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Pentre Fest 2026

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Pentre Fest 2026 

Friday 27th and Saturday 28th February 2026 

Mcleans Pub, Deeside, North Wales  

Pentre Fest – it’s no secret that I’m a fan of this two day Metal festival held in a pub/club down the road from me. Organised by the hard working and hard rocking people at North East Wales Metal Productions, it’s a non-stop feast of fine tunes, the very best of underground Metal from around the UK.

Here’s my write up my experiences from this years event. You can read a full account from Team Ever Metal over at their site.

Day 1

Hiraeth 

My excitement had been steadily rising for weeks ahead of Pentre Fest.  You just can’t beat this mini two-day festival in North Wales, it really is the gig highlight of the year for me.  I arrived just in time to catch Hiraeth, a great Black Metal band who originate from not too far away in Wrexham.  Taking the Black Metal template and weaving tales of ancient Welsh folklore and history, these sword wielding warriors bring a positive, inclusive vibe with their increasingly accomplished musicality.  A great band and a real high point to start with. 

Attic Theory 

Liverpool’s Attic Theory were up next on the main stage, and though they were new to me, they really made a good impression.  Full on, hard hitting alternative rock, Attic Theory ploughed through the room with a big riffs and anthemic vocals.  I love me some Grunge and these guys had the power and a magnetic groove.  Unfortunately they buggered off home before I could buy their delightful album on sexy vinyl! 

Battalions 

The band I was most excited to see at this year’s gathering was Battalions, who I’ve developed a bit of a fanboy adoration for.  They’re on APF Records so that’s a mark of quality right there.  Thankfully, Battalions’ monstrous, doomy, fuzzed out riffs were even more satisfying than their quite brilliant album ‘King of a Dead World’.  They warmed my ancient, jaded soul with a sludgy set that really was a Pentre Fest highlight. 

Miserable Sinner 

Outside, the cold drizzle made viewing the Keymo stage a bit of a challenge – never mind actually playing on it!  I did catch Geordie of Bad Earth performing his Miserable Sinner solo acoustic set in defiance of all the mighty Thor could unleash upon him, with AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie” being a particular favourite! 

Basement Torture Killings 

A brutal, Death Metal Grindcore band of lunatics who’ve watched too may serial killer documentaries, Basement Torture Killings certainly know how to entertain.  It was a case of “Netflix and kill”, as they tore through a visceral set and eviscerated a huge cuddly teddy bear.  Not my usual type of O Positive, but BTK served up a memorable, blood soaked show.  Time for bed.   

Day 2 

Firefly 

Running late as per usual, I actually wasn’t punished too badly this time as apparently Edd Case had declined his opening slot!  Instead I arrived just in time to see Firefly, who had only just started their set.  An amazing start to the festivities, Firefly brought their own brand of Industrial Goth Metal to give everyone a big wake up call.  Like a mix of Rammstein, NIN, Gary Numan and Sisters of Mercy with the smoky vocals of Marianne Faithful (like what Mare said), this was pretty damn unmissable.  Check ‘em out! 

Victim of Damp 

Opening proceedings on the outdoor stage was Victim of Damp, alias Pentre Fest die hard Frank Williams.  His amalgamation of gentle covers and humorous originals improves with confidence every time.  A free shot of the old alcohol helped warm us all up too! 

Losing Light 

This band sounded like an interesting premise, and indeed they were.  Four guys from fairly close by, they have plenty of experience but are a relatively new proposition as Losing Light.  Usually, their set would include a couple of covers, but these were dropped for this first Pentre appearance.  Very confident and excellent musicians, their own self written songs were more than capable – Losing Light gave us an electric performance.  Let’s hope they return soon. 

Oliver Carins 

Quick, no time to put your feet up – get out to the Keymo stage!  Oliver Carins, usually part of Scarfoot (who are a hell of a band anyway) gave us a superb acoustic set with fine vocals and masterful guitar skills.  Folky and warm, the songs still had that signature epic Scarfoot edge. 

The Raging Mabels 

Sadly, Any Given Reason were unable to play this afternoon, so the daring Raging Mabels parachuted in to save the day.  And boy did they rage!  A set of powerful yet tuneful rockers, the Mabels played an energetic non-stop set that rattled by like a rocket riding coyote chasing a roadrunner.  Equally at home playing for fans of Motorhead or the Ramones, it’s no secret that this pretend rock journo is a mega fanboy – the Mabels are pure joy!  And they (finally) brought some merch!!! 

Chain of Survival 

Theigns and Thrawls did a brilliant acoustic set oustide next, but more about them later.  Let’s skip forward a little to Chain of Survival.  Another Liverpool based band, this time we have a Hardocre Thrash Punk four piece who are utterly uncompromising.  If you ever played DRI or Sick of It All casettes from a boombox while skateboarding in a local supermarket carpark (as I still do) then you’ll love COS too.     

