Quest Fest, KKs Steel Mill, Wolverhampton, 10.10.26
There are certain events that you look forward to, certain ones that you want to go to and then there are events that totally consume you, representing everything you first loved about music when you discovered your own taste and not the ones inherited from parents and family members.
I’ve mentioned before about my love of stoner and doom but in the flip side of that I discovered power metal in my early teens and bands like Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Hammerfall, Dragonforce and many other were given regular rotation, and they still do today.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of a galloping beat, intricate basslines, shreddy guitars, histrionic vocals and songs about fantasy, mythology and sci-fi, it’s music for fun.
No overt politics (not that there’s anything wrong with that), just for escapist enjoyment, through the things we love as children, be it witches and warlocks, knights, vikings and even dinosaurs, there’s something for everyone.
It’s also the genre that is perhaps most overlooked in the UK. Go to continental Europe, there’s power metal bands touring every country and major city. In the UK? London, if we’re lucky!
Thank whatever deity you want for Quest Fest, formerly known as Power Metal Quest Fest, the UK’s premier showcase of power/prog/symphonic metal, nearing its tenth anniversary.
Amie and her dedicated team have put together a totally inclusive, slickly run, celebration of this genre which has been growing in stature and impact since its early days in Birmingham’s Asylum to its current home in KK’s Steel Mill.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what you are dealing with outside these hallowed halls, once you get your wristband, you’re questing collectively with every other enthusiast in the room.
Whether you’re there for the music or the countless other side quests available, such as Guitar Hero Tournaments, Table Top Gaming, Magic The Gathering, Crafting or just enjoying the vibe, catching the wandering bard and soaking up being in place where everyone is united by what they love, then you will love every moment of your Quest.
I do. 2026 is my fifth year attending and I always have a massive smile on my face the counting down the days until the festival before it begins and then for the entire day.
While I’m not a gamer, or a crafter, Quest Fest has exactly what I want in a festival, a collection of bands performing sets between 30 minutes and an hour, a lot of whom I have never seen before and who I never thought I would see.
This is what makes Quest Fest special for me, it’s being able to finally watch Masterplan or Myrath or Serious Black live while also witnessing some of the UK’s best flaunt their skills and even getting a few surprises throughout the day. It’s given me some of my favourite bands (Hello Tiberius) and ticked off a tonne from my ‘must see’ list.
I unfortunately missed the pre-show at The Giffard Arms this year, but I know all three bands smashed it, I hope this becomes a regular thing as starting the party early is always a good idea.
However I was there bright and early for doors, into the new layout configuration for KK’s this year which saw the second stage as an actual stage, the main stage more enclosed for a bit more intimacy with the bands and host of stalls, bars and food outside that in the main concourse. I can’t say enough about KKs as a venue as I think it’s one of the best in the UK.
Anyway to the band’s and getting us started were Crown Solace (8) who are a unique prospect in the world of power metal as they feature soaring clean and harsh vocals, but unlike their influences such as Epica and Nightwish their mixture of symphonic and modern metal moves away from the norm with both male screams and male soprano vocals, which as a tenor myself impressed the hell out of me.
Weaving classical training with modern metal crunch, the Scots took a lot of the crowd by suprise, still relatively but I’m expecting them to have gained a tonne of new fans with this performance, myself being one of them.
Next it was Fortune Teller (8) a relatively new band but with some experienced musicians of the British metal scene within its ranks. Most notably former Metaprism vocalist Theresa Smith who’s vocals have always been mate for this style rather than in a modern metal act in my opinion. So it was brilliant to hear her unleash those pipes on the Quest Fest stage.
The band delivered some mighty symphonic metal as keyboard player Meyrick De La Fuente brings the orchestrations and some co-lead and backing vocals to the stage but it’s the twin guitars of band founder Ross McLennan and Ian Rockett, that manages to pair melodic metal with proggy modernity.
This group of veterans have momentum behind them and clutch of muscular power metal, you will see more of them soon, however after it was two newbies brought into the family, we had the return of a band that last took to the Quest Fest stage at The Asylum.
There it was leather and chains, here the neon glow of 80’s retroism as Battle Born (8) stormed the stage with some classic Euro power metal. Widdly guitars, macho posturing and huge vocals, Battle Born lead everyone through some Elder Scrolls inspired heavy metal with might and magic along with a storming cover of Electric Eye by Judas Priest.
The irony of playing a Priest cover co-writen by the founder of the venue was not lost on me or anyone else probably as this is an educated, refined crowd. It was also quite numerous early on so Battle Born they took the chance of the state of the art surroundings of KK’s to record a music video for their new single which got the right response ensuring that horns, fists, inflatable swords and at least one plush shark was in the air.
