> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://blackmetalzine.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Live Review: Tynebound Festival (2026) - URL: https://blackmetalzine.com/live-review-tynebound-festival-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-16T13:00:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-16T13:13:40.000Z - Description: Live Review: Tynebound Festival (2026). Reaper Agency's third fest of 2026 at Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle. Two days, stellar line up. Read more! - Author: Emma - Tags: Live Reviews, Reviews ## Introduction This is the third and final Reaper Agency festival of 2026, following [Reaper Fest](https://blackmetalzine.com/live-review-reaper-festival-2026/) in February and [Fortress Festival](https://blackmetalzine.com/live-review-fortress-festival-2026/) in May which I both attended and reviewed. They’re one of the most prominent agents in the UK of bringing black metal to the masses and always deliver with stellar lineups and great events, so I had no doubts in my mind when this was announced. This is the furthest north festival that Reaper Agency has done, so it's only a three hour drive south this time! Though I doubt my northern friends would appreciate that I described my journey as “going to the south”. This time it takes place at Anarchy Brewery on the outskirts of Newcastle, a brewery that teamed up with Reaper earlier this year to produce the Fortress IPA that I had quite a few of back in May. Let's see if this is a well organised piss up. ## Day One Now, I must admit a large group of us did go out the night before to the local rock bar Trillian's to have a pre-festival catch-up session. Things may have gotten a little messy with staying out until the early hours, and as a result some of us were *mildly* hungover. Still could be worse, with one of our group accidentally getting a £60 taxi home instead of walking less than 10 minutes to their hotel. I was no exception and spent the Saturday morning suffering the consequences of a hangover. Much to my regret I missed out on **Magnetar**, **The Sun’s Journey Through the Night** and **Lychgate** as I put in my best efforts to make myself feel more human. However, I wouldn’t leave them out of this review so I asked my mate Michael what he thought of them. “F\*cking mint”. ### The Infernal Sea ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/TheInfernalSea.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk Two weekends in a row seeing this act following on from Bristol Extreme Fest just the week before. Gone are the masks and the stage theatrics of their old performances, this is just black metal being played in its purest form. Drowned in smoke and green light they once again celebrated a decade of *The Great Mortality* by playing it in full for the audience. Deans growls and barks were absolutely ferocious as the band rattled through the album to a magnificent degree. Dez from Wolfbastard / Burial / Foetal Juice also joined on stage (as he had the previous weekend) to share vocal duties and have a guest appearance, bringing forth his established stage presence. ### Vespéral ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Vesperal.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk A returning act from this years Fortress Festival, no complaints from me as they were one of my personal highlights of the weekend. To my complete lack of surprise, they absolutely delivered here and were perhaps even better than they had been in May. The stage presence was off the charts with these lads, What I really love is the aesthetics of the band and their stage attire. So you’ve got the full band in black cloaks, hidden faces, the usual mysterious works. Then the lead singer comes on stage in a pair of Adidas tracksuit, shirtless with chains crossed over his chest and spiked gauntlets. It’s a hell of a style choice The synths were much louder than they were at Fortress this time, which was my biggest complaint of their performance then so I was delighted to hear the keys and hypnotic bells ringing out into the hall filling it with their ambience. Vocals resembling howling shrieks cut clearly through the venue so perfectly, past the harsh distortion of the instrumentation and carried such heartwrenched emotion. Yet despite being so dour lyrically wise, with themes of mental anguish and isolation - what I love about Vespéral is it is a band you can also kinda groove to. The entire crowd was moving, and so many people were having a dance and enjoying themselves. ### Aristarchos ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Aristarchos.