With the sun high in the sky on yet another glorious day it was time for me to make my way down to the SPA again for another day of blackened entertainment and another day jam packed full of extreme metal.
Kicking off my day on the Main Stage were Ante-Inferno and with the festival spearhead sitting behind the kit I could only be amazed at how he managed to steer the good ship Fortress as well as concentrate on a full set behind the skins, but that is exactly what he did, and with precision, hunger, power and a shift which acted as a carcass on which the rest of the band fed. The vocals were caustic and were spat out with venomous pride while the strings and fretboards were worked with pure dexterity and manipulation, all coming together harmoniously to cultivate ravenous tracks which injected accord and coherence between the multiple factions which sat under the Ante-Inferno banner. Stand-out tracks for me were ‘No Light At Life’s End’ and ‘Celestial Mirage’, both of which were ignited with flair and passion, which lit the fuse on the healthy crowd beneath them and caused them to respond with appreciation and gratitude.
My first trip to the Ocean Room and my first serving of raw and toxic Black Metal courtesy of Blood Countess and they certainly didn’t waste any time in infiltrating your very being with catchy guitar riffs, crunching bass lines, masculine drum scores and detonating and piercing vocals, all which stood united and ripped your complete soul apart.
The vocals from Blackwood were astounding, absolutely noxious and potent, dominating and prevailing, vocals which simply had you entranced and mesmerised from the opening scream to the last roar, they purely were classic raw, virulent and lethal Black Metal vocals at their best. Blackwood stalked the stage throughout the whole set like a demon possessed, engaging with the crowd at every available opportunity and drawing them into the malevolent and decadent dark arts which were being cast in front of them. An absolutely huge set unbridled before the passionate and loud crowd on this early afternoon, and judging by the activity at the merch stand, they made more than a few new friends on the East Coast soil today.
With their only 2024 live appearance, it was time to get acquainted with Thy Light on the Main Stage, and with just this one opportunity to deliver in the live setting, they did not disappoint. With the stage looking sombre from being lit with a depressive darkened cloak of blue lighting and the band keeping interactions with the gathered congregation to a minimum, the set was impressive from start to finish. ‘Infinite Stars Thereof’ was monumental and imposing, intricate and crushing, with the body of the track flaunting a muscular core and decadent vocals that were magnetic and captivating throughout. My standout track of the set, though, had to be ‘The Bridge’; it was sublime and transcendent in all its glory, the vocals seemed to be kicked up to a higher echelon, and the string work that entwined around the vocals was luxurious and abrasive in equal measures. A set of epic proportions and one that I can’t wait to be subjected to again as soon as logistically possible.
I last caught Vemod when they graced the Inferno Festival stage over in Norway, so I was very keen to witness their live offering again, and they did not disappoint. From the opening darkness that was forged on the stage throughout the whole ethereal journey that they took us on Vemod were powerful and majestic. The vocals were luxurious and velvet in their deliverance, while the drums generated a mammoth platform, which elevated the outage being omitted from the speaker stacks to levels of epic proportions. As the set washed over us and had come to an all too soon ending, it only reinforced my reflection that Vemod were a powerhouse on all fronts, and I will once again be seeking them out to bear witness to their craft once more as soon as I could.
My new discovery of the festival lay with Furia on the Main Stage, I was simply blown away by the craftsmanship and presence they generated both visually and audibly, pure decadent aggressive opulence. Nihil stalked the stage and used every inch of the floor, including the floor standing speaker stacks, in order to ply his trade and get even closer to the gathered masses who stood before him. The whole band struck an imposing image, bare-chested and faces painted with white corpse paint, yet instead of detracting from any of the audible delights, it only reinforced the savagery which was being freed upon our psyches. Furia were a full-on onslaught of your senses, vocals were spat out with savage intent while translating the fretwork and stick control with cruel intense barbarity and a lavish, velvety smooth wrath. Absolutely fascinating and malevolent from start to finish.
