Ithaca’s final show taking place at ArcTanGent is hugely appropriate. The UK metalcore band took a huge leap forward with the release of 2022’s They Fear Us which catapulted the band onto bigger platforms. Deciding to take a step away from the stage for personal life-balance is a huge decision for any band, particularly hard for one on such an upward trajectory. Nevertheless, the band are not going down without a final declaration of intent. A singalong to Robbie Williams’ “Angels” starts the set. I hate the song, but despite my own toes curling, even I can feel a weight in the moment as the mainstage crowd joins in. Maybe it’s an inside joke anyway. The mood crescendos. The bomb goes off. Ithaca are scrappy and wide-eyed. Singer Djamila Azzouz shrieks and roars with palpable fervour as the rest of the band bob and weave around her. Appearances from Devil Sold His Soul singer Ed Gibbs and Pupil Slicer’s Kate Davies are poignant moments in an emotionally charged set. The band are gone for now, but will not be soon forgotten. Who knows what the future holds. RIP Ithaca. [LMC]
I’ve been a fan of Car Bomb for a long time and this was a pure indulgence for me. If I had to describe the listening experience and kind of vibes they invoke, it would be “like being hit with a million Gears of War-style executions all at once.” Car Bomb don’t play to a click track. Knowing that and hearing them is one thing, knowing that and seeing it is another thing entirely. Intense, immaculate and mathematically tight. [ST]
As an avid listener to the 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast with James Scarlett from ArcTanGent and Gavin McInally from Damnation, the hype around Dimscua was so unique I couldn’t wait to see them live. Plucked from absolute obscurity, Gav declared their 4-track EP Dust Eater to be one of the best releases of the year. It’s incredibly refreshing to see a band with no label, no PR and seemingly zero expectation put out some music as a passion project and be presented with a platform based entirely on its own merit by those that have the ability to do so. Obviously, I had listened to their EP before. It is stunning. A perfect slice of raw and brooding blackened post-metal that punches so far above its provenance it’s audacious. Their first gig coming on a packed Yokhai stage at ArcTanGent is a thing of sheer fantasy. But here we are. I spoke to the band at length beforehand, and they are as ecstatic as they are dumbfounded. However, when the smoke machine starts billowing and the opening notes to “Elder Bairn” start cutting through the PA you can tell they more than belong on this stage despite just starting this part of their journey today. Guitarist Adam Campbell-Train speaks before the final track, dedicating it to the memory of his lost daughter Rosemary. I am in bits. The pain and emotion that courses through Dimscua’s music is raw, personal and genuine. Listen to this band. [LMC]
Envy was a very pleasant surprise when I first heard them and an absolute powerhouse performance when I witnessed them live. They have had a phenomenal journey throughout their music, as they started as a straight-up hardcore band, but have transformed into something truly special through the years. With relentless ripping post-hardcore sound torn up by the dense, screaming vocals that filled the entire main stage with emotion and were picked up on by the entire crowd. These guys hit out with such feeling in their playing and create such a powerful atmosphere that their set was a highly anticipated one for the weekend. The whole thing, start to finish, was a seismic convergence of emotion and melodic intensity, backed with crushing riffs that felt like a soundtrack to a hopeful future. [ST]
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Delving, another project from Nick DiSalvo of the band Elder, gave all the meat and potatoes of your favourite spiralling psychedelic rocky goodness, with their newer album staying very true to their name. Their live performance takes you on a downward tunnelling delve into the earth, only to pull you straight up and smack you in the face with delightfully heavy and encapsulating, expansive melodic riffs. Hearing their self-titled track “Delving” was a particularly pleasurable journey to be taken on. Their set filled me with all of the feeling that you can hear they put into their music and was a really special standout performance. I definitely want to catch these guys again. One of my favourites from the weekend, and Nick DiSalvo has since said there would be some new Elder on the way, and if it’s anything like that last Delving album, we’re in for something extra special. [ST]
I was standing just outside the PX3 stage when my attention was spiked by some of the most unique and gripping vocals I’ve ever heard live. The guys I was with said they’d seen them before and were absolutely blown away, especially by the vocals. I was already on my way to go check Meth out properly, as I’d really enjoyed what I’d heard so far, but this taste from afar brought me charging right to the front of the tent. Meth’s live set is a sensory assault: nauseating, cathartic, and confrontational. Their mix of noise, grind, and emotional chaos erupts on stage with visceral intensity. With flailing limbs and thick, fiery riffs, the vocalist gets very involved. I couldn’t take my eyes off his performance — he took a walk right up to me and gave me a good stare down, then jumped into the crowd, breaking down into shrieking vocals. The song “Shame” was pure emotion in motion and didn’t leave room for any half measures. Their music features slow, crushing riffs and a dark, brooding atmosphere, making their live shows a truly intense and immersive experience. This was one of the most raw and emotionally heavy performances of the entire festival and I will definitely be seeing them again every time I can. A firm favourite and standout performance. [ST]