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk Our first Scottish act of the weekend, they previously played [Fortress Festival 2025](https://blackmetalzine.com/festival-review-fortress-festival/) and in my review for them there I said they were solid performers but didn’t have many notes. This time however, they went above and beyond that performance and were astounding. I think they were a new band to quite a few of the audience, and hearing so many people afterwards say how they were blown away. They brought with themselves such an atmosphere, but it was one of oppression and savagery. Wrath itself was portrayed through the relentless drums and bass hits, which were absolutely overwhelming blending into an ominous wall of noise that shook you to the core. Unfortunately the severity of such a devastating performance did result in the audio levels clipping a few points through their performance, resulting in some unpleasant crackles and overly harsh distortion (even for black metal). But it was a minor issue that I’m sure some people did not even realise. A spoken word outro from our cloaked singer as the rest of the band departed stage right, and a polite bow to thank the crowd, and that was us ready for the headlining act of Saturday. ### Inferno ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Inferno.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk Inferno have stunned the community recently with the release of their latest album with the catchy title *The Anthropic Sophisms (On The Heights of Despair).* What better way to finish day one off that with this Czech black metal band with heavy infleunces of the avant-garde. Cloaked in black netting looking like the Danish frogmen corps, it was a sight to behold as they ominously took their places, though the guitarist did have a weird led hand thing going on that I couldn’t quite figure out what it was meant to be. Slowly and unsteadily the lead singer shambled about onto stage like a newly reanimated corpse finding his feet for the first time in a century. Another graceful polite bow and the performance had truly begun. His low deep growls broke through the sheer dissonance of the band. The drumming was absolutely insane and damn near impeccable, whilst the guitars produced a cacophonous terror. This dark soundtrack accompanied the uncanny and surreal imagery projected behind them that was mesmerising to watch and easy to lose yourself in. Whilst I had seen this band at Fortress in 2023, I don’t really remember them much and was unfamiliar with their dynamism. With the release of the new album and this performance, 2026 has changed that for certain. ## **Day Two** Well rested, sober, and fresh I was ready for day two. A stacked lineup awaited us all, as this was the day I was most excited for. So let’s waste no time and kick off right away with one of my favourite new rising acts of the UKBM scene. ### Oakenthrone ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Oakenthrone.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk This is the fourth time I've seen Oakenthrone this year, with 2026 being their year for touring it seems with so many gigs and festivals adding them onto the billing (well deserved). Ahead of the festival I also had the change to perform an [interview](https://blackmetalzine.com/interview-oakenthrone/), so be sure to check that out for further thoughts from the band themselves. If anyone was still hungover from yesterday or still in the process of waking up, then Oakenthrone would have blown the cobwebs away and sobered them up with a bombastic effect. The slow crushing intro of Embers of Reverie slowly built up to become the relentless blast beats - our first of the four song set. The audience was also treated to two new songs off the upcoming album *Ad Silvam*. *Monolith* which is the lead single was included, and a brand new track *A Vigil Under Sol* which was pretty monumental. As they closed with *Astral Binding*, this was probably the best I’ve heard them sound and made me even more excited for their upcoming album. Doubtful I’ll be able to make it to any of the album tour shows that are happening in England, but you never know I could certainly be persuaded by performances that solid. ### Vacivus & Cnoc An Tursa ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Vacivus.jpg) ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Cnoc.jpg) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk These two delivered something a little different for today from opposite ends of the metal spectrum. First up, some death metal. Straight off the bat **Vacivus** were blisteringly fast, with the drummer unleashing a barrage akin to an MG42 firing off a non-stop payload into the audience. Nick Craggs (Nemorous, Sulphuric Deity) belted out his death-like vocals with tremendous growls that were guttural and ghastly. What surprised me was the guitar prowess with lots of twiddly tapping work, pinch harmonics, and guitar solos that filled the performance. **Cnoc An Tursa** on the other hand deliver a much calmer approach, still blackened metal but with heavy folk influences embracing their Scottish roots. Strong melodic Celtic riffs sounded triumphant in juxtaposition to the previous act. Their more upbeat style delivered a more approachable and fun style, leaving the harshness to take a back seat that still lingered atmospherically in the background of each track. I’ve seen these guys multiple times this year already and they always deliver with such elegance. Though much of the setlist was material off the fantastic new album *A Cry for the Slain* they still closed out with the magnanimous *The Lion of Scotland*. Powerful and striking, the Scots nailed their set and departed ready for the drive back north of the wall. ### Blood