BAND SPOTLIGHT: Benighted (France) – Presenting Their New Album! 🇫🇷
Hey everyone! Time for our next lineup deep-dive, and this one's a big one — closing out Saturday, October 10th, on The Inferno stage: the merchants of madness themselves, BENIGHTED!
These French deathgrind veterans have been terrorizing stages since 1998, and they show zero signs of slowing down. Off the back of their tenth album Ekbom (2024) — named after the real-life delusional parasitosis syndrome, because of course it is — the band has kept the chaos rolling with a lineup shake-up and a brand new single, "The Spineless Freak," which also marks the live debut of new drummer Matthias Biechler behind the kit.
The Quick Breakdown:
- Day: Saturday, October 10th, 2026
- Origin: France 🇫🇷
- Genre: Brutal Death Metal / Deathgrind
- For Fans Of: Aborted, Cattle Decapitation, Ingested
- Lineup: Julien Truchan (vocals), Emmanuel Dalle (guitars), Pierre Arnoux (bass), Matthias Biechler (drums)
Why you cannot miss this set: Benighted don't just play brutal death metal — they weaponize it with theatrical, almost cinematic horror storytelling, blending pig-squeal vocals, blast-beat carnage, and a genuinely unsettling sense of humor that's kept them at the top of the French extreme metal scene for over two decades. With a new drummer bringing fresh violence to the kit and a new single already tearing through the underground, this Saturday closer is shaping up to be one of the most unhinged sets of the whole festival.
💬 Have you caught Benighted live before? What's your pick from Ekbom, or are you more of an Icon-era purist? Drop your thoughts below!
👉 Full lineup and tickets at castellhell.party