Abigail Williams – Wonderbox Metal

Fortress Festival 2026 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 30/05/26-31/05/26 (Live Review)

Has it really been a year since last year’s excellent Fortress Festival? Apparently so. Fortress has quickly established itself as one of the world’s premier black metal festivals, (some would say THE premier black metal festival), and it’s brilliant to have yet another year with a massive amount of fantastic bands. Increasingly, attendees get to experience some very rare appearances too.

Before we get into it – as was the case last year, this review is greatly enriched by the stunning photographs from the very talented Aleksandra Hogg, so a huge thanks to her once more. I urge you to check out her work at Acidolka here, here, or here. Continue reading “Fortress Festival 2026 – Scarborough Spa, Scarborough, 30/05/26-31/05/26 (Live Review)”

Abigail Williams – A Void Within Existence (Review)

This is the sixth album from US black metal band Abigail Williams.

Brought to us by current/ex-members of bands such as Aborted, Changeling, Chrome Waves, Fear Factory, The Faceless, Lord Mantis, Nachtmystium, Vale of Pnath, and Wolvhammer, a lot of experience and skills has gone into A Void Within Existence. In fact, due to the members, I’m amazed I’ve never listened to Abigail Williams prior to this new album. I’ve heard the name many times, but this is my first exposure to their brand of black metal. Continue reading “Abigail Williams – A Void Within Existence (Review)”

Bent Sea/To Dust – Ascend/Descend – Split (Review)

This is a split release between Bent Sea and To Dust, both of which play grindcore and both of which feature a plethora of members/ex-members of bands such as Aborted, Megadeth, Soilwork, Napalm Death, (Bent Sea), and Abigail Williams, Vintage Warlords, Humanity Is Cancer, Grave Plague, Fountain of Piss, Severed Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder and Phobia, (To Dust).

Phew. As you can see, there’s a lot of experience here.

The first half of the split is provided by Bent Sea, who give us almost 10 minutes of state-of-the-art ferocity. Continue reading “Bent Sea/To Dust – Ascend/Descend – Split (Review)”