Feature: Immortal Fest 2026 – Where Christian Metal History Still Feels Alive

By Jimmy Lamar Sorrells | Heaven’s Metal

All photos by Chad Fenner / Concert Fotos by Chad.

There are festivals you attend because of the lineup, and then there are festivals you return to because the people have become just as important as the music.

Immortal Fest 2026, held September 11–13 at the BMI Event Center in Versailles, Ohio, delivered three days of Christian rock and metal featuring musicians whose histories reach through Petra, Bloodgood, Barren Cross, Sacred Warrior, Bride, Daniel Band, Messiah Prophet, Worldview, and many other important chapters of Christian music.

The music brought us there, but the community is a huge part of what keeps bringing us back.

Sanctuary International’s phrase, “We are metal, we are family,” fits Immortal Fest perfectly.

My friend Steve Morse road-tripped with me, while George Rose came down from Michigan and stayed in the same house with us. Our Immortal Fest routine has become part of the weekend. We grab breakfast, sometimes just the three of us and sometimes with other friends, find a local record store, and then get to the venue early.

Some of the people at Immortal Fest I only see once or twice a year. Others are people I had known through social media but finally got to meet face-to-face. Then there are the musicians themselves. At this festival, the person you just watched perform may be standing beside you a few minutes later talking, taking pictures, and hanging out with fans.

I also got to spend time with fellow Heaven’s Metal staff writer Chris Gatto, who was there all weekend. Chris and I had some great conversations about music and plenty of time to just hang out. Those conversations between performances are part of what makes weekends like this memorable.

It was also good seeing photographer Chad Fenner again. Chad spent the weekend documenting the festival, and all of the photos accompanying this review are courtesy of Concert Fotos by Chad.

Pastor Bob Beeman once again served as emcee and did a great job. His decades of history with Sanctuary International and the Christian metal community make him a natural fit for a festival like this.

I was also especially glad to see Bryan Kemper with the Rock for Life booth. I ran the Rock for Life South Carolina chapter while I was in college, so seeing the organization active again and continuing to stand for the right of all human life meant a lot to me. I was proud to leave with one of their new shirt designs as well.

Day One: Familiar Voices and an Unexpected Favorite

Les Carlsen and Michael Drive opened the musical side of the weekend with a blast of songs familiar to longtime Christian rock fans.

I have seen both of these guys many times, and neither has ever disappointed me.

Les Carlsen was joined by Joyce Carlsen, and their voices soared beautifully over the backing tracks. Hearing Les revisit songs connected to Bloodgood is always special because his voice remains so closely tied to that music.

Michael Drive followed with a killer performance featuring a variety of songs and covers. His voice still carries the character and power that made Barren Cross immediately recognizable.

The performances themselves were strong. My disappointment was that the promoter did not have the budget to bring complete bands for them. Les, Joyce, and Michael delivered, but hearing those songs with full live bands behind them would have taken both performances to another level.

Then came the first major surprise of the weekend.

Furious Love: The First Big Surprise

Then came the first major surprise of the weekend.

Furious Love, the only ’80s and ’90s Christian hard rock and metal tribute band in the U.S., was not a band I knew much about going into Immortal Fest.

That changed quickly.

They absolutely blew us away.

Their set dug into the classic Christian rock and metal catalog, paying tribute to bands such as Holy Soldier, DeGarmo & Key, Idle Cure, Messiah Prophet, and others. They did not simply play the songs. They brought the energy and excitement that made so many of these bands special in the first place.

Leading the charge was vocalist Randy Janee, whose amazing voice and talent were impossible to miss. She more than held her own on material originally performed by some of the great voices in Christian hard rock and metal, delivering the songs with power, range, and plenty of stage presence.

Solo artist Daniel O’Connor joined Furious Love for the festival and delivered some serious guitar work, while Derek Ferwerda was also part of the lineup. Drummer Dale Erickson, a longtime concert promoter who helped form Furious Love, drove the band from behind the kit.

The set also included some great connections to the original artists they were honoring. Adam Gibson of Novella joined the band on drums for several songs, while Messiah Prophet drummer David Thunder joined Furious Love for one Messiah Prophet song.

Those guest appearances added something special. This was not just about revisiting great songs from the past. Musicians connected to that history were standing onstage helping bring some of it back to life.

By the time Furious Love finished, they had become my favorite performance of Friday and one of the two biggest surprise highlights of the entire festival.

Arsenal followed with another rare piece of Christian rock history. The female-fronted Christian hard rock band gave its fans something they had not had in many years: an opportunity to see Arsenal perform live again.

