The summer of 2025 once again saw the quiet town of Vagos transform into a global meeting point for metal fans, as the 8th edition of Vagos Metal Fest roared to life from July 31 to August 3. Known for its mix of extreme metal icons, punk legends, and homegrown talent, this year’s lineup ensured a diverse assault of sound across the festival grounds. But Vagos is more than just its stages—the free camping, accessible facilities, shuttle services, and welcoming atmosphere make it one of Portugal’s most distinctive festivals, blending music, community, and chaos in equal measure.
Read all about this year’s experience at the Vagos Metal Festival!
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Day 1 – July 31st
Italian band Evenflow had the honour of opening this year’s Vagos Metal Fest 2025. The group brought with them their 2024 album Rinascimento, with the most notable change being the replacement of a male vocalist with the charismatic and ever-smiling Emma Elvaston. Their 30-minute set began somewhat quietly, but the band maintained a friendly and engaging presence throughout the short performance. Elvaston encouraged the audience to take part in the show and invited everyone to meet them afterwards within the festival grounds. The sound was solid and well-balanced, though the vocal delivery lacked an extra punch to elevate the performance. The setlist focused entirely on the albums Rinascimento and Life Has Just Begun, featuring songs such as Secret Prayer, Come To Life, In The Night, Brighter Than The Sun, and Flying Colors, among others. It was a promising debut on Portuguese soil.
Next, no one was quite prepared for what came next: Vector Of Underground. This eccentric quartet from Kazakhstan delivered a sound that defies easy categorisation. However, it clearly channels the chaos and influences of acts such as System of a Down, Psykup, and even Carnival In Coal. Armed with an unapologetically bold attitude, the band delivered an entertaining and unpredictable set, hosted by the charismatic and humorous frontman Vlad Lobanov. Their opening track, Mishka!, set the tone with impressive heaviness, catchy rhythms, and even danceable grooves. Over roughly 30 minutes, Vector Of Underground unleashed a barrage of tongue-in-cheek songs such as Best Metal Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll Party, and Your Boyfriend Sucks!. They proved to be a welcome surprise and quickly won over the crowd, which responded with circle pits, hardcore dancing, and an abundance of mosh.
Also hailing from Italy, the quartet Blax brought with them a slower, more drawn-out sound rooted in Gothic Rock. They had a rather timid start, but gradually managed to win over the audience, particularly fans of melancholic rock. The set was short but flowed quickly, featuring eight songs—six of which were taken from their most recent album Certesia. Highlights included Blax, Mr Graceful, and Doctor Love. The final two tracks, Our Brain Conditions and the closing number Shady Life, were drawn from their 2022 debut album Meravilia. Audience response was initially subdued, perhaps due to the band’s sound being less metal-oriented than expected. However, the Italians’ quality ultimately prevailed, and by the end of the set, many heads were nodding along to their music.
Next came a Portuguese band that immediately sparked curiosity with its name: Momentos Extremos de Obsessão. As a relatively unknown act within the Portuguese underground scene, many attendees made their way to the Vagos stage to witness their performance. What they received was a 30-minute set blending punk, crossover, and related styles, delivered with a distinctive and peculiar vocal approach that managed to captivate parts of the audience. The band performed their first two singles, “Fome” and “Caminho”, and also included the tracks “O Jogo”, “Guerra Não É Amor”, “O Vício”, finishing the set with “Diabo a 4”.
Next to take the stage were Undersave, the first band of the day to come from Lisbon. Well known within the Portuguese death metal underground, the quartet distinguishes itself from others in the genre through a more technical, dissonant, and complex approach, reminiscent of legendary bands such as Gorguts and Suffering Hour. What followed was an overwhelming performance by an exceptionally well-oiled machine, attentive to every detail. With a new album scheduled for release in October via Transcending Obscurity Records, the band completely devastated the Illegal stage with a set spanning all three of their full-length albums. Highlights included “Peacefully Floating in Prosperous Abyss”, taken from “Sadistic Iterations…”, as well as “Assuming a Position… a Way to Criticise One’s Own Hypocrisy” and “Akedía” from their debut “Now… Submit Your Flesh to the Master’s Imagination”. To the delight of the audience, they also performed two new songs from the upcoming album “Merged in Abstract Perdition”: “Unconscious Assimilation… Path to Tangible Reality” and “Narcissistic Supreme Alienation”. Nuno Braz’s vocal performance stood out as one of the set’s high points, evoking comparisons to the multifaceted style of Jason Mendonça (Akercocke). Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the first day of Vagos Metal Fest—leaving anticipation high for what’s to come in October.
From one heavy performance to another, Hochiminh, hailing from Beja in the Alentejo region, took to the Vagos stage and delivered a high-calibre performance with impeccable sound. Led by the charismatic and proudly Alentejano João Ramos, the band proved they possess both the quality and capability to perform on even larger stages. In just over 30 minutes, the set focused primarily on their album “This is Hell”, featuring tracks such as “Break It”, “Crawling”, “Let Them Suffer”, “Scars” and “Wasted”. The audience fully embraced the band’s energy, with little room left for words—“no time to talk,” as they put it—which only added to the momentum of an excellent concert. Special mention goes to the outstanding sound quality on the main stage during their set.
