Dark Castle Fest 2025
Radio Arcane presents Dark Castle Fest
A Gothic Music & Dark Arts Festival
– , 2025
Louisville, Kentucky
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Radio Arcane presents Dark Castle Fest
2025 Announcements!
Sinister Senile
If you’re familiar with the local music and arts scene here in Louisville, you probably already know Kensaku Nishizato. He’s one of the sweetest and most supportive people most of us are ever lucky enough to meet in this world. Not only is he a creative marvel but he’s downright family to us and this community adores him.
In short, it’s no surprise we want Kensaku and his wonderful brothers (gems all) to be part of Dark Castle Fest again. Their performance last year is high on our list of magickal moments of creativity, authenticity and human expression. As a full band, you can truly feel each member’s deep connection to each other and their collective energy is downright healing to witness. If you vibe on the frequencies of the 93 or the 23, Sinister Senile gives a performance you’re likely to dial right in.
“Sinister Senile is the journey of experimental electro-acoustic darkness that is approaching 30 years of sound.
Primarily it has been a solo project lead by Kensaku Nishizato. Kensaku has collaborated with Nurse with Wound, Val Denham, Peat Bog, Norman Westberg & other artists from around the world.
In 2024 Gary Mccracken, Robert John, Jerry Sutton, and Kirk Wilson joined Sinister Senile as it evolved into a magical ensemble. Robin Storey of Rapoon is currently working with Sinister Senile on various tracks for its first release on vinyl slated for 2026.”
Check out Sinister Senile on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Photography by @fotoewizzard_photography
Amulet
The waxing crescent Moon briefly conjoins with Uranus in Taurus today, leading us to new revelations and discoveries about ourselves and the world around us. This particular lunar phase invites us to plan and prepare for what’s to come.
Ombres émotionnelles et romantiques : entrez dans Amulet !
Bienvenue au Château des Ténèbres !
“Amulet is a Washington, DC-based dark romantic electro-rock band known for their powerful female vocals, bass-driven melodic music, and emotionally charged performances. With a unique blend of pounding electronic beats, ethereal melodies, and driving hard rock elements, Amulet captivates audiences with a sound that is intense and deeply personal. It is the kind of music that demands attention.
Fronted by the mesmerizing vocals of Stephanie Stryker and the music of multi-instrumentalist MJ Phoenix, the band’s music explores themes of love, loss, and the supernatural, weaving poetic lyrics with rich, atmospheric arrangements and powerful hooks.”
Check out Amulet on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Pas Musique
Do you have a love for the history of this music culture? We do. We’ll try not to burden you with an overlong lecture and instead welcome in a piece of that tradition as we introduce Pas Musique and some roots lineage. If some of the personal names Robert Pepper has collaborated with don’t ring a bell for you, some of their affiliated projects should. Just do a quick search on Martin Bisi, for instance, or the legendary Z’EV.
Pas Musique has performed at Art Sanctuary a couple of times before and we always love it but this will be the first time at Dark Castle Fest and we can’t wait. Not only for the great music but also the high quality company of a terrific artist. Robert is a good guy. He’s been around. Knows about cool things.
“Since its inception in 1995, Pas Musique, the brainchild of Brooklyn-based founder Robert L. Pepper, has evolved through diverse dark electronic, industrial, and experimental incarnations. Pas Musique has collaborated with notable artists such as Faust, Rapoon, Martin Bisi, Z’EV, Ron Anderson, Philippe Petit, HATI, and Chester Hawkins. With performances spanning 18 countries and extensive tours across the United States, Pas Musique continues to push sonic boundaries.”
Check out Pas Musique on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Feyleux
Feyleux will be joining Dark Castle Fest 2025 and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have them! We like them so much that we’re also having them at our annual Goth Prom on May 30th as well. That means you have a chance to see them twice this year and you should!
Feyleux is a dark alternative duo that emerged in mid-2023 seamlessly blending dream pop, darkwave, and post-punk to create their distinct sound. Their debut album, “Midnight Hearts,” released via the Swiss Dark Nights label, showcases cutting-edge bass synthesizers, cascading guitar melodies, and ethereal harmonies. Drawing on the vibrant gothic synth-pop aesthetics of the 1980s as well as modern darkwave.
Check out Feyleux on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Dead Cool
Returning to Art Sanctuary by popular demand from Dark Castle 2023, we are excited to welcome back Dead Cool! This band is a whole lot of fun and brings the dance floor of our great hall some love with upbeat songs and awesome throwback synth melodies. They’re super nice as well and you should come out and meet them in person.
“From the coastal charm of Wilmington, North Carolina emerges intriguing electronic duo, Dead Cool. Their namesake, drawn from a Chrome Cranks number, resonates with the unique chemistry of Johnny’s multifaceted vocal, synthesizer, and guitar prowess, coupled with Angela Yeagher’s bass rhythms and harmonizing vocals. Infused with the evocative notes of darkwave, post-punk, and synthpop, Dead Cool’s musical offerings, established since 2020, have been garnering an enthusiastic following both domestically and internationally.”
Check out Dead Cool on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Ak’chamel, The Giver of Illness
As artists ourselves, we keep our eyes out for the unique and out of the ordinary. That’s how we’ve ended up with violins, cellos, banjos and bongo drums in a music scene dominated by trends we’ve continued to step outside of. There’s more to this darkly romantic community than the next post punk sensation and we wanna keep exploring that.
Dark Castle Fest is overjoyed to announce “Ak’chamel - The Giver Of Illness”.
To be frank, we’re not entirely sure what to expect. They look incredible and once explored musically it was time to invite these cats to Louisville. Sounding as if Martin Denny made a desert pilgrimage on ayahuasca or some other wildly grown psychedelic. Looking like… I know our photographers will surely have a blast shooting these guys. For a better perspective on this it’s time to cut and paste a quote from better writers.
“Few bands are as inscrutable as the mysterious Texas duo Ak’chamel. The pair are known for their countless cassettes, films, and full-length records (such as the publicly and critically acclaimed ‘The Totemist’), as well as for performing their ritualistic sounds in homespun costumes with self-made instruments.”
– leguesswho.com
Check out Ak’chamel on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.
Silver Rein
Our first band confirmation should be no surprise if you were there to experience the beauty of her 2024 performance. Silver Rein won the hearts of the entire festival and impressed us so much we had her perform twice! So, of course, we had to bring her back again this year. Art such as this is something you’ll want to experience live for the collective emotion and believe us, it is powerful.
Come see and feel for yourself!
Silver Rein is an Ithaca, New York based composer, vocalist and cellist creating electric, dark folk. The sound has been described by listeners as “medieval Celtic” “atmospheric, Viking dungeon music” “cinematic” “good witch energy” and “a spiritual experience.”
Check out Silver Rein on Bandcamp or wherever you choose to listen to music.