Bloody News Online Fest has become, in less than two years, a festival of tradition for online live concerts in Eastern Europe. Aroused from the love of extreme music, BNOF is already at the third edition.

Designed to promote the artists and bands in such harsh times, those who have started this project have managed to gather a bunch of cool and professional musicians. Insane Summer Gathering brings together bands that might get you intrigued. Check them out!

After spending so much time in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world we decided that the best way to handle the situation is to bring back the Metal shows and there is no better way in this time to do it, then making a big online streaming Metal Fest.

SIX FOOT SIX [Melodic Heavy Metal, Sweden]

Six Foot Six was formed by Kristoffer Göbel and Christoffer Borg in December of 2017. Göbel is associated with acts like Falconer, Destiny, and Aldaria.

Since 2010 he has been running the touring band Rock Circus. Borg is known for the band’s Art Nation and Taste and has worked in the studio with, Evergrey, Amaranthe, and Danko Jones, among others.

The new album “Welcome to Your Nightmare” was recorded and mixed in Top Floor Studios by Borg and Göbel. Mastering is done in Bohus Sound Recording by Dragan Tanaskovic and is now ready to be released and Rocked Hard. The debut album “The Six Foot Six Project” was released in 2018 and was well received in press and fanzines.

SOULBOUND [Dark Industrial/Gothic Metal, Germany]

Soulbound from Bielefeld, Germany stand for modern and Dark Industrial/Gothic Metal and mix catchy melodies with dystopian and socially critical lyrics.

With their new album “Addicted To Hell” (Metalville / released sept 18th), created under the direction of Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost), Soulbound redefine their sound fundamentally, without ignoring their roots in the Alternative genre.

Stomping beats unite heavy guitars and aggressive synths to an eschatological genre mix that is absolutely unique in this form. Dark, heavy ballads and aggressive, brute songs with great melodies reach out to each other on this album.

The sound of the band is diverse and varied, but always carries an unmistakable note.

With “Addicted To Hell”, Soulbound invite us to explore the abysses of the human psyche. The lyrics symbolize the current zeitgeist and deal with emotional topics such as compulsive self-destruction, narcissism or the fight against depression.

Soulbound are pure energy and probably the most ambitious newcomers of the Gothic scene.

Anyone who has ever experienced them live can confirm exactly that. The band knows how to carry away their audience, unleashes a firework of emotions on stage, but stays down to earth and sympathetically close to their fans.

“Addicted To Hell” is the final accolade for the young band and already an insider tip for all fans of Dark Metal and rousing Gothic.

PITCHBLACK [Death Metal, Denmark]

A competent in your face line up, presenting an experienced quartet of whom the members can both be recognized as band members among legendary Danish Metal acts and active members of a variety of established bands in the Danish Metal scene.

PitchBlack has just released their new album named “Death & Disbelief” and a new single “Eyemaster” which is a tribute to Entombed and their singer LG Petrov, who died this year.

PitchBlack was formed in 2002 and, five years later, their “Designed To Dislike” made quite an impact in the Danish and European Extreme Metal scenes. That same year the band was awarded with the Metal debut album of the year by MTV’s Danish Metal Awards.

Fast forward to 2010, and “The Devilty”, their second effort, continued the same path, even featuring Mercyful Fate’s Hank Sherman as guest in one of the solos of the album.

The reactions to this record were of extremes: the cover artwork was banned in Germany for being too gore, but the festival promoters did take notice too, and soon PitchBlack was stepping in stages of events such as Download Festival (UK) or Copenhell (DK). The cover of “The Devilty” was considered too bloody – for the German authorities and was banned in that country.

The attention brought by all this, together with the dirty in-your-face Death/Thrash Metal, with obvious references to Swedish Death Metal, made PitchBlack debut in one of the most important stages in Denmark: Copenhell.

This debut as made in 2011. In the following year, “The Download” EP was released, because the band go the chance to play in the mythical Download Festival.

X-METHOD [Trash Metal/Hardcore Punk, USA]

X-Method is a Crossover band from the San Francisco Bay Area California, USA. The band has been together for approximately 5 years, but the concept of X-Method was born in 1999 by the lead singer Abby.

