Written by:	musclassia
Published:	August 25, 2024
Event:	ArcTanGent Festival 2024 (Website)
Location:	Fernhill Farm, Bristol, United Kingdom

Anyone who has read my articles covering my experiences at the last two editions of ArcTanGent will be aware of the incredibly high esteem that I hold the festival in, so unsurprisingly I was back once more in 2024 for what was the tenth edition of the festival.

Those who have read the abovementioned articles will see a variety of genres well represented, including post-metal, prog, sludge, djent, mathcore and more. One genre that I have covered bands in, but which has not had a huge presence in these last couple of years, is post-rock, but ArcTanGent was actually first and foremost a post-rock (and math rock/metal) festival. The trio of headliners back in 2014 were And So I Watch You From Afar, Russian Circles and Mono, and it wasn’t until 2019 that an established post-rock band was not one of the main stage headliners. However, this was sustained across the next couple of festivals (only Cult Of Luna in 2022 were a headliner under the ‘post-‘ umbrella), as the festival arguably went heavier and more metallic: by no means an issue with me, but perhaps a disappointment to those that had become fans of the festival right at its inception. Well, those people were rewarded, as ArcTanGent 10 was a celebration of the festival’s roots:




Three of the four days would be headlined by post-rock bands, including a first appearance at ArcTanGent for Mogwai, while the tech side of the event’s heritage was represented by a welcome return from Meshuggah. That said, the lower billings on ArcTanGent 2024 more than adequately reflected the trends in the festival’s line-up evolution over the years, striking a good balance of old and new. As always, there were a few late dropouts from the bill; most painful for me were the absences of Earthside and Bipolar Architecture, although Clown Core were perhaps the most widely mourned when they withdrew.

The group that I attended with was a bit lower on numbers than in the previous few years due to conflicting schedules, but our 4-man crew arrived as one of the earliest groups to reach the grounds of Fernhill Farm, ensuring access to a very convenient camping spot that would make trips to and from the arena very easy, although given how jam-packed my clashfinder was, there was little hope of me having too much time to chill at the tent. Another bonus of our arrival time this year was that, unlike last year, we were already unpacked and ready to enjoy music when the first band of the long weekend emerged.

Table Of Contents

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

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As is becoming custom since the Wednesday pre-day was introduced, this ‘bonus’ day was primarily comprised of bands that performed at ArcTanGent 2023 (albeit with one exception, unlike last year), and again a strong cohort of last year’s line-up was curated for those who shelled out for a 4-day ticket this time around. Additionally, the organizers had moved the Wednesday bands from the third-largest stage in 2023 to the second-largest in 2024.

Host Body 13:00-13:30, Yokhai Stage

The first performance of ArcTanGent 2024 came from local Bristol act Host Body, who presumably have caught the attention of the festival’s organizers from performances on the live circuit, as there are but 2 songs from the band available to listen to online, and one of those was released the day before their set here. Well, the quality of ArcTanGent’s rosters year in, year out makes it clear that the bookers know how to recognize talent, and Host Body are another good find; the group lingered somewhere between sludge, hardcore and post-metal stylistically, with some big imposing walls of sludgy distortion, harsher edges of aggression, and subtler post-metal builds sitting nicely alongside one another.

Hidden Mothers 13:55-14:25, Yokhai Stage

Next up were Sheffield screamo purveyors Hidden Mothers, whose debut album Erosion / Avulsion will be released later this year. Compared with the preceding act, Hidden Mothers are less ‘hardcore plus post-metal’ and more ‘post-hardcore’, with some post-rock and blackgaze stylings. I do feel that the heavier bits in their songs lacked some of the weight that Host Body conveyed, and some of the clean sung parts were a bit wet; in contrast, the post-rock/metal atmospheric passages came across very well, particularly in a more technical and atmospheric track later in the setlist.

Din Of Celestial Birds 14:50-15:20, Yokhai Stage

The first dose of instrumental post-rock (with many to follow) at this anniversary event came in the form of Leeds’s Din Of Celestial Birds, a band that I’m half-inclined to say enjoy such exposure at ArcTanGent due to the low price and vibrant colours of their merchandise. As for the music, it’s pretty much what you would expect from instrumental post-rock, even in the ways that it uses electronics, but the group have quite a lively energy, with some heavier chugs contrasted with upbeat tremolo melody, and a couple of tracks featured ear-catching climactic guitar motifs.

Cobra The Impaler 15:45-16:15, Yokhai Stage

I had seen Cobra The Impaler described as a super-group when looking them up before their slot, although it seems a tenuous description considering Dirk Verbeuren didn’t last a year in the band before quitting, and the only remaining member of particular renown is Predatory Void/ex-Aborted guitarist Thijs De Decloedt. Admittedly, the band’s name didn’t ring a bell, even though I did actually listen to (and enjoy, with reservations) their album Karma Collision from earlier this year. As for their display here, I picked up the presence of some more classic metal elements that I’d recognized on the album prior, but I found the predominantly clean vocal style to be a tad more fitting within this heavy prog framework live. The writing is quite subtle yet also lively, and there were some stanky riffs among the songs, but it does perhaps struggle a bit in the hook memorability department.

