Beyond the Gates 2026
This is my first time attending the festival and I was super excited! SAS airlines decided to make this trip quite an experience (spoiler: not in a good way). The plane had technical issues and by the time we could fly I already lost my connection to get to Bergen, so had to stay the night in Copenhagen instead.
Then we got a mail with new flights and yet another bummer. By the time I would be off the plane and arrive my excursion to go see Fantoft would already have left. Replied to a message the festival posted about things to do today and believe it or not, they were so kind to reach out and help me out! Very grateful for that!!! That is why metal festivals are the BEST! A little shout out to the social media team of the festival who saw my message and helped me out. I find Scandinavian festivals to be super kind & helpful. Hopefully I didn’t ruin any image here about black metal people 😉
Wednesday, July 29th
First day is in USF venue, a little 15 min walk from Grieghallen. Near the water such a beautiful place to hang out if it is not raining, but we are in Bergen so 99% chance I would say it DOES rain!
I hadn’t been to this place in over 10 years! So, I didn’t know there was a second stage in the building next door. It’s just one they built, not a fixed one like in USF itself.
We start with the first band, Castle Rat, not really my vibe of music, but pretty cool show! And I’m sure men stay for the female singer and the occasionally appearing “rat women”. No clue how I should call her? But I did like the show so hanged a bit around for that.
The second band of the evening is Imha Tarikat, now this is my way of starting a festival, my kind of music and so much power!
Rotting Christ is always a joy to see, just saw them a few weeks ago, but this time they are doing a special set and I just loved it! Especially when they play your favorite song.
Spectral Wound is the second time I see them. They impressed me last time and they certainly lived up to it now also!
After all the misery of getting here I was getting really tired but Testament their intro by the Beastie Boys “fight for your right” gave me a nice wakeup call and many people were singing along!
There was a strong energy on stage. But as this kind of band isn’t really my thing, I decided to go meet some friends I hadn’t in a long time, some even a decade!
Emo message: see / talk / hang out with your friends while you can, you never know it might be the last time you see them.
And now for the last band of the evening, Sventevith aka Nergal (Behemoth) with Misthyrming, wow, this band blew me away! How good was this?!
I hope we will get more of it in the future!!!
Thursday, July 3Ost
There are bands playing during the day also, but I decided to go for a little walk by Bryggen (harbour area), this place is too beautiful not to explore and last time was middle of winter, so didn’t walk far then.
Back to USF (last day here), before hitting the first band, I pass by the official merch to deliver a special gift to Diana (Sunve merchandising), she and her team are working hard to make sure everyone gets their favorite merch! So special shout out to them! Never take merch people for granted! It’s more then just selling it.
First band The Ruins of Beverast, I have no clue why but I never really got into them, quite some people around, yet, not as many as yesterday this time.
The second band on the other hand is Fortresse, wow! What an amazing band. Looking forward to hear / see more of this!
It had been a while since I saw 1349, but glad the time was come, always enjoy seeing them. Sadly, Frost had other obligations, but Emil who stepped in, did an amazing job as well! I remember him from the days when he used to play in another band.
Warning is probably the band the furthest from my taste. So it is really difficult to have an opinion about them, but they certainly had a very solid crowd who did enjoy them. Some people were waiting there for a long time to be in the front row.
Same counts for the next band, Electric Wizard. Many people were adoring every single song of it though.
And then, the last band of the evening, Beherit, to be honest I thought / feared after Electric Wizard a lot of people would leave. But quite the opposite! The place was so crowded for this band that people had to wait in line to get in!!! And they were good. Barely saw them on the stage but really enjoyed the part that I saw. Also, this was the very first time seeing them, kind of rare thing for me for a band who has been around that long.
Friday, July 31st
I start the day by going on a black metal excursion to Fantoft with Finn Rødland, who will be our guide, organized by the festival. Everyone knows the 90’s was known for church burning in Norway. But this one is known to be burned by Varg (Burzum), he never admitted it, but the fact the cover album from “Aske” is what is left from the original Fantoft says enough. Very interesting excursion and you have to see that little (at least from the inside) “stavkirke” at least once!
Today we switch venues, and damn did this one impress me!! The first moment I entered it felt like one big maze. The form on the outside, kind of triangle, I was curious to see the inside. And I was quite impressed! For those who wanted to be seated, space enough! And for the die-hards, no worries you can stand at the barrier.
First band was Misotheist, I had seen them before so I was not surprised how good they were! Do check out this band, if you have the true black metal spirit, you will like them!
Same counts for the next band, Whoredom Rife, I can say this is a band I will never get bored of seeing live. I think the interaction by the singer with the audience even makes it more intense.
And then, the band I waited for, it is only the 7th time seeing them this year, Marduk!
Even though the drummer is almost invisible on stage, you can hear him very well.
The playlist I almost know by heart by now, so the only surprise was to see them using the blood again during “Throne of rats”. I hope the continue doing that!!
The last band if the evening, Blood Incantation. I heard of the name, but never the music. I always leave it to the element of “surprise”, not to be pre-judged.
But yeah, I expected something total differently. I did enjoy the light show, quite cool!
Decided to go check out the other levels and there were some people painting there, watched it from a bit away but it looked pretty impressive!!!
For the after party, I can only say: what happens in Bergen, stays in Bergen 😉
Saturday, August 1st
Sadly, I missed out on Angell playing “Beyoung the Gates”, young musicians getting a chance in the metal scene!
My day begins with, (how did it go so fast?) Gaahls Wyrd. When I heard the first song, I was kind of in doubt, but from the second song on, I felt the music.
And Gaahl does have a special stage presence that you feel.
The next band has been a while since I saw them. Even though I saw 3 of the members already live with another band. It’s always nice to see Arcturus live! But the biggest surprise came when they were joined on stage by one of the organizers of the festival! She sang a part along.
Next band up is Alcest, even though I’m not really into their music, it isn’t a band that I will skip either. Always delivering!
And last band of the evening and of the 2026 event, the one and only Emperor! Even writing this the intro of Anthems to the welkin at dusk (Alsvartr (The Oath)) pops automatically up in my head. By a nice introduction of their manager who also says a word of thank you, the show begins! After a while the band is joined by Mortiis & Faust, to be honest, THE moment I have been waiting for!!! Maybe I saw it back in the 90’s? But my memory doesn’t go that far anymore I’m afraid.
What a nice ending of this festival!
But I don’t want to end this without mentioning a big shout out to the photo pit security who was kind, the professional security and the volunteers working there who were all super nice! Thank you from the bottom of my black heart!
I shall return for sure!!!
Review and photos by Eve Ov Beer Photo