Spread across multiple days from the Wednesday through to the Saturday and situated in the picturesque countryside surrounding Bristol, ArcTangent is one of the nicest, most welcoming festivals in the UK. With one of the bad lucks of being cast opposite Green Man; Wales’ premiere indie festival, it has established a niche as a prog rock masterclass and following the back of its tenth anniversary year last year that saw headliners like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Meshuggah and Spiritualized take centre stage – it’s easy to look at this lineup and think it’s weaker. But it’s anything but – in fact, ArcTangent 2025 is stronger than ever.
Thursday headliners Godspeed You! Black Emperor are a name to watch. Storm, one of their songs – comes in at a mammoth 22 minute length runtime. Their minimal, patient crescendo building creates a hypnotic, dizzying atmosphere that emphasizes chamber rock superbly. For a band with nine or more musicians and a projectionist, it can be a daunting task to put on a live show – yet they excel with the instruments, three guitars, two basses, French horn, violin, viola, cello and percussion. It’s a tall order for any band to rival – yet they appeal instantly to similar prog-rock minded folk.
LeProus I saw play at Radar Festival 2024 and it’s worth highlighting their excellent set. The prog metallers are based out of Norway and are perfect for fans of VOLA; capturing the high intense riffs with Einar showing his range as a vocalist – energetic and badass at every turn; never afraid to go higher where other artists would back away from.
Lemondaze are a shoegaze/postpunk lovechild from Cambridge that draw information from My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice and Slowdive to craft an intimate, powerful vision full of swirling guitars and powerful bass lines. Now based in North London, the outfit are a phenomenal band that you don’t want to miss – emerging kicking and screaming from the UK underground with an emphasis on a great live show.
Journey over to the Friday and beyond headliners Karnivool you have a mammoth line-up of talent that shows Arctangent’s range as a festival. Metalcore band Ithaca are ferocious, fronted by Djamila Boden Azzouz, and on the verge of a final tour that look set to put the band to rest once and for all – which is sad, to lose such a great band – but it’s a place to return home to, when everything is lost. Ithaca is dead – having lasted over a decade is no small feat – but they look set to go out on a high note that blends blackgaze, 90s industrial metal and 70s prog together for something of a healing process, standing on their own with a voice that makes them completely distinctive in their field. Long live Ithaca.
A band I’d never thought I’d get the chance to see live but might finally get to is the great Adebisi Shank. The three piece instrumental rock band are robot rock, hardcore math rock with the scope of punk rock combined to create a genre-fusion unlike no other – if you thought dance and metal couldn’t work together you’ve got another thing coming – this band are a real force of nature that echo And So I Watch You From Afar and feel like the perfect genre hybrid for fans looking to dance as much as mosh. This is the Second Album of a band called Adebisi Shank is one of my favourite album titles of the last decade.
A new discovery for me are Green Lung – stoner doom rock formed out of London’s heavy rock scene with three albums to their name mixing in a healthy amount of folk and psychedelic for albums like Woodland Rites and Black Harvest, they practically scream black magic and cult and create an instant state of affairs that has to be seen to be believed. Their love of all things pagan and 70s rock embrace the woodland atmosphere of the folk nature – tracking to Highgate Cemetery or Wistman’s Wood in Devon with spirit that taps into forgotten horrors of the folk genre. Woodland Rites was an album that really excited the underground metal community, and they’ve gone from strength to strength to strength since then.
Between the Buried and Me are playing twice on back-to-back days and fans get the chance to see their iconic 2007 album Colors in full; plus a set-list entirely composed of other works the following day. For the North Carolinians their ability to blend genre is unmatched, dipping headfirst into avant-garde and death metal fusing their unique blend at every turn.
Journey over to the Saturday and worth highlighting for their name alone are the spectacular Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Performance art as art rock – the band are labelled as one of the quirkiest of all time and have their own following that act like it. 1997 (Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s…). Be sure not to miss them.
There’s also Rolo Tomassi – nineteen years strong and still going. Six albums deep – their legendary status within the genre is a feat that has to be seen to be believed, capable of releasing instrumental versions of their records twice over (Where Myth Becomes Mystery) that give them entirely new depth and force.
TesseracT are your Saturday headliners. Prog rock band from Milton Keynes and credited as one of the pioneers of the djent movement – open tunings on their guitars, polyrhythmic riffs and find a way not to waste any note – Jay Postones is one of the best drummers in the game – if that isn’t an incentive enough. Altered State is one of the best albums of the last decade; and War of Being one of the best of this one.
Spread across ArcTangent’s lineup it’s a diverse mix of the best in metal and prog rock, sure to be a firecracker of a four day spectacle unlike any other festival in the UK. These are just some of the excellent names to watch; and there’s more besides – Sungazer, Mew, Emma Ruth Rundle – there’s good names everywhere you look.
ArcTangent 2025 will play from August 13-16.
Learn more about the festival, including how to buy tickets, at the official website for the event.
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