DREICH, WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 30 2026

It's nearly Hallowe'en, so what better than a night of black metal?

Tonight's headliners were originally supposed to be HORRENDA, but they can't make it, so...

Line-up:

FEINMHARU: Glaswegian duo, drums and guitar/vocals. Very raw. The sort of black metal you might expect from a demented raven. Also tonight's promoter.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/n1L35omVfgs  https://www.instagram.com/feinmharu666/

GRIEF INCARNATE: Late addition to the bill, after HORRENDA's pull-out. Not really 'black metal', more slam/death. Missing one guitarist tonight, due to the sickness. They seem a tad disappointed by the lack of 'throwdowns', but maybe it's not quite the right audience for that sort of thing.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/mLjY8dUI3Vw   https://www.instagram.com/grief_incarnateband/

DREICH: Aberdeen's kings of DSBM. Boosted up to headliners tonight. Sludgy and grim, the bleakest of metal. Fond of knotted ropes. Not, it seems, very fond of people.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/uJDWTOUbJak   https://www.facebook.com/dreichscotland

That's enough of the metal for now. Next post will feature something entirely different, and then it's a couple o' weeks off before the CORE fest. I've seen that hill in Glasgow, and I'm going to need the time to build up some strength...

COGAS, BANNERMAN'S. EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 23 2026

Back to Black(Metal)

If it achieves nothing else, this gig serves to remind me just how ridiculous black metal really is. Immense fun, of course, and occasionally quite disturbing, but basically just very daft.

Line-up:

NYCTOPIA: Local black metallers, featuring a bagpiper, a lady waving burning things around, a bass-player in a chain-mail balaclava and lots of corpse paint. And a moth-eaten deer head. None of which is necessarily a bad thing. Occasional glitches when the singer seems to forget to switch on his goat skull microphone, and when the guitarist realises that he has mislaid his spare instrument and has to run off to find it.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/9EwFUQIthdE   https://www.facebook.com/Oracleofdeception

OMINOUS COVENANT: London based non-Italians. Scary lady singer with a voice like knives. Very loud, very fast, very black. No dead animals, though.

  https://www.facebook.com/ominouscovenant

COGAS: London based Italians. Possibly the most convincingly nasty band of the night, they look like they would happily eat your children and pets. Raw.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/KhEr4VfZeZ8   https://www.facebook.com/Cogas.Black.Death

Now, see, I LIKE Black Metal. Live black metal, at least. Yes. it's nasty and brutal and ferocious but, at the same time, very, very silly. And - I hope - they know that.

DARKNESS OVER EDINBURGH, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 16 2026

The latest black metal showcase from WULFHERE PRODUCTIONS.  Well, only half of it really, for reasons which will become clear later.

 Line-up:

MELYXYLEM: Visceral BM quartet from Aberdeen, apparently quite fond of Classical languages. Singer looks too slight/young to produce THAT voice

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/XtdSbO5zoyA   https://www.facebook.com/melyxylem

ÚLFARR: WULFHERE 'house band' from Cumbria. Old school BM, complete with corpse paint, bullet belts and hoods.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/aZHmTBqEQVo   https://www.facebook.com/ulfarr666

BLASFEME: From Bristol, possibly the most 'tuneful' band of the night. Still hefty, though.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/gjo2OuUtdI0   https://www.facebook.com/blasfemeband

HEATHEN DEITY: Tonight's no-nonsense headliner, purveyors of 'true English Black Metal', from Derbyshire. Which is, indeed, in England. Bass player is also in SINNERS SERMON, whom you might have seen in a post from a couple of weeks ago. Extra credit to the singer for telling some chatty folks in the crowd to 'SHUT THE FUCK UP'

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/QLYvoTHfmOM    https://www.facebook.com/heathendeityofficial

Another sold out gig for WULFHERE, and a packed BANSHEE. A big round of applause for the sound engineer  - whose name I still don't know - for doing a grand job. Have to miss the Saturday half of the event - for more details, see next post. Back in November for more of the Black stuff.