Live Review: Ofnus, Oneiros, Saarkoth, Sanhedrin (2026)

Bands: Ofnus, Oneiros, Saarkoth, Sanhedrin
Genre: Black Metal
Country: England (UK)
City: Nottingham
Venue: Ye Olde Salutation Inn
Promotor: Torturous Productions
Date: 31/01/26

Introduction

For my first black metal gig of 2026 I decided to drive 300 miles (482km) south to Nottingham, a city with a rich history and cultural scene - most famously home to the legend of Robin Hood.

What awaited me there was outstanding performances from four bands in the British Black Metal scene all with their own unique styles and flourishes.

The original lineup included Blood Countess, who unfortunately had to drop out fairly last minute - but luckily this space was filled in no time and we were able to get our money's worth (and for only £8.00 I honestly felt like I was Robin Hood committing some thievery!).

Our venue was Ye Olde Salutation Inn, one of the oldest pubs in the area with parts dating back to around 1240. So grab a pint of ale or a mug of mead, and brace for the siege of distortion rattling the wooden beams and medieval mortar apart.

Sanhedrin

Wasting no time, a clean tremolo riff kicked us off for the night, Sanhedrin brought us plenty of incredible guitar skill, with surgical precision leading the picking and guitar solo laden set.

Originally hailing from West Yorkshire, they are now London based and brought with them a versatile ensemble of black and death metal tunes to fill their set. 

A guest singer joined on stage to belt out the clean singing on two of their songs, including their lengthy finale which had suitably prepared us for the evening ahead.

Considering they were added to the bill so late, I was thoroughly impressed with their performance and applaud them for being so well composed.

Saarkoth

Cloaks, corpse paint, masks, and skulls - this melodic black metal band from Staffordshire brought their stage presence in material form and were our sole providers of such imagery for the night.

They delivered blistering blast beats and relentless energy performing a mix of brand new and existing tracks such as At the End of the River. Included in this was the debut performance of a brand new song, which had an adrenaline-fueled thrash like pace to it, with a short quiet part for the audience and band to catch their breath alike.

Overall Saarkoth delivered a tight and confident set, maintaining high energy and vividly captured my intrigue - definitely a band I will be checking out more as they seemingly gear up to release brand new material.

Oneiros

I was very much looking forward to finally seeing Oneiros live for the first time. This one man black metal band from Derby was introduced to me a couple years back by a good friend of mine, Ethan - a man who was pulling double duty tonight by drumming for our last two bands in a row. 

Formerly known as Dark Doom until 2024, they played a half-half set of songs from both band names as frontman Alex wished us to be “ready to feel fucking miserable”. 

Whilst that mission of making me feel miserable may have not succeeded - they did thoroughly impress me with unwavering momentum and expert proficiency. Even when he gave us “one last chance to cry” whilst playing The Age of Stars off the 2024 album Ruminations. 

Whilst I’m not sure when I’ll be seeing Oneiros again, I will at least see Alex on stage next month as he plays live for Abduction, and as for Ethan, it would be in about 10 minutes.

Ofnus

If there was anyone tonight who was here to bring us sorrow and despair, look no further. The headliner of tonight and my main purpose for 6 hours of driving are this Welsh atmospheric/melodic black metal band that I’m very familiar with. 

However there was something notably different tonight compared to all previous times I have seen them, and that difference was main reason for being here. Nervously preparing at the side of the stage as the band set up was Brendan, the new singer for the band who joined at the tail end of last year following the departure of Will.

And as they opened with Burned by the Soul of the Moon it seemed all nervousness had disappeared as Brendan unleashed his venomous vocals that perfectly matched the cold and feral atmosphere of the band. It was immediately obvious that he was the right person for the role and ready to establish his place front and centre of the stage.

The five piece performed perfectly, with every instrument being clear as day from the (if you’ll excuse the pun) rich basslines, the weeping melodic guitars, and of course the blisteringly aggressive drumming with such tight machine-like precision.

Nestled among the setlist of amazing songs such as The Shattering and Grains of Sand was a brand new song - Lamentation for a Life Regrettable. A heartwrenching song of morbid fashion which ended in agonised tortured guttural screams giving me almost DSBM vibes.

Finishing the set with the wonderfully dark Zenith Dolour, a crushingly bleak song that demands the full attention of any listener, they proved they were playing at peak performance even with the lineup change.

Ofnus will be heading to the studio later this month ready to record their third album, this time with a new set of lungs behind the microphone.

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