Blood Moon Ritual, Montreal’s anti-fascist black metal festival, returns for a second edition on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November. It grows to two days and a larger venue this year, after the 2025 debut sold out a 200-capacity room before the doors opened.
This edition brings the festival’s first international acts, Skvm and Wyrmoon, both from Portland, Maine, along with Dismal Aura from Ottawa and PissChalice from Winnipeg. Local support comes from Ressac, The Listener, Kathexis and Dragg. Dungeon synth artist Marcheur de Nuit opens the music on both nights, and pagan techno act Ritual Dust closes Friday with a dance party.
Each day starts at 4 PM with a vendors’ market of local artisans, tattoo artists and activist groups, plus free food while it lasts.
The organizers set the festival up in response to far-right ideology inside black metal. In their statement, they point to the National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) movement, which they say has a presence in Canada and in Quebec specifically, and cite Canadian Anti-Hate Network reporting that a handful of Quebec labels sell NSBM records. They also say extreme metal festivals have repeatedly booked bands with close ties to fascists, and that when the concern is raised, organizers tend to answer that their festival is not political.
“We love black metal, for its dark aesthetic, frigid sound and defiant attitude,” the organizers write. “At a time when fascism is on the rise globally, turning a blind eye will only enable it.”
Their answer was a DIY festival that puts anti-fascism and anti-racism first and books bands who share those values. The first edition, they say, showed “there is a demand for something new in our scene.” They hope to keep expanding, bring in bigger acts and encourage new musicians to form bands of their own.
Tickets for Blood Moon Ritual II are on sale through Zeffy.
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