A festival that refuses to compromise when it comes to booking some of the best talent in the left-field scene, this year’s ArcTanGent is once again hosting some of the finest names in all things math, post, noise and generally ‘out there’. But whilst every edition of this festival has been memorable in its own ways, this year is looking to be uniquely special. ArcTanGent 2026 will be the final time the festival is hosted at its picturesque home of Fernhill Farm before moving to a new location next year. Bittersweet indeed; it remains to be seen if this year’s festival will be the best one to date, but it’s more than likely to be the most sentimental edition so far.
Thankfully, the team have booked an incredible lineup to soundtrack the farewell to Fernhill party that is going to be ArcTanGent 2026. Much like every year, the lineup is utterly stacked. But of course we don’t need to tell you to catch Mariner being played in full in celebration of its 10th anniversary. Nor do we need to tell you to watch Primus, Chelsea Wolfe, Svalbard or our frequently covered favourites such as Din of Celestial Birds, Sans Froid or Conjurer. But beneath the big names and scene favourites lies an utter treasure trove of new and fresh artists playing across the weekend. And with that in mind, here are our top picks for the artists you would be utterly foolish to miss this year. Words by Dan Hillier, Rowan Bruce and Adam Vallely.
From the Emerald Isle comes something unnerving. Sounding like an uncanny fusion of Portrayal of Guilt and Model/Actriz, Dublin’s Bucket fuse ear-scraping noise rock and suave dance rhythms into a maniacal sound that’s equal parts panic attack and equal parts party. But what makes this band just so striking is their intensity. Directly inspired by mental illness, Bucket’s music feels like thoughts warped by depression, bipolar disorder, and OCD made audible and presented with enough intensity to scour this world clean. If Model/Actriz is rock music for fashion runways, Bucket is runway music for the apocalypse. – DH
FFO: YARD, Model/Actriz, Portrayal of Guilt
While there are a few acts that could fight for the title of ‘Most ArcTanGent Band Of All Time’, Swedish instrumental prog collective Göstra Berlings Saga are clawing their way to the top spot. After a quarter-century of work, Göstra Berlings Saga make their ATG debut following last year’s Pelagic-released seventh album Forever Now, an eccentric exploration of dark, prog sounds that both embraces the history of the genre and shuns its overdone clichés. Although fans of big vintage names such as King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer are sure to be attracted to the intertwining instrumentals, modern listeners will engage with the band’s dark, direct approach to progressive rock sounds. – RB
FFO: King Crimson, Giant Walker, Goblin
If you’re going to wear chainmail while performing live, you’re going to need to have the musical chops to justify the getup. Thankfully Overpower more than warrant such gear, something that ‘Terminus’ proves. Dropping before their upcoming set at Bloodstock like an executioner’s axe, the new single from the Bristolian bruisers is a sharp and serrated slice of crossover thrash that sees the quintet putting over-produced modern metalcore slop to the blade. There’s no gimmickry nor algorithm appeasing ploys here; just shit-kicking riffs designed to lay festival fields to waste. – Dan Hillier
Ferocious, aggressive and brilliantly noisy, Norwich based duo Kulk have made quite the name for themselves over the last few years. Taking performing alongside Portrayal Of Guilt, Pigs x7 and Part Chimp as well as collaborating with Gaffa Tape Sandy and playing ArcTanGent in their stride, Kulk are back with another sludgy, hard-hitting single ‘We’re Worried About You’. With shouted vocals and brutal, fuzzed-out guitars backed by stomping percussion, this latest track is pure Kulk chaos, burning for only a minute and a half but leaving a trail of wreckage in their wake. If you like your music deafening and intense yet intimate and personal then get ready for Kulk to be your new obsession. – Rowan Bruce
Almost ten years since their last full-length album, God Mother are back with a ripper of a new track. ‘Dopamine Wire’ is the lead single from the upcoming Köttvärld and it packs as much punch into one minute and thirty eight seconds as a heavyweight haymaker. Stuffed with everything from blackened riffs and dissonant harmonised leadlines to blistering drumbeats, harrowing vocals and a Mötorhead-esque solo, all whilst sounding like Sweden’s answer to Converge. It’s absolutely stuffed to the gills and bodes well for an album that many have been waiting a long time for. – Niall Creane
Regardless of it being his guitar work in post-everything doomsters Sugar Horse or his own uncompromising noise project, Bristol’s Jake Healy has mostly dealt in all things oppressive and harsh. With this in mind, ‘Grand Stretch’ comes as a surprise. The first single to be lifted from his second solo LP Life Splice – releasing 30 October via Totality – ‘Grand Stretch’ is a sunkissed ray of ambience that takes inspiration from childhood summer evenings spent basking in the glow of the golden hour. Sure, its compounding loops and echoes ultimately come to carry haunting reminders of how our precious childhood memories are fraying and decaying with the passage of time, but with its gilded ambience, this feels like memory turned musical textures that are warm to the touch. “My Dad is from Cork, and I’d seemingly spend all my holidays in Ireland as a kid”, states Healy. “Because of that I like to even now stay quite tapped into some of the sayings and wordplay that comes from Ireland, cause it’s all class. One that sticks with me is the iconic “There’s a Grand Stretch in the Evenings”. Basically, to say that is to comment on that moment in the year where evenings get longer, sunsets seem to last hours and hours, and people wrecked by winter start to feel some optimism. That loop used in the song just makes me think of that, and for me that is my kind of idea of processed imagined nostalgia, certain images & phrases stick in your brain seem to mean a lot.” – Dan Hillier
