Candelabrum Metal Fest 2026 @ Velaria de la Feria
Velaria de la Feria, Blvd. Adolfo López Mateos 1820 OTE, 37000 León Directions
Sat 12.09.2026 00:00
Candelabrum Metal Fest 2026 at Velaria de la Feria at 2026-09-12
Performers
-
Bloodbath
Death is fucking everywhere. It’s time for another deep dive into the horrors of mortality and the foul side of the supernatural. It’s time for Survival Of The Sickest, the sixth full-length album from Bloodbath, Sweden’s undisputed masters of old school death metal.
Bloodbath began life as a humble tribute. Formed by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (both of Katatonia), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity) in 1998, they devoted themselves to resurrecting the increasingly forgotten art of pure death metal. Inspired by the greats and grotesques of the Swedish and Florida scenes, Bloodbath pooled their talents and discovered that they were more than equal to the achievements of the genre’s revered ancient gods. Kicking off with the release of four-track EP Breeding Death at the turn of the century, the Swedes have since evolved and mutated multiple times, releasing a succession of peerless, face-ripping death metal masterpieces along the way. Whether fronted by Åkerfeldt (on seminal debut Resurrection Through Carnage and merciless third album The Fathomless Mastery), or by Hypocrisy’s Peter Tägtgren (on 2004’s crushing Nightmares Made Flesh), Bloodbath steadily became a revered benchmark for deathly, old school evangelism.
In 2014, Bloodbath unveiled a new frontman – legendary Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes, now redubbed Old Nick – and yet another macabre musical evolution. With a line-up of Renkse, Nyström, Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson, Martin ‘Axe’ Axenrot and Holmes, the only way to go was grim. Darker and nastier than any previous record, Grand Morbid Funeral was widely hailed as a masterpiece, and a new era had begun. Three years later, the maliciously blackened death tirade of The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn took Bloodbath even deeper into blasphemous, bloodstained depths, adding yet another gleaming gem to one of death metal’s most impressive catalogues.
Fast forward to 2022 and the world is in flames. Survival Of The Sickest offers no respite from the horrors of reality. Instead, with the addition of new guitarist Tomas ‘Plytet’ Åkvik (Lik) onboard, Bloodbath’s latest and greatest album gleefully confronts the slavering ghoul lurking in the shadows, and treats him to ten songs of ripping death metal frenzy. From the thuggish brain-smash of opener Zombie Inferno, to the bleak, obsidian ooze of the closing No God Before Me, Survival Of The Sickest is the sound of a great band on blistering form.
“We started writing during the second half of lockdown. It was all quite easy going, just file sharing and all the usual stuff you luckily can do when being thousands of miles apart,” says Nick Holmes. “I usually write all of my stuff with Anders, and Jonas writes all his own tunes. Our new guitar player Tomas, has written a couple of songs on there too. We had plenty of time to work on everything. Lockdown did us a favour!”
In contrast with The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn, which borrowed heavily from the blackened end of the death metal world, the new Bloodbath goes straight for the jugular in true old school fashion. With strong echoes of everything from Morbid Angel and Death through to Deicide and Obituary, songs like the rampaging Putrefying Corpse, the disgustingly slow and heavy Dead Parade, and the deliciously twisted Tales Of Melting Flesh breathe fresh fire into an arcane, perpetually rotting formula.
“I guess we were going back for more of the Florida sound and style this time,” Holmes agrees. “We also decided to drop the make-up for this new chapter. It was fun at first, but it had run its course, so we’ve jettisoned all of that now. All aspects considered, this album is probably closest to Nightmares Made Flesh, that same sort of vibe. I honestly think it’s the best album I’ve done with Bloodbath. You tend to say that with new records, but I absolutely love this one. It’s super heavy!”
Alongside Bloodbath’s official alumni, Survival Of The Sickest boasts a smattering of irresistible cameos from the great, good and ghoulish of the metal underground.
“We’ve got some great guests on there, too. Barney from Napalm Death is on one song, and we got Marc from Morgoth as well as Luc from Gorguts on a few others. We got people to sing certain parts, just to add a different texture. Barney’s bit really suits his voice and his style. I think you can tell we had a lot of fun writing this one. It’s super heavy and in your face, so hopefully it’ll do the trick.”
In terms of subject matter, Bloodbath have always stared death in the face. On Survival Of The Sickest they evoke their most horrifying sonic scenarios to date, from the death-by-munching nightmare of Malignant Maggot Therapy, to the murderous nihilism of Affliction Of Extinction. Revelling in bloodstained darkness has always been the Bloodbath way, but this time they really sound like they are having fun.
“This album is predominantly about zombies, really!,” laughs Holmes. “I’d say the songs are a little more thoughtful on this one. We tackle some environmental stuff as well as the usual gore, but it’s all die-hard horror, and I love having fun with that. The titles say it all, you know? The artwork is pretty gory too, so it all does what it says on the tin.”
A glorious comeback from a legendarily wicked musical force, Survival Of The Sickest provides yet more proof that Bloodbath are the kings of the old school. This is death metal at its ugly best: vicious, unrelenting and irrevocably sworn to the black. Time for another Bloodbath!