They released the debut album entitled, “Sex, Alcohol, Rebel Music” at Pavement Entertainment. The album is a mixture of Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Hard Rock and a touch of Punk.

One year prior to the release of the full length album X-Method released a 7 song E.P. entitled simply, “X-Method”, of which 1000 of loyal fans hold the only copies.

The band has toured in the United States, including some tour dates with the legendary D.R.I., they have toured South America twice and are embarking on their third U.S. tour and 1st European tour which kicks off in August at the Amplified Festival U.K.

STORTREGN [Technical Death/Black Metal, Switzerland]

Stortregn is a Technical Death/Black Metal band from Switzerland. After recording four albums, having toured in three different continents and worked with various records labels, they have released their fifth album, “Impermanence” in March 2021 at The Artisan Era (U.S).

Initially influenced by the Nordic Black Metal scene, they have expanded their vision and sound into a more contemporary era. They are greatly appreciated for their music and even more so for their live shows.

With relentless energy, they deliver a mix of charging riffs, blast beats and brutality that leaves the audience with a lasting impression and begging for more.

After many years of touring, including live appearances at Wacken (Germany) Metal Days (Slovenia), and tours with Immolation, Marduk and more, Stortregn has become inevitable in the Death/Black Metal scene.

KING BAAL [Symphonic Doom/Heavy Metal, Portugal]

Somewhere between Doom, Symphonic and pure Heavy Metal, King Baal hail from Portugal with avery personal approach to Metal, blending powerful and intense patterns with occasional dreamy musical landscapes.

This emotion filled energy is topped with a mix of sung, spoken and screaming vocals, thus adding even more depth to the band’s dark mood.

All these elements are present in King Baal’s first effort “Conjurements”, an eight track album inspired by King Solomon’s writings and set for release by WormHoleDeath on late January 2021.

Recorded and produced by Narciso Monteiro at Interstellar Cloud Studios, the album features a richlineup with members that have played and recorded with bands like Heylel, Nihility, Sotz and Lyfordeath.

PASSENGERS IN PANIC [Folk/Progressive Metal, Greece]

The band was founded by Lefteris Christou (bass, former core member of Inactive Messiah, and Womb of Maggots) and Kally Voo (vocals/accordion – former core member of Dalkania) in December 2019.

Later on, Akis Gavalas (drums, drummer also in Sound of Silence and Noely Rayn, collaboration with Bruce Dickinson promoting “Balls to Picasso” in Greece) joined the line-up and Lela Argiri (electric, acoustic and guitars also in Rocket Queens) came to complete the picture in July 2020.

The recording and production of their debut album out in December 11th from Sleaszy Rider Records took place in MSS Studios in Athens.

The head of the production was Yannis Manopoulos and Lefteris Christou, as well as Akis Gavalas, contributed. The band wanted to experiment with Folk sounds in combination with a Progressive style.

Lefteris Christou was the main composer of the music of the album. The lyrics and melodic lines of the songs were written and composed by Kally Voo. The main source of inspiration is the present human condition and the trauma caused to people or communities by violence.

The band wanted to collaborate with other artists like the director and actor Dimitris Fragioglou in two tracks (Leap of Faith, an ode against gender-based violence and “Nakba” a track written for the struggles of the Palestinian people) and the painter Dimitris Asteriou.

Other equally important collaborating musicians added to our music mosaic: Christos Charchalakis (violin / laouto), Kostas Fortsas (gaida / kaval), Andonis Geroyannis (davul).

MYSTERIZER [Heavy Metal, Finland]

The band was formed from the remains of a deceased cover band playing Heavy Metal tunes. As their own songs started forming the potential for radio, live and to the world was realized. As the band is going forward, cover songs are being replaced by their own material gradually.

Mysterizer plays Heavy music that combines Heavy/Power Metal and with the band’s own personal touch. “We come from Oulu, the Heavy Metal capital of Finland, and ready to tour around the world.”

EVERLUST [Gothic Rock/Melodic Metal, Latvia]

Everlust is a Gothic Rock/Melodic Metal band from Riga, Latvia. The music of the band can be described as melancholic and romantic. They sing about love, passion, heartbreak, misery, death. Besides, they are the only active Gothic band left in the Baltics at the moment with strong influence from bands like Draconian, Theatre of Tragedy, Charon, Paradise Lost, Sentenced, Lacuna Coil, Trees Of Eternity and more.

