Maria Iskariot

Over 180 shows in two years, praise from everyone from Billie Eilish’s father to production genius Justin Raisen, and a passionately raw, utterly unique punk style – what Maria Iskariot have achieved off the cuff over the last three years puts any flowery PR spin to shame. The four-piece from Geneva blastes through the drama of a “Dat Vind Ik Lekker” or stomping halftime wreckage à la “Wereldwaan” with godless energy, yet also masters quirky folk numbers with a chamber-orchestral touch like “Niets Gaat Verloren” seemingly by heart. Thus, Maria Iskariot have already realised their own sound design with remarkable expressiveness. Nothing here is too much, nothing too little; everything is dirty and raw, yet precisely produced. Torn between dualities and distortions, modern, well-honed, unpolished punk rock should perhaps sound exactly like this. Their debut album “Wereldwaan” (2025) is therefore not entirely without reason, and not just in Belgium, already being hailed as an instant classic – their concerts unanimously accorded legendary status. Anyone who finds that hard to believe can be proven otherwise in Hamburg this September.