FORTRESS FESTIVAL 2026 PREVIEW

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May 062026
 

(Our writer Daniel Barkasi prepared the following preview of the 2026 edition of Fortress Festival set to take place in Scarborough, UK, on May 30-31.)

Deja vu is a hell of a thing. Just like this point last year, we were preparing for experiences familiar and new – we’ll be in attendance for the annual tradition known as Maryland Deathfest in a few weeks, and the celebration of all we love at NCS in Northwest Terror Fest looms even sooner still this coming weekend. I swear, I’m going to make it out to NWTF one of these years.

What’s also similar, but a little different this time for yours truly, is the subject of the buzzing Fortress Festival. Last year was our first foray to this destination weekend of black metal powerhouses, and we were nervously scrambling to make sure everything was in order. It was my first visit to the UK, after all, so paths unseen can be a tad stress-inducing. That said, deep in my gut, it felt like a festival that we just had to attend.

The experience we had was far beyond what could have been realistically expected. The lineup was absolutely packed, the organization was excellent from all angles, the locale was picture-perfect, and the crowd was an eclectic bunch of amazing folks clad in black t-shirts. What’s not to love? If you don’t believe me, read up on my memorable experience in 2025.

Naturally, considering all of the above, the opportunity to come back to the shores of Scarborough again in 2026 was simply too good to pass up, and you’re all welcome to come along for the ride (virtually speaking) on May 30 – 31, coming from the wonderful seaside locale of Scarborough. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: INFERNO, SCARAB, A BAND OF ORCS, EX CINERE, IEROFANIA, [4672], BEWARE OF GODS, THE DEVIL AND THE ALMIGHTY BLUES, STYGIAN BOUGH

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
May 022026
 

(written by Islander)

My selections today were guided by strong memories, many of them quite distant and others more recent. And the music below is strong enough to make new memories. I’ll explain as we go along.

P.S. Be forewarned: There’s more than a little singing in this Saturday’s collection, especially in the closing segments, and it’s all very good! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: FURNACE, RAKINUA, SEA SLEEPER

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Apr 252026
 

(written by Islander)

Friday nights inexorably flow into Saturday mornings. There is also a cause-and-effect relationship between them. For many of us, Friday nights tend to be a time for “blowing off steam” after the work week, though my history of them has often been more like arson, with my own self as the target. Realizing through painful experience that I am not flame-retardant, I don’t ignite myself on Friday nights as much as I used to. But the cause-and-effect relationship persists.

Late yesterday afternoon my spouse and I began crossing the water to Seattle to attend a celebration of a friend and former colleague’s 10th year of recovery from being struck by a Seattle emergency vehicle through no fault of her own, an event that nearly killed her and inflicted a severe traumatic brain injury. Her long, gradual recovery defied all medical prognoses. She still has deficits compared to who she was before the accident, but looking back over the last 10 years, what she has achieved through pure strength of will has been astonishing.

It was a great gathering of herself, her family, and her friends, not just locally but from around the country. But we forgot about the ferry schedule, missed a 10 pm sailing back to where we live, and waited around the ferry terminal with a bunch of other exhaused and/or wasted people ’til the next one left after midnight. By the time I got home and to bed, the clock was not far away from 2 am. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: UNDERGANG, CORPUS OFFAL, FUNEBRARUM, BARÚS, VINTREGAL, LACASTA, THERE WERE WIRES, CLASS TRAITOR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Apr 182026
 

(written by Islander)

As I often do, I made a list of links for new songs and videos I wanted to check out in anticipation of this Saturday’s column, i.e., things that had surfaced or that I had noticed since last weekend. Having done that, I counted the number of links, and there were 69 of them (I swear that number is completely coincidental!), including a few I noticed for the first time this morning. It wasn’t even a complete list; I had a bunch of other tabs open on my desktop that I didn’t add to the list because I knew time was running short.

I recognize this is odd behavior. Why make a list that long when you know you won’t make it through even a quarter of the items? Why make a list that long when you know it will only knot up your brain in deciding which of them to check out? I have no answer, though perhaps a trained therapist would have some theories.

As usual, I resorted to impulse. The only calculated part of the process was a desire to mix up bands I already like and others that were new to me, and a further desire to mix up the genres so that visitors here will be at least somewhat caught off guard if they move from one choice to the next and the next. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: AT THE GATES, EINHERJER, BLACK ROYAL, LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, DISORIENTATION, LONESHORE, HEIDEN, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX

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Apr 112026
 


photo credit: Artemis II crew and NASA

(written by Islander)

As you can see from the post title, I decided to pack a lot of new songs and videos into this week’s SEEN AND HEARD column. To make that possible (because I got another late start and my free time this morning is limited), I’ve had to skimp on the verbiage and truncate this introduction — which ends now. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A FRIDAY: DOWNFALL OF NUR, NON EST DEUS, STARER

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 032026
 

(written by Islander)

This past week has provided yet another flood of new metal, maybe even more than usual. I’m staring at dozens of new open tabs on my beleaguered computer, stacked on top of dozens more from the previous couple of weeks, and getting that anxious feeling that comes from the certain knowledge that I’ll barely make a dent in what’s there.