That alone made their appearance special.

Friday ended with GHF, short for God Has Forgiven, and this was another performance I had been especially interested in seeing.

GHF includes three original founding members of Petra: Greg Hough, John DeGroff, and Bill Glover, along with Pastor John Moser.

That means this was not simply a band playing old Petra material. These are musicians who were actually there at the beginning.

They reached back into those early Petra songs and did them justice. The stage performance was strong, the music still worked, and these guys proved they still have it.

I was honored to finally see them perform live.

Three Chapters of Petra in One Weekend

One of the coolest parts of Immortal Fest 2026 was having three different chapters of Petra’s history represented during the same weekend.

Friday’s GHF took us back to the band’s beginnings with founding members Greg Hough, John DeGroff, and Bill Glover.

Saturday brought the current Petra lineup, fronted by John Schlitt, with founding guitarist and songwriter Bob Hartman, keyboardist John Lawry, bassist Greg Bailey, and drummer Cristian Borneo.

Then Sunday closed with CPR, Classic Petra Resurrection, representing another beloved period in the band’s history with Greg X. Volz on lead vocals alongside longtime Petra keyboardist John Lawry and drummer Louie Weaver.

For longtime fans, the vocalists especially tell the story. Greg X. Volz helped define one classic era of Petra, while John Schlitt became the voice of another hugely important chapter.

Getting the founding history, the Volz era, and the Schlitt era represented during one weekend was something special.

Day Two: New Blood, Familiar Favorites, and Petra

Ken Tucker’s Blues Band had been advertised for Saturday but did not perform, so Invincible effectively kicked off the day’s band performances.

They wasted no time making an impression.

There was an incredible amount of talent on that stage.

Crystal Mancaruso delivered powerful vocals, while her husband, Joey Mancaruso, absolutely killed it behind the drums. George Ochoa brought his years of experience and masterful guitar playing, while the bass filled out the songs and gave them the weight they needed.

Crystal and George are also members of Worldview.

Their Worldview bandmate and Sacred Warrior vocalist Rey Parra is not a member of Invincible, but he joined them as a special guest for one song.

Rey’s voice is instantly recognizable, and his appearance got an immediate reaction from the crowd.

Then Invincible closed with Deliverance’s “Slay the Wicked.”

And they absolutely slayed the song.

For a new project, Invincible sounded like a band that already knew exactly what it wanted to be.

Legacy followed. I had only heard a few of their songs online before the festival, so I did not know exactly what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised.

They gave us a really enjoyable set and became another reminder of why festivals like Immortal Fest are worth experiencing from beginning to end. Sometimes the bands you know the least about walking in are the ones you are talking about afterward.

Then Fear Not took the stage and delivered a powerhouse performance.

I have seen these guys play here year after year, and there is a reason they keep getting invited back. Every musician in Fear Not brings serious ability to the band. Put all of that talent together to create something for the glory of the Lord and you get one amazing hard rock band that can make you want to bang your head against a wall while still pointing people toward Jesus.

It is no surprise that Fear Not received two Josie Music Awards nominations this year. “Crashin’ Down” is nominated for Song of the Year in the Rock Duo/Group category, while Weight of the World is nominated for Gospel/Christian/Inspirational EP of the Year.

Sacred Warrior followed, another band that has become a familiar part of Immortal Fest.

There is a reason they keep coming back.

They have a dedicated fan base, tremendous musicianship, and a sound that remains unmistakably their own. Then there is Rey Parra.

His vocals immediately separate Sacred Warrior from almost anybody else playing this kind of music.

They also know how to connect with the audience instead of simply playing at them.

That becomes especially obvious when they close with “Holy, Holy, Holy.” It has become a crowd favorite, with friends joining the band onstage to sing along. The moment becomes bigger than simply another song at the end of a set. It feels like the Christian metal family joining together.

Then came Petra.

This was the most packed I saw the venue all weekend.

Everyone had a favorite band or two they came specifically to see, but when Petra took the stage, it felt like nearly everybody in the building wanted to experience the set.

John Schlitt still knows how to command a crowd, while Bob Hartman, John Lawry, Greg Bailey, and Cristian Borneo gave the music everything it needed.

They rolled through the fan favorites and did not miss a beat.

When a band has been carrying its music and ministry forward for more than 50 years and can still command a room like that, it says a lot.

Trends have changed. The music industry has changed. Band members have changed.

Petra is still here.

And Saturday night’s crowd showed that the music still matters.