Another death metal act from Lisbon followed, this time bringing a more brutal and straightforward approach. Bleeding Display are unmistakable—it’s impossible not to notice their frontman, Sérgio Afonso, always drenched in blood and wielding his signature heavy axe (which we held ourselves!). With a far more direct and violent delivery, Bleeding Display stirred up plenty of dust in Vagos. The band commands a highly energetic stage presence, with Sérgio pacing like a caged tiger, constantly moving and unleashing his signature guttural vocals, reminiscent of Glen Benton from Deicide. The setlist focused on the two most recent albums in their discography: “Dawn Of A Killer” (2022), from which they performed “Basement Torture Killing”, “The Nightstalker”, “The Skin”, as well as “Green River Killer” and “213”. The remaining tracks—“Deprivation”, “Dark Passenger”, and “Remains To Be Seen”—were taken from the 2014 release “Deviance”. A fantastic concert that also served to mark the band’s 25th anniversary.
German thrash metal titans Destruction returned to Portugal for yet another crushing performance. Unfortunately, the band is now without its founding guitarist Mike Sifringer, but the quartet—led by the towering Marcel Schmier, accompanied by Randy Black on drums and “new” guitarists Eskić and Martin Furia—proved once again why they remain one of the four pillars of Teutonic thrash, alongside Kreator, Sodom, and Tankard. Over roughly eighty minutes, Destruction treated their longtime fans to a full celebration of the 40th anniversary of their iconic album “Infernal Overkill”, performing it in its entirety and in album order. Highlights included “Tormentor” and the long yet high-energy “Black Death”. Schmier also pointed out that “Bestial Invasion” is typically the band’s closing song, but on this special occasion, it was played according to the album’s original sequence. With dust rising in the air, heads banging, and a massive mosh pit in full motion, Vagos clearly showed its allegiance to the German veterans. Songs such as “Nailed To The Cross” and “No Kings, No Masters” from their latest release “Birth Of Malice” confirmed that whether playing classics or newer material, the band is always met with an ecstatic reception. This was yet another solid performance by Destruction on Portuguese soil—though “Thrash Till Death” was notably missing from the set.
The first night of this edition of Vagos Metal Fest, held at Quinta do Ega in Vagos, was highlighted by the return of American band P.O.D., one of the most iconic acts in nu metal and alternative metal. They performed on Portuguese soil once again, 25 years after their last visit on May 30, 2000, at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon. The concert, which began at 10:45 PM and was one of the most anticipated of the festival, featured essential tracks such as “Youth of the Nation”, “Boom”, “Alive”, and “Satellite”, all from their iconic 2001 album, alongside “Will You”, released in 2003. The performance confirmed that the Californians still deliver the same intensity that made them stand out in the late 1990s. In addition to classic songs, P.O.D. also showcased more recent material, always accompanied by an almost constant mosh pit. One of the most energetic moments was their rendition of “Southtown” from 1999. Frontman Sonny Sandoval addressed the crowd several times, asking who was seeing them for the first time and reinforcing the connection with their Portuguese fans through heartfelt messages, notably sincere:
“Thank you for being here tonight. When we say we love you, it really comes from the heart. We don’t say it lightly.”
Next up were the British band Gama Bomb. While not strangers to Portugal, having performed here before, many may be unfamiliar with their sense of humour and the fact that they aren’t an ordinary thrash metal band. The quartet quickly won over the audience with their jokes, puns, and other playful antics, making their concert even more entertaining, engaging, and memorable. Frontman Philly Byrne skillfully connected with the crowd, maintaining a lighthearted atmosphere and strong communication between band and fans throughout the show. The diverse setlist included well-known hits such as “666Teen”, “Slam Anthem”, “Give Me Leather”, “Zombie Blood Nightmare”, and “Miami Supercops”. The band also took the opportunity to introduce a new track, “Necronomicon Automaton”, taken from their most recent EP of the same name.
French band Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition closed the first night of the festival with intense levels of brutality. Promoting their newly released album, “The Macabre Voodoo Messiah of Masochism and Fetishism”, this Parisian group impressed both with the sheer violence of their music and the vocal prowess of Seb. Despite his unassuming appearance offstage, Seb unleashed guttural vocals onstage that seemed to come straight from the depths of Hell. Special mention goes to the drummer Mathieu Desaint for his outstanding performance. The band delivered their full brutality over a crushing 45-minute set, featuring five tracks from the new album entitled “The Macabre Voodoo Messiah of Masochism and Fetishism”, including “The Smoke from the Purgatorial Crematorium”, “In The House Of Correctio”, and “The Crowning Glory of Lucifer”.
Those who believed the final concert of the first day at Vagos Metal Fest would be a calm and relaxed affair were thoroughly mistaken. The opening day unfolded smoothly and successfully, free of any incidents, despite the intense heat that weighed down over the venue. The powerful performances throughout the day, culminating in a brutal and energetic finale, set a high standard for the rest of the festival, leaving the audience energised and eager for what was still to come. And nobody seemed to care that it was still Thursday!
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