Batushka + Diabolical

On Sunday, May 8, we present a double concert featuring two metal bands from Europe! Polish black metal band Batushka and the Swedes of Diabolical will undoubtedly rock the main hall.

Batushka’s controversial Polish black metal music is steeped in lyrics from Eastern Orthodox Christianity and are sung exclusively in Old Church Slavonic. The band’s name means “father” in Eastern Orthodoxy and is used to address a priest. Their songs contain lines of liturgical chant supported by black metal instrumentation and aesthetics, and they dress in hooded robes. On the debut album ‘Litourgiya’, which they released in 2015, the group showcases black metal that is as atmospheric as it is aggressive, interspersed with (anti-)religious pieces of Slavic and Gregorian choral singing.

Diabolical is a traditional death metal group that was formed in Sweden in 1996 under the name Misanthropic Orchestra, but has continued as Diabolical since 1998. They present a dark side of humanity to the listener, who is invited to explore his own demonic side. With an aesthetic complexity swirling around a dense soundscape of excellently distilled and refined ideas. All this together makes for a rare display of musicianship matched by very few contemporary metal bands.