Fallen North 

These guys have played McLeans gigs before, but they showed up in full force – this was not a dress rehearsal!  Full on, no apologies modern metal with crunchy riffs and soaring vocals, Fallen North soon had the crowd won over.  They stepped down from the stage to join a fan on the dancefloor, still playing, and giving one of the most heartwarming moments of the weekend.  Well played all round. 

Kevin Plant (Cry For Mercy) 

Blues rock royalty Cry For Mercy weren’t playing this weekend, but vocalist/bass maestro Kev Plant braved the elements outside on the acoustic stage for a solo performance.  Great playing augmented with Kev’s trademark soulful, Paul Rogers like voice was an oasis of calm.  It takes some cojones to tackle Chris Cornell’s vocals, but Kev’s version of Audioslaves ‘I Am The Highway’ was respectful and stirring. 

Ogun 

The world needs more authentic Thrash Metal.  Thankfully Liverpool’s Ogun delivered a rousing set of the genuine article at Pentre Fest.  Not dated or old fashioned in anyway, just modern thrash in the spirit of Testament, Exodus and even Slayer.  Speed but without compromising on songcraft or melody, there’s plenty to enjoy in Ogun’s set.  Not their first time here and hopefully not their last either. 

Bad Earth 

OK, so I’ve seen Bad Earth before – but they’re always exciting.  And loud!  Playing their own, patented Rockcore (TM), this three piece always seem to be ready to decimate wherever they play.  It’s dirty biker rock dialled to eleven and kept up way past it’s bedtime, as Geordie, Karl and Ben assault their instruments like they’ve insulted their mothers.  Always a pleasure to be in the crowd for a Bad Earth gig! 

Edd Case 

Closing the Keymo stage outside, this wasn’t the first I’d seen of Edd this Fest.  He’d already played a blinder the day before, and this time gave us a very welcome rendition of ‘Mother’ (note to bands everywhere: play more Danzig) amongst some select covers.  Original material also got an airing, including the magnificent ‘Letters Back Home’, a moving and sadly still relevant masterpiece.  Edd, you truly are a poet. 

Theigns and Thralls 

Earlier in the day, I witnessed an eye opening and refreshing performance by Theigns and Thralls on the outside acoustic stage.  I always enjoy a trip into different genres at Pentre Fest and this folk set was a definite highlight.  In the evening, they plugged in fully to give us a real taste of Folk Metal, the energy of which had the audience jumping and dancing around.  Glorious fun for all!   

Fury 

This year’s esteemed headline act, there was a fair buzz around the venue for Fury’s set.  And to be fair, they were worth waiting for.  Specialising in the unrecycled, sheer joy of Heavy Metal in all its Iron Maiden/Judas Priest glory, these guys were undoubtedly on top form.  The dual female/male lead vocals of Nyah and Julian help the band transcend any Hard Rock cliches with an outstanding, individual sound.  Fury are undoubtedly excellent musicians, and have the performance and songcraft to back up their reputation.  I can’t really think of a bone to pick with them.  Other than if they don’t make a return visit one day, we’ll all be very upset. 

And that’s it: the end of another Pentre Fest.  A wonderful weekend of fine music and great company, I’m already counting down to next year.  I’ve definitely got post Pentre Fest blues.  

Read the full report on the Ever Metal website.

Check out the Pentre Fest Facebook page and North East Wales Metal Productions page too.

Jonathan Hultén – Album Review

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Jonathan Hultén – Eyes of the Living Night 

Kscope Records 

Release date: 31st January 2025 

Running time: 43 mins approx 

Review by: Alun Jones 

9/10 

WARNING: This is NOT a Heavy Metal album.  If you’re the type of listener that only wants to hear the loudest of pummelling riffs and ear slashing vocal roars, this may not be for you.  And that’s fine.  We all like to rage like Satan with a stubbed toe.  This is Ever METAL, after all.  If, on the other hand, you’re the kind of discerning listener who likes to temper the ferocity with atmosphere and introspection, take a seat. 

Jonathan Hultén is a Swedish singer-songwriter who first arrived on my radar as the support act for The Cult on their 84/24 tour last year.  Hultén was not what I anticipated at all for a major rock show: his music, performed solo, is a dark yet beautiful expression of acoustic, gothic melody and ethereal charm.   

This second album, “Eyes of the Living Night”, takes the listener on another fairy tale like walk in enchanted woods.  Beginning with ‘The Saga and the Storm’, the music is more soundtrack for a folk horror movie than a typical rock album.  This opening track is like a lost Morricone classic and builds to a gloriously uplifting finale.  Just wait for that mid song moment when your neck hairs will raise to the sky. 

