Concert Review: Fires of Alba MMXXV

Intro

The Fires of Alba burned once more after the festival’s debut last year. I had a fantastic time at least years but was a bit worried whether it would return or not due to what appeared to be a rather sparse turnout – so I was happily surprised to see the flame flicker once more. This time boasting a stronger lineup which brought a larger turnout of fans.

Dreich

Dreich kicked us off for the day, a Depressive Suicidal Black Metal band hailing from the grayest Aberdeen. Nooses decorate the edges of the stage for their appropriately self-destructive values, as the five pieces covered in corpse paint welcome the festival into their pits of misery.

I’ve known the band for a while, but this was my first time catching them live, and they absolutely delivered. Solid and tight playing from all members, with a fantastic sound and a more reserved stage presence for the most part, fitting their appearance.

As a final act, their lead singer Matt threw the noose that had been hanging off his mic stand into the middle of the crowd and yelled “kill yourself!”. I briefly considered this tempting offer, however to be quite honest, I fancied seeing the rest of the gig, so I did not go through with it.

Their debut is to be released very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming review.

Úir

Another Scottish band, this time from Edinburgh, stepped up to the stage next. I had previously seen this Atmospheric Black Metal band supporting Abduction and The Infernal Sea in March 2025.

Their heavy and fast playing brought a change of pace from Dreich to pump the crowd up a bit, however still had slower sections where a rich bassline really shone through. The distant vocals seemed reminiscent of a more ambient black metal style, as themes of nature, isolation and despair were thrown into the weave of their strong enveloping soundscape.

Their set, however, was quite short, leading to a longer break between bands where I was able to check out the merch stalls. Oh temptation, I do hate you so.

Terra

Time for some black metal from south of the border, Terra from Cambridge. A three-piece featuring dual vocals from the guitarist and bassist.

Their heavy, overly distorted guitar and bass created a wall of pure noise, with the vocals becoming one with the mix as they both let out unrelenting screams. The three of them were absolutely relentless, with the drummer being an absolute machine keeping up at the brutal constant pace.

The feedback blasting out the audience’s eardrums was the only brief solace for the band between their songs before they kept returning with yet another ruthless track that was as rapid as it was ferocious.

Also, bonus points for the Ibanez Iceman, a guitar I’ve always had a soft spot for due to Doyle playing one in the early days of the Misfits.

Imperial Demonic

A bowl of incense was paraded onto the stage by their singer to start off their ritual, as the singer seemed to bless the band with it before yelling to the crowd to kick off this melodic black metal from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Their band had fantastic stage presence, with dark red moody lighting to reflect their 2023 EP Beneath the Crimson Eclipse and banners to match.

For a five piece, every instrument and word was heard so clearly – really fantastic mixing which carried their sound effortlessly, The lead singer, Andy (also singer of the wonderful post-black metal band Domhain) did often try to perform a delicate balancing act, singing from the top of a stage riser to tower above the band and crowd alike – despite fighting a mic stand to try and raise it up to an appropriate level before giving up with it and just taking the microphone into his hand. Many times he also leaned over the barrier into the crowd to growl in fans faces, adding to his demeanor.

For the penultimate song, the crowd was treated to a sneak peek of upcoming attractions, as Nina, aka The Cuntess joined to sing along with them. My only problem was that her vocals were lower in the mix, and she was a bit difficult to hear as a result. Nonetheless, she performed great, which appropriately leads me onto…

Blood Countess

The diabolical Blood Countess return from last year’s lineup, marking the third time I’ve seen them perform – and as always, it is an absolute treat. Nina, as mentioned before, is a fantastic performer and has a wonderfully intimidating stage presence as she growled and sneered at the crowd. 

The rest of the band performed extremely tightly, including their new drummer, who was ferocious and an excellent fit into the lineup. Unfortunately, we did have minor sound issues in the second song as an amp did its best impression of a bowl of rice krispies as it snapped, crackled and popped away. Thankfully, this was quickly fixed between songs, and they were able to continue easily, including bringing us two brand-new songs, Chains of Misdeed and Scavenger’s Daughter which I can’t wait to hear the studio versions of and properly sink my teeth into them.

Necronautical

Opening up with a synth heavy back tracking and a song with some clean vocals interspersed from the bassist brought an interesting change to the day – however this was the only song as such from the Manchester-based Black Metal band that had this style – continuing on with some traditional existentialist black metal style.

Coincidentally, much like Blood Countess, they also had a new drummer performing with them and played two new songs from their upcoming album.

They played their set very well, however their music has never really clicked with me, and they didn’t do much to overly wow me – as a result, I found them extremely okayish.

Thy Light

Our headliner for the evening, the ever beautiful Thy Light, hailing originally from Brazil but have now found their home right here in Glasgow. They were an absolute treat at Fortress Festival ‘24, and seeing them in a more intimate venue was hauntingly wonderful. This was also their debut show on their new home turf, having not played in Scotland before.

The candelabras flickered away as the soft blue light started their set with an appropriately melancholic atmosphere before their sorrowful riffs and vocals echoed out through the venue.

Two guitars and a drummer (sorry bass players) gave us a misanthropic experience to be absolutely mesmerised by and get lost in the languid pace of the music.

As they departed, the mournful synth perfected the night as the candles burnt down, and they finally reached their end.

Conclusion

And with that, the day is done, the crowd hits the merch tables for the final time and departs into the streets of Glasgow. Overall, I had a fantastic time, and I do hope this continues. The Scottish black metal scene is a nice, close-knit community, and more of these day-fests is what we need to all congregate together and bring people from further afield into our neck of the woods.

Book ending the show with Dreich and Thy Light so we start and end with DSBM felt like a nice touch, a gradual opening and conclusion to the experience, the whole day was very well paced and other than a couple minor issues, the sound was all terrific. Let us hope that the fires shall ignite once again and bring the blaze of black metal with it.

Gallery

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