Report: Denis Mikšić
Photos: Jahvo Joža & Dule Klc
This year's Monteparadiso hardcore punk festival ran for 3 days, from July 30th to August 1st, 2026. It was another chance for old friends and new acquaintances who share a love of DIY hardcore punk to gather at Soical Centre Rojc in Pula.
30.07 (Thursday)
The first night was opened by local act Dead Lesh, a band made up of scene veterans who've previously played in Bolesno Grinje, Antiotpad, DJ and the Wootchjak and som other bands from Pola. What can you say except that's exactly it. The band has progressed over the past year, and their sound is increasingly leaning into metalized punk'n'roll.
Mostar's Crustalno Jasno, according to reports, managed to deliver a solid dose of d-beat/crust as a duo (vocals/bass + drums) can do. If they found a guitarist, they'd gain in dynamics and range — a stripped-down lineup like this works better in small club spaces, but here it lacked breadth.
Ljubljana's Poguba delivered a dose of the dark side of ex-Yu hardcore punk with reflections mostly to Ljubljana 80s hardcore style. Those in the know say they picked up the best of '80s Ljubljana hardcore: UBR's tricks and logo, Niet's melancholy, and the Tožibabe sound.
Bad Bahnhoff came from Switzerland frying up garage rock'n'roll, which was a welcome palate cleanser after the previous, more crushing bands.
Crow Noise were definitely the most anticipated name of the first night: they're from Malaysia and drew the biggest crowd - maybe partly because their bassist is a well-known face from Pula punk scene. The band churns out their own take on stenchcore/crust in the style of Deviated Instinct, Disrupt, and Antisect.
31.07 (Friday)
Giht opened the night with their egg/chain/post — or whatever you want to call it — hardcore. Despite the early slot, they already got the first people dancing. It was interesting to catch them on the big stage, given their shows are usually small club gigs where they're on the same level as the crowd and the chaos is total.
Italy's Pretesto play street core and handle festival sets well. Unlike some of this year's other bands, they had a notably full sound and a tight performance.
Octopoulpe is a regular guest at our clubs and fests — a solo drummer performing alongside backing tracks and video projections. Having broken the ice a couple of years ago, at least as far as this type of festival goes, the crowd gave "the drumming octopus" a great reception this time. The performance and playing have kept improving, and the video screens show familiar faces from the international scene guesting on individual tracks. Definitely one of this year's standout sets.
Urlik from Belgrade plays punk'n'roll and have their own fanbase, while the real discovery of the festival was young Berlin band Holocausts. The standout in the lineup is a manically played drummer, while the band delivers fierce political '80s hardcore with light blackened-metal influences.
Scuffy Dogs kept the chaos going in the front rows. To their classic Slovenian punk sound they added saxophone, which nudged it just slightly, almost imperceptibly, toward ska. After them, the Swedes could only keep the rhythm going.
Lautsturmer were exactly as they sound on record — no more, no less: the kind of Swedish crust'n'roll we're used to hearing from Wolfbrigade and other genre giants. Unlike them, though, the Malmö crew lacks a rhythm guitar for a fuller sound. In club shows the trio format might work fine, but here too a bit of reinforcement wouldn't have hurt.
01.08 (Saturday)
Deafening opened the final night with their manic blackened grindcore. Shame that by the third night the crowd had worn themselves out a bit from sun, sea, and summer activities, so their furious set was only watched by a handful of die-hard metalheads. Still, there was no shortage of headbanging.
The Last Mile play melodic post-hardcore with 3 vocalists, which — melancholic as it is — lifted the mood ahead of Methedrine. The band puts a lot into their live show (and their merch), but in Pula they'd had some drummer issues and replaced him with a computer backing track. Production was solid enough that the crowd in the back rows barely noticed the "live" drummer was missing. The band clearly won over part of the metalhead crowd, and their well-executed set served as a warm-up for the guests from Montenegro.
Apparently cold oi is now more popular than ever, as strange as that might sound. Mučin come from Podgorica and play a unusual combination of Oi! punk and dark post-punk. Although they've only been on the scene for 2-3 years, they've become one of the more significant names in the ex-Yu scene. At times they sound like some of the bands from the cult compilation Artistička radna akcija (ARA), bands like Defektni Efektno or Radnička kontrola, combined with the sound of France's Litovsk. Their lyrics are strongly political and bring Oi! back to its working-class, left-wing roots. Definitely one of the sets worth singling out from this edition of the festival.
Punho De Mahin turned out to be the festival's great surprise, rightfully placed as the grande finale. The band is from Brazil — the rhythm section is held down by experienced veterans of the local scene, while the frontwomen burst out as fierce hardcore punk-disco queens who hold the crowd's attention for the whole set. They fry up classic hardcore with excursions into world music, and the guitarist leans lightly into motorcrust. In front of the stage, people slammed to the show of this very likeable crew — make sure to check them out if they turn up somewhere on tour.
Destroy All Gondolas closed things out with rock'n'roll. A somewhat darker story, including their commentary on overall touristification, didn't numb the crowd in the front rows — quite the opposite, people kept moving right to the end. They wrapped up with a Motörhead cover.
All in all - another Monteparadiso festival without big names or big headliners. The new generation of organizers is clearly sticking with the tried-and-tested formula where bands and audience are one and the same. Thirty-four years of the festival confirm that this model still works. There were also distro stands worth mentioning, including praiseworthy vegan beans for the hardcore dancers, anarcho-Palestinian watermelon sellers, affordable prices, and fast bartenders.
See you at the small 35th anniversary next year.
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| Crow Noise |
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| Crustalno Jasno |
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| Dead Lesh |
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| Poguba |
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| Lautsturmer |
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| Scuffy Dogs |
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| Urlik |
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| Punho De Mahin |
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