Rozemary are the crown jewel of metalcore in Merseyside right now, with the newly released ‘It’s Harder to Breathe’ providing a fresh and intriguing companion to 2025’s ‘The Lies They Made Me Believe’ with its addictive mix of brutality and passages of vulnerability. Their UK tour ends with them cutting the ribbon on Radar Fest providing them a platform in front of the masses after tearing through the UK this summer. If you like your metalcore to actually feel like it’s made by humans then let this band set the bar for your weekend. Catch them on the Shure Stage on Friday at 1pm. – AC
Progressive metalcore doesn’t always have to disappear into endless time signatures, and Sixth Wonder demonstrate that better than most. The Glasgow outfit combine technical musicianship with memorable songwriting, creating songs that are every bit as catchy as they are intricate. They’re still early in their journey, but each release has shown a band growing rapidly into their own identity. Catch them now, because they don’t feel destined to stay on the smaller stages for very long. They’ll be on the Shure Stage on Friday at 2pm. – VR
If your ideal festival experience involves riffs that hit like a freight train and a crowd that completely loses its mind, Cage Fight should already be highlighted on your clashfinder. Their blend of hardcore attitude, thrash aggression and uncompromising heaviness makes them one of the most relentless live bands on the bill, while Rachel Aspe remains one of the fiercest frontwomen in modern metal. Expect organised chaos, flying bodies and absolutely no easing into the weekend. – VR
Burner come bursting into your front room, reducing it to an angry as fuck mosh pit with their new single ‘What Will You Give?’, replete with two stepping banger riffs, hard and heavy breakdowns and a seasoning of vocal work from Josh Middleton of Sylosis, this new single proves that Burner are going to keep going at it, providing the unwashed masses with music to kick the shit out of each other to. Along with the other singles that have come out already this is some sick stuff; nasty, angry and liable to cave your head in at any point. Everything points towards the new album being a sublime affair of black eyes, misanthropy and circle pit induced dust clouds. – Rob Bown
With their third ever single (yes, ever), Showing Teeth have also announced their debut EP A Fate Worse Than Loneliness. A blistering mix of djent-adjacent riffs, blastbeats and acerbic screams, it’s their heaviest release to date and one that – if you’ve been fortunate enough to see them live lately – has been opening some pretty ferocious pits. ‘Bad Exchanges’ gradually intensifies from the intro, seething and roiling before collapsing in on itself. Going from vocal covers in her car on TikTok to opening for BMTH is pretty huge, but with their three varied singles so far, Showing Teeth are staking their claim as worth all the hype, and a band with a bright future. – Will Marshall
Mastodon return in a way only they can with yet another evolutionary step towards being even more of a prog rock band (not a bad thing). Having found new members to fill the giant void left by the late Brent Hinds (RIP) the new jaunt from the Atlanta natives sees them at their gravelly vocal, techy, prog rock best. Eliciting similar feelings to the last few albums, gone really are the days of disgusting pinch harmonic riffs a la ‘Mother Puncher’ and the grisly, growled vocals of ‘Blood and Thunder’, replaced with chanted harmonies, heavy metal inspired riffs and nods to Rush left right and centre. Whilst the album may not be as shatteringly good for some of their older fans, it doesn’t skip a beat on what has become the ‘new’ sound for Mastodon. – Rob Bown
The group’s first single in well over three years, ‘Codename Kids Next Year’ is a moody albeit uplifting return from Nottingham emo trio Pillow Fort. Once again displaying the DIY band’s penchant for organically amalgamating motifs from all waves and eras of emo from both sides of the Atlantic, this is a wonderfully dejected blast of noodling riffs that ultimately comes to be comforting in thanks to it’s sense of relatability. Perfect listening for both fans of current staples such as Free Throw and Riley! as it is for those loyal to the underground UK emo scene. – Dan Hillier
Built around a drum beat that swirls and twirls like underwater currents, ‘Enough’, the latest single from Emma Ruth Rundle sees her employ a full-band arrangement as the surface upon which her haunting vocals float. R.E.M.-like guitars swirl around Emma’s mesmeric voice, occasionally evoking the melodic tendencies of Jeff Buckley as well, as she croons in her somber trademark style. There can be no mistaking Rundle‘s singularly unique artistic vision, however, as it all swells to a hypnotically haunting discordant maelstrom. ‘Enough’ draws you in like a riptide, broiling and churning with anxious energy and ghostly mystique. – Niall Creane
Instant, obliterating energetic rage from the get go, it takes a few minutes to get your breath back after spinning the new single from Idaho’s Throes. ‘Eat Glass’ doesn’t take its boot off your throat for 3 minutes, and even when it does there’s a lingering brain fog like you’ve just been lit up by Bam Bam Kam Chancellor on a shallow crosser. The slow ponderous blast beat behind the huge slamming riff towards the end of the song is for sure something to get down to, their well known visceral live performances add further credence to the sound, this is dark and heavy stuff, not for the weak, but definitely for those wanting the liberation that metallic hardcore can bring. – Rob Bown
“I’ve wanted to sing for a long time and now that I have a vehicle in which I can do that it’s very fulfilling for me” says Jonny. We’ve managed to overcome the challenges of an 8-hour time difference to get together via Zoom, and he’s clearly excited to be able to share this band and their story with the world.