-
The Haunted
The Haunted are a thrash metal influenced swedish death metal band forming in 1996 after the demise of the legendary melodic death metal band At the Gates. The main musicians of At The Gates (namely the Björler Brothers) wanted to take a more Thrash approach to their music. So far they've released 6 albums (5 studio, 1 live). Their self-titled debut album was released in 1998 on Earache Records after The Haunted inherited At The Gates contract. Their latest album The Dead Eye was released in 2006. The Haunted consists of 5 members, with Peter Dolving back as the lead vocalist since Revolver (2004). Dolving sang on the first album, and Marco Aro performed on the ones inbetween. Currently, the band is touring the new album The Dead Eye.
-
DestructionFaster - Harder - Tighter --> THRASH!!!
One of the founders of THRASH METAL and part of the German Big 4, is still going strong - do not miss them LIVE! -
Lifelover
Cited as one of the driving forces behind the ultra-bleak, black metal subgenre depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM), Sweden's Lifelover was formed in 2005 in Stockholm by Jonas Bergqvist and Kim Carlsson. Bergqvist chose the deliberately ironic name Lifelover after being having the phrase hurled at him by an acquaintance he particularly loathed. Combining elements of post-punk, goth rock, dark ambient, and doom metal, Lifelover issued their debut album, Pulver, via Goatowarex in 2006, followed by Erotik (2007), Konkurs (2008), and Sjukdom (2011), the latter of which proved to be the band's last studio album as a result of the accidental overdose death of guitarist/co-founder Bergqvist. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi
-
MisþyrmingPerforming at the festival.
-
LIK
In the dirt where fallen idols lay to rest, the maggots and seeds in 2014 spawned a new creation. This took the ugly form of Lik, which fittingly means corpse in Swedish. An un-dead creation which offers a plate of savory old school death metal. Walking the earth for three cold winters, and with the first offer named Mass Funeral Evocation in October 2015, it'll have a sister released in early May 2018 through iconic Metal Blade Records. This time things where stepped up a notch as the recording took place in the famous Dugout studios in Uppsala where Daniel Bergstrand also added some spice to the infernal stew. In the land where the craft is polished to resemble something else than brute reality, Lik has no passage as this entity is devoted to make a permanent mark in those who lay down their souls to rock'n'roll. That's why the recipe will always, and has always been, to record as much live as possible. Keeping editing to a minimum offers a "what your hear is what you get" experience. That's why it feels like you're on the spot at a live gig, rather than a calm studio environment when you spin the disc. The new offering from the Stockholm group delivers more of what you got on the debut. It's an effort where you can expect everything from slow and bone crushing songs to fast and furious riffs.
-
Mournful Congregation
Macrocosmic Doom for Microcosmic Beings
-
...and Oceans
Label contact:
sebastien.gamez@season-of-mist.com
Booking:
marita@redback-promotion.com
eero@rockhopper.fi
-
GehennahGEHENNAH! booking:. alan@dragon-productions.com
Band contact: gehennah@hotmail.se
-
Ved Buens EndeVed Buens Ende was a Norwegian avant-garde metal band. Their sound is diverse with quiet instrumental jazz influenced sections and aggressive black metal blast beats and vocals. Ved Buens Ende means "At the end of the bow" referring to the mythological rainbow Bifröst.
Ved Buens Ende was formed in Oslo in 1994 by the drummer Carl-Michael Eide. They were signed to the British label Misanthropy Records. The band was unique by their mixture of many musical elements and Eide's crooning.
The band split up in 1997, after releasing only one full-length album Written in Waters.
On April 26, 2006, Blabbermouth.net announced that Ved Buens Ende has reformed, and are working on new material.
Along with Vicotnik and Carl-Michael Eide, who now plays guitar instead of drums, there are two new members; Petter "Plenum" Berntsen on bass and Einar "Esso" Sjursø on drums. They are also members of Carl-Michael Eide's band "Virus". Many fans of the band were surprised by the absence of Hugh Mingay (aka Skoll), whose place was taken by Petter Berntsen.
The band's drummer, Einar Sjursø, had this to say about the band on blabbermouth.net.: "We will record a new album this year, to be released in 2007 by an as-yet-undetermined label (interested parties get in touch) and we also aim at playing live, where we will perform material both from 'Written In Waters' and the [post-VED BUENS ENDE project] VIRUS 'Carheart' album plus of course new compositions. The new material is being developed at the moment and will differ from both 'Written In Waters' and 'Carheart' yet still retain the trademark off the wall guitar sounds of those releases."
The band broke up again in early 2007.
Discography
* Those Who Caress the Pale (Demo) - 1994
* Written in Waters (demo) - 1995
* Written in Waters (Full length) - 1995
* Those Who Caress the Pale (EP) - 1997
Line-up
* Vicotnik (Yusaf Parvez) - Guitars, Vocals (Dødheimsgard, Code)
* Carl-Michael Eide - Guitars, Vocals (before reunion, Drums) (Cadaver, Dødheimsgard, Satyricon, Ulver, Infernö, Aura Noir and Virus)
* Petter "Plenum" Berntsen - Bass (Virus, Audiopain)
* Einar "Esso" Sjursø - Drums (Beyond Dawn, Lamented Souls, Infernö)
Former members
* Skoll (Hugh Steven James Mingay) - Bass (Arcturus, Ulver)
Session musicians
* Lill Katherine Stensrud - additional vocals on "Written in Waters"
* Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs - Vocals (on the tour and on ...Coiled in Obscurity) -
Spiritus MortisDoom metal from the Ultima Thule since 1987
