FLESHTIVAL, LA BELLE ANGELE, EDINBURGH, AUGUST 15 2026

Edinburgh's premier (only?) metal festival, brought to La Belle by those nice HELLRAISER chaps. Some bands making a lot of noise. Some familiar faces. Some less so. Some serious beards.

Line-up:

FRAIL AND ROTTING: Things are running late. Anyway, these death-metal kids are playing only their second gig, but you really can't tell. Watch out for them in the future.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/jhrgvun9Uk4   https://www.instagram.com/frail_and_rotting

RAZOR SHARP DEATH BLIZZARD: From new kids to grizzled veterans. Ever present on the punk/metal scene since the dawn of time. Joined for a song or two by LUKE from 100 FEET OF TEETH/DOG TIRED.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/uEudzyTeQwE  https://www.facebook.com/razorsharpdeathblizzard

KAKIHARA: Crowd-bothering beatdoon merchants. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/xciIqcH7WYc   https://www.facebook.com/kakihara.life

BATTALIONS: I have no idea what happened to BATTALIONS. Perhaps their absence explains the late start...

100 FEET OF TEETH: Thunderous deathsludge from new local 'supergroup'. featuring members of DOG TIRED, ACIDSAURUS BONG, Etc.

VIDEO:  

OVERTHROW: London death metallers. Leather, bullet belts, and indoor shades.

HAMMER: Had to skip out to retrieve the car and totally missed HAMMER, mostly because of insane Festival traffic and parking issues. Damn it, I hate Edinburgh during the Festival...

DIGGETH: Sludgy Dutch stoners. Unquestionably the beard of the day.

IRON ALTAR: Veteran band, new songs, and new line-up. Now featuring, on guitar, EV from HAMMER.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/s3dN63TSRHU   https://www.facebook.com/ironaltarmetal

TEN TON SLUG: M(oll)uscular sludgy riffs from Ireland.

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/GQeaihBivNM   https://www.facebook.com/TenTonSlug

And finally, some random bloke who joined KAKIHARA for a bit of extra vocals.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, LA BELLE ANGELE, EDINBURGH, AUGUST 3 2026

US black metal legends in, for a change, Edinburgh. Been waiting for years to see these lads, but always managed to miss them for various reasons. Will they be worth the wait?

Line-up:

GOUT: Glasgow's most excellent sludge/noise quartet, filling in at short notice when the original opener (Serena Cherry's NOCTULE project) called off. An odd choice, perhaps, as they don't feature a shred of 'black' in their metal. It's nice to finally see them in a bigger venue. It's no more than they deserve.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/pL5veYJOeQc   https://www.instagram.com/__gout

SPECTRAL WOUND: 'Aristocratic suicidal black metal', whatever that means. From Montreal. In Canada. If you want to know what ASBM is check out the video below, because that's the title of the song.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/yeKECgvew_s     https://www.facebook.com/spectralwoundcontramundi

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM: Atmospheric black metal from Washington, USA. Apologies for the extra-horrible pics, but it was, y'know, dark.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/8y0EEHs5fEI   https://www.facebook.com/wolvesinthethroneroom

So. Was it worth the wait? Well, I'm glad to have seen them at last but, to be absolutely honest, I'm a tad disappointed. I was expecting something a bit more...special. They were fine, but no more so than many other black metal bands. Gout were awesome, though.