OBSCURA + 4 SUPPORTY

Shred Fest, an event bringing together the wildest and most technically demanding bands in extreme metal, stops in late January at one venue in Poland! On January 25th at Warsaw's Proxima stage, Obscura will take the spotlight, accompanied by: legendary Pestilence, British cosmic explorers Cryptic Shift, progressive Danish outfit Thus, and French DVRK.

A quarter-century has passed since Steffen Kummer founded Obscura—a band that has carved its path to the forefront of progressive and technical death metal. Gorguts' influence is evident here, but in the German band's music you can trace melodies characteristic of the Gothenburg scene. Obscura merges precision with high intensity while maintaining catchiness. Hard to pull it all together? On last year's Nuclear Blast release "A Sonication", they prove it comes naturally to them.

Pestilence formed in 1986 and thanks to albums released at the turn of the last two decades of the 20th century—"Malleus Maleficarum", "Consuming Impulse", and "Testimony of the Ancients"—we regard them today as a legend of European death metal. Led by Patrick Mameli, the band initially blended thrash elements into their death metal, later enriching it with progressive touches. Their discography closes with 2024's "Levels of Perception".

Cryptic Shift, hailing from Leeds, has existed for 15 years (the first 5 years under the name… Crÿptic Shift). They entered the cosmic death metal elite with their debut full-length "Visitations from Enceladus", but this year appears to be their breakthrough, thanks to Metal Blade Records' "Overspace & Supertime". Often compared to Blood Incantation, but don't let such comments fool you—there's no trend-chasing here, only pure, uncompromising