TYNEBOUND FESTIVAL PREVIEW

Anarchy Brew Co. is found a mere 10 minutes from where Venom forged Black Metal. So it’s fitting that Tynebound – Newcastle’s first dedicated black metal and beer festival – is just down the road from that record’s birthplace.

Brought to the North East by Reaper Agency (the team behind Scarborough’s Fortress Festival), Tynebound will see a multinational line-up descend on the venue over September 5 and 6.

Expect corpsepaint, blastbeats and killer beers.

Expect a mouthwatering gathering of extreme metal talent.

And expect to see us there – quite possibly with a Fortress IPA in hand…

Saturday September 5

Magnetar

2.15pm – 3pm

Magnetar’s debut, There Will Be No Peace In My Valley, was the surprise package of 2024. A lighting storm of blackened heavy metal, it owed as much to old masters like Mercyful Fate and Maiden, as it did 90s Swedish BM. And its closing statement, the epic Adorned In Flame, was a bonafide jaw-dropper…

The North West crew – featuring former Winterfylleth bassist Nick Wallwork – will be playing their first ever show at Tynebound.

The Sun’s Journey Through The Night

3.30pm – 4.10pm

The Sun’s Journey Through The Night made one hell of an opening statement on Eternal Black Transmissions, their eerie 2020 debut.

A new force in UKBM had arrived.

TSJTTN has evolved considerably since then: ‘23’s Worldless was built from a more futuristic blueprint, but was no less powerful, its cosmic energy crackling across tracks like Flood of Flames.

However, its creator, No One (pictured top), has since opted for a return to something “more visceral and raw”: and Demo III, released in May, was the result.

This could be one of the most intriguing sets of the weekend…

Lychgate

4.40pm – 5.20pm

Lychgate’s labyrinthine black/doom metal has twisted through a four-album canon – and the London outfit arguably issued their pièce de resistance last year, in the form of Precipice. Swirling psychedelia met mausoleum melodies in a stunning set, which was well worth the seven-year wait.

This weekend, Newcastle will have its second taste of Lychgate in 10 months, following the band’s support slot with Esoteric in December. It may not recover.

The Infernal Sea

5.50pm – 6.40pm

If you’ve been following UKBM for any length of time, you should know what to expect from these plague doctors: ritualistic terror, serrated riffs and songs dredged from Europe’s bleakest eras.

Back in the pestilent year of 2020, we hailed Negotium Crucis as a “new chapter in their fen-born horror story”, and since then, they’ve unleashed the stunning Hellfenlic.

Don’t expect anything from those albums though: The Infernal Sea are celebrating the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough opus, The Great Mortality, and they’ll be playing it in its entirety.

They’ve now ditched the masks too, so you’ll get to see who’s been behind them all these years…

Vespéral

7.10pm – 7.55pm

Québec’s Vespéral lit up Fortress Festival with a thrilling performance of 2025’s La Mort De L’âme – a simply ingenious display of Métal Noir Québécois.

They must have a taste for Northern England, as the band, who share members with fellow Canadians Conifère, will be returning to these shores for their second UK appearance.

Before you see them, do yourself a huge favour and check out À Double Tranchant, their superb ’26 split with Conifère.

Aristarchos

8.25pm – 9.10pm

The glistening, astral black metal of Aristarchos descended like a swirling, extraterrestrial orb in 2021.

The Scots’ self-titled debut was a simply astonishing work of atmospheric BM.

Its fiercer follow-up, Martyr of Star and Fire, arguably went one better.

So buckle up, this could be one hell of a trip.

Inferno

9.50pm – 10.50pm

It’s been a staggering 30 years since Czechia’s underground legends Inferno released their first demo. But as their latest offering, The Anthropic Sophisms (On the Heights of Despair), proved, these black metal visionaries have lost none of their ability to astound and inspire.

As such, their ultra-rare UK headline slot could be a real “I was there” moment.

Sunday September 6

Oakenthrone

2pm – 2.30pm

Oakenthrone have just premiered Monolith the first track from their upcoming debut album, Ad Silvam.

And it should be getting you excited for Sunday’s opening set.

That said, the Manchester band have already made one hell of an impression on the UKBM scene, since releasing their first demo, Blood Moon, back in ’22.

Need to get more acquainted? The Paths Once Trodden (2024–2025) compilation is a good place to start.

Vacivus

3pm – 3.30pm

North Easterners Vacivus are one of the region’s success stories.

Born from the ashes of Dawn Of Chaos, they’ve spread their blackened death poison far and wide, hitting fests like London’s Incineration and Portugal’s SWR.

And there may be something new brewing in the Vacivus camp.

Could we see a follow-up to 2019’s Annihilism?

We may find out at Tynebound…

Cnoc An Tursa

4.10pm – 4.40pm

Back in 2013, we praised Cnoc An Tursa for giving Scottish metal “a powerful new voice”. Their debut, The Giants Of Auld, was released as UKBM was reigniting, with the likes of Saor and Winterfylleth leading the charge.

Up until this year, we’d only had 2017’s The Forty Five to savour.

But the Falkirk band returned in April with A Cry For The Slain, and a host of stirring anthems like Alba In My Heart. Live, it’s a fearsome prospect.

Blood Countess

5.20pm – 6.10pm

Fresh from ripping through Bloodstock, these Countess Bathory-obsessed northerners will be hungry for fresh souls when they hit Anarchy.

And they’ll surely be drawing from Imperatrix Sanguinis, their second album, which was released to great acclaim back in April.

Be prepared for old-school BM a la ‘94, delivered with unrelenting viciousness…

Coscradh

6.40pm – 7.20pm

Coscradh’s blackened death metal is dredged up from the bogs of ancient Ireland.

The band sound like no one else.

Indeed, their mystical savagery caught the attention of cult US label 20 Buck Spin, who released the Dubliners’ second album, Carving The Causeway To The Otherworld, earlier this year.

This appearance is a real coup for Tynebound, make no mistake.

Conifère

7.50pm – 8.40pm

A sister act to Vespéral, Montreal’s Conifère represent part two of the Métal Noir Québécois showcase.

The band emerged in ’19, hit us with the bleak, raw, Noblesse d’épée demo in ’20 and then followed that it up with surging L’impôt du sang four years later.

Given the strength of that album, it’s no surprise that Conifère are now in high demand on this side of the Atlantic.

Moonlight Sorcery

9.20pm – 10.20pm

There are cult black metal albums.

And then there’s Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle, Moonlight Sorcery’s 2023 breakthrough.

The band weaved epic solos, bombastic keys and virtuoso shredding across a magical record, an opus that opened many a door for the Finns, and brought them a legion of followers.

After making their debut in a now legendary set at Fortress Festival ’25, they’re headlining Tynebound. Frankly, we’re not surprised.