WATAIN – an exclusive performance on the KILKIM ŽAIBU 2027 stage!
Swedish black metal cult WATAIN, who have announced that they will bring their career to an end in the autumn of 2028, will perform their one and only farewell show in the Baltic States. This historic Swedish memento mori ritual will take place on June 24, 2027, in the Ukmergė district of Lithuania, on the stage of KILKIM ŽAIBU 2027, a festival celebrating Baltic culture and extreme music.
In 2027, the band will embark on a series of farewell concerts across Europe, while in 2028 they will move most of their rituals across the Atlantic. Following their final performances, the cult name of WATAIN will finally become part of the history of darkness.
For the past few decades, these Swedish black metal titans have been a formidable force across the entire heavy music scene. WATAIN embody the very essence of the genre – its core values, sound and aesthetics: everything that is genuine, radical and forged through extreme experiences. The announcement that their upcoming album will mark the final chapter in the band's existence sent shockwaves through the heavy music world, making their appearance in Lithuania an especially significant occasion.
Everything touched by the band, led by vocalist Erik Danielsson, is genuine, serious and uncompromising. Having captured the attention of extreme music fans since the very beginning of their career, the musicians have always maintained a delicate balance between the purist ideology of black metal's “Trve Kvlt” and widespread recognition. Frequently accused of being controversy-seeking provocateurs, WATAIN have always remained true to their unbreakable principles – the fundamental ideals of black metal and an uncompromising guitar-driven sound that has rightfully earned them the true black metal label.
Although their creative universe is inseparable from spiritual inspiration, the Swedish outfit is also recognised as one of the hardest-working bands on the extreme music scene. WATAIN's live performances are terrifying, shocking and charged with spiritual symbolism, ritual fire and paranormal energy. The band has never concealed its esoteric worldview, and their music serves as a vessel through which visions of the otherworldly are brought to life.
Without a doubt, this WATAIN performance will be historic not only because of its significance to the entire metal scene, but also because of its extraordinary technical production. Few venues or festivals in the Baltic States are willing to take on the challenge of bringing to life all the stage design and pyrotechnic concepts envisioned by a band with such exceptionally high standards. We embrace this challenge as a special mission: to bid farewell to these titans with the respect they deserve, right there on the KILKIM ŽAIBU stage.
WATAIN's final ritual will be one of the defining highlights of the coming summer at a festival that has been running for more than a quarter of a century and continues to grow in scale and intensity. The fortress of KILKIM ŽAIBU XXVII will thunder for three days and three nights, with an already formidable line-up featuring some heavyweight names from the extreme music scene: Canadian death metal machine KATAKLYSM, legendary Dutch veterans SINISTER, uncompromising Norwegians BLOOD RED THRONE, and masters of melodic black metal from Greece, YOTH YRIA.
The atmosphere of darkness and mystery at Smetona Manor will be fuelled by dark aesthetes CLOAK from the USA, Estonian pagan metal warriors THARAPITHA, and, returning after a long absence, legends of the Lithuanian scene – the enigmatic NAHASH and the guardians of Baltic spirit, ROMUVOS.
This encounter with black metal titans WATAIN will become history. Be part of it!