First single ‘Afterlife’ features swirling keyboards and angelic vocals, while ‘Riverflame’ has the plaintive ambience of a Nine Inch Nails/Alice in Chains mash up.  The dreamy folk of ‘The Dream was the Cure’ offers a widescreen Scandinavian epic of reflection, and is a highlight of the album.  Weaving genres further, ‘Through the Fog, Into the Sky’ is a wonderful classical piano piece whilst ‘Vast Tapestry’ sees Hultén n the role of gentle folk troubadour. 

The concluding track, ‘Starbather’, works more like a rock ballad and bookends the album with a final flourish of bright optimism.   

“Eyes of the Living Night” won’t destroy your speakers, but it will take you to a mystical and unforgettable place.  With its layers of gothic ambience and mood elevating nuance, this album deserves to be a part of the Ever Metal community’s world.  The music of Jonathan Hultén will be there for you when you need to reach inside yourself, to heal and unwind.  Or to transport your mind to another world.  I genuinely love this album and heartily recommend it, I hope you’ll give it a chance. 

Find out more about Jonathan Hultén on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube and Bandcamp.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Pentre Fest 2024

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Pentre Fest 2024

McLean’s Pub, Pentre, Deeside

Friday 23rd & Saturday 24th February 2024

Pentre Fest is a big deal to me.  And I’ll bet it means a lot to plenty of other people too, who are just as keen to enjoy this festival of underground – but not unloved – metal bands.  I look forward to this event every year.  I mean, after the Christmas festivities, how else are you gonna survive the misery of January? 

Yours truly was the lone representative for Ever Metal at Pentre this year, so all the reviews were my responsibility.  I tried to see as many acts as I could, but it wasn’t always possible.  And so I can cover as much ground as poss, the summaries will be short and sweet this year.  But trust me, I’ll keep you on the straight and narrow.

The festival began on Friday evening, Edd Case and his acoustic set on the new outdoor Keymo stage being my introduction.  It’s a proper stage this year, with steps and everything.  Edd played a great set of acoustic tracks, including some Maiden, Neil Young (nice Soundgarden segue/tribute) and plenty more.  Most impressive.

Heading inside, Omega Throne was on next.  Their set was an exciting blend of Death/Black Metal, with some intriguingly dark, gothic elements peppered through the songs.  A great set that combined power and fury with a little mystique. 

That was followed by the lunatic genius of Mad Spanner.  Now a one-man band of crazed thrash metal with a backing track, Mike aka Mad Spanner offers brilliant musicianship, wry humour and furious energy.  I’m still recovering from this set, God know how he does it.

Back inside and Bloodmores were up next.  This was a great set of pounding, heavy Thrash/Death metal, excellently played and with a surprising amount of foot stomping groove.

Tonight’s original headliners, I Saw The World Burn, were sadly unable to play.  We sincerely hope all is well in that camp.  At the final hour, however, Cadence Noir were able to fill the headline spot with their gothic tinged folk punk’n’roll.  Cadence can always be counted on to get everyone jumping and jigging around, and they did a fine job of finishing Day the First of Pentre Fest.  

Saturday’s wake-up call was DAM.G, alias Rob from Thrashatouille’s “grown up band” (not my observation, but one overheard on the day!).  A melting pot of progressive metal with Rob’s growl augmented by phenomenal female co-lead vocals, it was certainly a powerful and memorable set.

Outside was a pleasant surprise: the disco funk of Mrs Gizlo.  Who’d have expected that?  Not me, but it was great fun to hear something different and it certainly got the crowd moving. 

In Which It Burns took to the indoor stage next, and gave as a relentless set of thrash metal.  It was only mid-afternoon and these Pembrokeshire ragers delivered the goods with super-fast, aggressive tracks.  Nice work.

Liverpool’s Ogun were on the main stage next, with some meaty thrash metal of their own.  Fast and brutal, I really enjoyed these guys and their total take-no-prisoners approach.  Wish I’d bought a t-shirt. 

It was freezing outside, so deep apologies from me to the various artists I missed outside, whilst huddled inside with a pint.  North Wales Deathcore deviants Dystopian Sun kept the fires burning with some intense yet bouncy metal that roared by like a Sasquatch driving a stolen pick-up truck.

Rule of Six had an early start on Saturday morning.  Whilst most of us were still hiding from encroaching hangovers, these lads set off at 4am to get from Northern Ireland to North East Wales for this gig.  I’ve never seen so many guitars on stage (four plus a bass!) but all Rule of Six’s instruments were well employed, with their melodic metal proving an uplifting and thrilling experience.  Maiden comparisons are a bit obvious, but apt.  Great show and nice contrast to much of the bands so far.

