When a rare chance to see Portal and Impetuous Ritual appears, you take it. The show being opened by the mighty Abduction is then simply the icing on the top. Continue reading “Portal/Impetuous Ritual/Abduction – Rebellion, Manchester – 18/09/25 (Live Review)”
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)”
This is the fifth album from Abduction, a UK black metal band.
So, Abduction played this album live in full way back in February of 2024. It has been what feels like an age since then, so it’s great to finally get my grubby paws on it. And do you know what? This is some seriously good stuff. Continue reading “Abduction – Existentialismus (Review)”
What an incredible lineup this is. I mean, just look at it. It’s ridiculous. I’ve never been to Fortress Festival before, (this is its second year), or Scarborough, but this was an event not to be missed. My words below won’t really do justice to what a great festival this was, but hopefully you’ll get a flavour of it at the very least.
Before we get into it – if you’ve ever read one of my live reviews previously you’ll notice that the quality of the photos used here far, far, far outstrips my usual meagre efforts. This is because I didn’t take them. I’m enormously pleased to say that they very talented Aleksandra Hogg captured and supplied all of these photos, and I urge you to check out her work at Acidolka here, here, or here. Continue reading “Fortress Festival 2024 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 01-02/06/24 (Live Review)”
This show is a special one, designed to not only highlight some of the best black metal that the UK has to offer, but also to act as a new release showcase, with special sets from many of the bands. It’s sold out too, which is great to see. Continue reading “Ninkharsag/The Infernal Sea/Devastator/Abduction/The Sun’s Journey Through the Night/Andracca/Imperial Demonic – Rebellion, Manchester – 17/02/24 (Live Review)”
This is the second album from French black metallers Abduction.
I liked Une Ombre Régit les Ombres a lot, so now that the band have returned with album number two, it’s time to get reacquainted with their characterful brand of black metal. Continue reading “Abduction – A l’Heure du Crépuscule (Review)”
This is the debut album from Abduction, a black metal band from France.
Une Ombre Régit les Ombres consists of songs that are epic in length and vision, blasting out of the darkness with confidence, style and much aplomb. The music is a mix of progressive black/death metal, more skewed to the blackened side of things, if only due to the atmospheres evoked and the rasping screams of the main vocals. Continue reading “Abduction – Une Ombre Régit les Ombres (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 