This Flemish band has the amazing capability to bring people together in the pit with a refreshing mix of death and doom metal; heavy riffs contrast melodic guitar and bring a new spark to the death metal scene.

Marche Funèbre provides a great introduction into Belgian metal, because there’s something in it for everyone. Seeing them play the beach stage of Tolminator was a great start to the day. They brought heavy vocals with dirty breakdowns but also much more melodic vocals in some songs. They also dedicated ‘When All Is Said’ to Ozzy Osbourne who passed away just the day before their show. Their final song of the set, ‘After the Storm’ was dedicated to us campers who survived the horrendous hailstorm in the early hours before their show.

To kick off the first day of this epic festival, we were treated to German thrash metal from Frankfurt am Main at the beach stage. Stagewar! got the crowd in the mood with not only thrash licks but also classy tones from heavy metal and even the hardcore scene, as well as solos that left us amazed. Their mix of different styles means they are not just your everyday thrash band, and they bring something fresh to the crowd. Definitely not a bad start to the morning and the heat, because Stagewar turned up the heat a few degrees higher!

A rancid combination of old-school death metal with elements of crust and even grindcore, fantastic for lovers of the classic scene and modern sound. Swiss band Nihilo kicked off a dirty performance with an original intro. Frontman Ragulan Vivekananthan controlled the show with his jokes, such as a shout-out to The Lorax, but also communicated with the audience to keep everyone in the mood, giving an admirable performance with brutal, controlled screams throughout the entire set. Unfortunately, it was also the penultimate show for guitarist Nils Hugi, who had been with the band since 2006. This makes the frontman the only original band member left, which was another reason to play extremely hard for the performance.

A band that has already gone global and released their latest album, Face the End, on 25 April, horror fanatics Game Over from Ferrara, Italy, give you a spooky performance with retro backing soundtracks and sharp riffs that will have every thrash metal fan headbanging. With their sixth full-length LP, they showcase even heavier riffs and a message to watch out for the state of the Western world. With mosh pits from start to finish, the truly charismatic frontman Danny Schiavina, who only joined the group this year, has built up a true fanbase from all over the world thanks to their love for great icons such as Metallica and Megadeth and their ability to perfectly combine retro horror themes with social issues in the world. In short, an epic sound.

As a powerful finale to today’s beach stage, we were treated to a band that was recently (2023) formed in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The five-piece band Unlocked has already received much praise from the media for their first album, Bedlamite, which is about 19th-century asylums, a theme that is not often explored. Elements of thrash, death and black metal made for a very explosive finale to this stage. In between, a special guest wearing a Tolminator mascot mask came on stage to pump up the atmosphere even more. Together with the good friendship between the band members, it was hard to believe that this was only their sixth show. For everyone who was there and fully expressed their energy in the mosh pits, it is a fact that we are very curious to see what this band has to offer in the future with even crazier shows and hopefully newer music.

Pure dark black metal vocals, tremolo picking masters, and melodic riffs to touch you deep in your feelings. Depressive black metal icons Ghost Bath, straight from America, bring it all together in one performance. Thanks to their fifth album, Rose Thorn Necklace, we had the privilege of seeing them at the first venue of their European tour. If there is one group that can put their audience into such a deep trance and at the same time get them crowd surfing, it is Ghost Bath. Their setlist ranges from their dramatic newer songs to previous albums such as the depressive sounds of Self Loather and the maniacal tremolo riffs of Moonlover. This band brings a breath of fresh air to the black metal scene and has succeeded in mastering their own sound with influences from all over the genre. With more emphasis on suicidal lyrics and writing about suicide and depression, they show fans from all over the globe who are struggling that they are not alone and that they unite. ‘We are Ghost Bath, we like to make songs about killing ourselves,’ is what frontman Dennis Mikulka says after screaming as if it were his last performance.

A group that has shown over the years that they are not monotonous and dare to play with different influences—that’s how you could briefly describe Omnium Gatherum. From tunes of epic prog to melodies of melodic death metal, there is something for everyone in this music. Not to be forgotten are the ambient sounds and quieter songs. It is clear from the start that they have a large fan base. Their professional approach to communicating with the crowd and with each other makes that even more apparent. Although the microphone sometimes did not have the same pitch as the instrumental parts, that was no problem for frontman Jukka Pelkonen. He just shouted even louder at the top of his lungs. But what was most impressive for every music lover and musician was the switch of solos between guitarists Markus Vanhala and Nick Cordle. This, with a cover of pop classic Maniac and an audience crowd surfing, stage diving and performing the circle of death, was the icing on the cake.

As they march onto the stage one by one, you can already hear the crowd going wild. That’s the atmosphere throughout the entire show by Warbringer, a band that is proud to be American (Los Angeles). This is their fourth show in a row, with previous performances in Germany with two other headliners who are also coming to Tolminator, namely Kreator and Rotting Christ. Compared to other performances today, Warbringer delivered the pure brutality of thrash metal with insane and unique guitar solos and a dash of dive bombs from the fast-paced virtuoso Adam Caroll. From the very first song, you knew that the audience was going to be in chaos from start to finish. Dimebag Darrell would be proud of the high-pitched tunes and the perfect handling of a Floyd Rose bridge. Frontman John Kevill, who along with Adam Caroll is the only original band member, upgraded the aggression with his dirty vocals and played on the emotion when he mentioned that he got married at the festival eight years ago. Bringing his wife on stage and closing the set with a song from ‘Waking Into Nightmares,’ they gave an excellent performance and conclusion.