Dark Easter Metal Meeting 2025 – Some Noble Impressions…

What makes a music festival truly great?

Some will say it’s the atmosphere. Others point to the number of people who attend, or the size of the names on the lineup.

But I’m a simple woman.

For me, a festival’s success is measured by who I didn’t know before — musically — and who I’ve become quietly obsessed with afterward. That’s how I track time: not in dates or stages, but in bands I stumbled into, sounds that caught me off guard, and moments I didn’t expect to remember forever.

And so, Dark Easter Metal Meeting in Munich will always hold a tender place in my heart. Two years ago, I found Misþyrming here — and ever since, I’ve wanted to go back.

Well, I just did!

So, what have we here?

Quite a big crowd, which can be a bit alarming for those used to smaller, more intimate events. However, the festival is spread across three stages, and while that can be logistically annoying at times, it also provides room — literally and metaphorically — for the two smaller stages alongside the main one. These often overflow with people who came specifically for the lesser-known bands, and I absolutely love that. That said, the two smaller stages often run at the same time, which can lead to a little Solomon’s judgment moment. Decisions were made.

What else? It’s indoors (a massive win for this baroness of gloom), the venue is welcoming, with plenty of food, drinks, and merch booths to keep you fed, alcoholized (if you don’t prefer your Fritz Kola, like myself) and poor. The location in Munich is pretty convenient, and the production is top-notch. Sound and organization were on point — well done!

I returned this year mainly for the grief-soaked weight of Empyrium, Saturnus, and Austere, and because I really wanted to see Tsjuder tear things up.

I left with a new obsession: Attic.

Some personal highlights

Empyrium – Elegant, atmospheric, and achingly graceful. A performance that felt like walking barefoot through fog in a forgotten forest chapel. With moss in your lungs, and peace in your bones.

Saturnus – Passionate, aggressive, heavy with longing. The kind of set that makes your insides ache in a language only doom understands. The crowd didn’t just listen, we literally dissolved into it.

Austere – A wonderful surprise. Their stage presence reminded me a lot of The Ruins of Beverast: quiet, mature, unassuming… and then suddenly ablaze. Like being handed a flickering candle and realizing too late it’s a torch. Ended too quickly, or maybe just perfectly cruel in that way.

Tsjuder – Absolutely crushing, plus a lovely bonus in the form of a (very long!) early-Bathory medley, just for the hell of it. Also, UGH.

Saor – Folk that hits you hard.

Belphegor – 100/100.

Attic – My personal favorite of the festival, and what a happy one! A theatrical séance of heavy metal excess. Inverted crosses, falsetto shrieks, skulls winking under stage lights, and a frontman in a red velvet jacket who looked like he’d crawled out of an Edgar Allan Poe film adaptation starring Vincent Price. And it worked. It really worked.

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Please make sure to follow this festival next year, and, hopefully, years to come. A highly recommended visit and a fantastic experience, with just the right amount of lesser-known and smaller names alongside the bigger (if not legendary) ones.

~ Lihi