De Profundis, Cnoc An Tursa, and Owlcrusher Kick Off Hordes X 2026 Lineup
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Hordes X fest has just announced the first batch of bands appearing at its sixteenth edition!!!
Taking place across the stages of Hidden and Music Hall Dundee, the oldest metal fest is Scotland, Hordes X, is back for another year. The 2026 edition of the event takes place this September 18th – 19th, featuring a feast of extreme and old school metal, with some curveballs and outliers on the cards. Always offering up an adventure of heavy music discovery, the first of these acts have just gone public…
DE PROFUNDIS
London based, progressive death metal unit, De Profundis, are coming to claim the top spot at this year’s Hordes X.
Late last year, they kicked off their 20th anniversary celebrations with the launching of their new EP, The Gospel Of Rot. The fierce four track was described by the band as “both a warning and a weapon – a sonic rebellion against the forces that seek to silence and subjugate.” Meanwhile, Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life said “You’ll feel it in the pit of your soul,” Musipedia Of Metal stated “De Profundis want you to wake up, stop being forced fed crap and do something,” and The Razor’s Edge called it “Caustic battering rams of old-school death and the most brutal territories of thrash.“
On stage, the band have walked the boards alongside the likes of Sigh, Anaal Nathrakh, Terrorizer, Vltimas, and more. De Profundis previously headlined the second stage at Hordes in 2013 and 2016. They now return, ten years later, to wrap up two death dealing decades, with a 2026 Scottish exclusive appearance!
The band say: “It’s been a decade since we last played Hordes. 4 releases later, we’re back and spreading the Gospel of Rot further north than ever before, this time for a headliner set at an exclusive Scottish show for 2026. We have prepared a set from the depths of our career, bringing to the stage some of our some of our old favourites over 20 years of extremity. See you at Hordes!”
Buy/stream The Gospel Of Rot here: https://deprofundis.bandcamp.com/album/the-gospel-of-rot-ep
De Profundis, Cnoc An Tursa, and Owlcrusher Kick Off Hordes X 2026 Lineup
CNOC AN TURSA
Scottish black/folk metal legends, Cnoc An Tursa are making their Dundee debut at Hordes X 2026, part of their return to action after almost a decade.
Since their second album, The Forty Five, in 2017 – hailed by Metal Hammer as “A ferocious, thunderously heavy fusion of Celtic rock and black metal” – they have been dormant. This year, they relight the signal fires with A Cry For The Slain, on the Apocalyptic Witchcraft record label. They share “With this new album we feel like we are going back to our roots with a more guitar driven style and bringing back some of the folk elements musically and lyrically which was the original inspiration for the band.“
Moshville Times described the album as “A passionate, powerful and at times grandiose body of work that contributes hugely to the burgeoning Scottish metal scene.” Angry Metal Guy said it “Takes earlier victories and forges them together into Cnoc An Tursa’s best album to date.“
Buy/stream A Cry For The Slain here: https://apocalypticwitchcraft.bandcamp.com/album/a-cry-for-the-slain
De Profundis, Cnoc An Tursa, and Owlcrusher Kick Off Hordes X 2026 Lineup
OWLCRUSHER
Hailing from Northern Ireland, 3 piece, Owlcrusher, are serving up blackened doom/sludge metal at Hordes X 2026, for their Scottish debut.
The trio state: “As wheels slowly turn on our much delayed second album, Owlcrusher return to live performance, after a prolonged absence, for our first ever Scottish shows. Expect gut-rupturing low end, subterranean vocal utterances, and an overwhelming sense of disquiet and unease…“
Previously known as Dwell In Sun, a change in lineup in 2014 heralded a relaunch under the new name. A series of intense, darkly transcendent live performances culminated in the recording and release of 2017s self-titled album, on US based label Seeing Red Records. It was critically lauded right across the board, hailed as one of the most essential underground doom albums of that year, and attracted fans from across the globe. Having taken time away with other projects and family commitments, the band has now reconvened and are in the process of crafting their long-awaited second album, which is due to be unleashed in 2026.
Described as “Aggressive, mournful and funereal” (Overdrive), “Slicing slabs of black-singed sludge extremity” (The Obelisk), “Beyond doom – creating spaces so vast you can feel palpable dread in every riff” (The Sludgelord), and lauded by Kim Kelly, This lot are a win for fans of bands such as Thou and Burning Witch.
But/stream Owlcrusher here: https://owlcrusher.bandcamp.com/album/owlcrusher
De Profundis, Cnoc An Tursa, and Owlcrusher Kick Off Hordes X 2026 Lineup
More bands will be announced soon…
GET TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventim-light.com/uk/a/64e4bd9fe21f656bd75a0c93/e/69ef7d2904285c8ef6d9dbcb
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De Profundis, Cnoc An Tursa, and Owlcrusher Kick Off Hordes X 2026 Lineup