Countess & Cosdradh ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/BloodCountess.png) ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/Coscradh.png) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk It’s always a delight to see **Blood Countess** on the stage, and with the new album [*Imperatrix Sanguinis*](https://blackmetalzine.com/review-blood-countess-imperatrix-sanguinis-2026/)being such a first-rate macabre piece of work I was ready for more. It was a fierce and powerful performance by all, delivered with expertise and confidence from the full band. Nina’s howls are a force to be reckoned with as her reign on stage brought authority and intimidating presence as the rest of the band brought forth sardonic guitar lines and violent drumming. They have their style and behaviour dialed in, but it would be interesting to see how they can take it to the next level as they prepare for the third album that they teased in my recent [interview](https://blackmetalzine.com/interview-blood-countess/) with them. **Coscradh** were the only band of the day who were unfamiliar to me, so i purposefully avoided looking into them ahead of the festival so I could go in completely blind and be surprised (hopefully pleasantly). I had no idea what to expect from this Irish band (as I later found out), but turns out they brought over with them a relentless thrash-like pace akin to warmetal at times, with Slayer-esque solos packing out their aggressive set. This was an exercise of stamina, and one that never let up throughout their set. The members bashed each other about on stage, the crowd moshed, and it unlocked this deep primal urge to headbang making me nostalgic for the days of when I discovered heavy metal as a child. They caught my curiosity, and were definitely a band that I will be checking out more. ### Conifère ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/conifere.png) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk Sharing members of **Vespéral**, we had a two for one deal on Métal Noir Québécois at this festival. Gentle ambient synthwork played for their arrival to the smoke filled stage, providing a complete juxtaposition to the frantic pace previous act played. A languid intro gently sped up, broken by an almighty howl for the black metal to begin. Much like Vespéral, a large part of the crowd was moshing and headbanging, whereas a load were dancing in a jovial manner with their music being such a delight to listen to and move your body a bit in either fashion. These two Canadian acts were highly anticipated by myself and many others there that I know - and they absolutely delivered with extraordinary and colossal performances. The final song ended in a frantic blast driving the crowd wild, the moshing picked up like a whirlwind of fury, the heads banged faster, and then with one final note it was over. ### Moonlight Sorcery ![](https://blackmetalzine.com/content/images/2026/09/moonlight-sorcery.png) Photo credit: shotsbyjordyn.uk One of my favourite acts from [Fortress Festival 2025](https://blackmetalzine.com/festival-review-fortress-festival/), these Finnish fellows bring high energy entertainment onto the stage incorporating some melodic fun into the mix of bleak cold black metal. A joyful palate cleanser to end the weekend. Nothing to make you question your own existence like Inferno the night before and no existential dread. As much as I love some misanthropy, nihilism, and philosophical angles in my black metal - Moonlight Sorcery brought forth a more lively aspect. A highly polished and focused set filled with beautiful symphonic compositions, upbeat and rich songwriting, and remarkable instrumentation. Among the setlist of classics from their limited discography (Two EPs and a full length) was a new song *Hämärän Kruunu*, a tease for new material to come. ## **Conclusion** All in all, this was a brilliant weekend. The location of Anarchy Brewery was great with it being a good size for this kind of festival, but having plenty of space inside and out for merch, food, and chill out spaces between bands. All the bands sounded amazing and aside from one or two minor technical issues there were no complaints. Finally, hats off to Reaper Agency and the full crew who worked behind the scenes, as the entire festival ran smooth as silk from a punters perspective. Newcastle, I didn’t get to explore you as much as I hoped - but with Tynebound 2027 already confirmed for next September I’ll be back without a doubt. ## Signup to our newsletter and Social Media Below you can sign up to our newsletter(s) one of those is The Infernal Records, a weekly newsletter where Fractal our dedicated researcher finds new releases of the previous week that are worth your time. You can sign up here: ## Unleashing the Darkness Within become a member of Black Metal Zine Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. We also love to hear your thoughts and opinions on our articles, so feel free to follow us on our social media channels. Or join us on Black Metal Promotions, [**Discord**](https://discord.com/invite/9WBTVvNYEC?ref=blackmetalzine.com). Where we talk about all things black metal. 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