The idea of founding a band came to Vlad in 2006 and the name Everlust was chosen as the most precise reflection of his musical taste and influences, like love, lust, passion, relationships, failure, loneliness, misery, life, death, hope…

After several unsuccessful tries to form a band, he finally records and releases his “Unreal” demo in late 2007 (7 original compositions + cover of Depeche Mode – “In Your Room”).

Then followed an inactive period and another try in 2013 which was successful. The band was formed and started to rehearse. After several changes in line-up, Everlust makes its first public appearance at Studentu Folk festivals in 2014. Then there were various local concerts in Latvia. The band performed acoustic concerts in various bars and took part in some festivals.

The band has won the “Best band” award in 2015 at “A music factory – Nice place” hosted venue, “Rock’n’roll award” at the “Osvalds 2015” festival.

In 2016 Everlust starts recording their first album and continues public performances around Latvia.

2017 states their first visit abroad to gig in Lithuania and release of their first full-length album “Hurts to Live”(9 original compositions + cover of Roxette – “I’m Sorry” and a Bonus track – an acoustic cover of Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue – “Where The Wild Roses Grow”).

2018 follows with work on new material and making first music videos of Undead and a new song titled “Woman in White”. It also brings some difficulties, as Natalia decides to leave Everlust after 4 years. The new front lady Kate Brown joins, the band signs the contract with THP Production management agency and the new era is coming up…

2020 Starts with Everlust signing the record deal with Wormholedeath records label from Italy and announces the new album “Diary of Existence” to be released in 2021. Also, Andrew joins Everlust as a keyboard player.

Everlust performs at one of the biggest festivals in Latvia – “Zobens un Lemess” Open-air. In November the band travels to Italy and records all the tracks for the new album at Titans Lab recording studio.

On May 7th, 2021 Everlust released their second full-length album “Diary of Existence” via Wormholedeath. The new album was recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered at Titans Lab Studio (Ferrara, Italy). Produced by Carlo Bellotti and Riccardo Daga.

EAGON [Symphonic/Progressive Metal, Italy]

Eagon were born in 2018 from the initiative of bassist and composer Valeria Tritto to start a collaboration with vocalist Monica Cimmarusti and thus give concrete form to songs that have long remained unpublished.

The guitarist Davide Pinto was soon added to the duo and the trio released his first EP “Equilibrium Pt.1” (demo) on February 6, 2020: it contains 5 songs and represents the first part of the album “Equilibrium” which it will be completed by the subsequent publication of “Equilibrium Pt.2” in October 2020, which will instead see Gennaro Di Gennaro in the role of guitarist of the band.

The main goal of the group is to make their music known all over the world, to create, excite and get excited, inspired by the greatest bands in the history of Symphonic, Power, Progressive, Folk, Neoclassical and Power Metal.

PSYCHO VISIONS [Melodic Death Metal, Poland]

A band playing Metal in a wide sense. Defined by the audience in various ways – ranging from Melodic Death Metal to universal music. Focused on creating diverse, attention-grabbing music.

Founded in 2015 in Rzeszów, Poland, with three studio materials to this date: the EP “further, darker, deeper …” from 2015, the album “Inflect” from 2018 and the album “Our Own” from 2020.

Apart from the musical aspect, the band pays a lot of attention to the visual aspect of their art. The scenic presence, combined with the scenery, creates the complete world that the band shows to its audience.

OBSOLETE THEORY [Blackened Death Metal, Italy]

After some years since the foundation of the band, Obsolete Theory achieve the final line-up in 2016. In the same year, the band releases the video clip “Prophecy (V.18:6)” featuring Ally Storch (Subway to Sally / ex Haggard) on violins, the result of the new musical identity and opening track to the future contents and sound of the band.

During 2018, My Kingdom Music releases the band’s first full length “Mudness”, recorded at the Twilight Studio and mixed and mastered by Øystein G. Brun (Borknagar) at the Crosound Studio in Bergen; the artwork is realised and cured by Jeff Grimal (The Great Old Ones).

