Party.San Metal Open Air 2026

Event:	Party.San 2026
Date:	6th – 8th August
Location:	Schlotheim – Flugplatz Obermehler

Thursday, 8th of August

30 years of Party.San Open Air! Of course, an anniversary like this had to be celebrated properly. After picking up my press pass without any problems and setting up the tent in absolutely crushing temperatures it was finally time to watch some bands.

200 Stab Wounds were the first band I caught on the Main Stage on Thursday. The wind caused a few minor sound issues here and there. Nevertheless that didn’t stop the band from winning over the crowd with their modern death metal sound. The first bigger mosh pit opened during the intro and basically stayed there until the end of the set. As a huge fan of their debut album, it was especially cool to hear bangers like “Itty Bitty Pieces“, “Skin Milk” and “Tow Rope Around the Throat” live again. They even threw in a new song towards the end. A great start, although I really miss Steve Buhl’s growls.

Misery Index simply never disapoints. Small club? Festival stage? Doesn’t matter. At Party.San, they turned the Main Stage and everything in front of it into one massive battlefield. The band delivered an incredibly tight set. Classics like “Defector” and “Traitors” sent the crowd into complete chaos. Interestingly enough, the setlist didn’t feature any material released after “The Killing Gods“. Still, Misery Index doing what Misery Index do best.

Sadistic Intent followed with a completely uncompromising performance. This is exactly how death metal should sound. Raw, fast and without any gimmicks. Just riffs and blast beats. “Ancient Black Earth” and “Asphyxiation” were only two of the countless bombs the band dropped on us. Maybe someone should consider putting a picture of Sadistic Intent next to the definition of death metal in the dictionary. It would certainly make sense.

The next stop was the tent stage, where Begging for Incest were already waiting. It only took a few seconds before a huge circle pit opened right in front of the stage. If there was one band genuinely overwhelmed by the appreciation they received from the Party.San crowd, it was these guys. With huge smiles on their faces, they smashed through one brutal track after another. A very likeable performance and probably one that both the band and the fans won’t forget anytime soon.

Lamp of Murmuur were added to the lineup on short notice after Desaster had to cancel due to illness. For me, they were more than a worthy replacement. Atmospheric and filled with a certain sense of tragedy, the band covered the festival grounds in their very own take on black metal. And holy shit, “Seal of the Dominator” hits ridiculously hard live. The future definitely belongs to Lamp of Murmuur. I’m pretty sure they’ll destroy plenty of bigger stages over the next few years.

And with that, I had seen pretty much every important band on my Thursday list. Well, with one exception. Unfortunately, I only heard Evoken from a distance because I ran into some old friends and completely lost track of time while talking to them. But honestly, that’s part of Party.San as well. Meeting familiar faces you haven’t seen in far too long is just as much a part of the festival as the music itself.

Friday, 9th of August

Wormed were the perfect wake-up call on Friday, even though the sun was already doing a pretty good job of making everyone sweat. “Pseudo-Horizon” was just one of many sci-fi death metal bangers the Spaniards used to send the crowd into another dimension. Technically, what these guys delivered was absolutely insane. Imagine Cryptopsy playing inside a black hole and you’re probably getting close. A damn good start to the day.

One of my first real highlights was Crawl. I listened to their debut album Rituals countless times back in 2018, so finally catching them at Party.San was something I had been looking forward to. Their mixture of crust and death metal kicked up a serious amount of dust in front of the tent stage. The band’s energetic performance combined with that unmistakable HM-2 chainsaw sound worked perfectly. Dirty, aggressive and exactly what I wanted from them.

Things became much more mystical with Wolves in the Throne Room. There were some minor sound issues at the beginning. Thereafter the band was able to fully unfold their Cascadian black metal atmosphere. “Mountain Magick” couldn’t have been a better opener. The same can be said about the end of their performance. Closing with “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots” was simply the perfect choice. An incredible performance from start to finish.

Saturday, 8th of August

The final day brought even more heat and, naturally, plenty of cold drinks to survive it. Despite the temperatures, there was no way I was going to miss Internal Bleeding. The New York death metal veterans came out swinging. Blast beats and thunderous riffs probably woke up even the most hungover person on the festival grounds. Songs like “Driven to Conquer” and “Languish in Despair” even kept a small circle pit alive despite the heat. That’s how you start the final day of a festival.

And things didn’t get any softer with Acranius. The Germans were added as a last-minute replacement for Devourment, but the crowd welcomed them with open arms. Countless crowd surfers immediately brought some extra chaos into the mix. When they dropped bangers like “Ghetto Brawl“, people completely lost their minds. Acranius might actually be the only band capable of getting people to two-step at Party.San. True Baltic Sea Brutality.

After all that violence, Celeste brought a much darker and more atmospheric change of pace. The French band skipped their signature headlamps for this performance, but they still managed to pull the audience deep into their gloomy world. Creating that kind of atmosphere inside a hot and stuffy festival tent isn’t exactly easy. Somehow, Celeste still made it work and delivered a breathtaking show.

As the temperatures finally started to drop, things heated up once again in front of the Main Stage when Wolfbrigade walked out. The legendary crust band immediately went for the throat with “March of the Wolves“, and it didn’t take long before the first mosh pit opened. Their set featured a great mixture of material from both the Wolfpack and Wolfbrigade eras. Fast, aggressive and full of that unmistakable crust punk attitude. For me, this was probably the best performance of the entire festival, and I’m pretty sure quite a few people in the crowd would agree.

Tired, covered with sunburn, but very happy, it was finally time to head home. The fact that I skipped all three headliners might not exactly sound like the greatest advertisement for Party.San. But honestly, there were more than enough smaller bands that made this weekend completely worth it.
Huge respect to the entire Party.San team for three more than successful days. Thirty years of Party.San and still going strong.

Hopefully we’ll be back next year when once again it is time to say:
Hell awaits!