DREICH, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, FEBRUARY 21 2026

METAL MAYHEM, Vol. 7: IN ETREMIS. Apparently.

It's good to see a metal show featuring a wide range of humans - male, female, non-binary, trans, etc - on stage and in the crowd with NOBODY being a dick about it. We need more of this.

Line-up:

THE BLEACHED: Blackened death from Dundee, not to be confused with other bands/artists of the same name. That singer will be back later.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Rny87fZkPDY  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574675222812

MARAIGH: Blackened crusty gothy alt-metal from (mostly) Glasgow. Playing tonight with JENNY, sitting in on drums at short notice.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/PvNL-DQH07E             https://www.facebook.com/Maraighband

MISOPHONIA: Glaswegian progressive melodeath metal. Last time I saw these folks they were having a really bad time. They were missing a guitarist, they hated the venue and they were having endless tech issues. Tonight, they are in a much happier place, although the gremlins are not entirely absent.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/4bfWohFAG1Y  https://www.facebook.com/Misophoniauk

DREKAVAC: Black metal, masked and leathery, from 'the cold north of the UK', AKA Scotland. Impractical teeth on that lad with the guitar.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/7GSSDxhhTjY    https://www.facebook.com/Drekavacmusic

DREICH: I have seen DREICH before, but I'm not convinced that that's the same singer. This one seems smaller, and has less beard. Still quality atmospheric black metal, still from Aberdeen. Joined for a song by the lad from THE BLEACHED, as you will be able to see from the video below. 

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/HGAWnqtWXzU   https://www.facebook.com/dreich.doom

RED CRUST FEST, VARIOUS VENUES, EDINBURGH, MARCH 2024 - PART 1

This year's RED CRUST metal extravaganza sprawls over four days - well, three and a half really - with the SLAVA UKRAINI Fundraiser being incorporated into the proceedings. So, let's start the coverage right there in BANNERMAN'S.

Line-up:

MAROBAKI: Remember OPHANIM? Well, blackened thrash/groove/etc metallers Marobaki feature their former guitarist/singer Ewen Marr. He was supposed to be just singing, but their bass player became unavailable for reasons I have forgotten, so he gets to do that now too. And a pretty decent job he does too.

Also featuring, it seems, Harry Hill on guitar.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/nCQ3D9HVDus  https://www.facebook.com/Marobakiband

DREKAVAC: Mysteriously masked death metallers from 'The North, presumably Aberdeen. Possibly named after a carpet cleaning powder. But probably not.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/rxtIHKHkynY   https://www.facebook.com/Drekavacmusic

NASSAU: Techy/proggy metal from tall skinny locals

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/y_EkYS_om9Q  https://www.facebook.com/bandnassau  

VLKA: 'Viking' metal from Manchester, although I doubt REAL Vikings would ever admit to coming from Manchester. Niflheim, perhaps, or Valhalla, or somewhere else suitably frozen and mountainous. But not Manchester.  

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/lDzzb5aSybg  https://www.facebook.com/vlkaofficial

So, that was the first day of RED CRUST 24. Metal was done, money was raised, and I won a BRAINBATH CD in the raffle. Credit to Alina for running the show, and Fuck Putin.