You’ll be familiar with GAEREA by now, at least on a passing basis. 2026 has been their biggest year yet, after all, or at least their most prominent one. See, their album Loss has proven a bit polarising since its release in March—from one side, it’s an emboldened reinvention of black-metal from a band who’ve always defied its conventions; from the other, it’s overproduced alt-metal that’s already far too pervasive. Regardless, it’s hard to write GAEREA off as game-players for it. If they were, they’d likely be aiming for bigger rooms than Manchester’s Club Academy, and they wouldn’t be bringing along a band as synonymous with true metal graft as Conjurer. More likely, it’s been a period of honest expansion for GAEREA, and even if it’s not clicking for everyone, it’s something entirely their own. Will Robinson headed down to check it out.
Conjurer
GAEREA
Photos by Will Robinson
