Hell’s Heroes VIII-Day Two-Houston, Texas

White Oak Music Hall, March 20, 2026

Other than LOUDNESS cancelling, the first day of Hell’s Heroes Festival was a success. In fact, day one provided one of my best festival experiences. Every band went on according to schedule, the sound was terrific and security did a great job handling crowd surfers so they didn’t hurt themselves. There was much crowd surfing and circle pitting as well. Hilariously, the crowd became so rowdy they dumped out all the garbage receptacles and put people inside it to crowd surf.

I made it to the venue around noon and found a free parking space on the road. I went to my hotel at 3 PM the day before, so I was forced to park across the street in a lot charging thirty-five dollars. Not tonight nor tomorrow did I pay that excessive admission. I wore my MANILLA ROAD (who cancelled) tank top and was burned. The Texas spring is basically the summer in Michigan, where I’m originally from. I couldn’t stand too long in the sun, so I had to take shelter in the shadows. Still, I mostly stayed outside so I could get a good spot between bands on the outdoor stage.

TOXIC HOLOCAUST arrived in Houston to put necks in traction. They came to kick ass and that’s exactly what the power trio did. Frontman, Joel Grind delivered raspy vocals and an upfront, heavy bass sound, which is to be expected considering they are a three-piece. TOXIC HOLOCAUST thrashed hard, something that wasn’t lost on the crowd. Large circle pits ensued. Personal highlights included “War is Hell” and “Nuke the Cross.”

While I’ve seen TOXIC HOLOCAUST before, I never had the privilege to see black thrashers AURA NOIR. A friend I made from Chile asked if the guitarist sound checking was Blasphemer (ex-MAYHEM, VLTIMAS). Indeed, it was. His guitar riffs were full of headbanging moments. Just like TOXIC HOLOCAUST AURA NOIR played as a three-piece. Aggressor (drums) and Apollyon (bass) rounded out the group. Both musicians have been in several, too many to name, Norwegian Black Metal bands. AURA NOIR plays a thrashier style than many of their Norwegian counterparts. Although they are over thirty years old the group hasn’t released many albums. They put out a couple of albums per decade since their 1996 debut, “Black Thrash Attack,” the perfect, descriptive album title. The group played many songs from the debut.

VOIVOD played a special 1980s set. Those years featured many of their greatest albums such as “Rffooaarr” and “Killing Technology.” Frontman Snake was full of energy and drummer, Away spearheaded complex time signatures. Complex timing is a trademark from the Canadian act. The complexity of their songs sometimes is hard to follow. Because they exhibit these traits, the band sounds weird, a good weird, but still weird. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, but they are always a good act to watch, as this was my second time seeing since their performance at Housecore Horror Film Festival in 2014. VOIVOD were an excellent group to join the lineup.

One of the bands I was most excited about was SANCTUARY. Just like many of the artists present, SANCTUARY began its career in the 1980s. They played their entire 1987 debut album, “Refuge Denied.” Said album featured Warrel Dane, who unfortunately passed. Joseph Michael of WITHERFALL replaced Dane and delivered an amazing performance. The first SANCTUARY album featured grand high-pitched vocals, something Michael had no problem producing. He nailed Dane’s style. It was like the soul of Warrel Dane entered Joseph’s body.

In addition to an amazing vocal performance, “Refuge Denied” is full of catchy riffs via Lenny Rutledge. They began their set with the galloping “Battle Angels.” Other highlights included the melodic-friendly “Veil of Disguise” and intense chorus line of “Die for My Sins.” Warrel Dane not only penned intense lyrics, but he also produced memorable chorus. Their chorus lines gave me goosebumps. I never figured I would see SANCTUARY live, but their group has hit the road in support of their 40-year anniversary.

Due to cancellations, most likely the MANILLA ROAD tribute, the festival called up Austin’s own epic metal masters, ETERNAL CHAMPION. Epic metal was on display throughout the fest including CIRITH UNGOL, so ETERNAL CHAMPION was in good company. Singer Jason Tarpey was the last musician to take the stage. His timing made sense because he started the set clad in head chainmail. Tarpey got the crowd into their set by putting out a Celtic oof. This was my second time seeing the group. I saw them open for MANILLA ROAD at Chaos in Tejas back in 2013. Their placement as direct support to Udo Dirkschneider went over well with the large crowd.

Udo Dirkschneider appeared with his group under his last name, DIRKSCHNEIDER. I had just finished watching thrashers, BAT (featuring Ryan Waster of MUNICPAL WASTE) and walked to the big hill facing the outdoor stage to Udo singing their classic single, “Balls to the Wall.” Said track was part of the band’s promotion on flyers. Udo had the crowd in his hand, as everyone sang the chorus lines. He played an old school set of ACCEPT classic. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the group, other than a couple of tracks, I can’t comment on their set list. Still, it was cool seeing the German band live. As said on my article on Day One, this was like seeing a German festival. It’s a very cool way to wrap up the headliner’s stage.