Since its launch in 2022, Dresden’s Cold-Hearted Festival has rapidly evolved into a cornerstone of the European darkwave scene, selling out year after year and steadily expanding its reach. Returning in 2026, the festival once again solidifies its reputation as one of Europe’s premier gatherings for darkwave, coldwave, and post-punk devotees. This year, Cold Hearted Festival takes place on November 13th at Hamburg’s Markthalle, followed by November 14th at Dresden’s Alter Schlachthof.
Collectively, the bands on the bill span the full spectrum of darkwave, post-punk, and coldwave, from stark minimalism and synth-driven severity to guitar-led gothic urgency. Each act brings a distinct voice to the lineup, reinforcing Cold-Hearted Festival’s commitment to showcasing the breadth and vitality of the contemporary dark underground. It’s not just one of the coolest festivals in Europe…it’s ice-cold.
Leading the 2026 edition is Cold Cave, whose emotionally charged synth-pop and post-punk lineage has left a lasting mark on the modern darkwave canon. They’re joined by an international lineup including Kaelan Mikla, Gvllow, Ash Code, Qual, Haunt Me, Night In Athens, Darkways, Vioflesh, Skelesys, and Huir – a bill that reflects both the genre’s legacy and its restless forward momentum.
Cold Cave
Founded by Wesley Eisold, Cold Cave occupy a tense, singular space where synth-pop, post-punk, and darkwave converge under pressure rather than nostalgia. Stark electronics serve as emotional architecture, framing lyrics that oscillate between confession and confrontation. Drawing from industrial minimalism and romantic new wave in equal measure, their songs feel both inward-facing and immense. Renowned for live performances that favour release over spectacle, Cold Cave remain a vital, unflinching presence within the modern dark underground.
Kaelan Mikla
Icelandic trio Kaelan Mikla channel coldwave severity into something ritualistic and charged, where glacial synth lines, insistent bass, and incantatory vocals converge. Their songs move with a sense of repetition as invocation, drawing power from restraint rather than excess. Sung primarily in Icelandic, the music carries a stark, elemental weight: rooted in place yet unbound by it, earning the band a devoted following far beyond their homeland.
Gvllow
Hailing from California, Gvllow operate at the intersection of darkwave, EBM, and industrial, favoring impact over adornment. Distorted basslines drive the songs forward with blunt force, while commanding vocals cut through with confrontational intent. The result is music built for physical response: tense, unrelenting, and direct, translating with equal potency from record to stage.
Ash Code
Italian trio Ash Code approach modern darkwave with a measured poise, fusing sleek, club-driven rhythms with a cool undercurrent of melancholy. Their tracks move with controlled momentum, where emotional restraint sharpens rather than dulls the impact. It’s music built for the dancefloor but shadowed by introspection, securing Ash Code a place among the most quietly compelling voices in the contemporary darkwave scene.
Qual
The solo project of William Maybelline (Lebanon Hanover), Qual strips electronic music down to its most severe impulses. Drawing from EBM, industrial, and minimal synth, the project favours abrasion over comfort, repetition over release. The result is an uncompromising, confrontational body of work brought to life through performances that feel less like shows than sustained exercises in intensity.
Haunt Me
Haunt Me distill shadowed synth-pop and post-punk into tightly coiled, emotionally charged forms. Minimalist electronics and hushed vocals work in service of mood rather than excess, circling themes of isolation and unease. The songs unfold slowly, inwardly, steeped in nocturnal introspection, capturing the low-grade anxiety and quiet tension that sit at the core of contemporary darkwave.
Night In Athens
UK-based Night In Athens fuses classic post-punk tension with glinting synth textures, shaping songs that feel simultaneously cinematic and inward-facing. Atmosphere does the heavy lifting here: lines stretch, pulse, and recede, pulling the listener into a space of late-night reflection and low-level restlessness. It’s music that unfolds in half-light, sustained by mood and momentum.
Darkways
Spanish act Darkways works within coldwave and post-punk traditions while refining them through a contemporary electronic lens. Melody is never allowed to soften the blow; severity is held in careful balance with propulsion. The result is music that remains dark yet resolutely danceable, its melancholic pull sharpened by precision, rather than excess.
Building on a track record of sold-out editions and a lineup that spans the breadth of darkwave and post-punk, Cold-Hearted Festival 2026 asserts itself as a key convergence point for the scene—drawing devotees from across Europe and well beyond.
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