Decapitated when Cancer Culture dropped in 2022. On stage, the Poles of Decapitated string together a series of grooves, staccato riffs and oppressive double kick drums with infernal precision. This is one band with the devil on their heels and an ability to set mosh pits ablaze.

Polish technical death metal marauders Decapitated get the crowd moving at Summer Breeze.

Decapitated

They insist they are not Viking Metal, but Swedish melodic death metallers Amon Amarth do sing about vikings. They also sing about Norse mythology, and take their name from the Elvish word for Mount Doom in Tolkien's fantasy books. Make up your own mind as they maraud the stage at Hellfest. 

Swedish melodic death metallers Amon Amarth give a lesson on Norse history and mythology to Hellfest. 

Amon Amarth

No need for an introduction to In Flames among death metal fans: Formed in 1990, this Swedish melodic death metal group were among the first to incorporate keyboards to widen the scope of their sound, blowing open the gates of Valhalla and chewing up genres. Swedish death metal had been born. Witness their majestically feral set at Summer Breeze 2023. 

The melodic death metal of these five Swedes smashes Summer Breeze to smithereens.

In Flames

Thrash? Black? Speed? Venom Inc. are a band that have paradoxically created entire genres of metal but refuse to be defined by them. Witness the group that paved the way for Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth give a shattering history lesson to Hellfest. 

The mega-influential idols of bands from Metallica to Slayer give a history lesson at Hellfest.

Venom Inc.

Metallica's 35-year career is still going strong: they are timeless. To celebrate their latest album, 
Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, TAPE revisits the history of a music group that became a global movement. 

Metallica

Metallica's 35-year career is still going strong: they are timeless

TAPE

Mixing visual art with a harrowing intensity, live performances from Belgian post-doomers Amenra are renowned for being unmissable events. The band have been grinding souls to dust with their spiritual dirges since 1999, so while their last album De Doorn (The Thorn) brought some ambient relief into the mix, it has only served to widen their scope for delivering catharsis.

Crushing, oppressive, slow, visceral: Amenra wraps thorns around the Valley stage at Hellfest 2023. 

Amenra

After defining the nu-metal sound of the 90s, Papa Roach are now officially old hands at this: This year they mark thirty years as a band. Where better to celebrate than at this year's Hellfest? 

Californian nu-metallers Papa Roach celebrate their thirtieth birthday at Hellfest.

Papa Roach

Most popular

Three of the biggest French heavy metal bands come together for a unique concert at the Strasbourg Zenith. 

Strasbourg Zénith 2022

Best of Metal : Mass Hysteria - Tagada Jones - Ultra Vomit

Crunchy riffs and crisp vocals from Byron Bay as Parkway Drive take the stage at Hellfest 2023. New material from last year's Darker Still show why they are making waves among metal fans across the world. 

The Byron Bay metalcore machine Parkway Drive comes to Hellfest.

Parkway Drive

Scottish five-piece DVNE meld post-metal with prog and add a dash of sci-fi lore. Their 2021 album Etemen Ænka turned heads with its exciting use of dynamics and enormous riffs, one minute gliding through pristine space, the other churning through the dust. 

Scottish proggy post-metallers DVNE uplift and pulverise Hellfest with a barrage of satisfying riffs. 

DVNE

Hellfest takes on the atmosphere of an Irish pub for this set from Flogging Molly. May the pints flow and the good times roll as these leprechauns of punk present some tracks off latest album Anthems.

Pour your pints and hold your four-leafed clovers aloft: Flogging Molly are live at Hellfest.

Flogging Molly

Architects have weathered both triumph and tragedy since signing to Epitaph a decade ago, reflected by an ever-evolving sound that has only deepened in melodic intensity over the years. Fresh off the back of their ambitious 2022 album The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, Brighton's metalcore heroes are ready to give a lesson in massive hooks and finely-calibrated violence. 

The Brighton metalcore legends bring their melodic intensity back to Hellfest.

Architects

Ready for a thrash party? Fresh off the back of their 2022 album Electrified Brain, Municipal Waste bring the noise to Hellfest 2023. Don't expect them to take themselves too seriously, but do expect songs about parties, mutants and- of course- thrash metal. 

Municipal Waste bring their party thrash to Hellfest 2023 for a hard-hitting and fun set filled with songs about mutants.

Municipal Waste

Fun comes first for German electronicore group Electric Callboy. Smashing electronic influences from Eurohouse and techno into hardcore metal, the Callboys are here to shower Hellfest with saucy bangers from latest album Tekkno.

Eccentric electronicore German group Electric Callboy baffle and delight at Hellfest '23.

Electric Callboy

Australian metalcore heavyweights The Amity Affliction celebrate two decades as band this year, bringing their trademark emotion and intensity to Hellfest. New album Not Without My Ghosts is little more than a month old. 

Emotive and metal to the core: Australian group The Amity Affliction bring their sorrowful melodies to Hellfest. 

The Amity Affliction

After their smash hit set at Summer Breeze 2022, Nanowar Of Steel have returned to the festival on an even bigger stage than last year: The ideal setting for these champions of wit and mischief. Their reference-packed metal rocks hard, and even hardcore underground fans can admire the Italians' humour as much as their music.

The comedy metal of Nanowar of Steel never fails to raise a smile or move the moshpit. 