LOUDNESS, DORO, ENSLAVED, DIRKSCHNEIDER, VOIVOD, Others Confirmed For HELL'S HEROES 2026 Festival

Launched in 2018, Hell's Heroes has become one of North America's premiere heavy music platforms and an annual, go-to destination for metalheads, globally. On Thursday, March 19, Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, 2026, a worldwide contingent of music fans will again convene at Houston's White Oak Music Hall for "America's biggest metal party", the Hell's Heroes festival. Now in its eighth year, the vaunted music fest will showcase a hand-picked selection of international heavy metal bands that includes both seminal, genre-pioneers, highly regarded modern day groups and more, in a can't-miss concert event. Tickets for Hell's Heroes VIII are on sale now at this location.

Today, Hell's Heroes unleashes the full lineup of exclusive, confirmed acts for 2026, including BATHORY tribute BLOOD FIRE DEATH (featuring current and former members of WATAIN, EMPEROR, MAYHEM, AURA NOIR, and more),Japan's premier heavy metal ensemble LOUDNESS, German metal legend Doro Pesch (performing the 1987 LP "Triumph And Agony" by her former band WARLOCK),Norwegian black metal legends ENSLAVED (performing their 1987 debut LP "Vikingligr Veldi"),German legend Udo Dirkschneider (performing a special "Balls To The Wall" set in honor of the ACCEPT LP's 40th anniversary),and Canadian avant-garde greats VOIVOD (delivering a fully '80s set).

Hell's Heroes VIII will also feature special live sets by German thrash titans TANKARD, Seattle's SANCTUARY (performing its 1988 debut, "Refuge Denied"),British Columbia bangers 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, Germany's DESTRUCTION (performing its 1986 LP "Eternal Devastation"),Italian legends BULLDOZER, Cleveland speed punks MIDNIGHT (performing their 2011 debut, "Satanic Royalty"),Portland pack TOXIC HOLOCAUST, U.S. power metal legends VIRGIN STEELE, Swedish power trio GRAND MAGUS, Scandinavian speed sect HELLBUTCHER, Kansas traditional heavy metal legends MANILLA ROAD, JAG PANZER (performing its 1984 debut, "Ample Destruction"),H.O.L.M.E.S - The Sound Of W.A.S.P., led by titanic guitarist Chris Holmes, American vocalist Leather Leone (performing songs from her former band CHASTAIN),Belgium breakneckers EVIL INVADERS, Philadelphia dark metal unit CRYPT SERMON, Brazilian black metal bruisers POWER FROM HELL, Belgium black-speed gang BÜTCHER, a reunion set by Los Angeles metal phenoms WHITE WIZZARD, Toronto's CAULDRON performing songs from its previous incarnation, GOAT HORN, German thrashers VULTURE, Virginia horror metal unit BAT, Michigan modern metal retrogressors DEMON BITCH, U.S. medieval black-sorrow swarm ONE OF NINE, black-synth crush NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE, Texas tyrants STEEL BEARING HAND, Massachusetts crushers BATTLE RUINS, French heavy prog collective SYRINX, Mexican thrash mob PHANTOM, Charleston heavy-speed ragers INTERCEPTOR, Portuguese cult force IRONSWORD, Boston lurkers THE WATCHER, Los Angeles indie metal magicians ANGEL FURY and Texas thrashers LABYRINTH.

Hell's Heroes 8:
March 19-21, 2026
White Oak Music Hall
Houston, TX

"The cats are finally out of the bag for Hell's Heroes 2026," says festival organizer Christian Larson. "Unleash the hounds!" In addition to booking Hell's Heroes, Larson also performs as guitarist/vocalist for the melodic black metal band NECROFIER, and is the lead singer of Houston heavy metal band NIGHT COBRA.

In its review of Hell's Heroes 2025, Knotfest called the event "a lineup that truly spans generations and has a lot of something for anyone into 'heavy'", adding that "the atmosphere of the fest is like nothing of its kind in North America." The Houston Press proclaimed, "Over a relatively short time, the two-day metal music fest has become one of the premier events of its kind in the United States", the Houston Chronicle tabbed Hell's Heroes as "America's biggest metal party", and Decibel hailed the fest as "an international melting pot of eras, influences, and legacies both vintage and futuristic."