Piranha Pit Fest III is returning to Montreal on May 1 and 2, 2026, with Macabre, Gorgasm, Kings of Thrash, and Atrophy headlining two nights split between death metal and thrash at Piranha Bar, 680 Ste-Catherine Ouest. Presented by Dungeonworks Productions, the third edition of the festival is its largest yet, pulling in acts from across North America alongside a strong contingent of local and Canadian bands.
Friday night is death metal: Macabre and Gorgasm co-headline, with Pessimist, Lividity, Deceased, Disgust, Double Cross, and Cystic Embalmment filling out the bill. Macabre, the Chicago trio active since 1985, have maintained the same lineup for four decades and built their catalog around true-crime subject matter delivered through a grinding fusion of death metal, thrash, and darkly comedic melody. Gorgasm, also from Chicago, have been a fixture in American brutal death metal since the mid-90s, known for technical precision and relentless intensity.
Pessimist are worth flagging specifically: the Baltimore band, rooted in the early-90s death metal underground, are reportedly close to releasing Keys to the Underworld, their first full-length in over two decades. Their Pit Fest set will be one of the few chances to hear that material live before the record lands.
Saturday shifts to thrash and heavy metal. Kings of Thrash, featuring former Megadeth members David Ellefson and Jeff Young, co-headline alongside Atrophy, whose two Roadrunner Records albums, Socialized Hate and Violent by Nature, are still referenced as touchstones of late-80s American thrash. DBC (Dead Brain Cells), the Montreal band whose 1987 debut and 1989 follow-up Universe put Quebec on the thrash map, round out the top of the Saturday bill. Also on Saturday: Meliah Rage, Warmachine, Entropy, Deadwolff, Mutank, Stregoneria, and World on Alert.
Mutank, Montreal crossover thrashers formed in 2013, released their full-length Think Before You Think after winning the Wacken Metal Battle Canada and playing Wacken Open Air. They are one of several local acts on the bill with a claim to more than local loyalty.
Individual day tickets and weekend passes are available now via Eventbrite.
Full details at the Piranha Bar Facebook event page.
Listen to the Spotify playlist below:
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