The album is very well received by critics and audience and it’s widely promoted on live, through a series of concerts with international bands (Gaahl’s Wyrd, Audn, The Great Old Ones, Horna, Blaze of Perdition, Crest of Darkness, Necrodeath, Iskald, Khors, and more…) and affirms the band as one of the most promising of the Italian underground.

In May 2021 the band releases the long-awaited second full length “Dawnfall”. The album boasts once again the collaboration of Øystein G. Brun at the mastering, and the featuring of Ally Storch in the song “Onirica”.

Critics and audience welcome “Dawnfall” with great enthusiasm, evaluating it beyond the most optimistic expectations and confirming Obsolete Theory as one of the best and most talented Italian bands, now certainly ready for international scenarios.

Obsolete Theory’s music can be identified as an Atmospheric Black Metal rich of hints from Doom, Death and Post-Black Metal, resounding obscurity, alienation and sickness.

VESSEL [Heavy Metal, Israel]

Vessel is about thundering drums, powerful riffs, and a voice you will never forget. The band emerged back in early 2018 in Tel-Aviv (Israel) aka the city that never sleeps, to cover their greatest influences of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Soon after, they committed to playing their own original material.

Through Vessel, Bruno, Ariel, Mark and Mor found themselves in the journey of modernizing the Old School Heavy Metal we all love.

They believe Hard Rock and Metal took a wrong turn somewhere in history, and they are on their way to straighten the wheel and make their old idols proud.

Vessel is made for all fans of Hard Rock music, being influenced by bands such as Judas Priest, WASP, AC/DC, Dio, Sabbath, Maiden and all the classics! This is just the beginning of the story, the beginning of Rock N Roll’s history rewriting.

HIGH STATUS [Hardcore/Trap, Romania]

High $tatus was born in July 2017 in the heart of Transylvania at the initiative of blnt, Garnoo and Mihai Moga. After spending a year in the studio to develop the band’s sound, the young group released their debut single “A Feel It” in August 2018.

They immediately began making noise around the country by playing a bunch of shows and releasing more singles such as “Tarantvla” and “Hex” and collaborating with other well known Romanian artists such as DJ Wicked, Mistah White and Dan Gerosu.

In 2019 they grabbed the attention of Rockstadt Extreme Fest, the biggest Romanian Metal festival, and were invited to Rock the main stage.

After constantly touring and releasing new music, High $tatus released their first full-length album “Make Room for the King” on 20 November 2020. The current line-up features Garnoo (vocals), blnt (guitar / backing vocals), Dragos (bass) and Jenci (drums).

AQVILEA [Cinematic Symphonic Metal, Italy]

AqvileA was created in 2016 by composer and multi-instrumentalist Pier Lando Baldinelli as a concept based on history, movie soundtracks, lyrical voices and Symphonic Metal.

Melodious and solemn, the sound of AqvileA is meant to be a manifesto of Cinematic Symphonic Metal: inspired by the classics of the genre and by the masters of Opera, strongly imposes itself for its cinematic imprint, a tribute to the soundtracks of cinema masterpieces.

The first album, “Beyond the Elysian Fields”, was recorded between Italy and Sweden and produced by Fredrik Nordström (Arch Enemy, At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Opeth, and more).

The full-length, released on November 20th 2020 by Saturnia Records, debuted at the 76° position in the iTunes TOP 100 Italian Chart.

Started as a trio, at Bloody News Online Festival, AqvileA proudly present for the first time their new official drummer Simone Santancà.

KIARA [Symphonic Metal, Russia]

KiaRa is a Symphonic Metal band from Russia, founded by singer and composer Anna KiaRa. The debut album “Storyteller” was released in 2020 and had a high rating in Europe, the USA and Mexico. At the beginning of 2021, the band performed “Online Winter Show” and released the DVD with it, which was watched all over the globe.

You can find a lot of different elements in the music of the band (besides Symphonic Metal) – Heavy Metal, Folk Metal and even Gothic notes.

This festival will be happening on 27-28 August 2021 and will be available for free streaming on the Bloody News Website.

Further details will come on the Facebook event page.

Media partners: Atrius Concert Agency, Cultartes, Let’s Rock Romania, Patriot Label and VARG MEDIA GROUP.

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