Psychonaut 16:45-17:30, Yokhai Stage




One Belgian band followed another, and we had finally reached the stretch of the day that was packed with acts I was excited for. Psychonaut did have a bit of a delayed start, and in truth I found, just like last year, that their sound wasn’t quite as full and impactful as I’d hope based on what they’ve accomplished on their records to date (the guitar was on the quiet side), but overall the songs translated well, and a setlist featuring the likes of “Violate Consensus Reality”, “Interbeing” and “The Fall Of Consciousness” did enough to kick ArcTanGent 2024 into the next gear.

Conjurer / Pijn (Curse These Metal Hands) 18:00-18:45, Yokhai Stage

Last year’s Wednesday featured Conjurer in isolation, followed by a performance of their Curse These Metal Hands collaboration with Pijn later on; this year, the collaboration was hosted on the Wednesday, while Pijn appeared on the final day as a last-minute replacement. Curse These Metal Hands finds a good middle ground in terms of heaviness between the two groups, but there’s a fun to their playing that is absent from either ‘main’ band’s usual sets; still, it’s probably quite hard to sound bleak when there’s a banjo in play. There was a good mix that gave nice texture to the builds within songs, the guitar hooks are strong, the folk touches are pleasant, and the heavy rolls hit hard; this collaboration was clearly a successful one, given that it’s been scheduled 3 times across the past 4 editions of the festival, and each performance demonstrates why.

LLNN 19:15-20:00, Yokhai Stage




When LLNN performed at last year’s edition, I was already well aware of how devastating their live shows are, but I was not aware that guitarist/vocalist Christian Bonnesen had left the group and been replaced by Victor Kaas (also of Eyes), nor was I aware of what an insane goblin energy Kaas brings to the stage. Having subsequently seen LLNN at Beyond The Redshift in the autumn and once more in February on their headline tour, I knew exactly what to expect from the current version of the band, but even having that knowledge, it is very hard to try and prepare for the sonic carnage that LLNN unleash. Their tone, as always, is beyond heavy, making their chasmic riffs that much more potent, and Kaas is such a unique presence on stage. I wrote this last year as well, but if you ever have an opportunity to see this band, you really should make it a priority to do so.

Bossk 20:35-21:25, Yokhai Stage




The one exception I mentioned above of a band playing this Wednesday that didn’t appear at ArcTanGent 2023 was Bossk, but the band are such a part of the furniture at ArcTanGent (this being their sixth year on the line-up) that most people probably just assumed they must have been there in 2023 anyway. They were actually (like the following group) playing twice this year, with a ‘typical’ set scheduled for Saturday. Their ‘unique’ set on this first day stayed away from Audio Noir, featuring a couple of tracks from Migration (neither featuring their respective guest vocalists, despite both Johannes Persson and Joel Mckeown performing with bands later in the weekend) and a couple of trips back to their pre-Audio Noir material. On top of that, there were covers of songs from Melvins, Torche and earthtone9, the latter of which did have a guest vocalist appearance from Karl Middleton (earthtone9 were scheduled for Saturday). Having seen Bossk perform twice at Damnation Festival 2023, I admittedly felt that their last-minute surprise set at Damnation last year was significantly better than this particular novelty slot, although most of that is due to my indifference towards the artists they covered.

The Wednesday headliner were And So I Watch You From Afar doing a requests setlist; by this point, I was flagging after an early start and long stretch of consecutive bands, so I elected to listen from afar in the comfort of my tent while trying to nap. What I heard sounded very good, with quite a mathy and hectic style that obviously extends beyond the immediate confines of post-rock, and some moments sounded positively triumphant. However, it was not enough to overcome my exhaustion; instead, I would only return to the arena to catch the first of the ‘silent disco’ sets scheduled for the end of each day.

Aiming For Enrike (Silent Disco) 23:30-00:20, Yokhai Stage

Aiming For Enrike’s dancy electronic rock was one of my highlights of ArcTanGent 2023, so I was excited by their presence twice (as a relatively late inclusion) on this year’s bill. Their Wednesday night silent disco show did veer away from the immediacy of their Music For Working Out, instead having a more long-form gradual techno/synthwave sound with slowly evolving layering of textures. I did enjoy this, but wouldn’t have minded slightly faster escalation of tracks, or slightly longer commitment to the payoff moments. Still, it was a nice end to the first day.



The first ‘full’ day of ArcTanGent 2024 was, aside from a quiet opening few slots, an intimidating schedule of back-to-back-to-back music with little room for downtime; in my pre-festival clashfinder, I had highlighted bands in a non-stop stretch running for 10 hours, so opportunities to sit and rest would be limited today.