Battle Born start a party right and from here it was into two German bands founded by the same person but only one actually featured that person. Let me explain as the first band Serious Black (8) took to the stage. Co-founded by bassist Mario Lochert and ex-Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow in downtime from his other projects.
Since then they’ve had many changes in members as Grapow moved on to other projects (more later) but with they’re still led by Mario who has ecently recovered from a stoke, meaning that they take to the stage as four piece of two guitarists Dominik Sebastian and Maurus Mayer, drummer Christian Schictl and vocalist Nikola Mijic who British audiences may know as the vocalist of Eden’s Curse.
Serious Black play very straightforward style of Teutonic metal with some emotive lyrics and some balladry that got lighters aloft. Now relegated to sound desk, but absolutely killing it Mario, came on stage for three songs (as many as his doctor allowed) and played with his band.
This made for lovely moments but a slightly disjoined set from Serious Black, though seeing them for the first time was a great experience for someone like me that has followed them from their debut album.
Next though it was Mr Grapow himself, with another band he founded and another tick off the list from me as I FINALLY was able to see Masterplan (9) live!
Formed when Roland Grapow dropped from Helloween Masterplan too has been through line up changes, with former singer Jorn Lande now more at home with the Midlands own Tony Iommi, the current line up, since 2012, features Rick Altzi on vocals along with a who’s who of the European metal scene as members have featured in At Vance, Stratovarius, Almanac and Gamma Ray.
At Quest Fest there was a sense of reverence as they took to the stage, they’re bonafide legends, from some of the most influential acts in power metal and leaving most of their progressive tendencies at the door they treated Wolverhampton to a power metal masterclass.
Melding tracks from their recent record and some older nuggets of gold, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t have their fist/sword/shark in the air during their set of Teutonic heavy metal (despite only two members being German).
A rapturous applause for Masterplan, the presents from this year’s Quest Fest better than any Christmas and they just kept coming as next it was a band who I’ve followed from their debut and thought I’d never get the chance to see after the issues they had at Bloodstock 2016 where they had to pull from the bill due to outside factors.
No such shenanigans at Quest Fest and to a packed house Myrath (10) took to the stage with the Middle Eastern influenced melodic metal that is both incrediblly slick and emotionally powerful. Myrath have it all, the songs, the performance, the style, shout out to their feathered keyboard player, it’s no wonder that there’s always been such a buzz about this band.
The set, quite rightly was taken from their most recent release Wilderness Of Mirrors including Les Enfants Du Soleil, with a few such as Dance from Shehili and even throwing back to Legacy with Believer, it was mainly the last three records that were played but the crowd didn’t mind, these are the ones that have opened up Myrath to a wider audience and performed live they feel almost exactly like the record.
A virtuoso performance from the entire band I will of course highlight, the incredible vocals of their front man Zaher Zorgati as Myrath brought “blazing desert metal” to a dreary Wolverhampton. Well worth the wait and I already want some more.
Ther fun didn’t stop there though, we had one more act to go and while Myrath offered all the poise and precision of a headliner, the last band of the day brought it all back to how much of the power metal scene started, muscular blokes singing about battle. Be it Manowar, Virgin Steel, Hammerfall or Heavy Load, if you get a load of dudes in leather singing about heavy metal it’s going to go down a storm at a power metal festival.
Amie and the team know this so All For Metal (9) closed the day out perfectly. Another band I’d not seen and one that I’ll admit I wasn’t particularly looking forward too as I thought it might be a bit of joke. However I was very wrong as from the first notes this was macho heavy metal with it’s tongue in cheek but a mighty fistful of fantasy metal anthems.
Delivered by a masked rhythm section, a statuesque guitarist (Dawid Wieczorek) and two burly frontmen who trade off low booms and shrieking highs, All For Metal’s current form (they’ve had a few) seems to be the closest to the likes of Manowar, they even have bass solo section that built into frenzy just shy of ripping out the strings.
The vocals are shared by Tim Schmidt of Asenblut (low) and Amerigo Vitiello (high) and these are the focal point of the band, leading the Epic Fest choir in sing-alongs, call and response and more, treating their headline set like this was an arena and they were the invading Vikings, ready to pillage the town with pure heavy metal machismo!
With the last growl and the shriek it was over another Quest Fest complete, the audience exhausted but elated, gathering their coins and trophies as they look forward to the next chapter of this special festival, built by fans for fans and curated brilliantly every single time.
The next chapter promises to be even more special.
A 10th Anniversary party that already has Rattlesnakes, Power Paladin, Frozen Crowd and Firewind (From Greece!) confirmed to join the Quest. Prepare yourself for more might, majesty and metal in 2027 as Quest Fest continues to be the most inclusive heavy metal celebration of the year!
