Fortress Festival 2025 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 31/05/25-01/06/24 (Live Review)

Fortress Festival 2025 - Scarborough Spa, Scarborough

I’m so happy to be back at one of the world’s best black metal festivals. I love it here at Fortress Festival, and I can’t wait to work through such a great lineup again. If you haven’t been here before, make sure you don’t miss the 2026 edition.

Last year’s Fortress was excellent. I saw every band available, with the exception of a mere few when I needed to find food, essentially. This year I’m going to try an adopt a more sensible approach, (at least from one perspective), and not kill myself trying to catch everything again. Having said that, I’ll still be trying to watch as many bands as I realistically can, while factoring in food, downtime, circumstances, etc. This year’s lineup is so good though, that every band is worth seeing, and in an ideal world I’d do just that. Regardless, we’ll see how we get on. And also, there are some bands playing this weekend that are just absolutely mandatory.

Before we get into it – as was the case last year, I have once again been blessed to be able to use the stunning photographs from the very talented Aleksandra Hogg, (which is why they are far, far, far superior to the photos I normally take when left to my own devices). I urge you to check out her work at Acidolka here, here, or here. Continue reading “Fortress Festival 2025 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 31/05/25-01/06/24 (Live Review)”

Make Them Suffer/Resolve/Conjurer/If Not for Me – Academy 2, Manchester – 10/05/25 (Live Review)

Make Them Suffer Poster - Manchester Academy 2 10.05.25

I fell hard for last year’s Make Them Suffer, so the opportunity to catch the band live was irresistible. Since then, I’ve only enjoyed the album more and more, and I’ve delved into their back catalogue too. In general, I’m not a huge fan of modern metalcore, but Make Them Suffer are a notable exception. They somehow manage to effectively manifest a host of ideas and sounds that I would usually not care for most of the time; they have that special something in abundance.

Anyway, fawning over with, let’s get to the show. There are three other bands first, only one – Conjurer – that I already know. Continue reading “Make Them Suffer/Resolve/Conjurer/If Not for Me – Academy 2, Manchester – 10/05/25 (Live Review)”

Ultha/Ante-Inferno/Andracca – Rebellion, Manchester – 15/03/25 (Live Review)

Ultha Ante-Inferno Andracca - Rebellion, Manchester - 15.03.25

Featuring Andracca and Ante-Inferno, two of the leading lights of the UK black metal underground, as well as the mighty Ultha, this was a show I could not afford to miss. Especially as, in my humble opinion, Ultha are probably the best modern black metal band in the world. It promises to be a great show. Continue reading “Ultha/Ante-Inferno/Andracca – Rebellion, Manchester – 15/03/25 (Live Review)”

Carpathian Forest/Black Altar/Wolfbastard – Rebellion, Manchester – 18/03/25 (Live Review)

Carpathian Forest Black Altar Wolfbastard - Rebellion, Manchester - 18.03.25 (Live Review)

Being a fan of Carpathian Forest ever since first getting Strange Old Brew way back in 2000, I knew I wanted to see this show. Black Altar were an added bonus on top. Then, recently, when Wolfbastard were added as opener, it simply meant I was looking forward to it even more. Continue reading “Carpathian Forest/Black Altar/Wolfbastard – Rebellion, Manchester – 18/03/25 (Live Review)”

The Origin of Madness Tour – Enterprise Earth/Distant/The Last Ten Seconds of Life/Harbinger – Rebellion, Manchester – 27/02/25 (Live Review)

The Origin of Madness Tour - Enterprise Earth Distant The Last Ten Seconds of Life Harbinger - Rebellion, Manchester - 27.02.25

I didn’t want to miss the chance to see Distant and Enterprise Earth, so I have been looking forward to this show. The latter in particular keep impressing me, to the point where they are now easily one of my favourites when it comes to the deathcore and related styles.

It’s not one of the busiest shows I’ve been to unfortunately, (although it certainly wasn’t as empty as some), but for those in attendance it was riotously good fun. Continue reading “The Origin of Madness Tour – Enterprise Earth/Distant/The Last Ten Seconds of Life/Harbinger – Rebellion, Manchester – 27/02/25 (Live Review)”

Better Lovers/Frontierer/Greyhaven – Academy 3, Manchester – 19/01/25 (Live Review)

Better Lovers Frontierer Greyhaven - Academy 3, Manchester - 19.01.25

Now this is a lineup. All three bands I’d go and see in their own right, let alone all touring together. Tonight I feel like I’m in for a real treat. Morale is high as I enter the Academy 3, and it’s about to get a whole lot of busy. Continue reading “Better Lovers/Frontierer/Greyhaven – Academy 3, Manchester – 19/01/25 (Live Review)”

Alcest/Svalbard/Doodseskader – Academy 2, Manchester – 12/12/24 (Live Review)

Alcest Svalbard Doodseskader - Academy 2, Manchester - 12.12.24 (Live Review)

I’ve never seen Alcest before, so this was a great opportunity to remedy that, especially as the wonderful Svalbard were also playing. Doodseskader too, but I don’t really know them. Continue reading “Alcest/Svalbard/Doodseskader – Academy 2, Manchester – 12/12/24 (Live Review)”

Hulder/Verwoed/Aristarchos/Ante-Inferno/Deathless Void/Burial/Slimelord – Rebellion, Manchester – 30/11/24 (Live Review)

 

Hulder Verwoed Aristarchos Ante-Inferno Deathless Void Burial Slimelord - Rebellion, Manchester - 30.11.24 (Live Review)

It’s time for another high quality (mostly) black metal all dayer courtesy of the fine folks at Reaper Agency. Today was originally meant to have been headlined by the mighty Worm, but despite that unfortunately no longer being the case, they were never the only reason to attend. So let’s get on with the show – the day promises to be a very enjoyable one indeed. Continue reading “Hulder/Verwoed/Aristarchos/Ante-Inferno/Deathless Void/Burial/Slimelord – Rebellion, Manchester – 30/11/24 (Live Review)”

Winterfylleth/Wormwitch/Bizarrekult – Rebellion, Manchester – 10/11/24 (Live Review)

Winterfylleth Wormwitch Bizarrekult - Rebellion, Manchester - 10.11.24 (Live Review)Now this was a show I knew I couldn’t miss out on. All three bands are great, and any one of them I’d have come to see. All three together? Unmissable. Continue reading “Winterfylleth/Wormwitch/Bizarrekult – Rebellion, Manchester – 10/11/24 (Live Review)”