Seneca 11:00-11:30, PX3 Stage

During one of those quiet opening slots, we opted to watch Seneca, another local act from Bristol. Representing the festival’s also occasionally overlooked math rock heritage, the group had some fun bouncy riffs and technical playing, but the lower-pitched vocals were arguably overloud in the mix, and the songwriting generally lacked something in engagement or memorability. The group featured a cover of At The Drive-In’s “One Armed Scissor”, which did a lot to highlight the gulf in memorability between a song beloved at ArcTanGent (the festival has a dedicated The Mars Volta channel for the silent disco) and the band’s own efforts. Sad as it may be to say, this was one of only a couple of acts this year that left me ultimately feeling indifferent.

Kulk 11:35-12:05, Bixler Stage

Offering a significant change of pace immediately after this were the stoner/sludge doom duo Kulk, whose slow, droning, heavy riffs were meaty and satisfying. There were some cool lively synth parts that shook things up on occasion, and the duo occasionally approached faster tempos, but really it was during the passages of gnarly slow trudging that Kulk really impressed. They also made their impact on other stages; about 50 metres away on the fifth stage were A-Sun Amissa, Richard Knox’s avant-garde ambient/drone project, whose very subtle ambient soundscaping was rather intruded upon by the huge walls of distortion being conjured in close proximity.

Oddism 12:10-12:40, PX3 Stage

In terms of pure abrasion, this set was stiff competition for everyone else. The jagged, cacophonic mathcore was backed up by a particularly nasty tone when Oddism went low and heavy. I did find that the set seemed to lean more and more into the earthshaking breakdowns as it went on, and by the end it turned basically into a continuous chain of breakdowns, which I admittedly began to grow tired of. However, I have plenty of respect for the band working extra hard to get the crowd energized, with the frontman climbing into the crowd to get a pit going before the guitarist crowdsurfed in the last song.

Underdark 12:45-13:15, Yokhai Stage

I don’t have too much to say about these guys, although I did find that their sound mix was among the best of the weekend for blast-heavy blackened sounds; some other bands with lots of tremolo parts could turn quite washy, but the post-black atmospheres came through well, and the shrieky vocals cut through strongly.

Hundred Year Old Man 13:20-13:50, PX3 Stage

This was the first band of this day that I was particularly looking forward to in advance, after being quite impressed by Hundred Year Old Man at a headline show of theirs I went to last summer. They just make very good post-metal with a decent amount of variety; some of the soft and loud parts remind me of early Bossk and also Isis, but I also felt that there was a measure of grandeur to some of the heavier parts, perhaps a bit like “Syndic Calls” by Isis. At the same time, the group were capable of some more up-tempo heaviness, and conversely delivering some really dirgy and heavy doom parts. Also of note was the lively energy of the frontman, which is a relative rarity in the genre. Their set did perhaps threaten to overstay its welcome, but on the whole I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Aiming For Enrike 14:30-15:05, PX3 Stage

The slot after Hundred Year Old Man (occupied by Blanket and Bicurious) offered a good chance to enjoy downtime before a subsequent marathon afternoon of music. Said marathon did not get off to a great start; I had been excited for this set after the more ambient techno silent disco performance, but Aiming For Enrike were hindered by technical difficulties with what appeared to be a MIDI module for the drums that took over 20 minutes to be fixed. The lack of communication with the crowd, who were doing their best to maintain enthusiasm by clapping along to a rendition of “Seven Nation Army” when soundchecking the guitar, was unfortunate. When they were finally able to get going, they opened with two longer songs that, while more song-oriented that the previous evening, were still quite gradual; it’s a mesmerizing sound, and one that I would have loved to bathe in for a full set, but given the difficulties beforehand, it was a struggle to get into before it was over. They then closed with an unexpectedly heavy track that seemingly belied a metal-adjacent history that I was not previously aware of, and ultimately I didn’t find myself gelling with that kind of sound coming from them. Arguably the disappointment of the weekend, particularly considering how great they had been just a year prior.

Wyatt E. 15:10-15:45, Yokhai Stage




From the ridiculous to the sublime, this was a truly euphoric experience, arguably exceeding their already excellent set at last year’s Desertfest. The mix of ethereal layers, heavy bass, and the dual drum attack of repetitive ritualistic patterns, and seeing all of that so gradually escalate and engulf, was awe-inspiring. The length and the intensity of the builds made it easy to be incredibly immersed in the experience, and this was unquestionably one of the highlights of the weekend.

Julie Christmas 17:00-17:45, Main Stage




The first trip to the main stage this festival was for Julie Christmas, who was set to follow up a gripping show at Damnation last year. In the intervening period, her album Ridiculous And Full Of Blood was released to acclaim; personally, I wasn’t as taken by it for the most part, but as at Damnation, the guitar tone felt way chunkier and fuller on this stage, and that increased heaviness seemed to make songs that I now recognized from the album click. Christmas was prowling the stage and delivered a predictably strong and chaotic vocal performance.

Conan 16:45-17:25, Yokhai Stage




My abiding memory of Conan from Bloodstock 2021 was just the sheer rumbling volume, and as I was stood up close for the band, the intensity of the vibrations going through me when they soundchecked just before playing was an ominous omen. This set was loud, but there’s more in the trio’s arsenal than just volume; those cataclysmic droning doom riffs are crushing, particularly with that bass rumble, while they also throw out a bunch of really tasty ‘bruiser’ riffs with plenty of swagger. This was primitive, but in a really good way.

