ArcTanGent is one of the best festivals in the UK, if not the best, for a number of reasons. From what started as a small math-rock festival it is now perhaps the front-running celebration of all types of progressive and experimental heavy music in the country, boasting over 100 bands across 4 days of live music. While arguably attracting a more ‘mature’ audience than Bloodstock or similar festivals, it harbours a dedicated and deeply passionate following, while definitely still letting people let loose and enjoy music from all across the wider music spectrum. It’s hard to pinpoint what makes a band an ‘ATG band’. Historically there has been a core focus on post-rock/metal and math-rock, but in 2025 the festival welcomes anything left of centre, anything boundary pushing, anything different, and anything with substance. Which it is all the better for as the festival has grown. The atmosphere is incredibly welcoming and walking around it really is a melting pot of people who are passionate about, and many times personally involved in, the music scene in one way or another. [LMC]
Wednesday acts as a warm-up for the festival proper. A day to get loose as people flock in and set up camp for the week. Coming down from Scotland, we had split the drive up and stayed overnight less than 2 hours away in order to get in and catch as much early action as possible. By 1pm we had made it through accreditation, got suitably frustrated with my stupidly designed tent, met up with travelling pals, and cracked our first cans of the week before heading into the arena. Everyone is hyped. There’s a buzz in the air. The guys helping with parking, the ladies in accreditation, all the bar staff are buzzing and happy to be there. ATG has the knack of being just the right size that working there is almost exclusively done by people who would be at the festival and want to be involved. [LMC]
Making a beeline for the already sweltering Yokhai stage I turn up to catch Leeds-based post-metal centurions Hundred Year Old Man. A heavy, brooding soundscape parsed with crushing climactic riffs emanates from the tent. HYOM are a force, mixing cathartic fury with bleak melancholy in equal measure. As an added bonus their pulsating set even features a surprise appearance from Will Haven frontman Grady Avenell, who will be found popping up across a few stages this weekend. The band are commanding and confident in their execution, this is a festival they are made for. [LMC]
Cork’s God Alone hit the smaller PX3 stage next, with palpable nervous excitement. The band’s style of danceable noise-rock is an upswing in both tempo and energy. They’re frantic, wound like a coiled spring, but as their collective heart-rate begins to steady so do they, finding the pocket, and their irrepressible smiles begin to broaden further. The riffs are unique and creative, hook-laden and impressively original. The crowd laps up what they’re putting down, chaotic yet danceable math-rock riffs executed with the delivery of a golden retriever in a soft play. Charismatic frontman Jake O’Driscoll is all over the stage, the crowd is theirs. They declare in earnest that ArcTanGent is the ‘best festival ever’. You can tell they mean it. [LMC]
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I’m shocked to hear that healthyliving on the Yokhai stage are not only Edinburgh-based, my hometown, but also recorded their latest record at Chamber Studio in the city with local producer and engineer Graeme Young. They must have passed me by locally, but their dreamy style of Brutus-esque melodic post-rock is elegant and hypnotic. The vocals of Amaya López-Carromero are a standout, and while the mood is more subdued for parts of their set the musicality and delivery are exceptional. [LMC]
Underdark’s 2023 album Managed Decline was one of my favourite releases at the time. The band have gone from strength to strength, and their brand of modern post-black metal is captivating in atmosphere and delivery. Abi Vasquez is draped in a veil for the first portion of the set, and after unveiling is even more commanding. The atmospheric shoegaze elements wander between furious blastbeats and screaming guitar lines. The final song in the set is triumphant. This is a band who are coalescing. Their next release may well be even bigger and more defining, and I can’t wait to see where they go. [LMC]
I chat to some friends, old and new, and grab some exceptional beef birria tacos courtesy of the Gourmet Warriors food truck. ATG has an above-average selection of both catering options and merch retailers. I have to stop myself from spending my cash too fast, but I definitely have to pick up a couple of shirts and an incredible Magic: The Saddening ArcTanGent playing card souvenir. Year Of No Light are crushing inside the Yohkai tent as I make my way inside. The sun continues its relentless assault. The cosmic swell and wane of the band pulses through the throng. The long-standing French sextet are a juggernaut and their evocative blend of shoegaze, doom and post-metal crush and rebuild in equal measure. [LMC]
Colossal Squid is such a unique proposition and a truly special ATG set. Essentially a solo project by Adam Betts, the drummer for both Squarepusher and Goldie, Colossal Squid is a solo drummer playing over live-triggered loops and samples. The pulse rises in the tent while Adam is producing seemingly effortless rhythmic sorcery with all four limbs from his customised hybrid electro-acoustic drum kit setup. The musicianship is jaw-dropping and such an uplifting display of high-energy grooves and electric drumming. The tent is moving, beers are flowing and the heat of the day is starting to drop as the sun dips in the evening sky. One unassuming bearded drummer has several thousand festival-goers in the pocket with him. The squid could well be the catch of the day. [LMC]
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Slift was a pounding induction into the psychedelic stoner rock side of the festival, with their sound buzzing outward and drawing in the masses to be subject to some unique cosmic sounds laden throughout their big fuzzy riffs. I found myself a new favourite in these guys, I’d already taken a liking to them when I first heard them, but seeing them live solidified that instantly. The tickling twang of the catchy guitar tones of “Ummon”, backed by Jean Fossat’s roaring, gritty vocals, command your immediate attention and hold you in place as they blast you through a menagerie of otherworldly synthy sounds. These guys have been stuck in my head ever since and I’ll be catching them again as soon as I can. [ST]
I’ll be honest, when I first listened to Wardruna at home, I found it being more akin to something I would have on in the background while doing some writing, as Skyrim and Oblivion music has been the usual go-to for that. Having not watched Vikings (I know it’s meant to be great) I perhaps also didn’t have that mental imagery some folks would be going into this gig with, but that didn’t stop them from taking you right there in an instant. The atmosphere they created with their classic Nordic instruments and resounding vocals was probably unmatched the entire festival, and that’s pretty hard to do when you’re playing amidst such a vast array of bands that have such unique sound and atmosphere all to themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance and was transfixed the entire time. [ST]
Words by Linz Conway [LMC] and Sam Taylor [ST]
Header image by SnapRockAndPop
