News: Fortress Festival Announces 2025 Line Up

The Mighty and Magnificent Fortress festival will take place again on the Yorkshire coast in the beautiful and exquisite town of Scarborough at the Scarborough Spa from 31st May to 1st June 2025, and thus far, they have not been disappointed with the announcements. To date, they have unleashed festival headliners Agalloch alongside Moonlight Sorcery with their first ever live show, Selbst and Perennial Isolation, who both come to the UK for the first time ever, Grist who will perform a UK exclusive 10 year anniversary set of the debut album ‘Syner’, Akhlys, Spirit Possession, Belore, The Great Old Ones, Perchta with a UK Debut appearance, Fortresse, Ulcerate with a UK exclusive and Ruim who were formed by Blasphemer, known for his performances with Vltimas and The True Mayhem.

Agalloch will headline next year’s Fortress Festival with a 2025 European Exclusive show! “We have not played England since 2015 and have no dates in Europe for 2024. This is why we are so excited to make our return to England at Fortress Fest 2025 in Scarborough. This will be an exclusive European show for 2025 and we will make it a special one! Thank you Fortress Fest for inviting us and we look forward to meeting all of you in the near future!”

Following two acclaimed EPs, and their incredible debut full-length album, ‘Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle’ in 2023, we are very proud to announce the first ever live show for Moonlight Sorcery. “The slumber in frost and cold is over. We are honoured to perform at the Fortress Festival as our first international show and we are looking forward to sharing this moment with the audience. It is time to present our Majestic Symphonies of the Nightside!”

After the recent release of his incredible album, ‘Despondency Chord Progressions’, we welcome Selbst to Fortress Festival 2025, and to the UK for the first time. “This is a great opportunity for Selbst. Personally, and on behalf of the live band members, we are honoured to be part of this experience! We look forward to sharing an unforgettable moment of introspection with the attendees at this gathering.”

Atmospheric and ice-cold black metallers, Perennial Isolation will come to the UK for the first time to perform their excellent 2021 album, ‘Portraits’ in full at Fortress 2025.

Grift return to the UK with a full live band to perform a UK exclusive 10 year anniversary album set of the debut album, ‘Syner’. “Grift’s ambition is to evoke the mood some people are in great need of; the mood you can’t express through other mediums than music, images, and in some cases even through words. This kind of escapism is about breaking the chains of everyday given norms, and for a short moment becoming a stranger lost in a state of uncertain homelessness.”

Following 2020’s widely-worshipped ‘Melinoë’ and the recent release of ‘House of The Black Geminus’, Akhlys, the world’s premier channelers of abyssal nightmare, return triumphant to the UK in 2025 to perform at Fortress Festival Created by Naas Alcameth (Nightbringer, Bestia Arcana) in 2009 to serve as a voice for the muse that arises from the dark lands between death and dreams through chilling ambient darkness. “Akhlys is honoured to take part in Fortress Fest 2025. We will bring our brand of darkness to a region we have never been before, and I couldn’t think of a more fitting festival to do this.”

Please welcome Spirit Possession, a new raw and erratic black heavy metal entity, to the Fortress 2025 line-up! The band emerged from their old school origin depths in 2023 and released a killer second full length record, ‘Of the Sign…’, six schizo spiraling, deranged hymns of Black Heavy Metal from a lost time.

Please welcome Belore to the Fortress 2025 line-up. Belore is an epic Black Metal project directly influenced by bands like Summoning, Caladan Brood, Emyn Muil and Moonsorrow, as well as various heroic fantasy and medieval worlds.

Channelling the spirit and literary heritage of author H.P. Lovecraft, French Atmospheric black metallers The Great Old Ones will perform at Fortress 2025.

Taking their name from an alleged pagan goddess Perchta were conceived in Tyrol, Austria in 2017 with an aim to preserve and rejuvenate regional traditions. The band makes their UK debut at Fortress 2025!

Forteresse make their triumphant return at Fortress Festival 2025! After nearly two decades of existence and multiple masterpiece full-length album releases, the Canadian black metal band return from their ice-cold slumber to perform on Fortress ’25’s main stage.

Please welcome unorthodox Death Metal pioneers, Ulcerate to the Fortress ’25 line-up! Today also heralds the arrival of ‘Cutting The Throat Of God’, a mind-bending seventh album from these unparalleled Death Metal titans. Ulcerate will perform on the main stage at Fortress 2025 with a UK exclusive performance for the event.

We welcome RUÏM to the Fortress ’25 line-up and to the UK for the first time for a 2025 exclusive performance! Formed in 2020 by the Norwegian born, Grammy award-winning guitarist Blasphemer (Rune Eriksen) known from acts such as VLTIMAS and The True Mayhem. The band’s debut record, ‘Black Royal Spiritism’ is steeped in ominous and eerie, unnerving darkness, and was amongst 2023’s best outputs.