Baroness 17:30-18:30, Main Stage

Baroness are a band that I almost feel wrong for not liking as much as many do; they overlap with a bunch of bands that I am a big fan of, and by rights they do everything right, but often enough it just doesn’t click. This set really encapsulated that ongoing battle; the sound was very clear and dense, the riffs and solos sounded strong, the performance was very professional, but as they smashed through the likes of “March To The Sea” and “Shock Me”, I couldn’t find it in me to love the experience. Having said that, there was one longer psych-heavy jam, perhaps during “Tourniquet”, that I found to be really lush, and in that moment, I was almost converted, but alas. Also alas, the heavens opened during this set for the customary annual ArcTanGent downpour, although thankfully the elements were gentler this year than usual.

Kalandra 18:35-19:25, Bixler Stage




Despite being on the surface quite an odd pick for this line-up, Kalandra had been one of my most anticipated acts to see on this Thursday, partly due to my love of their debut album The Line, but also from how impressed I had been when they opened for Leprous, and from speaking to a few people before and after this set, it seems quite a number had been introduced to them by the same tour. On that occasion, they played music exclusively from The Line, but this time around, with a new album on the imminent horizon, they were able to add in a couple of new songs from it.

What’s struck me both times I’ve seen the band is how surprisingly heavy their rock parts have come through, especially on “Naïve” and at the end of “Slow Motion”. Beyond that, though, they’re just excellent performers, and seemingly growing into it, as singer Katrine Stenbekk was a lot more mobile and flamboyant with her movements than at the Leprous show. The mix was, as for many bands this weekend (someone must’ve had a word with the organizers after the sound issues affecting several bands last year), crystal clear, which made their cover of Wardruna’s “Helvegen” even more stirring, particularly when the pounding drums kicked in towards the end. This was an excellent performance that has left me very tempted to go see them again when they tour the UK in September.

Author & Punisher 19:35-20:35, PX3 Stage

Up next was the notorious industrial act with industrial instruments, Author & Punisher. Despite having heard their albums, I entered this without the strongest memory of how exactly they sound, so I was slightly surprised that, in spite of the deep churning underlying distortion and emphatic industrial beats, there was a somewhat uplifting vibe to the droning textures delivered by the duo (Tristan Shone has a live guitarist), and also the rather dreamy clean vocals. It’s a cool sound to listen to for 20-odd minutes, but admittedly I did find it losing some appeal the longer it went on, and we opted to check out the alternate slot well before these guys finished.

Spiritualized 19:30-20:40, Main Stage

For the second time now (following Conjurer), I’ve discovered a band by seeing them at ArcTanGent, only to learn that they’re from my hometown of Rugby in England. Maybe if I knew hometown pride was on the line, I may have been more excited for Spiritualized, the space/psychedelic rock project formed by Jason Pierce after leaving Spaceman 3. I did find some of the mellow yet tonally upbeat gazy psychedelia here to be quite fun, and the gospel-like backing singers added an interesting touch; there were also a few surprisingly heavy moments. Still, with a 70-minute set, even though I had arrived significantly after the start time, I did find myself losing interest before they finished.

Amenra 20:45-21:35, Yokhai Stage




This was now the ninth time that I’ve seen Amenra, and I was half-tempted to go see Textures instead, as the last time that I watched the Belgian post-metal titans at Damnation last year, I was slightly underwhelmed. For some reason, Amenra shows seem to either be dependent on my mood or on the vibe of the gig, because without any perceptible changes in performance on their part, I do find my enjoyment of them fluctuating more than for many similar acts that I’ve seen so frequently. This was one of the best Amenra shows I’ve seen; it had a perfect mix that made the heavier parts crushing and the atmospheres devastating, and they also got the setlist right. “Boden” should always be the set opener, as those initial clanks do such a good job of setting the tone, and “A Solitary Reign” was beyond words.

John Cxnnor 21:40-22:30, PX3 Stage

After such a solemn and emphatic set, there were two options: the tranquil bliss of Explosions In The Sky, or the intensity of John Cxnnor, the electronic side-project of the keyboardist and drummer from LLNN. As this set finished a half-hour earlier and would afford the option to see both bands, it ultimately swayed me, and while I had seen John Cxnnor perform at Roadburn 2022 in a collaboration with The Devil’s Trade, on their own they were a different story. This was heavy, with some gnarly metallic distortion amidst ominous electronic soundscapes, as well as a mixture across songs of dirty trap beats, intense distorted techno, and sometimes even a slightly cheesy trance approach. LLNN bandmate Victor Kaas popped up to do vocals and general hype man duties on several songs, as did Møl’s Kim Song Sternkopf. All in all, this was quite a blast.

Explosions In The Sky 21:40-23:00, Main Stage

A very different vibe awaited on the main stage; the remaining 30 minutes was, in truth, as much as I probably would have wanted to see of this anyway considering how fatigued I was starting to feel, but the crescendocore bliss of Explosions In The Sky was perfectly supported by another excellent mix, and while some of their material is a bit too twee for my liking, some of the more full-bodied and expansive builds really were quite captivating and lush.

