Hearth within the Mountains | Photograph by Jay Nel-McIntosh
Three years after its final gathering beneath the jagged silhouettes of the Tetons, Hearth within the Mountains returns—reignited and reimagined. Set in opposition to the staggering backdrop of the Pink Eagle Campground on the sovereign lands of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, July 25–27, the 2025 version marks not only a continuation, however a robust new chapter within the pageant’s ongoing evolution: one formed by collaboration, cultural connection, and the enduring energy of music as ritual.
This 12 months’s lineup threads the needle between primal power and religious grace. Norwegian legends Wardruna and Previous Man’s Youngster will every command a headlining evening, embodying two poles of FITM’s spectrum: sacred Nordic people and apocalyptic black steel. They’re joined by a genre-defiant slate that features the ferocious hardcore legacy of Converge, the uncooked emotional flood of Emma Ruth Rundle, the folkloric psychedelia of Hexvessel, and Blood Incantation, who will ship each a conventional loss of life steel set and a uncommon ambient efficiency of Timewave Zero.
Elsewhere, the invoice dives into regional mythologies and radical sound: Tzompantli conjure doom rooted in Nahua custom, Blackbraid channels indigenous fury and satisfaction via atmospheric black steel, and Pan-Amerikan Native Entrance gives a uncommon set on sovereign floor, their presence symbolically—and actually—reclaiming area. FITM mainstay Panopticon returns to carry out Autumn Everlasting in full, its mix of Appalachian people and black steel echoing the terrain’s emotional resonance. Add in Steve Von Until, Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne, Krallice, Inter Arma, and rising voices like Sonja, Majesties, Witching, and The Keening, and you’ve got a weekend that transcends style to kind a residing ritual.
“It’s an honor to be part of this and to observe it develop from a small gathering within the mountains of Wyoming, to this partnership with the Blackfeet, a really lovely surrounding, and a lineup that we really feel is matched so completely to what the expertise is,” says organizer Shane McCarthy.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the bands that make FITM singular—it’s the sense of pilgrimage. The trek has at all times mattered: throughout state strains, up filth roads, into thinner air and thicker which means. That spirit is just heightened in 2025. After the pageant’s lengthy hiatus and the lack of its Jackson Gap venue, the invitation from the Blackfeet Nation to carry FITM on their land sparked one thing deeper. The transfer wasn’t simply sensible—it was transformational.
When the organizers traveled collectively to Pink Eagle Campground, they weren’t merely scouting a location—they have been answering a name. Standing on that land, surrounded by historical past and welcome, they discovered not solely a brand new house for the pageant however a brand new goal.
That goal has taken form in partnership with neighborhood leaders like Charlie Spiecher and cultural stewards like Robert Corridor, each of the nonprofit Firekeeper Alliance. Collectively, they’ve constructed a framework that goes far past the weekend itself—supporting youth engagement, suicide prevention, cultural trade, and a brand-new elective course on heavy music for native college students. This isn’t only a pageant—it’s an providing, a gesture of mutual respect and reciprocal development.
And but, for all its transformation, the pageant’s core stays gloriously intact: wild landscapes, a curated lineup that fuses the transcendent with the confrontational, and a neighborhood that values depth, introspection, and shared which means. It’s nonetheless DIY. It’s nonetheless off-grid. It nonetheless asks one thing of you.
“I’m excited to see this mixture of artists come to this place, participate on this occasion, and share their music right here,” says McCarthy. “From the U.S. debut of Previous Man’s Youngster, to a bunch the caliber of Wardruna coming into this with such intent, to artists like Pan-Amerikan Native Entrance who’ve approached the occasion with such focus and buy-in—it feels nothing in need of one thing particular about to occur. I hope to have the ability to soak all of it in.”
Whether or not you’re coming for Chelsea Wolfe’s Friday evening catharsis, Krallice’s brain-warping technical chaos, or to bear witness as Pan-Amerikan Native Entrance amplifies their voice on ancestral land, FITM 2025 guarantees one thing greater than a weekend of music. It’s a fireplace stoked from each ends: previous and future, grief and development, custom and riot.
The climb is steep. The air is skinny. The sign would possibly drop—however what you’ll discover there would possibly stick with you for the remainder of your life.
Tickets are nonetheless accessible at fitmfest.com. The mountain’s calling. Will you reply?