From one band who crowded out the main stage, to another band who spent little time on it: Broken Jaw refused to be restrained and preferred to wander around the room!  Their blend of punk energy and attitude with metal riffery made sure no-one in the audience was allowed to put their feet up.

Afterward, I dared to make a rare venture outside to witness Skinflick, who I’d heard very good things about.  This two-piece outfit gave us some filthy Industrial EDM dripping with sleazy beats – another very cool divergence from the expected.

Beyond Salvation made their way to Pentre from Manchester, and pretty much laid waste to all with a blistering set of thrash metal.  The band were both brutal and energetic, with superb playing, that kept the gig going on full steam.  There was no chance for the audience to flag here!

I’m actually gutted that I missed SOOTO out on the Keymo Stage.  Blame the cold, blame the drink, blame me for being useless: I should’ve been there, sorry.  Can we get SOOTO back please?  I promise I’ll pay attention this time.

Every year at Pentre Fest, there’s at least one band that I go full-on Fan Boy for.  This year’s recipients of the accolade were the amazing Struck/Down, who played huge sounding groove metal riffs that immediately had me hooked like a fish.  For me, Struck/Down were the best band of the weekend by a distance.  T-shirt purchase?  Tick.  CD purchase?  Tick.

Finally, our last band of a fantastic event were Extreme Metal leviathans Krysthla.  The foot was down on the pedal as Krysthla hurtled us through the last set of the weekend with a rapid fire, unrelenting batch of songs.

And that was it, Pentre Fest was over for another year.  I’ve been downhearted ever since, missing the camaraderie and fell-good vibes of the event – not to mention the out of this world music.  Thanks and huge respect to Fozzy and Beany, North East Wales Metal Productions, McClean’s, and all the bands and crew who made this happen.

I wish it could be Pentre Fest every day.    

Catch up with news at the following pages: N.E.W. Metal Productions, Goodfor Audio, McLeans Pentre.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.   

Platinum Al’s Top 10 Rock & Metal Albums of 2023

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Just as per last year, I compiled my Top 10 Rock & Metal albums for Ever Metal, which was published on the site. Now you lucky devils over here at the Virtual Hot Tub get to take a look too!

Absolutely ridiculous, that’s what it’s been like trying to pick just 10 albums to make my “Best of the Year” list.  There’s been a ton of great music in 2023.  Here’s my attempt to pick out my favourites:

10. The Sound of Origin – Man in the Arena

Sludgy, Grungy, Stoner Metal from Huddersfield, this album features Trouble’s Kyle Thomas on a couple of tracks adding even more class to a solid record.

9. Church of Misery – Born Under a Mad Sign

Gruesome Doom from the Japanese masters of Sabbathian serial murderer Metal.  Killer!

8. Torso – A Crash Course in Terror

John Carpenter synths meet chainsaw guitars in this brutal, 80’s horror inspired monster of an album from Torso.  Short but evil.

7. The Lords of Altamont – To Hell with Tomorrow, The Lords are now!

Psyche Biker Rock with skronky keyboards and attitude, The Lords of Altamont deliver a slab of Garage Punk’n’Roll to keep the party going.  YEAH!!!

6. Tankzilla – Tankzilla

Debut album from this dynamic duo, a righteous cacophony of pounding, groovy riffs that’ll make your body move like a serpent. 

5. King Kraken – MCLXXX

These guys blew me away when I saw them live back in February.  Their album is also a work of Groove Metal wonder.

4. Kvelertak – Endling

Norwegian Punk Metal with a Classic Rock sheen?  Yes please!  More joyous tunes from Kvelertak is nothing short of a true gift.

3. Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain

Folk Metal, flute infused Occult Rock that sounds both ancient and modern at the same time, we waited a long time but this album will cast a spell on you.

2. Green Lung – This Heathen Land

I was one of many waiting anxiously for the third Green Lung album, and it didn’t disappoint.  Exquisite Occult Rock that’s doomy and hook filled, Green Lung have exploded with this record.

And number one is…

1. Desert Storm – Death Rattle

Three years ago, Desert Storm were number 2 in my 2020 Top 10, after a little band called AC/DC.  This year they deservedly take the top spot, with a massive album that I’m still enjoying months later, up against some stiff competition.   

Plus some honourable mentions:

Baroness, who’s latest album “Stone” probably would’ve made the top 10 if I’d listened to it sooner.

The Damned – their “Darkedelic” album may not be for all of Ever Metal’s audience, but it’s bloody great all the same.

Metallica – that “72 Seasons” thing was good but too long.  Nice try.

Keep coming back to Ever Metal and Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub for all the best rock reviews!