After five years of silence, the underground of Prague is about to tremble again this September. Audiotrauma Fest, one of Europe’s most uncompromising celebrations of post-industrial and experimental electronics, returns to the city where its story once seemed to have come to an end. And it returns in full force – with the motto unchanged: seven live acts, one merch table, zero corporate logos. 

From the very beginning, Audiotrauma has been synonymous with a fiercely DIY approach. It was born at the turn of the millennium as a network of friends exchanging burned CD-Rs, photocopying sleeves late at night, and throwing wild shows in improvised basements. Out of that raw energy grew a festival that became a Mecca for all who searched for music outside conventional boundaries. Where others conformed, Audiotrauma Fest stubbornly held on to its creed: to make space for the sounds that fit nowhere else.

The last Prague edition in 2020 was symbolic in many ways. It took place at Storm Club and, alongside international names such as Imminent and Moaan Exis, also gave a platform to local projects. The festival carried an atmosphere of farewell, underlined by the announcement of the label’s closure. Syco Trauma, the driving force behind the collective, spoke openly in interviews about exhaustion and burnout. It seemed like the end. Yet from today’s perspective, another layer emerges: the 2020 edition unfolded on the very last weekend before the COVID pandemic, when clubs shut down and cultural life was suspended for months on end. The noise of Audiotrauma Fest resonated long into that sudden silence, like an echo reminding us of everything that had been abruptly muted.

That makes the current return all the more powerful. Audiotrauma Fest 2025 will take place on September 26–27, transforming Prague once more into the epicenter of European post-industrial sound. The opening night will unfold in the intimate space of Recykl Club, while the main detonation will arrive on Saturday at the cavernous SUBZERO Prague – a venue whose concrete walls seem purpose-built to carry relentless beats and cascades of distortion. The curatorial spirit remains unchanged: legends of the genre stand side by side with fresh blood and Czech acts. The full line-up is being revealed step by step, but it is already clear that this will be one of the most radical gatherings on Czech soil this year.

The return also carries a deeper message. It is not just the revival of a brand, but a confirmation that the spirit of Audiotrauma has never died. As ReGen Magazine put it, “the gear is better now, the rooms a little bigger, but the motive hasn’t moved an inch.” What began as a subcultural experiment has become a manifesto: music as resistance, as community, as an aesthetic that refuses commercial compromise.

Audiotrauma Fest has never been just a series of concerts. It is an experience that fuses audience and artists in a moment of total sonic detonation. Genres lose meaning in this space; what unfolds cannot be categorized. Those who attend know they will be subjected to extreme intensity – but also to a strange sense of belonging. As the festival’s own words declare: If curiosity and decent earplugs are all you bring, you’re over-qualified.

Audiotrauma Fest 2025 is therefore more than a comeback. It is a ritual of resurrection. In an era where the music scene is saturated with uniformity and instant entertainment, the festival brings to Prague something you cannot find anywhere else: a daring journey to the very edge of sound. And it is precisely there – in noise, dissonance, and pulsating concrete – that the most lasting experiences are born.
Audiotrauma is a French experimental/industrial label whose uncompromising spirit shaped the European post‑industrial underground. The Prague festival editions (2017, 2019, 2020) became rallying points for rhythmic noise, dark ambient and digital hardcore communities. 2020 was the last weekend before COVID lockdowns silenced all venues; the noise of the festival echoed into the silence. 2025 marks the comeback.