Karin Park (Silent Disco) 23:10-00:00, Yokhai Stage




Having a base familiarity with Årabrot, and also of Karin Park’s features on songs by the likes of The Ocean and Crown, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Park’s solo set, but I was optimistic, and it did not disappoint. The backing electronics fluctuated between sounds that I’d tend to class as IDM over to others closer to synthpop, and these melodic, often bouncy, electronic backdrops were elevated by really nice soulful singing from Park. Even though I was running on empty by this point, the set was more than good enough to keep me engaged for the near-hour duration of this slot, although I did slink off to my tent before the silent disco DJs got to work.



After the previous evening’s rain, the weather was basically ideal on the Friday: consistently sunny without being too hot. One benefit of this was that I could dry out the clothes of mine that had become damp when my old rickety tent allowed some of yesterday’s rain in. More than that, though, it was just very satisfying to see the arena site basking in sunlight:




i Häxa 11:00-11:30, Main Stage

The opening slot of Friday was shared by i Häxa and Haal, two names I was vaguely aware of but that I had not listened to before. The former, comprised on album of vocalist Rebecca Need-Menear and multi-instrumentalist Peter Miles but fleshed out into a full ensemble here, caught my interest on the wind and drew me to the main stage. Their style, which having gone and listened to their EPs to date is more of a dark electronic sound on album, was a bit more rock-oriented here, with some gazey guitars to go with Need-Menear’s calm, tender vocals. The sound overall was very pleasant, and the last song built to a fairly heavy, driving climax that came across very well.

Modern Technology 11:35-12:05, Bixler Stage

I discovered Modern Technology at a gig last year in support of Torpor, and subsequently positively reviewed their sophomore release Conditions Of Worth. Seeing them in a slightly less intimate setting here compared with the previous autumn’s venue, I did feel like there were times that the absence of a guitar left a bit of a gap in the mix for this bass/drum duo. Still, the crunchier sludge parts carried sufficient weight, while the more elongated dynamic builds translated well too.

Zetra / El Moono 12:10-12:40, Main/PX3 Stage

Probably the most disappointing last-minute withdrawal from the festival was that of Bipolar Architecture, as I was excited to see how the material from their impressive new album translated to the live setting. They were replaced by Brighton’s El Moono, whose math/core-tinged alt-metal debut The Waking Sun did moderately impress me upon release in May, so I decided to give them a go, albeit while resting outside of the stage tent. The mixture of dreamy female clean vocals and harsher shrieks worked alright, and the heavier moments had quite a bit of sludgy weight to them. Nevertheless, I was not overly enthralled, so I did pop over to give Zetra a listen on the main stage. For a band that is yet to release their first album, Zetra have worked their way onto a frankly bizarre number of festival line-ups in the past couple of years, and my experience of seeing them at Roadburn 2022 was an underwhelming one, but I was marginally more taken this time around by their somewhat dreamy post-punk/gothic sound.

The Sun's Journey Through The Night 12:45-13:15, Bixler Stage

This long band name was one that I had not heard before their addition to last year’s Damnation line-up, and it’s not one that I bothered to check out at the time, but with another festival appearance and no one of note that they were clashing with, this time offered a better opportunity to do so. The Sun's Journey Through The Night are described as ambient black metal from what I can see online, but there was little of note that was ambient about this set; it felt more like fairly middle-of-the-road black metal with sludgy hints, while there were also some breakdowny/trudgy moments, with a particularly big and emphatic one at the end of the last song. The masked vocalist had a lot of stage energy, but perhaps still has room to work their stage chatter. Overall, this was OK, but I’m not quite seeing why they’re suddenly working their way onto such major festival rosters.

Fange 13:20-13:55, PX3 Stage

Regular Metal Storm Awards nominees, particularly since they fully embraced the industrial elements of their sound, Fange promised to deliver some proper heaviness. The cold, ominous industrial beats and the slow, nasty sound were at times contrasted by some surprising delicacy within the atmosphere. At its gnarliest, this was a crunching set offering good headbanging material, although the vocals perhaps were a tad low in the mix.

Iress 14:00-14:30, Bixler Stage

After all that heaviness, there was a clash between two far lighter acts. I opted for doomgazers Iress over the post-rockers Shy, Low, and was rewarded for doing so with a doomy, plodding sound shaped by lighter, gazey textures. The music had a pleasant vibe, and the vocals of Michelle Malley came through strongly; as a bit of a breather set, this was a really nice one.

Year Of No Light 14:35-15:25, Main Stage




This is now the fourth consecutive year that I have seen Year Of No Light at a different festival, following appearances at Damnation 2021, Roadburn 2022 and Desertfest 2023, so they evidently represent the centre of the Venn diagram overlap of all my favourite festivals. They are a consistently strong band live, although admittedly I wasn’t as captivated by them last year at Desertfest. This time, with a massive and dense sound, much like with Amenra on the previous day, I was reminded of just how potent the live experience for this band can be when they’re on song and aided by a good mix.