But I did have time to make a small dent today, thanks to waking up even earlier than usual and with a relatively clear head. No matter the clarity, I don’t have a very well-understood reason for why I picked the following three selections. They just kind of jumped out at me, I guess because they’re all very recent and from bands who’ve got a very appealing track record, at least for me.

With any luck, I’ll make some bigger dents in this weekend’s NCS roundups. For now, get your heads dented with these: Continue reading »

CULTHE FEST 2026 — EASTER TURNS DARK AND HEAVY

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Apr 012026
 

For several years No Clean Singing has been a proud sponsor of Culthe Fest in Münster, Germany, and we’re helping to spread the word about it again this year.

The 2026 edition of the fest is imminent — it will take place over two days on April 4th and 5th. The fest will include performances by 20 acts from over 7 countries on three stages, headlined by Ultha and Warning. It will also include a reading and an exhibition closely related to the festival’s music, all taking place at Sputnikhalle, Café Sputnik, and Triptychon at Hawerkamp Münster.

For further details, here’s the text of Culthe Fest’s latest press release: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: DIMMU BORGIR, SHADOWSPAWN, THORIUM, TERROR, VEIL OMEGA, IVOIRE, SLEEPBOMB, BLOOD GRAVE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Mar 282026
 

(written by Islander)

I took a break from NCS last weekend, a short vacation that led me to eastern Washington. That means I now have twice the usual number of new songs and videos sitting in front of me as I ponder what to feature today. But rather than try to go back and figure out what I might have done last Saturday, today I focused mainly on what surfaced within the realms of metal over just the last week. It was a lot, and so I’ve made this roundup a bit bigger than usual.

I’ve managed to pull out eight new songs, six of them accompanied by videos. I think they provide considerable variety, and I’ve arranged them in a way that made sense to me as I listened to everything. Of course, they’re also a reflection of the darkness inside my head these days.

Tonight I’m going to a retirement party for a close friend. She’s too young to be stopping work altogether, just closing one chapter in her life and starting a new one, but I still want to be there. Doubtless, it will keep me out late, with probably a three-hour round-trip on the travel alone. I don’t know if that will impact tomorrow’s SHADES OF BLACK column, but it might. Another reason why today’s collection is bigger than usual. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, SKAPHOS, WITCH RIPPER, SISYPHEAN, VOID OF LIGHT, DEPRESSION NAP, APOSTLE, NOISE AHOLIC

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Mar 142026
 

(written by Islander)

Technology is treacherous. I had this post written five hours ago, but a glitchy security feature prevented me from accessing the site and posting it. Our web host fixed the problem just minutes ago. Which is why this roundup is appearing so late.

Other than weeks ending on a Bandcamp Friday and weeks that include Halloween, my perception is that weeks ending on a Friday the 13th tend to be the most bulging with new metal. That was certainly true of the past week (and the few days before it began). You want proof? Well, here are 10 well-known bands who released new songs and/or videos during that period:

ALLEGAEON (U.S.)

EMPLOYED TO SERVE (UK)

HELLRIPPER (Scotland)

IMMOLATION (U.S.)

INFERI (U.S.)

MONSTROSITY (U.S.)

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT (U.S.)

SARCASM (Sweden)

SIX FEET UNDER (U.S.)

VOMITORY (Sweden)

I easily could have included any of those songs and videos in this column, because they’re all damned good. And you won’t go wrong going after them, which I’ve made it easy to do via those hyperlinks. But I decided instead to do what we often do around this place, and that’s dig deeper under the ground. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: GOMMA, GORMA, GHOROT, GOATPSALM, GLUTTONY

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Mar 072026
 

(written by Islander)

I’m experiencing technical difficulties. For the second time since February 1st, our DSL service shut down. The last time we waited two weeks for the DSL company to send out a repair technician. He got it going again. He explained that a pair of wires in the main line to which our house was connected had shorted out. He connected us to a different pair, but said there were a bunch of other pairs in the line that were also shorted out.

He said he would report the need for maintenance, but I got the impression this need for maintenance is widespread around the island where we live and that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. I guess there’s not enough money to be made here for the DSL company to spend money. And so, 16 days after the last repair, the DSL service stopped working again. It’s been out since last weekend. A repair technician is supposed to visit us again on Monday. Just a one-week wait this time instead of two weeks.

No DSL means our TV is useless for streaming. It also means no internet connectivity except what I can get from my phone. I’ve been using that as a hotspot for my desktop computer. The cell service is good enough that I can get online and do most of what I can do when the DSL is working. But there’s one drawback: a lot of the time the cell service isn’t good enough to stream music and videos, in part because my wife piggy-backs on my phone too since she uses a different cell service that’s borderline useless where we live. Kind of a big drawback for a music blog like ours. Continue reading »

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