Once more unto the towers, dear friends, once more! Or fill our stomachs up with decent beer! Yes it’s time to pay obeisance to the Elder Gods and enter the wonderful world of Warhorns once more.

Always a pleasure. A home from home in fact. And so in that spirit as an apology to the hard working and wonderful organisers and the superb bands, this review may not be up to my personal standards (whatever they are) – personal health and caring responsibilities had a bit of a road crash recently so with zero prep and issues with my brain I just did my best. I was stone cold sober though!

Anyway, onwards!

Friday

Dal Riata from Glasgow had the pleasure of opening the festival. With a frontwoman/bassist resplendent in a gold/flame outfit and sequins and drums bass and guitars in a very metal style they launched into… some thundering death metal with plenty of neat pounding drums and death metal riff and vocals with a lovely Celtic melody feel over the top. It was such bright start to the festival. Songs based on Celtic mythology, some very entertaining song intros (“You probably never realised you needed a death metal song about salmon…” and the amusing pointing out of bad parenting in the fine ‘Nine Maidens Of Dundee’) and just a great grasp of writing hooks that raise things into epic territory while keeping the music nice and heavy. Clean vocals backed up the death growls, nice stage work and a debut album just out (check their Bandcamp) this was just a great, fresh start to the day, deservedly well received.

Warhorns always mixes things up, especially at the Winterfest, and next up was for me a real surprise. Three piece Sabbat Wolf from Leeds took the stage unassumingly and launched into the truest of dooooom. Not a shred of slow death metal in sight, just utter dark and heavy doom. The sound was somewhere around The Gates Of Slumber, maybe a little Pentagram. That kinds of dense, crushing sound. Oh, man it was a joy to me and I saw the heads in the crowd begin that slow, heavy nod of approval.

‘Pagan Bloody Pagan’ (I think) stepped into a lysergic space of quiet echoing progressive but still had the gear shifts and a terrific tone to the guitar and the riffs. The band looked intense and worked so hard. By the time ‘Curse Thrower’ ended I was converted. Look out for them – an EP is out now! Well that was a damned good start indeed. Different, surprising and two new names really hitting the mark.

Argesk followed, who actually played last at Warhorns in 2022 I think? Time flies. With the number of members sporting corpse paint now up to two from just the keyboard player they continue with their almost symphonic, (live) keyboard sound with grim riffs and fine harsh vocals. Their sound is, for me, very much rooted in the early 90s black metal – a bit of Gehenna and Limbonic Art kind of area. They work hard as ever and they get an appreciative reaction with songs such as the swirling ‘Lord Of The Boundless Void’.

Then we get Pagan Sword. I think I spotted a familiar face in their fiddle player but old brain couldn’t pin it down (Red Rum? Maybe…). They have a jaunty sound, heavy on the fiddle and a good frontman with boisterous vocals. Songs such as ‘Enter The Mountain’ and ‘The Serpent King’ have that requisite traditional by now folk metal sound to get the crowd moving, which they do admirably. They even have the obligatory drinking song (the curiously named ‘White Beer’…) which is certainly a floor filler. It’s not my kind of thing to be honest and a little generic to my ears, however the Warhorns crowd fervently disagree with me (as they should!) and a lot of people’s feet are warmed up. A well worked set got its rewards.

Then we wandered in to, without too many spoilers, one of the three pretty unknown bands who made a bit of a splash this year from talking to people after. Misko Boba. This was actually their first ever gig, but with a live rehearsal tape out I kinda had high hopes, particularly considering the pedigree of the members.

They launched into ‘Ateik Pas Maane’ (all their lyrics are Lithuanian, the nationality of singer/frontwoman Kanopa). Fantastic proper black metal riffing from Vilhelmas and Azoulas and bassist Aganoras, Leviathan nailing down the drums and an immediately compelling performance from Kanopa – her stare was frankly terrifyingly intense, her voice excellent. The songs are top drawer black metal with buzzing hooks to the riffs and some fantastic guitar work and truly dextrous bass lines.

We get an insight into the lyrical concerns as Kanopa introduces ‘Gedulas ir Vilitis’ (Mourning and Hope. A day in Lithuania commemorating the enforced removal of thousands of Lithuanians to Siberia by the Russia in WW2) which is a song with the eerie and bitter melodies over the riff that reminds me just a little of Sargeist with a more melancholy and angry heart. The crowd really seems to take to not just their hard stage work, but the songs which have a knack of getting quickly under your skin.

Closing with ‘Karaliaus Paleistuve’ (The King’s Harlot), another lesson in Polish/Lithuanian history and, indeed, of hate and love with a truly tingling melody they leave a nicely buzzing room. Me? I was genuinely gobsmacked. Album out in June. Watch this space.

From the sublime to the..Arkham Witch! Another band that if you look under ‘stalwarts’ you will find their name written with respect. Doomy heavy metal with a wry line in lyrics and catchy songs, I’ve seen them numerous times over the years but it’s always going to be worth another encounter.

‘Three Bladed Doom’ lets those few not in the know what is going to hit them. Doomy but energetic heavy metal as singer Seb’s strong voice strides into the venue. The key to this band is, quite simply the songs. Their approach is straightforward but never boring but they know how to craft a chorus to perfection.

Mid paced, classic hooks and just a self-deprecating joy in doing what they doom. It’s so easy for the crowd to get into this and we also get choruses to sing along to – the classic ‘Viking Pirates Of Doom’ and the muscular closer ‘Give Me Death By Heavy Metal’. Just what metal should be about.

They’re from Keighley, you know….

And so to headliners Hecate Enthroned. Extracting myself from an argument about how you pronounce ‘Hecate’ we watch them step between the banners proclaiming ’30 Years Of Uncompromising Chaos’. Thirty years. Let that sink in for a while. Three decades of belligerently cleaving to the cause through slings, arrows and shitty fashion shifts. And damn they look like the grizzled warriors they are; grey hairs, grim faces and an awesome intent. It’s hard and blistering music; old school black metal for sure but that’s in their blood and their roots. Live keyboards enhance the experience greatly and I get swept up in the cold, embrace. A pit breaks out, always great to see at Warhorns; chaos and involvement in the performance rather than orchestrated congas and its clear they have hit the mark.


The slower beginning of ‘Whispers Of The Mountain Ossuary’ has just that tinge of very old Cradle Of Filth in the keyboards but always remains Hecate Enthroned at its heart as it speed up and bites hard. There’s just a feeling of real determination as I watch the packed stage; strangely compelling despite little room to move and the singer putting everything into his great vocal performance. We get a little light humour in between songs, a little Sean Bean style shout of ‘Bastard!’. Not for the trve kvlt as the frontman notes. But this is Warhorns and regardless their music speaks volumes all by itself.


They spread songs through their career, going back to the superb rendition of ‘Beneath A December Twilight’ which genuinely sends tingles down my arms with its eerie melody and hard attack and ‘The Danse Macabre’. ‘Silent Conversations With A Distant Star’ and ‘The Pagan Swords Of Legend’ ensure this is a superbly balanced set. A reminder that you can’t kill true black metal.
A fantastic end to day one. Thank you Hecate Enthroned.

Words and crap pictures: Gizmo
Proper Pictures: Dave Stewart

https://www.facebook.com/Dave.Stewart.Photography
https://davestewartphotography.zenfolio.com