I love Green Lung. They’re everything I want from this kind of no-frills heavy rock band. “We play olde English, black magic, goat-bothering, heavy fucking metal,” declares singer Tom Templar to open the show on the main stage. Green Lung are unique and dynamic — there are nods to the old school but they have a resonant modern voice, killer aesthetic, and the musicianship is of the highest calibre. The songs are well crafted, and cuts from most recent album This Heathen Land never fail to land with a big crowd such as this. In my eyes they are an arena band of the future. They fail to play “Hunters in the Sky” much to my irritation, but otherwise the set today on the main stage is flawless. The three-piece horn section is a magnificent and welcome addition and adds an extra dimension to Green Lung’s righteous soundscape today. Impeccable, and a welcome palate cleanser amongst all the weirdness and dissonant cacophony that abounds at ArcTanGent. [LMC]
Would you like to have your essence reduced to binary data, digitally blended to a soup-like consistency, then poured back inside the hollow shell of your former being? If that’s the case, Frontierer are probably the kind of relaxing listening experience you’re looking for. Their brand of sonic assault is all-consuming, intensely hypnotic and screwed tight to within breaking point. The guitars are hyper-processed and slice like a chef’s knife, the drums machine-gun polyrhythmically without falter, and the strobe lights are unrelenting. It’s cathartic and gruelling. When some semblance of head-banging becomes briefly possible it feels joyous. Frontierer are a band that push directly at the boundaries of what is possible for heavy music in 2025, and long may they continue their journey further and further off into those dark nebulous realms where few others are capable of faring. [LMC]
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There’s no other band that does it like Karnivool do. I could honestly make this entire article about them, but I’m gonna save that for another time. You know when you find a band that has that one guitarist or drummer or vocalist that just really stands out? That’s every member of Karnivool. These guys have been in the game long enough and carved out not just their own signature sound, but a staple in modern progressive metal. They’ve been my favourite band, tied with Porcupine Tree, for at least fifteen years now and every time I’ve seen them has been not only a unique and memorable experience, but there’s just something magical and special. Whether it’s the sprawling, raw, distinctly “Aussie” soundscape they carve out with their jagged and deep cutting riffs or Ian’s ethereal vocals while Steve Judd floats effortlessly around the drums, like the barrage of ghost notes he’s playing.
If you’ve never seen Karnivool before, go do it. It’s a rare occasion to catch them in the UK, but with the new album looming ever closer, now is a better time than ever to get stuck into their stuff. You won’t regret it and they truly have something for everyone, as they’re a very accessible band yet still hold so many layers to their music that make it super re-listenable. Karnivool were a truly special one, and I promise I am writing this with as little bias as possible. That aside, I was completely immersed from the get-go. If you didn’t show up a fan, chances are you left as one and if anything like me, a grin that felt bigger than my face stayed there for the remainder of the night. I’m not joking — I started to get worried it would just stay like that and I’d be taken to the medical tent at some point.
Karnivool have been able to really generate such an atmosphere but also a distinctly “Aussie” sound, and I don’t just mean the occasional use of the didgeridoo, but the raw, relentlessly tearing guitar tones, conjuring connotations of the vast, sprawling outback, matched with the effortlessly sublime drumming of Steve Judd, ghost-note extraordinaire. The mammoth sound they created was matched only by the response of the crowd which was probably the best I’d seen all weekend. Even the three new and unreleased songs got such an incredible crowd response, which not only isn’t an easy thing to do, but was one of the few occasions that I saw a really involved and positive reaction to new material from the crowd. Every song was belted out and the energy was nothing short of electric, leaving everyone buzzing long after the show was over. [ST]
The ArcTanGent silent disco is a yearly favourite for many festival goers. Once the noise curfew hits, there’s still music to be enjoyed. I’ve been dubious about these in the past, definitely preferring live acts that are pushing some real air. This year though, with both Nordic Giants and the fantastic Walpurgis playing live sets, the energy was high long after the decibel levels had dropped. The latter, playing Ozzy-era Black Sabbath tracks as a tribute to the recently fallen icon, featured members of Biffy Clyro, Vennart and Alpha Male Tea Party. The drinks and nonsense escalated further once the DJs hit the stage after the silent disco bands finished. One of them dropped Dillinger Escape Plan. I’m activated. Even the most jaded punters are having a damn good time tonight. [LMC]
Words by Linz Conway [LMC] and Sam Taylor [ST]
Header image by snaprockandpop
