Honoring one of our best traditions of the last several years, we packed our gear and headed once again to Tallinn for the 12th edition of Howls of Winter, this year taking place at Tapper in Tallinn on February 14th and February 15th, 2025, with the warm-up event on February 13th, 2025.
This year’s lineup was more ambitious than the last couple of years, featuring bands like VEMOD, SARGEIST, and THE RUINS OF BEVERAST, along with of course several more underground acts, among which, year after year, there are some really good gems. One of the strongest points in favor of this festival is the possibility of seeing bands that would otherwise hardly be able to play at these latitudes and discovering new interesting ones along the way. Coupled with a tight crew working hard like a well-oiled machine and with utter professionalism year after year, you have the recipe for success. No wonder people keep coming to this event all the time.
Even the warm-up night felt more crowded than usual, so when ULTIMA NECAT climbed up on stage to open the festivities, there was already a decent number of people inside Tapper. Even though the German band is very new, having released their very first EP just a few days earlier, they were met with curiosity by the crowd. Despite their very short career so far, they have been very active live in a supporting role of several bigger tours, and listening to their occult black metal one can definitely hear some good riffs—not a bad start for the festival.
Coming from Catalonia, Spain, NAGYSZEBEN took a more ritualistic approach as testified by the robes, additional candles—and, eventually, a skull—appearing on stage. Their malignant music and sinister melodies accompanied a growing audience while testing this year’s festival beers, setting up the stage for the following band.
MANNVEIRA is maybe not the first name that comes to mind when thinking about Icelandic black metal, but much like the better-known MISÞYRMING or SVARTIDAUÐI, they fall very nicely into that bleak vein of darkness that is the result of all the anguish of existence expressed in musical form. There is a certain beauty in that and one could feel it in the performance of these Icelanders here tonight. Yet again a reminder of how much that scene has to offer to the uninitiated (or those who have not yet been digging below the surface).
The evening went pretty fast towards its conclusion when it was ULTRA SILVAM’s turn to show the audience what they had in store for them. The guys hailing from Malmö brought to the stage their clear Swedish influences (getting strong WATAIN vibes at times for instance), with an energetic display that conquered the fans in the front perhaps more than the raw sonic aggression of the previous band. It was actually very refreshing to see quite a few youngsters in front of the stage, enjoying themselves to the fullest while witnessing these shows. Nice to know that someone in the younger generations still has taste—and passion—for this kind of music.
ULTIMA NECAT
NAGYSZEBEN
MANNVEIRA
ULTRA SILVAM