Day Three: Rocking Blues, Cowboy Hats, and Canadian Veterans

Rex Carroll and Stone Blue Revival kicked off Sunday with their brand of blues-driven rock.

When Rex Carroll is holding a guitar, you know an incredible solo is coming.

His tone and style remain immediately recognizable, and the blues-heavy set gave the final day a different flavor without ever feeling out of place.

Then came my second huge surprise of the weekend: The Livestock Band.

Most of the people I spoke with that day, myself included, either had never heard of them or knew very little about them.

For this performance they came out as a three-piece led by Lawrence Bishop II, a pastor, professional rodeo rider, professional musician, singer and bassist who also spent years playing bass with Bride. Joining him was a drummer who formerly played with the Jeff Scheetz Band, along with a guitarist from Lawrence’s church worship team.

Then these guys walked onto a metal festival stage wearing cowboy hats and boots.

A few of us looked at each other like, “What are we in for now?”

Then they hit that first hard-hitting chord.

We were hooked.

The Livestock Band may have country and Southern roots, but this is not your typical country music, and it certainly is not pop country.

This is hard rock country.

Songs like “If God Is Dead,” “Bad Day for the Devil,” “What If It’s True,” “The God Life,” and “Jesus People” carried enough weight and attitude to fit perfectly into a rock and metal festival.

Lawrence’s combination of ministry, professional music, and rodeo culture does not feel like an image manufactured for the band. It is simply who he is, and that authenticity comes through in the music.

At one point he pulled out one of the coolest instruments of the entire weekend, a custom bass shaped like a bull’s head complete with horns.

The reaction after their set told the story.

There was a line at the merch table filled with people who had just discovered them.

The Livestock Band had gained a lot of new fans that afternoon, and they became my surprise highlight of Sunday.

Then came Daniel Band.

What can I say about this amazing Canadian band?

They never disappoint.

These guys are excellent musicians individually and incredibly tight together. They sound like veterans because they are veterans, but nothing about the performance felt tired.

One of the most exciting parts of their set was hearing three new songs that will appear on their much-anticipated new album.

A band with this much history could easily live entirely on its classics.

Instead, Daniel Band is still creating.

These vets still got it.

David and the Giants followed, and I came into their set from a slightly different perspective.

I know the band, own several of their albums, and understand their importance, but I am not nearly as familiar with every song in their catalog as I am with some of the other artists on the weekend.

That did not matter.

Their experience becomes obvious almost immediately.

They are seasoned musicians, and everything they do points toward King Jesus. This is a band that has been ministering through music for decades, and that history carries into their live performance.

There is also a fascinating piece of American television history behind the drum kit.

Keith Thibodeaux, also known professionally as Richard Keith, played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy before becoming part of David and the Giants.

Christian rock history and classic television history behind the same drum kit. You do not get that every weekend.

Finally, it was time for CPR, Classic Petra Resurrection.

I cannot think of a better band to have closed the festival.

Greg X. Volz’s voice immediately takes longtime fans back to a beloved period of Petra’s history. Add longtime Petra keyboardist John Lawry and drummer Louie Weaver, and you have musicians whose work is deeply woven into the band’s legacy.

They gave the fans exactly what they wanted.

The songs brought back memories. The musicianship was there. The crowd loved it.

After three long days of music, everyone could have been exhausted and ready to head home.

Instead, CPR sent people out smiling.

We Are Metal. We Are Family.

It would be easy to look at the Immortal Fest lineup and call it a nostalgia festival.

That would miss a large part of what happened during the weekend.

Yes, history is everywhere. We watched musicians whose careers stretch back decades. We heard songs that helped lay the foundation for Christian hard rock and metal. We experienced three different chapters of Petra’s history in three days.

But this music is not simply living in the past.

Invincible made an impressive entrance. Fear Not continues creating music and earning recognition. Daniel Band introduced songs from an upcoming album. The Livestock Band walked into a room where many people had never heard of them and walked away with new fans.

Then there are the relationships surrounding all of it.

It is breakfast with Steve Morse and George Rose. It is talking music with Chris Gatto. It is catching up with Chad Fenner while he documents the weekend through his camera. It is digging through record stores. It is seeing friends you may not see again until next year’s festival. It is meeting online friends in person for the first time. It is watching musicians finish their sets and then walk around talking with the same people who were standing in front of the stage.

Those moments matter.

There are larger festivals with bigger stages, larger production budgets, and more people.

Size does not create family.

For three days in Ohio, people from across the Christian rock and metal world gathered again to share music, faith, stories, meals, laughter, and decades of memories.

We are metal. We are family.

Immortal Fest 2026 proved it again.

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