Glassing 16:10-16:55, PX3 Stage

As mentioned in the summary of Underdark’s performance on Thursday, those bands with a more blackened/gazey sound were typically the ones that lost out the most when it came to having a clear mix. This was the case for Glassing, whose post-metal/hardcore/blackgaze fusion ultimately sounded quite washy. Nevertheless, the chunkier parts still hit hard enough, and the Deafheaven vibe that I picked up on their recent album From The Other Side Of The Mirror was really noticeable at times.

Night Verses 17:05-17:45, Yokhai Stage

Friday was the day with arguably the clearest theming in terms of genres, as there was a streak of bands scheduled for the final few slots clearly within the technical metal spectrum. A slightly earlier taste of this sound came in the form of Night Verses, the rising instrumental metal act hot off the release of their Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night two-part record. Compared to the acts that came later, this trio did have a slightly sub-optimal mix, with me feeling the need to take my ear protection out to properly hear the guitar motifs clearly. Still, this set (which drew mostly from the Every Sound albums) was tasteful and perfectly enjoyable.

Frail Body 17:55-18:35, PX3 Stage

Another band that, like Glassing, suffered somewhat from a washy and unclear mix, Frail Body nevertheless tried their best to get their screamo/post-metal blend across. The drums were unfortunately too high in the mix here, while the vocal mic was too low, rather hindering the frontman’s attempt at doing serious chat between songs as his words came across very muffled. I did find the crunchy post-hardcore bits fun, and both the slower riffs and tranquil passages sounded fairly good, but I found myself preferring what Glassing had offered up just beforehand on the same stage.

Yard 18:50-19:30, Elephant In The Bar Room Stage

After leaving Frail Body early, I could hear some of Ihsahn’s set while getting food, although it didn’t carry well outside of the stage tent. After this was a clash of two acts that I frankly was limited in my interest towards in Sigh and Delta Sleep. While listening to the latter from a bit of a distance and struggling to get into it, I found myself distracted by the pounding bass coming from the fifth stage, which up to this point I had not ventured into once. Curious, I wandered over and discovered Yard; it seems that heavy electronic music is on the rise at ArcTanGent, as this was one of several such acts I encountered at one point or another over the weekend (alongside John Cxnnor and Scaler, who were on the following day). Like Scaler, Yard mixed thumping techno/IDM beats with guitar distortion, and like Scaler this set was really darn fun; it played very much to my raver sensibilities and offered an enjoyable contrast to the music that came before, and the music about to follow.

Animals As Leaders 19:40-20:40, Main Stage




Animals As Leaders are arguably the definitive name in modern instrumental progressive metal, not only because they were among the first to blaze the trail that countless other virtuosos have subsequently followed, but because the technical skills of its members are at the pinnacle of the genre. When I reviewed their most recent album Parrhesia in 2022, I acknowledged that I struggle a bit with fully engaging with their music, so it was a bit of a revelation that I was completely swept up in their performance here. Obviously, the technical abilities and the unbelievable musical talent to so effortlessly play music this ludicrously complex, especially in the moments where each member flows in and out of one another, is utterly mindblowing, but the huge sound that they had really helped to emphasize how remarkably groovy their music still manages to be, as this was a very easy set to headbang along to. Tosin Abasi spoke a few times to the crowd, mainly to wax lyrical about Meshuggah and ask if anyone could source him some shrooms for their performance, but the music did the talking here, and I was totally taken by it.

Plini 20:45-21:35, Yokhai Stage




Another major name in modern instrumental prog metal, I’ve occasionally found myself listening to Plini and mused whether he’s lumped into the ‘djent’ crowd just out of laziness, as the tracks often don’t sound too heavy to me on album. However, live there was a surprising amount of crunch in a lot of the songs; perhaps it’s the sheer uplifting melodicism and triumphant nature of his writing that masks how heavy it can be, as the great grooves were accentuated by a blissfulness to the heaviness. The sound was super clean, and the soloing was jawdropping at times. I could’ve done with the inclusion of “Away” in the setlist, but its absence didn’t notably affect the experience for me.

Meshuggah 21:40-23:00, Main Stage




Still, there was one band in particular that everyone was on tenterhooks for, and that included both Abasi and Plini, who advised audience members to save their moshing energy during his set (asking for a conga line to get going instead) so that they could go all out for the one and only Meshuggah. I had unfinished business with Meshuggah at ArcTanGent, as I had gotten a tad too drunk in 2019 and woke up the morning after their headline show with a bit of a blank spot in my memory. No chances of a repeat this time, as I fully took in every second of this monstruous performance. Opening with “Broken Cog”, the tension built during this song, only to be released immediately afterwards by the early inclusion of “Rational Gaze”. From this point on, all hell broke loose in the crowd; I was content to stay on the sidelines and groove along in the little pocket of space that I had found myself. The sound was humongous, the effortless nature in which the band synchronize to these maddeningly complex grooves is a joy to behold, and a set that covered a large proportion of their discography was capped off in style with what must be one of the all-time best encore song pairings in “Bleed” and “Demiurge”. This Meshuggah set was undoubtedly the most popular one of the entire festival, and for great reason.




