Live Review: Reaper Festival (2026)

Introduction

Manchester, a city symbolised by the bee. Well for this weekend it was a different kind of B; blast beats, beer, and non stop black metal. Honestly, what better way could there possibly be to spend Valentine’s weekend?

Whilst the mostly back-lighting and heavy use of smoke meant my photos left a little to be desired - I barely saw a drummer or a kit all weekend due to these conditions. Fortunately the quality of my photographs does not represent the quality of this amazing festival, with 15 superb acts lined up for a memorable weekend at Rebellion, Manchester.

Day One

The first day consisted mostly of unfamiliar bands to myself, so I chose to dive in blind and skipped checking out those I didn’t know ahead of time so I could fully embrace and experience them without knowing what to expect and just enjoy the pure discovery element that comes with festivals.

Whilst I was mildly hungover from the Friday night pre-fest drinks session a dozen coffees and some hearty food set me up ready for the festival to begin.

Vestia

Vestia took to the stage and wasted no time blasting away the hangover and kicking off the festival. 

A relatively new band to the scene, based in London they lend themselves to the themes of Greek mythology - always a great topic to explore and create art from.

With a couple guitar solo laden tracks and brilliantly performed harsh vocals they got the whole crowd awake and headbanging along. A truly spectacular opener that impressed me right off the bat and set the bar high for the rest of the weekend.

Their set was interspersed with a couple slower paced sections with spoken word and clean vocals which were captivating and showed great versatility in their musical ability.

Lunar Mantra

The stage was bathed in pale blue light as the backing track played some ambience with an air of mystery. 

Immediately this was juxtaposed by the Glaswegian act as a dense wall of muddy and oppressive sound - with harsh deep vocals cutting through like a sharp razor. The occasional throat singing that was incorporated was such an interesting touch.

The six string bass being finger plucked to the pace of the blast beats was a sight to behold, and you could feel the result rattling through your bones. 

Watching this performance felt akin to a weight crushing you down into the floor. It was intense and did not let up throughout the entire set.

Swords of Dis

The first of our special performances for Reaper Festival this weekend was the live debut of Swords of Dis - a blackened doom band from Birmingham.

A font of blood, a set of skull topped scales for some mise-en-scène, with the heavy scent of incense and thick smoke they were completely bathed in red light to establish their thematic presence. It was an atmosphere that demanded attention, and from looking around at the audience they absolutely achieved that.

The ethereal vocals were mesmerising but unfortunately getting lost in the mix of the chugging guitars from where I was standing. I would have certainly liked to hear them more clearly, however it gave me a great reason to go and check out their work.

Towards the end of the set the singer drenched herself in the blood of the font, a macabre spectacle that capped off their enchanting theatrical performance.

Imperial Demonic

A melodic black metal band that I am very familiar with, Imperial Demonic hail from Belfast, Northern Ireland and wear their Dark Funeral influences on their sleeves. I’ve seen these guys a couple times and they’ve always been a delight in the past, and this was no exception.

Whilst there was no bass this time and instead we had a backing track filling the spot, it was a non stop high energy performance dominated by great stage presence. Andy on vocals was on top of his game as he went all out on crowd interaction, leaning out into the crowd to scream at their faces and crawling over the stage it was a delight to watch.

The full band played amazingly with a very tight set, and it was a huge amount of fun to watch. Finishing with The Furnace, their fiery performance glowed with passion and as a result it remained a highlight of the weekend.

Äera

Our first international act, Äera are an atmospheric black metal act from Germany who brought with them a great expertise. Between the venomously sharp vocals and the clear, strong instrumentation, their set was expertly played.

Featuring a great blend between a more languid pace at times with changes to incorporate headbanging moments with deliberate speed - the performance ebbs and flows between pace so naturally like a gentle stream of water picking up pace to create a treacherous set of rapids.

Naxen

Our second set of Germans set up on the stage, but with an entirely different energy. Their relentless bombardment of beats had the full crowd headbanging along in perfect synchronicity.

Melancholic tones of a funerary dirge combined with a whirlwind of pure fury made for a highly enjoyable performance full of high energy, and was another favourite of the day that left me speechless.

Barshasketh

A band that should need no introduction after their fantastic album Antinomian Asceticism released at the start of last year. As expected they carried a strong and impressive presence on stage with an incredibly heavy and rich sounding set. 

