GOATHELL METAL FEST FIRST EDITION| PULA, CROATIA | SINISTER & JINJER HEADLINERS

Jan 24, 20185 min read

Festival's visual identity (Ksenija Mijoković)

There is a new metal festival in Croatia, GoatHell Metal Fest. It will be held in Pula (Istria) from 21st to 24th of June 2018.

The festival is located by the sea, on the northern side of the Pula Harbor, once the largest port of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. From this place you can enjoy a wonderful view of the Roman amphitheater in Pula, Pula Castle and the “Lighting Giants” - illuminated cranes of Uljanik Shipyard.

It is truly important to note that this will be the first metal festival in Pula organised independently by people who are actually from Pula.

ORGANIZATION

The festival is being organized by Kairos, a nonprofit organization from Pula. Its main purpose is to promote metal music scene and culture, unite metal audience (especially in Istria, Croatia) and create events where people with same interests can enjoy music, socialise and create memories.

The organization started in 2015 and was created by a couple of friends (Mario Devčić, Ivan Percan, Darko Rajić, Andrea Močinić, also Erik Vojak & Mladen Medić who came after little while) with same interests and vision.

From left to the right: Darko Rajić, Mario Devčić, Ivan Percan, Andrea Močinić (down), Mladen Medić (up), Erik Vojak(down)

The organization as well as the festival are just a logic and rational move in Pula keeping in mind that the metal scene which was once here very strong is now being pretty passive and inactive for years. Still, the potential is huge and the audience is always ready.

IDEA & VISION

The festival's organization told us that the idea about launching a metal festival in Pula first came up several years ago (2011) when Mladen Medić (one of the organizers) went to MetalCamp in Tolmin, Slovenia with his friends and was truly amazed. Of course, he knew that the festival in Pula in the beginning would be something smaller and simple. The name, GoatHell was created and capricorn was decided to be the mascot of the festival. It was designed by Ksenija Mijoković. After all that, the idea was still present for years but there was no way to make it happen until he joined the organization (Kairos). The idea was accepted and it was decided they will begin with the realisation of the project. Still, they waited after the Balkan Metal Meeting 2 was done because the organization was in charge of the event at that time. (Let's remind ourselves : https://diparticle.wixsite.com/diparticle/single-post/2017/06/17/Balkan-Metal-Meeting-2---first-night / https://diparticle.wixsite.com/diparticle/single-post/2017/06/18/Balkan-Metal-Meeting-2---2nd-night)

It was ambitious for the organization to go international first year of the festival. Also, it is not hard to say that the results can already be seen. Medić told us that Balkan Metal Meeting 2 was a success. It was a 2days festival and 10 bands were part of it. After that, Kairos realised they can begin organizing something bigger. It is important to note that City of Pula & Tourism Office Pula recognized the potential of the festival and gave the organization their full support regarding the project. Also, the organization managed to gather different companies to be their sponsors. Medić added that it is intended for the festival to grow and to gather as many people as it can. On the other hand, the idea is also to familiarise the people with Pula and Istria so they can see their beauty and maybe some day return in Pula as tourists with their friends and families.

So, the potential of the project is huge. The organization found their own motivation and inspiration in few European metal festivals which they've been enjoying as visitors for years. Brutal Assoult & MetalDays are just some of them.

LINE- UP & PROGRAM

The line-up of the festival is rich. Besides the 26 bands (Sinister, Jinjer, Infernal Tenebra, Reapter, Atrexial, Red Soil, Other Eyes Wise, Arkana Code, MartYriuM, Repulsive Vision, Scarlet Aura, My Funeral, MindAheaD, Symmetry Of The Void, UDS (Underdamped System), Voloh, Tranquillizer, Chaos Engine Research, Old Night, Mortal Divinity, Despotic Bullet, Dropthehammer, Neglected & few more names which are yet to be announced), there will also be a exhibition about the history of Pula and the importance of the Harbour of Pula in the past, so the visitors could see where they actually came and honour the city's history. The other exhibition will be about surreal occurrences in Pula & Istria. There are many stories and articles about spirits, vampires and werewolves. The focus will be on the big legend of Jure Grando, the first documented vampire in history. The festival's stage was named after him, Jure Grando Stage.

There will also be face-painting, aerial silk, gladiators, medieval games, jugglers, fire eaters, sports games. To sum it up, there will be a program during the day and during the night so everyone will be able to find something for themselves.

The team is satisfied with how everything goes at the moment and is optimistic about the festival's future.

THE HEADLINERS

(information gathered on official festival's pages)

Ukraine based JINJER will be the headliner on the 1st day of the festival. Jinjer creates an explosive mixture of groove metal and hardcore flavoured with progressive elements. Since 2013, when this 4 piece were acknowledged as the Best Ukrainian Metal Band, they have managed to keep the leadership on the alternative stage in their country. Jinjer already has a huge fan base throughout Europe following massive European tours and festival performances.

(Jinjer)

SINISTER, one of the pioneers of the death metal scene is the headliner on the 2nd day of the festival.

Starting in 1989, Sinister was a band arising in the middle of the Death-Metal hype. Mike, André, Aad and Ron were joining forces and the Sinister sound was born. After releasing a demo, a promo tape followed. Sending out the promo to various labels resulted in signing up at Nuclear Blast Records, Germany 1991. Their debut CD 'Cross the Styx' saw the light in early 1992, and sold many copies worldwide. Many live shows all over Europe followed. In the years after that, Sinister succeeded in maintaining their popularity by releasing their second and third album 'Diabolical Summoning' (1993) and 'Hate' (1995) and doing many live shows all over Europe and a very successful 55 show-tour through all the USA. In 2017 Sinister played at great festivals, such as Netherlands Death fest, In Flammen, Steelfest OA, Rockstad, MetalDays, Metal Mania, Obscene Extreme and many others.

Sinister

WARM - UP PARTIES

Kairos recently established cooperation with a relatively new club in Pula, Kotač, where warm up parties for the festival will be held. The first warm up party with live music will be in March. However, the first metal party generally will be held on the 11th of February where people can come to enjoy music and hang out.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1444317759010149/