With Dyscordia, the festival is opening with real locals. The band is playing a home show since they are from Kortrijk themselves, and we’re expecting a shit ton of people already showing up really early, because the Dyscordia Army is strong! They also just released a new album in April, called ‘The Road to Oblivion’, and this will the last show for Stefan, one of their guitarists, who is leaving the band, so a good moment to get a taste of the new and give a proper farewell to him. Nice Belgian melodic metal to rock out to and a performance that will show that no matter what, the future is bright for heavy music! If you want to get a taste of some quality local stuff, or simply want to experience how the support for the locals is strong, you’ll want to get to the festival area bright and early on the first day! We’re expecting a proper metal show with a high level of feel good! You’ll want to get to the festival area bright and early on the first day!

A bit of a hidden gem of the Belgian black metal scene will be opening the Swamp Stage with their unforgiving and damn-right filthy take on the genre. Dudsekop has only been around for a couple of years, but already turned quite some heads with 2 impressive releases filled with relentless black metal tracks, fully sang in an old Flemish dialect from Ypres. You’ll want to get up bright and early to go get swallowed up by the black hole that will be created by this stellar band!

Mantah played Alcatraz last year and it was a blast! People really showed up for this Belgian band, and the crowd was literally spilling from the La Morgue tent. Their show was one of the most talked about ones of the weekend, especially among the list of Belgian bands on the line-up, and that clearly did not go unnoticed by the organization. So here they are again on the 2024 line-up, and this time with a massive upgrade to the much bigger Helldorado stage. We’re expecting to see some absolute madness going on in the tent. With people (formerly) from other stellar bands involved like Spoil Engine and Fields of Troy, you can expect nothing but quality music, a nu metal powerhouse that will entertain you for sure. If you happen to need your fix of Korn or similar, don’t sit this one out!

Whether it’s covers or original songs, Feuerschwanz has you covered if you’re looking for a metal party. And don’t worry, Feuerschwanz knows how to have fun. These giants of the German mittelalterrock scene are going to blow you away with their catchy tunes both in German and English, hilariously entertaining performance and make you dance along to the lovely dancers they always have with them. If you’re in for a show of good vibes and laughs, and already want to go berzerk before Amon Amarth later in the day, go check them out on the Prison Stage!

Just like last year, the Friday is a damn good day for whoever is into hardcore and punk, with many stellar bands taking over the Helldorado stage. But if we’d have to pick one, we definitely don’t want to miss out on the Cro-Mags show. Not only is this an extremely iconic hardcore band that had a massive influence on the creation of crossover thrash, Harley Flanagan is a prominent figure and one of the most recognizable characters of the New York Hardcore scene. After having seen bands like Sick Of It All and Agnostic Front last year during the festival season, this is a bucketlist band we’re not going to skip for anything in the world!

One of the few bands on the line-up from our second home, far away from home: Finland! They’ll have come straight from playing the warm-up show of Hellsinki Metal Festival the night before, but you can be rest assured that these guys will absolutely kill it, with energy through the roof! The straight forward and extremely catchy power metal from Beast in Black is always great and stands for a good time. It’s as simple as that. No turnarounds, just go to the stagen bang your head and bow down to the power of the beast!

There is really something in the water in Belgium considering these kind of bands that roam around in the realms of post-metal/rock, prog and atmospheric experiences. With members from other renown Belgian bands, Hippotraktor is another one of these absolute gems in the Belgian heavy music scene. They have these intense, expertedly crafted songs that carry elements of some of our favorite bands with them like Meshuggah or Gojira, but with a way different flow. They’ll take you on quite the ride, both emotionally and energetic, it’s something you simply need to go and experience for yourself. Just check out their impressive latest album ‘STASIS’ out if you’re still not sure…

Do you like your black metal epic and melodic, but still blistering and brutal? Then make your way fast to the Morgue on Friday, my friends, because Uada will deliver that in spades. These guys from Portland, Oregon already have four albums to their name that are just dripping with razor sharp shard of blackened beauty. Their latest one Crepsucule Natura being their best one yet. These guys don’t need keyboards or a whole orchestra to create a mood. Just the most basic of setups, but the songs they craft are vast.

The great Vikings from Sweden are back! Whenever Amon Amarth takes over a stage, it always looks phenomenal and their music is strong and solid. We’re expecting tons of fire, thousands of fists (and drinking horns) constantly in the air, epic battles on stage and a massive “row pit” at least once during their headline show. And secretly we’re hoping that the Saxon guys pop by after earlier have played on the same stage to bring us a moment to never forget where the Vikings and Saxons meet for battle with the track Saxons & Vikings.