The abyssal vocals reverberated around the venue leaving the sonic scourge ringing through the crowds ears. Combined with solid riffs and nigh on relentless blast beats, they did not give the audience even a moment of silence going as far as letting the feedback loudly hum through the amps between songs.

Krypts

Our headliner for day one is Lovecraft inspired Finnish death/doom band Krypts. 

Though their sound check did take longer than anyone else's (leaving a member of the crowd to cheekily yell the pun “are you Finnished yet”) they eventually got started. 

Delivering a slow and oppressively heavy soundscape, it had an immense sense of doom as the low tuned crushing riffs loudly dominated the scene, shaking the venue with each gradual strum.

Unfortunately their harsh death style vocals, whilst impressive did not do much for me as it is never a style I’ve been able to get to grips with. I will however of course assign them the mandatory bonus points for the Ibanez Iceman guitar, as I always do.

And with that, day one was over. A nightcap and some fried chicken finished our group off for the night, being wary that we didn’t want to be too hungover for the impressive lineup of day two.

Day Two

For me this was a fully stacked lineup for the day where there would be no respite. There wasn’t a single band that I didn’t want to catch, and was familiar with all of them ahead of the announcement so after a good nights sleep, a clear mind, and another dozen coffees in me, I was ready to go. 

Evil Dungeon Crawler

The caped crusader who has a goal of introducing black metal to a new generation stepped up to the stage to welcome us all to a second day of pure black metal.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from them, with the slightly meme-like name and the demo-like raw quality of released content I’ve heard previously I went in morbidly curious, and I was pleasantly surprised with a solid act of enthralling black metal who even played a great tribute to Bathory.

A solid opener to get the crowd ready - though perhaps their repeated attempts at crowd interaction fell on slightly hungover and still waking up minds - by the end of their set it paid off as the crowd fist pumped along on their final song and had everyone eager.

I do admit that there was something mildly amusing about hearing "we are from Newcastle upon Tyne” growled out in a black metal style, but nonetheless a great show from them.

Dreich

A band I am incredibly familiar with of course, having covered them multiple times with BlackMetalZine - this DSMB band from Aberdeen are a rising name in the British Black Metal scene who just toured Poland.

However, there is a noticeable difference today for those familiar with Dreich, as they booted out their singer following the Poland tour and have yet to find a full time replacement.

As a result, their set was reliant on backing vocals from both guitarists which consisted of just growls of pure anguish - which if anything only added to their themes of despair and loneliness and really fitted their DSBM vibes. I bet if you didn't know Dreich prior the first half of their act probably just made sense as they were and this was their thing. 

Their lack of vocals also portrayed just how solid their instrumentation was, with the rest of the band ensuring their altered performance went as smooth as butter.

For the final two tracks we were treated to lead vocals returning, as Elegy, the singer from Vestia joined on stage to a great response from the crowd and put on an amazing show and portrayed a great performance as a temporary front man for the remainder of the set.

With an abrupt and sudden ending, their set was over and the background music started once again as I readied myself for another band I was incredibly familiar with.

Ofnus

“Emma, has it really been two weeks already?” yelled Alyn as they prepared for their set. This Welsh delight that I travelled 300 miles to see just a fortnight ago was back on the stage in front of me and I was eager for more.

Opening with Burned by the Soul of the Moon, right from the get go their incredible performance had the whole crowd encaptured with their dulcet melancholia. I couldn’t help but look around to see the whole crowd headbanging and being enthralled as their more aggressive and wrath filled track Throes of Agony was executed to a ferocious pace.

The bass lines really shone through even when Richard was practically punching them out in a vicious manner, not to mention the as always impeccable drumming.

The new song I mentioned in my last review, Lamentation for a Life Regrettable was performed again, however under the new name - Beddgelert better fitting the tragic tale that the song is based upon. 

Wrapping up with Grains of Sand and the ever impressive Zenith Delour, Ofnus absolutely nailed their set that blew past all expectations and proved their confidence upon the stage with Brendan now full time on vocal duty.

Blood Countess

Taking to the stage and all facing the back wall in absolute silence the crowd waited with baited breath for a performance of high expectations. The illusion was slightly shattered as guitarist István turned around to yell "INTRO!" to prompt the sound guy causing some laughs from the band and crowd.

