Rabidfest 2024: Breaking Down The Bands #16: Existentialist!

1 stage! 20 bands! zero clashes! That’s what’s happening when Rabidfest takes over The Bullingdon in the heart of Oxford for the weekend of 2nd and 3rd November. It’s the winter warmer that will make you throw away that nasty Pumpkin Spiced Latte and get in a cold beer as the searing heat of the performances from the bands on stage not only blows your mind but stirs the soul. Here’s the line up in full…

Saturday 2nd November:

Evile (Headliner)
Cloven Hoof
Fury
Damaged Reich
Eschalon
Existentialist
Imperium
40000 Leagues
Dead Man’s Pistol
Rats Eat Rats

Sunday 3rd November:

Viscera (Headliner)
Forlorn
Ocean Planet
Recall The Remains
Voidwalker
Draconian Reign
As The World Dies
From Her Ashes
Theorist
Halfway Home

…and if you fancy the pre-show, you can witness Seething Akira, Crostpaths, The Crushing and Eliminate The Middle Class at “The Night Before Rabidfest” warm up at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford on Friday 1st November!

For those who don’t know their history, Colchester Castle is a key landmark in the Essex Witch trials of the 1500s and 1600s with hundreds of people imprisoned inside its walls before inevitable execution. The Stour Estuary links Essex with Suffolk and so runs a bloodline between the mighty Cradle Of Filth and bands like Beyond Extinction and of course Existentialist. Perhaps there is something in the water. Dark forces at work, the Devil at play. The later of those bands is of course why we’re here. Their pair of well received albums in 2020’s “Prophet of Ignorance” and 2023’s “The Heretic” have ensured that Essex Blackened Death Metal collective Existentialist have the power to incite mosh pit violence wherever they may roam with the later of the two hitting harder than a right hook from Mike Tyson in his prime. Ahead of that the band unveiled an unholy trinity of singles in “Embers Upon Calvary“, “Shrouded In Darkness” and “The Zealot’s Demise” which earned them the better part of 65k of combined Spotify and YouTube streams, aided and abetted on the first of those by none other than Jason Evans of Ingested. Signed to Seek & Strike Records, the band, who also dabble in the Technical, Symphonic and Core sides of the genre arrive at Rabidfest fresh from a September run of shows. Those saw them them share stages with skull crushers Osiah on a tour with a rotating bill of support bands including fellow attendees Draconian Reign. Not bad for a warm up, eh? Naturally therefore, our anticipation is something of a dance macabre from a band who combine dark themes with crushing guitars, intense percussive battery and sinister orchestrations and don’t look back once they’ve set the place alight. After all, they follow in the footsteps of To Obey A Tyrant on the Devolution Magazine sponsored stage so their morbid noise is beautiful music to Rabidfest masses.

We’re proud to be a Media Partner of Rabidfest again this year alongside Red Death Media, Moomin Merchandise, Metalplanetmusic, Moshville Times, GraphicsFix, TwoFace Promotions, Blackstar Amplification, DC Sound Attack and main stage sponsor. Devolution Magazine. The Festival is all for charity and this year the profits will be going to the The Sophie Lancaster Foundation!

Rabidfest will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd November 2024:

Get your tickets here -> https://www.rabidfest.co.uk

Get your merch here -> https://shop.rabidfest.co.uk