“I can let loose and release what I’ve built up and been practicing for years now, I’ve really been workshopping my voice and getting better as a singer. It felt like the right time to shift and challenge myself to do what I really love to do, even though it’s nerve-wracking to put myself out there as a melodic vocalist. It’s revealing a different side of myself, I’m having to hit melodies and notes and it feels a little more personal if people don’t like it, so I’m getting used to that and building some armour up.”
Jonny’s voice is an important part of the Soft Curse story. You may recognise three-quarters of the bands members of screamo veterans State Faults, whose last release came in the form of 2024s Children of the Moon. Making the change to singing and embracing his own tastes and influences were two important driving forces behind this new project. “This band took form in February 2025. I’ve been a musician since high school and I’ve always played in bands, and I had been writing music constantly between writing Children of the Moon and it coming out in 2024, and I wanted to sing more but it didn’t seem to fit State Faults.
Jared (drummer of State Faults) had to take a step back from music to focus on his tattooing career and encouraged us to use our ideas for another project., and State Faults at its core will always be a project between Jared and I. There’s a lot of emotion and friendship tied into it, and around the time Jared stepped back my Mom passed away and it felt like time to put State Faults to rest and try something else.”
Once the seeds of a new band were planted, it didn’t take long for Soft Curse to come into being. Freed from the weight of expectations and the sometimes suffocating template of screamo, Jonny describes the experience of starting again as liberating. “I didn’t want to do another screamo thing because to be honest I don’t listen to that music often at all and haven’t done so for years. I forgot how fun it could be starting something new! I was afraid of going back to the beginning, but it turned out to be even better because we’ve learned so much, we’re older and more mature and we don’t fight or argue. It’s super cool how much of a connection we have.”
The second track off the upcoming release Who Loves The Sun, is the usual unhinged, sludgy affair we’ve come to know and love from Chat Pile. The track is more reminiscent of their EP Remove Your Skin Please, a heady, heavy, horrid stomper, with Raygun Busch in a more screamy mood than usual. The kicker is the bong rip breakdown, which slaps, and will most likely reduce any venue they play to rubble. This is Chat Pile at their best, whacky, weird, yet strangely melodic in their affairs, whilst keeping that cutting edge that has garnered the band so much (warranted) attention over these last six or so years. – Rob Bown
Rezn grace us with another soaring powerful post-metal offering. Replete with fuzzed out riffs, string section and soundscapes to match. The psychedelic stylings lope through the undergrowth of a forest, building a sense of landscape and story at once, as the ethereal vocals neatly canopy the sparse yet striking guitar work. The bass is also nice and present, quietly thrumming away its groovy doom laden dealings. Whilst not as heavy as the previous single ‘Cloudfall’, ‘Aerial Birth’ manages to capture a different kind of heaviness, more moody whilst being uplifting at the same time. This is a supremely well constructed track, infinite in its complexity, yet digestible enough to provide an earworm or two that’s sure to stick around long after it’s finished. – Rob Bown
Hot off a raucous showing at Outbreak Festival, SoCal hardcore mob Initiate have unveiled their first new music since last year’s standalone single in EP With Love // With Rage out 7 August via their new home at Blue Grape Music. Lead single ‘Numb the Pain’ showcases their particular brand of hardcore well; grooving riffs and lead guitar lines that don’t shy away from melodicism, capped by Crystal Pak’s forceful bark shot through with emotion. Her singing takes on a more grungy tone, exposing the vulnerability that lies at the core of Initiate‘s writing. It’s a scorching reintroduction to one of hardcore’s most exciting rising voices. – Will Marshall