Whilst drenched in sanguine light, they began with the lead single Chains of Misdeed off their upcoming album Imperatrix Sanguinis. Nina The Cuntess made herself known with savagely demonic vocals and a strong domineering stage presence. 

Tearing through the set at breakneck speed, the band were locked in with blistering guitar work and effortless technical drumming.

Hecate Enthroned

The Melodic/Symphonic legends of the British scene were up next, having just celebrated 30 years of black metal last year and on the verge of their first album in 7 years.

They maintained their highly melodic sound even without a keyboardist who apparently was off on holiday somewhere. The dual vocal styles of deep growls and higher shrieks were incredibly impressive to behold, switching so effortlessly between them. 

Speaking of vocals, we were also graced with the presence of their former singer Dean who joined on stage to sing Perjurer off their 1999 album Kings of Chaos, culminating in big hugs from the band as he left the stage to a thunderous round of applause.

Another band debuting live songs as Deathless in the Dryad Glade was an exclusive live debut for Reaper Fest off their new album The Corpse of a Titan, A Lament Long Buried releasing at the end of May. 

This new song slowly built up tension before crashing in with the unstoppable force of a freight train, it was unyielding and brimming with raw fury. 

They closed out with The Pagan Swords of Legend and overall I was thoroughly impressed with their performance, it truly established why they’ve remained firmly in the scene for three decades.

Abduction

This was the show I anticipated the most out of the entire festival, and let me tell you right now, it did not disappoint. A ten year anniversary set of deep cuts and rarities from their back catalogue, many of which had never been performed before.

Not only was the setlist of this a thing to behold, but the entire show was a pure spectacle that reminded you why Abduction are at the top of the UKBM scene right now. 

Throughout their set, Abduction were a vicious sound evil incarnate. The heavily compressed and reverberated vocals of AV were like a corruption coursing through your veins. However he was not without respect for the audience themselves, as he humbly stopped to praise the full crowd that stood before him.

As for stage theatrics, we had the return of the skull being brought out for a song Hamlet style, but we also got a sword drawn and dramatically pointed over the crowds head and energetically plunged down into the stage to lean against. 

Elegy from Vestia also joined once more as a guest singer, truly proving his upcoming place in the black metal scene as both him and AV cloaked in black shared vocal duty - ending their duet with high mutual respect from one another. 

I’ll be completely honest here - this should have been the finale as even at the time I had no idea how this incredible act was to be followed up.

The Spirit

Our finale for the weekend was also a fly in act also from Germany, perhaps there was a discount on the flights to the UK that weekend. As they set up (and even asked for front lighting, the only band of the weekend to do so!) the crowd eagerly awaited the headline act to top off this fantastic festival.

The guitar talent shone throughout with solid riffs and solos, and the rest of the band were like a well oiled machine as everything sounded as if it was off a studio album. 

Their singer, MT highlighted how he prefers these club level shows in comparison to playing larger festivals such as Bloodstock last year - something I think most musicians and fans alike would agree on, as it’s such a great level of intimacy that you get in smaller venues.

They rattled through songs off all four albums, with Illuminate the Night Sky being a personal highlight not only to hear but for the atmosphere of the crowd as it fully energised the room. 

They finished off with The Clouds of Damnation, profusely thanked the crowd, and with that departed the stage as the crowd dispersed to the streets of Manchester - just in time for the heavens to open and for us to get absolutely soaked. Classic Britain.

Conclusion

As my first Reaper Fest, this was a true delight and it’s a shame I couldn’t make it down to Manchester on previous years for it as the dates just never quite lined up for me. 

From the absolutely flawless running of the event by the crew, to each band that played a superb show, and of course to every member of the crowd - it was just such a great vibe for the entire weekend and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. 

Of course I’ll be at future Reaper Agency shows, such as Fortress Festival in Scarborough in May - something that has remained a highlight every year since it began in 2023. 

Also just announced is the Tynebound festival taking place in Newcastle in September, whilst only four bands have been announced so far (Moonlight Sorcery, Inferno, Cnoc An Tursa, & Aristarchos) I had no hesitation in getting a ticket ready for what I’m sure will be just as good or even better than this weekend was.

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