Music forecast: On Friday, Vilnius will be shaken by the thunder of "Winter of Wolves."

In the concert hall Kablys, rightfully known as the stronghold of Vilnius metalheads, the thunderous Vilnius city festival Winter of Wolves will take place on Friday, January 25th. The loudest sounds of music will reach Lithuania from various corners of Europe – Sweden, Greece, and Ukraine.

"The traditional Winter of Wolves festival will, for the ninth time, bring together heavy music fans from across the country and abroad. This year, we’ll delight connoisseurs of extreme music, who long for the atmosphere of live concerts, with three bands that have never performed in Lithuania before, a group dear to us arriving directly from the Ukrainian frontlines, and one of the strongest Lithuanian black metal bands," says festival organizer Daividas Kurlis.

The evening will kick off with Lithuania's atmospheric black metal stars Sisyphean. Known for their unconventional approach to black metal and distinguished by a broad and multifaceted musical vision, these creators like to emphasize their expression with dissonance. Even listeners who have seen them live before will be surprised this time by a wealth of previously unreleased material.

Following the Lithuanians, the stage will host the Hellenic black metal performers from Greece, Yoth Iria. Formed six years ago, the group will visit Lithuania for the first time. Despite being relatively new, its members are seasoned veterans of the metal scene, having played with renowned acts such as Rotting Christ, Melechesh, On Thorns I Lay, Cruachan, and many others. In Vilnius, the Greeks will present their latest album, Blazing Inferno.

A completely different atmosphere will be brought by the guests from Sweden – the crust/punk collective Wolfbrigade. Also visiting Lithuania for the first time, these Scandinavians are known for their highly dynamic, energetic, and even raw and dangerous music, which exudes pure sweat, grit, and audacity. There’s no doubt that they will turn Kablys into a frenzied sauna, wringing out more than a few drops of sweat from the audience.

"A group that is spiritually very dear to us, 1914, hails from Ukraine. The band left an indelible emotional impression when they performed at the festival Kilkim Žaibu just a few months after the war began. Musicians from a country defending Europe from barbaric neighbors know better than anyone what the horrors of war are. In Vilnius, they will tell stories of the senselessness and pain of war, intertwined with riffs characteristic of death and doom genres," says D. Kurlis.

The festival's headliners, closing the evening's concert program, are the rising Swedish black metal stars, Hellbutcher. Although the group officially formed just three years ago, only one of the quintet’s members has been on the metal scene for less than two decades. Having played with bands like Nifelheim, Witchery, Opeth, Bloodbath, Taake, Aeternus, Necrophobic, and Unleashed, they received widespread critical acclaim after releasing their debut album. The creators of aggressive, raw black metal will thrill Winter of Wolves fans with fierce, wild riffs that harken back to the early days of thrash and black metal.

The Winter of Wolves festival will take place on January 25th at the music club Kablys in Vilnius. The first concert starts at 5 PM.