(We present here Daniel Barkasi’s preview of the next Heart of Winter festival, a three-night event scheduled to take place in Richmond, Virginia on January 14-16, 2027.)
A truly great festival in the United States that features the sort of underground bands that get this scribe to take notice is admittedly hard to come by. We have the always-excellent Maryland Deathfest and of course the NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest as tentpole events, but outside of that, it’s relatively slim pickings, especially compared to what Europe has to offer.
Heart of Winter Festival is here to answer the call.
Beginning as a small upstart event hosted in Richmond, Virginia, it was dormant for 15 revolutions around the sun until this past January, with a statement-making return that included Hulder, One of Nine, Daeva, Evoken, Woe, Inter Arma, Krieg, Demiser, Valdrin, and a bunch of others. We were lucky enough to attend, and what impressed us the most about the event itself beyond the notable lineup was the real DIY attitude and the care in every detail that made that weekend a special occasion.
We won’t have to wait another decade-and-a-half for the next iteration, and with every indication, Heart of Winter is pulling out every stop to make this one hell of a time.
Of course, the lineup is critical, and the bookings that they’ve been able to pull off are nothing short of stellar.
First and foremost for this fellow is the mighty Inferno. The long-standing black metal masters from Czechia have morphed into an overwhelming, unflappable monstrosity of mangled sounds, with this year’s The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair) being a record that has made a profound impact on us, and a U.S. exclusive appearance as a headliner on Friday at Heart of Winter is enough of a draw alone to make the trek.
But as they say on those infomercials that plague late night television, “But wait, there’s more!”
Death/doom legends Dusk will headline Thursday evening; a band whose impact in their chosen style cannot be understated. Not always the easiest band to catch live, either — we’ve been lucky enough to witness them before, and believe when we say that they’re not to be missed, for they will crush all in a wide radius effortlessly.
Closing the third and final day of the festival on Saturday are searing black metal purveyors Necrofier. The Texan outfit have made a sizable impression in recent years, with 2023’s Burning Shadows in the Southern Night putting them on many a listener’s map, and this year’s Transcend into Oblivion has seen the band evolve further still into a wholly unique, abrasive force. Always enthralling on stage, and a perfect main attraction.
However, as we always say, a festival is only as good as the full breadth of acts on the lineup. Again, Heart of Winter has given a ton to look forward to.
Thursday
Highlights include the bleak sludge of Prisoner, the enveloping atmospheres of Trhä, the nasty post-black of The Silver (who feature members of Crypt Sermon, Daeva, and Horrendous), and the infectiously catchy, riffy black metal offers of Atlanta’s Cloak, and even the dungeon synth sounds of Hole Dweller. Desolus will provide a blackened thrash whirlwind, and U.S. Christmas will conjure up a sonic departure by way of their spacey creations.
Friday
We mentioned Inferno already, but if you want to talk front-to-back innovative, powerful music, it’ll be a non-stop onslaught on this day. Impure absolutely rip on stage – we just saw them a few months ago – and will no doubt get onlookers moving. Devastating black metal force Thantifaxath is one of my most anticipated, along with unrelenting death metal slingers Ritual Mass, and potent newcomers Ossuary (they tore Baltimore Soundstage to the foundation at Maryland Deathfest this year).
Don’t forget the equally fresh and forward-thinking Ordh, the cosmic black metal sounds of Imperialist, the highly singular perspectives of Saidan, Artificial Brain’s vicious tech death, and Wild Beyond’s blackened thrash assault. There won’t be a whole lot of downtime here.
Saturday
The final day includes some of the heaviest, nastiest bands the fest has to offer, including Kontusion, Primitive Warfare, and one of the most visceral death metal acts going, Aeviterne, whose 2022 release The Ailing Facade is as unnerving of an album as we’ve heard in some time. For the black metal side of the coin, Blasphemous is a band that yours truly is awfully familiar with, and along with Ara Subversor, Grave Gnosis, and Unholy Altar will bring a varied offering of stylistic approaches, as well as doomsters Concilium and blackened sludge slingers Pale Misery to round out a packed evening.
More Information
The festival will be held at The National for all three days – a change from last year, which has allowed the festival to expand their offerings, such as vendors at the nearby SinnerG Tattoos.
It’ll be a fantastic event that’s certainly one-of-a-kind, and from our experience last year, we’re very excited to be able to provide coverage this year. We’ll have an in-depth review and tons of photos to share with our NCS readers, so be prepared.
However, the best thing to do is to attend yourself!
You can grab both three-day and single-day tickets at www.heartofwinterfest.com, and you can even check the festival’s Instagram page for a discount code and a bunch of event information, including things to do in Richmond (hint: go to GWARbar). Hope to see you there, and be sure to say hello!