Live Review: Kill-Town Death Fest – Thursday
3rd September 2026
Words: Sam Jones
Following a genuine multitude of drinks in the Pumphuset’s grounds the first band of the festival, Morbific, were off to a roaring start as tone and creating weight fired to create something far from he planes of conventional mortality. Finnish death metal assails all present for six in the evening may be piddling by many’s standards but they won’t stop the myriads of hungry death metal fanatics from eating it all up.
My next act were Father Befouled whose act I joined halfway through following the consumption of much needed food round the corner, finding the band going from strength to strength with a packed crowd one must carefully traverse if a solid spot towards the front is to be secured. Honouring their late drummer, Father Befouled launched into the last song they all wrote together before their said drummer’s tragic passing and met with a forest of horns and a number of respectful cries from the audience.
We moved downstairs double time to get ready for Phenocryst, the Portuguese death metal act whom I was especially excited to see following the release of their Cremation Pyre record. As things began we were hit by a wall of bass and riffs heavy enough to reawaken dormant volcanoes; it’s heartening to see this middle stage so packed already on the first day and were able to get right to the front for Phenocryst as they launch into one track after another with zero decline in intensity nor passion. They were one of my most anticipated acts and they absolutely did not disappoint.
Returning once more upstairs we prepared for Purtenance, one of Finland’s greatest old school death metals and one I haven’t seen since 2020’s Finnfest back in London. Crowds don’t really need to congregate for bands until the last minutes prior to their coming on so it gives you room to breathe, catch up with friends, share (a multitude of) beers. Once Purtenance began it wasn’t long until the first real pit I’d seen at this year’s edition break out, that telltale rearrangement of a crowd’s shape as bodies and limbs begin to move and people throw themselves at each other. Given I saw Father Befouled, Phenocryst and Purtenance one after the other I was ready for some fresh air.
After additional beers, fresh air, some spur-of-the-moment merch buying, we were soon back inside and upstairs for Funebrarum. Their first European show since 2019, their first studio album in seventeen years, the hype was real for these guys as they came unto the stage awash with clashing cerulean and crimson hues. Right from the word go, the energy Funebrarum delivered was incredible, their frontman providing passion in droves, every musician throwing their heads back and forth with riffs grand enough to reshape continents. Pits break out, the first crowd surfers I’ve seen at this year’s festival are there; it’s a real celebration of Funebrarum’s return to the stage. I wanted to see Warp Chamber but given it was pushing one in the morning even prior to leaving the venue I decided to call it an night… there are still three whole days yet to go.
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