By this point of ArcTanGent, I usually find my energies failing, but I somehow had enough in reserve to try and give the silent disco one proper go this year; honestly, the DJing seems to be getting worse each year, but there was a reasonable sequence of late 90s/early 00s rock/metal hits at one point on this evening to make attendance just about worthwhile.



The final day of a festival never gets any easier; fatigue is starting to set in, yet at the same time the oncoming post-festival blues are becoming more and more imminent. After Thursday’s rain and Friday’s sun, Saturday was resolutely grey pretty much throughout, perhaps reflecting the mixed emotions on display. Frankly, needing to wear a hoodie for most of the day at a summer festival was bizarre, but the mild weather was not going to dampen anyone’s mood when there was another strong day of music in store.

Torpor 11:00-11:30, PX3 Stage

The opening slots are usually the one time at this festival where I find myself with no expectations of who to see going into the day, but Saturday was an exception, as Torpor were scheduled for the first set of the day. Having seen them twice prior to this, and having been blown away both times, I was very excited, and they duly delivered. Their huge, slow, intense, deep sound that pushes into really doomy tempos with sludgy depth is quite the experience, particularly with such a ridiculously rumbly bass tone. Despite this, the cleaner sections still managed to sound solid; this was a truly fantastic way to get the day going.

Briqueville 12:10-12:40, Main Stage

A surprise gem from last year, Briqueville returned with greater expectations on my part this time around. Perhaps with the shock factor removed, I perhaps didn’t enjoy this quite as much as in 2023, but with a good mix, their dynamic builds worked well while the heavier tones were satisfying. The vocal elements were incorporated well, and they have some really groovy riffs in their locker.

Sunnata 12:45-13:15, Yokhai Stage

I had had to miss a lot of Sunnata’s set at Desertfest earlier this year, but doing so was made tolerable by the knowledge they would be playing at ArcTanGent. Getting the full experience this time around, I got pretty much what I hoped for from a Sunnata performance, despite some brief technical issues with the bass. The constant vocal harmonizing is very cool, although occasionally they sounded slightly off, and while the hypnotic parts of their songs were pleasantly trancelike, the stoner riffs were nice and thick.

Love Sex Machine 13:20-13:55, PX3 Stage

Reappearing on collective radars after a long period of relative inactivity, Love Sex Machine followed up the release of their first album in 8 years earlier this year with a performance at ArcTanGent. The vocals were mixed rather low, but the instruments sounded thick and dense, and the band served up more than their fair share of tasty, ominous sludge riffs.

WuW / Vower 14:00-14:30, Yokhai/Bixler Stage

Following Love Sex Machine was a clash of two bands I was moderately interested to see. Vower, who I had seen a couple of months prior opening for Karnivool and had subsequently written about for Clandestine Cuts, were closer in proximity, so I enjoyed their first couple of songs. They had a good mix that allowed the different instrumental textures and the vocals to come through, and the band’s mix of TesseracT-style proggy atmosphere, alt-metal accessibility and metalcore heaviness worked pretty well together.

On the other stage were WuW, who I had reviewed last year; at the time, I had voiced some uncertainty over the disparate genre tags used for the band, who I felt sounded like a doomier form of post-metal. Live, the doominess felt a bit more obvious, with quite a plodding sound, although I’m still not sure how evident the alleged classical music and free jazz influences were.

Bossk 14:35-15:20, Main Stage

After the special alternate set on the Wednesday, this was a more typical Bossk performance, with the usual cuts from Audio Noir (“Kobe”, “Heliopause”, “Atom Smasher”). However, while a song from Migration was not a surprise, the inclusion of “Events Occur In Real Time”, a song not performed live since 2008 and only presented in a recorded form by the band for the first time on this year’s .4 compilation, was quite unexpected. Definitely preferred to the Wednesday set, this was another reliable display from a very reliable festival band.

KEN Mode 15:25-16:00, Bixler Stage

Clearly a very respectable band, and one that I have enjoyed a reasonable amount on album, but unfortunately KEN Mode were one of the more forgettable sets from this year’s festival; they weren’t helped by a subpar sound mix, but while the songs were decent and the saxophone integrated OK, I just wasn’t that engaged with this performance.

Scaler 16:05-16:50, Main Stage




I mentioned when talking about Yard that the heavy techno style seemed quite well represented at this year’s edition. Scaler, formerly going by Scalping (not a fan of the name change), are probably the peak version of this sound, and with a really hench sound of the main stage, this was once more an absolute blast. Covering techno and other electronic styles, the band serve up constant banger beats to dance to, and the guitar and bass slot in so well to the mix.

