Fortress Festival 2025: A look inside UK's seaside extreme metal weekend with the 'rarest' band bookings
It’s such a nice atmosphere walking around Scarborough while Fortress is on. I wander around the resort spotting people wearing obscure band t-shirts. Perhaps its the sea air but everyone is mellow and friendly, and it genuinely makes me proud to be part of the oft-misunderstood world of black metal. The video above ( click to play) shows what it’s like inside this unique festival, which aims to bring the most ‘rare’ band bookings from around the world, to the UK.
Global appeal
People from over 60 countries flocked to the North Yorkshire coast for what is fast becoming a highlight on the festival calendar. And, what is really nice is how welcoming the locals are. Having played at Fortress two years in a row, musician Frank Allain says that Scarborough seems to ‘welcome [the festival] with open arms’. Frank, who sings and plays guitar with his band, Fen, explains, in the video report above: “Locals look bemused…they ask what the festival is about, and say it looks interesting…but the vibe is really, really positive.”
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Metal by the seaside
Festival-goers were able to embrace some of the simple pleasures of the seaside, as the weather was gorgeous all weekend. I went for a paddle in the sea and ate fish & chips on the beach.
But it’s the music that connects all of the 1,500+ people here. The bands at this festival are not celebrities and household names, but for everyone who has bought a ticket, or who is involved in the organising of this festival, there is shared sense of excitement.
I find this atmospheric sub-genre of metal cathartic in a way that is really hard to explain. Yet, for two days I’m surrounded by others who share my affinity with what outsiders to the scene regard as ‘ugly’ music or just find hard to understand. On the closing night, the first act was announced for 2026 - and already close to being 50% sold out for the entire event - which shows just how much of an appetite there is for Fortress.
I came away having discovered some amazing bands like Forteresse and Perennial Isolation that weren’t previously on my radar. And part of the fun is seeing obscure band announcements for next year and delving into their back catalogue.
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‘Rarest’ and ‘unique’ festival bookings
It is so clear that the organisers have a deep understanding of the genre and that Fortress Festival is born out of genuine passion to do something positive for the scene, and it’s rapidly gained global respect. Festival organiser, Gary Stephenson, says he has no definitive criteria for choosing bands, but hints at why the line-ups are so strong: “I want the rarest and most unique bookings for Fortress and this usually means pestering bands that haven't been active in decades or bands that have never performed live before - It takes a lot of time, and a lot of persuasion!”
Diverse sounds
And while bands like 1349 and Devastator bring the speed and aggression, at the other end of the spectrum is Aquilus who captivate the crowd with their dark classical sounds and enchanting violins. Meanwhile, the warm shoegazing sounds of Fen illuminates the Ocean Room with a sense of nostalgia as they play their glorious 2009 debut The Malediction Fields in full.
Sylvaine brings ‘light’ to Fortress
I’m completely mesmerized by Sylvaine’s otherworldly solo performance. Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, Katherine Shepard, played a low-key acoustic set to a packed audience that was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Her music is ethereal and she describes wanting to ‘bring light into the world’ - adding, in the video report above: “People might be surprised to hear that coming from a black metal adjacent project.”
1349 breathe hellfire
Coming out to a highly visual fire-breathing stunt, 1349 put on a fantastic show that gets fists pumping and heads banging - even cracking a joke as they worked through a technical delay. Named after the year the black death reached Norway, I imagine many of the bands here will have been influenced by this long-running act over the years - and they still play with the ferocity and intensity of musicians half their age.
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Jack Armstrong plays guitar in Abduction and was also working as a sound technician on the main stage at the event. He explains, in the above clip: “Ravn [singer] and Frost [drummer] looked each other in the eyes, did the devil horns and just held it…and I instantly saw them as 16 year olds, they still have the same passion and love for what they do.”
Black metal legends were ‘incredible’
And seeing Ravn share a stage with former Mayhem guitarist Blasphemer for a rendition of I Am Thy Labyrinth was one of the highlights of Ruim’s set, and will be a talking point for many years to come. Jack described it as ‘the most incredible thing I've seen in my life.’
Tears of joy during Agalloch
The biggest attraction for me was Sunday’s headliner, Agalloch. I was very fortunate to have seen them play the London Underworld in 2012, but for many in the audience this was possibly a once in a lifetime chance to see the American folk-influenced act play in the UK.
Coming out onto a stage with bowls of burning incense sets the scene for a show that feels like a walk through the most magical woodlands, and has the audience transfixed from the start. I even witnessed one woman break down in tears of joy - which really sums up their performance better than I can.
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Festival is ‘dream come true’
It’s difficult to put into words what a special festival this is for those into this genre. To have so many exclusive and interesting bands playing the North of England shows how far the UK black metal scene has come over the last 20 years. Gary and his team have put a lot of work into this event, and he describes this years’ success as ‘incredible’.
He explains: “this is a dream come true for me and something I have tried to work towards all of my life. It's really great to see it all come together each year. Advancing for this year's festival was very difficult this time around. We have every band on the bill performing an exclusive set. Which means we have nearly 30 bands that require flights from all corners of the world, airport shuttles, accommodation and lots and lots of visas to arrange for them.”
Tickets to Fortress Festival 2026
The fourth Fortress Festival will take place on 30-31 May 2026 at Scarborough Spa in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The first headliner has been confirmed as Old Man's Child, the project of longtime ex-Dimmu Borgir guitarist Galder. The UK exclusive performance will be the band's first in the UK since the 1990s.
Early bird tickets are now available to purchase: https://reaperagencyuk.bigcartel.com/
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