Fortress Festival announce nine new bands

Fortress Festival have announced nine new bands for next year’s festival!

Following a successful first edition this year, that saw the likes of THE RUINS OF BEVERAST, A FOREST OF STARS, DAWN RAY’D and more descend to Scarborough’s iconic Scarborough Spa, now, the first nine bands for 2024’s festival have been announced!

The first wave of confirmed bands includes a host of UK exclusive shows, including BLACKBRAID with a debut and exclusive UK show following the recent release of Blackbraid II, PANOPTICON with a Roads To The North anniversary full album set, FURIA with an exclusive UK show promoting the yet-unreleased new album Huta Luna, OBSIDIAN KINGDOM with a Mantiis full album set, FELLWARDEN with its worldwide live debut, LAMP OF MURMUUR with a UK exclusive performance and FALLS OF RAUROS with their first ever UK show. Joining this line-up of exclusive shows, will be Danish atmospheric black metal band SUNKEN and UK black-death-doom act ABYSSAL.

Speaking about performing at next year’s festival, Jon Krieger of BLACKBRAID said, “it’s official! BLACKBRAID will be coming to the UK next year, for the mighty Fortress Fest. I can’t express how excited I am to not only bring BLACKBRAID to the UK for the first time, but to be doing it at such a unique festival, surrounded by some of the best black metal artists in the world. This will be our only UK appearance next year so we wanted to do or best to make sure it was truly one to remember. A big thank you to Fortress Fest for making this one possible, see you next summer!”

Austin Lunn, the sole member of PANOPTICON says, “Roads To The North was the sound of a young man, only 31 years old at the time reflecting on changes and growth in life, as the symphony of life plays on regardless of mistakes and broken strings. 2024 will be ten years since its release, and it feels like the right time to bring this album in its entirety to the stage for yet another time of reflection on the simultaneous, incredible beauty and horror of this time we have on earth.”

Frank Allain of FELLWARDEN says, “whilst FELLWARDEN was always conceived as a studio project first and foremost, I’ve always stated from the get-go that I wouldn’t rule out the prospect of performing live should the right opportunity arise. Fortress Festival 2024 is that opportunity. Nevertheless, FELLWARDEN will not be an entity that performs for the sake of it, that plays shows regularly as a ‘gigging band’. As a musical outlet steeped in narrative and atmosphere, it is imperative for us that anything we engage with aligns with this philosophy. So, as it currently stands, Fortress Festival 2024 is all that is in the calendar – and it may very well stay this way in perpetuity, who knows. It therefore promises to be a special performance and quite possibly the only opportunity to witness this material in the live environment.”

OBSIDIAN KINGDOM adds, “we’re going to bring Mantiis to the stage this one time. And Fortress Festival seems the perfect place to do it, since the members of its organisation are so very keen on the album, and the UK being one of the first countries which would ask us to perform it back in the day. Next 1st June we’ll be in North Yorkshire, going through those fourteen bites one after the other, and celebrating that there is some beauty – or at least some sense of humour – to be found in the most vile things on Earth. And we sure hope to see you there.”

Speaking about the announcement, festival organiser Gary Stephenson says, “the festival follows the immeasurable success of 2023’s Fortress, a sold-out event which has rightly taken its place within the glorious pantheon of UK black metal history. Fortress 2023 joins Reaper Agency’s impressive track record so far, which consists of nine sold-out UK festival shows in just three years of activity. Fortress 2024 is set to snatch that mantle and wield it a ruinous blow with bigger crowds, more merch stands, more ferocious bands and even greater infamy in its wake… all taking place upon the sun-scorched coastline of this historic North Yorkshire town.”

Fortress Festival takes place at Scarborough Spa, Scarborough from 1st June – 2nd June 2024. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.

For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.