Brutal Assault 2025 – A Four-Day Siege of Extreme Metal at Josefov Fortress

Brutal Assault is Europe’s premier extreme-metal pilgrimage, held annually within the ramparts of the 18th-century Josefov Fortress in Jaroměř, Czech Republic. Now in its 29th year, the festival runs from August 6–9, 2025 (with a warm-up party on August 5), showcasing over 125 bands across five stages for four days of unrelenting intensity—plus art installations and open-air cinema for off-stage immersion.

First staged in 1996 as a small grindcore gathering, Brutal Assault quickly outgrew its early venues—drawing more than 7,000 fans by 2006 in Svojšice—before relocating to Josefov Fortress in 2007 to accommodate its burgeoning audience. By 2012, attendance had surged to 15,000, solidifying the festival’s status as a must-attend event for metalheads worldwide.

Perched on the banks of the Elbe and Mettau rivers, Josefov Fortress was built between 1780–1787 by Emperor Joseph II and repurposes its star-shaped bastions into a labyrinth of performance spaces. Two main stages stand boldly against ancient stone walls, while three covered venues—Warzone, Doom Cathedral, and the Core Stage—host specialized hardcore, doom/sludge, and metalcore lineups respectively.

This year’s headliners—Gojira, Dimmu Borgir, and Ministry—will lead the assault alongside icons like Obituary, Suffocation, Overkill, and a special “Colors” performance by Between the Buried and Me. From raw black-metal rituals to tech-death precision, experimental noise to hardcore fury, every extreme subgenre finds its altar across twelve hours of daily sets.

Brutal Assault’s motto, “Against violence and intolerance,” underpins a fully cashless, RFID-wristband system—eliminating queues and theft risks—and on-site amenities from guarded campsites with showers to first-aid stations and food vendors. Wander art zones between blasts of blastbeats, catch late-night films under the stars, or simply roam the fortress corridors as they echo with riffs.

Secure your full-festival pass, single-day ticket, or Brutal Camp package (ready-pitched tent, mattress, LED lamp) via the official e-shop: brutalassault.cz/en/tickets.

Ticket Prices:

• Festival Pass – EUR 219.00
• Warm-up Daily Pass – EUR 25.50
• Daily Pass – EUR 102.00

Prepare your neck for four days of sonic devastation, and join thousands of fellow metalheads in Jaroměř for the ultimate extreme-metal pilgrimage. 🤘