Imperial Triumphant 16:55-17:35, Yokhai Stage

This was a band I missed in 2022 to see Intronaut, and heard subsequently that they had suffered from a terrible mix. While this year’s performance seemed to be an improvement on this front, I still found Imperial Triumphant to be quite washy during the heavier moments. More than anything, though, I fundamentally just don’t find myself enjoying this style; the sudden switches between quiet quirkiness and super dense extremity didn’t do much for me, and in general I just can’t find a way in to engaging with the avantgarde extremity of their sound. I think this is a band I can finally say is one for me to appreciate but not enjoy.

And So I Watch You From Afar 17:40-18:30, Main Stage

After missing the request set on Wednesday, I was slightly closer (inside the tent) for this performance from And So I Watch You From Afar, who this time played new album Megafauna in its entirety. The band, who I believe are the only one who can outdo Bossk in the frequency of their ArcTanGent performances, were vocally grateful towards the festival and crowd. As for the music, it’s again a nice mix of math and post-rock, conveyed with a very clean sound; while it was a tad twee in places, it was fundamentally pleasant. I did leave slightly early to see the end of Outlander after their impressive release from earlier this year; the group was performing to a fairly paltry crowd compared to most I’d seen at the festival, but they delivered a nice, soporific shoegaze sound to the remaining audience. However, as they finished earlier than their allotted time, I only caught a brief glimpse of their performance.

Electric Wizard 19:30-20:30, Main Stage




When Electric Wizard headlined Damnation Festival last year, by the time they came on stage, I was already pretty drained and struggled to remain engaged with it. Considering this was late on day 4, I was surprisingly managing OK this time around, so snagged a decent spot for their hour-long set. I’ve seen and enjoyed Electric Wizard before, but I do think they benefit from being seen at a standalone show dedicated to it, as amidst a smorgasbord of different bands with often wide-ranging sounds, their fairly one-dimensional stoner doom sound started to grow a bit old for me before the end of their set; 45 minutes was ultimately enough for me. During those minutes, though, the fuzz was suitably dense and satisfying; I’m not entirely convinced by the audible tuning on stage between songs though.

Slift 20:35-21:25, Bixler Stage




Slift’s Ilion earlier this year was something of a revelation; as Radu questioned in his review, while the band aren’t necessarily a metal one now, their exuberant psychedelic rock is heavy and wild enough to have much of the same appeal. This was a hectic, noisy, exciting set; the Earthless-style whirlwind psychedelic guitar plating was cool, and the riffs were great. There were moments here that also reminded me of Elder, particularly a long, rambunctious song in the middle of the set that was clearly the highlight. The band rather took the piss towards the end, seeming to come to a finish around the time that their allocated slot was reaching its finish, only to go on for another 5-10 minutes with multiple false endings; I’m not sure how much the headliner on the adjacent stage appreciated this cutting into the start of their performance, but I was thoroughly entertained.

Mogwai 21:30-23:00, Main Stage

For the grand finale of ArcTanGent 10, the edition celebrating the festival’s post-rock history, they had another heavyweight in the genre (and the only one of the huge names in the style that had not previously played at ATG) as the last headliner. I’m not sure if I had ever really listened to Mogwai (even with there being a Getting Into: Mogwai article on the site), but their set here sounded pretty much exactly like I would have expected; it was maybe even more so, as I thought there might be a certain unusuality to such an iconic band in the style. This was quintessential post-rock (albeit with a couple of songs with vocals), delivered impeccably with a crystal clear sound, with a decent mix of twee tranquillity and some ventures towards heaviness. It’s not completely my thing, but I did end up watching and mostly enjoying the entire performance, albeit not quite as much as a person next to me that was at times full-on flailing around to the music in what presumably was the most enthusiastic manner in which anyone has ever enjoyed Mogwai.

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In my ArcTanGent 2023 article, I did question in the final conclusions how the festival could try to top the previous 2 years, with so many obvious ATG-worthy bands having performed across either or both of them. When the first announcement of bands for ArcTanGent 2024 was released, I did think perhaps this would be the year where the festival slipped slightly, particularly as someone without a huge interest in either post-rock or tech-metal. Ultimately though, this turned out to be yet another fantastic year of diverse and forward-thinking music, during which I had barely a moment of respite due to the constant presence of a band worth watching playing on one stage or another. The quality of scheduling at ArcTanGent remains second to none; as far as the rest of the experience was concerned, the food prices had hiked up quite a bit since last year, which I wasn’t thrilled with, but beer prices remained reasonable, and the sound was much more reliably strong this time around compared with last year (the fact that several of those without great sound played similar styles suggests there’s one particular area they can focus on with sound for future years now).

Despite how great this year has been, I still find myself asking the same question as last time around: what can they do to stack up against this? It’s intriguing to try and ponder what bands are out there that both are headline-worthy in terms of reputation and have not yet headlined at the festival, and there are a few names that come to mind (Periphery, Dance Gavin Dance, Sleep and Dream Theater were a few that occurred to me), but I’m more excited to see what the organizers think up than what I’m able to conceive of. While it does seem to me like there’s limited scope to deliver more great surprises, my trust in the bookers after this year is sky-high, and the overwhelming likelihood is that I’ll be writing another one of those adulatory festival reports in late August 2025.