Fortress Fest 2025 - Scarborough, UK

Fortress Fest 2025 - Scarborough, UK

In 2024 we started to put pins on a map to represent which countries we have attended music festivals in, and we were quite shocked to see that the UK was missing. Hoping to correct that, we started looking into both Cosmic Void and Fortress Fest in the last year or so. After announcing bands on our bucket list like Aquilus, Suldusk, and Selbst, plus Fen playing “The Malediction Fields” and Agalloch, we were sold. Being in the USA, we need to plan logistics around our vacations to squeeze in a fest here and there, so this year we aligned a vacation to the UK and Fortress Fest at the end to cap it off. While not a huge festival with tens of thousands, this event in Scarborough is about 2000 people in a historical building by the sea.

The nice thing about most smaller festivals is that they are in cities, and there is no need to camp. Getting to Scarborough is quite simple from pretty much anywhere in the UK, as you have to travel to York and then take a smaller regional train. It took us three hours to make it there from London. Since we booked the trip a bit late, we took the only available hotel: The Royal Hotel, a very nice looking building… from the outside and parts inside. Sadly, this palace was a bit dumpy, and we had to go up to the fourth floor via the dirtiest lift ever, then circle around the whole floor, and walk up another flight of stairs to the fifth level. Definitely an interesting experience, but luckily the hotel was only to sleep… briefly, in this event.

Arriving in Scarborough at 11 AM, we didn’t manage to arrive in time for the first band of the day, but at least we made it to catch most of the set of Spain’s Perennial Isolation, and their Atmospheric Black Metal. The band’s set was in the Ocean room, one of the smaller stages for this event. Luckily, there was no queue to get it and we managed to enjoy the band’s set. Not wanting to miss one of the bands we came here for, we made our way down and up the stairs to catch Aquilus from Australia. We have been big fans of their Neoclassical Atmospheric Metal, and we were psyched when we saw they would be playing the fest. The band’s sound was very good, bringing their classical arrangements to life with synths and a live violinist. Definitely worth the trip to catch these guys live, and it was only the second band… of the day. 

NOTE: All pictures here are from our phone as there were no more photo passes available when we applied due to the venue sizes.

Curious about the Theater stage, we made our way to watch the enigmatic and always Doomy Darkher. Unfortunately, this stage is seated, and we were a bit late so we only found an obstructed view seat, so we could only see the drummer. However, if you ever seen mastermind Jayn Maiven live before, you know her set will reverberate through the whole place, no need to see her, but it did take away a bit from the experience. We had to cut our experience short as we had an interview with Fen’s Frank Allain, which you can find here, so we had to book it to the press room.

On our way out of the Fen interview, we stopped by Spirit Possession’s set.With a minimalist approach and a very dark stage setup, this band was probably one of the ones we liked the least over the weekend. The band’s set felt repetitive and unimaginative, definitely not our cup of tea, but many others seemed to enjoy them.

Next up, another band that has been high on our list since their amazing 2019 “Lunar Falls” release, Australia’s Suldusk. Led by Emily Highfield, this outfit delivered a very haunting and powerful mixture of Neo-Folk and Atmospheric Black Metal; they were also joined live by Hayley Anderson, who was pulling double duty after playing with Aquilus earlier in the day. Easing into the evening,French outfit The Great Old Ones gave a thunderous performance in the main stage. While we have seen these guys before, they are always pretty awesome and intense, definitely a band to check out, both live and in albums, if you have never done so before.

With great eagerness, and early timing, we made our way to the Ocean room for our main objective of the day: Selbst. This one man Latin American project that has been playing live sparingly, and we had to catch one of their shows. We have been fans of the band since their EP “An Ominous Landscape”, and loved how raw and visceral their music is. Luckily for us, the band perfectly captures this energy in the live setting and they had the crowd going nuts in front of that small stage. We also had an interview with the band’s mastermind Jhonathan Villamizar, which you can check out here.

After a natural high of a killer gig from a band we really wanted to see, we then closed the night with Rune Eriksen’s Ruïm and its piercing Black Metal. This was definitely one of the most packed sets of the night, with tons of people greatly enjoying the set. The band’s stage presence was commanding and pummeling, leaving everybody there blown away. Not to mention that their live sound was super polished and very well mixed.

If these highlights weren't enough, Akhlys was next. This Debemur Morti outfit is a hard one to catch live, and we live in the USA, where the band hails from. We have been captivated by their crushing sound when they started as a dark ambient project, to its current nightmarish incarnation. All people in the Ocean room were completely enthralled by the band’s pummeling and vicious sound. Definitely another one of our highlights of the day. 

Closing the day we had 1349, a band that we have seen many times and while their sound is raw and visceral, we never really got into them when they play live. Yeah, they have Frost delivering a drumming clinic each night, but we just don’t find them as interesting as other bands, maybe it is because we are always super tired when they come out. We do enjoy their albums, but just not their live shows, maybe in the future. Anyways, this was finally the end of a very long day that started in London early in the morning and finished with nearly eleven hours of music. 

Day Two

We wanted to take the day a bit slow, and only watch nine bands this second day. But first, we did a tour of the town of Scarborough, walking all the way to the castle through the old town, and then returning to the venue via the beach side promenade. This is definitely one of the nicer towns we have been to a festival in Europe, and many of the concert goers were also exploring the town. 

We originally intended to skip the openers, Abduction, but were convinced otherwise by some people we were talking to the previous day. This was definitely a great decision as their set was a pummeling start for a very intense and powerful day. Do not sleep on these guys as their music is superb, think of a catchier version of Mgła. 