Sticking on the Main Stage and a band who should need no introduction, the Portuguese misanthropic masters of blackened dark arts, Gaerea. The stage was adorned with a huge Gaerea emblem sitting above the drum kit, and when the house lights vacated, we were hit with an aural blitzkrieg, a total plush battering from the opening chords of ‘Mantle’ right through the whole of their sinful set. Henriques was a man possessed, hunting around the stage with maniacal depravity while barking out his vocal duties with power, precision and antagonistic entrancing harmony. His comrades in arms took up the string duties with obvious ease, manipulating the fretboards with harmony and contentment, all creating an aura of mystery and enigmatic anonymity around their whole beings by dressing simply in black with motiffed hoods upon their craniums. ‘Deluge’ was splendorous and hostile, ‘Urge’ was caustic and decadent while ‘World Ablaze’ was monstrous and beautifully malicious, the whole set was a spectacle of aggressive and opulent artistry which houses the band within the top realms of the modern-day black metal landscape. My band of the festival? Maybe, just maybe.
Having played just once before in the live setting, and apart from Roadburn, this will be their only planned show in 2024, Fluisteraars arrived at Fortress with plenty of anticipation around them for their set on the Ocean Room stage. With them they brought their unrestrained adaption of Post Black Metal to the Scarborough collective and delivered it like a sledgehammer to the senses, the chords were solid and boomy while the vocals were fierce and commanding, foreboding with every word that was delivered to the space before it. ‘Dromen Van De Zon’ was the epitome of a Fluisteraar anthem and demonstrated with excellence what they are all about: big fat bass lines and huge chunky drum work while the guitars danced like a serpent to its whistle, all sitting behind the authoritative vocals which were dispatched with a deepness which kept you captive throughout. This had been a lesson in Post Black Metal blended with powerful, unadulterated atmospheric darkness.
Indigenous Black Metal had come to town courtesy of Blackbraid and their UK debut, as well as being an exclusive for 2024. This was a highlight of the festival for a lot of the wristband adorners, and they were not disappointed. From the moment Sgah’gahsowah and the rest of the tribe hit the stage, it was unrelenting, brutal, and barbaric. Black Metal was delivered with style and an endearing attitude which was raw and powerful, potent and caustic from start to finish. The vocals that Krieger barked out were passionate and loyal to the cause. ‘The Wolf That Guides The Hunter’s Hand’ was insane and immense, multi-layered and complex in its deliverance, colourful and diverse in the direction it took throughout its life, yet consistently delivered with pride and belief, which only fed to make it stronger in its body. ‘The Spirit Returns’ was my personal highlight; huge emotion flowed through it, and the aggression which Krieger dispatched and demanded through his vocal efforts was nothing short of absorbing. Blackbraid need to infiltrate our shores again very, very soon.
Closing out the Ocean Room stage with a masterclass in visceral and unapologetic Icelandic raw Black Metal was the magnificent Misþyrming, and the room was absolutely rammed for this lesson in violence. Maniacal and intense, Gislason was like a possessed conductor, working his six string with vicious intent and spitting out his vocals with venomous toxic enthusiasm. The sounds flowing from the speaker stacks were corroding and corrosive to the tympana’s yet addictive and subliminally dictating for you to join the unity with their riotous commands. ‘Orgia’ was perfectly mutinous and anarchic. Evensen worked his chunkier strings with a lunatic’s swagger and instilled a confident belief in every chord he struck.
As the set progressed, the energy increased, and the mayhem amplified to the point that from a distance, the whole room had aligned, stage and floor, and had become indicative of a war zone, although anyone in the know would simply feel proud that hundreds upon hundreds have simply joined in unison through one love, their passion for brutal extreme music and Misþyrming were simply the orchestrators to that affection on this glorious Sunday evening. I’m sure that any of the battered and bruised bodies and minds that were egressing from the Ocean Room would have been more than content if the Icelandic Maniacs had closed out the entire festival, but we were still in for a true spectacle over on the Main Stage, nothing more than a win-win in my books.
The Main Stage was now packed, and the stage had been furnished with all manner of foliage and candles. The stage then dimmed, and we were welcomed to an exclusive ‘Two Hunters’ set, the first time the iconic and legendary Wolves In The Throne Room album would be performed in the UK in its entirety. This was going to be special. With the stage a moody darkened playground for ‘Two Hunters’ to be unleashed, the figures who were conjuring up the magic were cloaked and shrouded in more mystery with piercing blue lights resonating from strategically placed lights on their fretboards, which only went to add even more covertness to the spectacle. The set built momentum as it ploughed its way through the seminal work and the band seemed to grow into their surroundings until ‘Two Hunters’ closed out. We were treated to a dual attack ‘encore’ before the band left the stage victorious with the shift they had just accomplished before us.
A fitting end to an absolutely immense festival. Same time, same place next year, anyone??
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