Being suckers for Epic/Folk Black Metal, we had to catch France’s Belore, as they gave a very lively and engaging performance to a quite crowded, for the second band, Ocean room. The band’s sound was quite rich and they were very well received by the early crowd. Next up we had one of the revelations of the weekend with Dödsrit and their crusty Black Metal. Talk about intensity with these guys, they just tore the roof of the main stage with their savage onslaught of riffs and screams. We loved their “Nocturnal Will” 2024 release and they brought that energy and then some to the UK. Sounding a bit like Afksy but with their own style, these guys totally shook us up and made sure we were fully awake for the whole set. Definitely looking forward to seeing them live on the upcoming North American tour, in a smaller club venue.

The unexpected band that stole the weekend had to be Finnish battalion Moonlight Sorcery and their majestic Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal. With all members in corpse paint and with an intense attitude, this band delivered gaudy, but yet very magical, songs filled with insane guitar leads, and some lush synths. We only wished the vocalist was wearing a cape of something crazy to make their live show more over the top. Everybody we talked to after their set was just blown away, and while we loved “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle”, their live show was just on a whole new level. Be on the look out for these guys in the future. 

It was hard to get to the Ocean room after such an intense performance, but we could not miss Aristarchos. Having deeply enjoyed their 2024 Vendetta Records release “Martyr of Star and Fire”, this was a great opportunity to see if the band brings the same magic and ferocity to the live stage. Luckily for all the people in the room, they certainly do, commencing their set with sheer power and brutal intensity. While we enjoyed the performance, and most people there did as well, it was quite curious that the room wasn’t as full as other times of the day, people are definitely missing out on these guys.

The final stretch was upon us, we had to maximize the rest of the festival evening with four bands that we wanted to see their whole sets, so it was time to strategically place ourselves in the buildings so we could quickly transition between the main room and the ocean room. First up we had New Zealand's weapon of mass destruction Ulcerate and their crafty Avant-garde/Technical Death Metal. We have seen these guys a few times before, and there is heavy music, and then there is Ulcerate level heavy music. These guys just leveled the place down with their clinical precision and their monstrous sound. For a three-piece, they sure can make some crushing walls of sound, while still being refined and technical about it. Their set was definitely jaw dropping and we wish it could have been even longer.

One of the bands with the biggest hype before and during the days in the fest was Quebec’s Forteresse. When their merch showed up on the second day of the fest, there was a huge line of eager concert goers. We have seen these guys in the past at Steelfest, but they have certainly improved over time as their performance at Fortress Fest was tight and commanding. New vocalist Monarque really takes the band’s sound one notch higher as he delivered a clinical performance filled with intensity and raw harshness. The band packed the main stage and all the seating area in the top part as it was one of the most expected sets of the weekend and delivered more than expected. 

Strategically making our way to the Ocean room before Forteresse finished their set to avoid not being able to get in, we eagerly awaited the cherry on top this weekend, at least for us: Fen playing “The Malediction Fields” in full. Being huge fans since the early days of this Atmospheric/Post Black Metal outfit, we loved this album since it came out via Code666 records nearly 16 years ago. Luckily, we also had a chance to talk with The Watcher, in this interview , to discuss how this special set came about. From start to end, Fen delivered a lively and very precise performance of their legendary debut release. Featuring original keyboardist, Draugluin, with them, it made the evening even more special. Sadly, many people started leaving half-way through the set as they wanted to get a prime spot for the next and final performance at the main stage. However, this made it easier for all the die-hard fans to get close and enjoy the last few songs of this release. This was another highlight for us, as we wanted to see this release be played in full.

Closing the weekend, the show that literally everybody we talked to was waiting for: Agalloch. The band had not played in the UK for over 15 years, so many people were eager to see them. We have been lucky enough to have seen their first show since they returned, and a few other of their more recent shows, most recently, and a week before, we saw them open for Emperor in San Francisco. Regardless, John Haughm and company more than pleased everybody in attendance with a very cathartic 90 minute set, playing five songs from “Ashes Against the Grain”, a couple from “The Mantle”, and “Pale Folklore". Seeing people in the state of Nirvana enjoying the band’s set was definitely an awesome thing to witness. We also saw some tears of joy running down people’s faces, showing how much the band’s music means to people. All in all, their performance was intense and highly atmospheric, and a European exclusive, so a big moment for many. 

Overall, this event was masterfully organized and very well executed, while some queues due to capacity constraints of the Ocean and Theater stages made some people miss out on some bands, proper planning helped us avoid missing out. The food and drink options in the venue are standard, with a very decent restaurant next door if you didn’t want any of the sandwiches and wraps sold around the bar areas. The people at the event were a pretty good mix of British and other Europeans, with a few people from North America that also made the trip. There is always plenty of space around the venue to chill, have a drink, and a cigarette between performances. We wish we had more downtime, but when there are bands we have never seen before or special sets, we mean business and try not to miss any of it. The festival is definitely well curated and we can’t wait to see what else they have prepared for 2026.

Thanks to Dominic Athanassiou (3nation) and Reaper Agency UK for making this coverage possible, and all the friendly security and staff around the venue that kept the whole event running smoothly from start to end.

P.S. Don’t miss out on 2026, where Old Man’s Child has been announced as the first band, again at the Scarborough Spa on 30-31 May 2026

Get tickets for 2026

https://www.fortressfestival.co.uk/