As an adult you generally shouldn’t start mosh pits at 10th birthday parties, but since it was ArcTanGent’s birthday this weekend, it would be rude not to!

Wednesday

I’ve been told that 12,000 people attended, so it’s not quite on the colossal scale of some of the other festivals out there but for fans of all sorts of underground, experimental metal, rock, and alternative music in general it’s got a reputation for being one of the best around. ArcTanGent has been on my radar for a long time because of their top-notch, unique lineups but this was my first time attending and I was very excited.

After five and a half hours of driving, I was relieved to arrive at a very well organised, fully signposted site full of friendly staff so parking up, getting our stuff to the campsite and getting set up was relatively painless. I had the option of camping in the crew/VIP area but opted to pitch up with my friends on the main campsite, so you can rest assured that my description of this festival is from the point of view of a regular festivalgoer. And if footage emerges of me staggering around the campsite at 4am, let’s just say that I was doing ‘method journalism’. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

We’d arrived towards the end of the first day but I got the perfect welcome, as the first set I caught was Bossk, who delivered an intense post-metal set full of crushing downtempo riffs with powerful vocals, interspersed with beautiful atmospheric sections that rise to mighty metal climaxes. The complexity in their songwriting is subtle and never takes away from the visceral transfer of emotion from the stage to the audience.

Next up was the genre-defying And So I Watch You From Afar who picked up the tempo with a mostly instrumental set that combined intricate mathsy twin lead countermelodies with big filthy riffs over bouncy, syncopated beats, moving seamlessly between brilliantly crafted sections to send the audience into a reverie. I found myself with my stankface on, dancing and headbanging at the same time. Awesome.

Thursday

Thursday morning, while it was quiet I took a walk around the Main Arena, which is where all the stages, bars, food vans and shops are. Overall, the layout is great – spacious enough to not feel cramped, but compact enough that it’s easy to move between stages. It was also great to see that they’ve made provisions for wheelchair users and other people with limited mobility. There’s an accessibility campsite and each stage has an ‘accessible viewing platform’ which is a designated space where eligible people can get a good view of the performers while seated. WiFi hotspots are available around the site and there’s a Welfare Tent in case someone falls ill or has any other issue.

Thursday was the first day where all the stages were active, and it dawned on me pretty quickly that it simply wasn’t going to be possible for me to watch every set I wanted to, which is a testament to the quality of the lineup on offer. I apologise to all the bands I couldn’t include in this article, but I can vouch for the quality of every act I saw over the full four days. I saw too many fantastic acts to talk about all of them here, and even the sets that weren’t my personal cup of tea performed with authority and clearly deserved to be there.

For me, the standout acts of the afternoon were Sun Spot, who played an eclectic set with a great sense of groove. The vocals ranged from delicate singing to violent roars and their drummer showed tremendous creativity and musicality over a wide range of beats. Additionally, Aiming For Enrike blew me away with their flawlessly performed hypnotic instrumental trance music performed live as a two piece with guitar and electronically augmented drums. The vibes of this set were immaculate and great to dance to. I loved their whole performance, but towards the end they took it up a level and starting playing wild, unhinged polyrhythms over discordant noises which I absolutely loved. Julie Christmas, meanwhile, also delivered a thunderous show full of surprising twists and turns that felt like a glacier crushing everything in its path. Julie herself is an iconic performer with a fantastic, unique voice and the whole band have the skills to match.

 

The evening brought a burst of heavy rain, but it wasn’t going to dull the excitement in the tent as Tokky Horror got ready to perform. Their music borrows from a bunch of intense rave styles but the attitude and delivery of the vocalists makes them one of the most truly punk live acts I’ve seen in a long time. The whole band does a great job of whipping up the audience into a frenzy and this set produced some of the biggest mosh pits I saw over the four days. Despite being very different to most of the other music at ArcTanGent, and despite being on at the same time as Textures and Amenra, they still had a full tent loving life with them. It was a bittersweet moment when they said that this was their last festival gig as the band members are moving on to other projects, but it was an honour to see them and I look forward to whatever they do next.

Next up, John Cxnnor smashed a brutal industrial set ranging from crushingly slow beats with massive rumbling kicks all the way up to insanely fast, full-on industrial hardcore. Over all of this was intense screaming and guttural vocals, resulting in an absolutely vicious sound that you could dance, headbang or pit to.

Moving straight to the main tent for post rock legends Explosions In The Sky felt like a massive contrast after the previous two acts, but it’s a testament to how staggeringly beautiful their music is that I almost immediately adjusted to this totally different vibe. The band masterfully took the audience on a enchanting journey from the gentlest minimal soundscapes that gradually crescendo to spectacular climaxes over the course of long songs that never drag.

Now’s as good a time as any to talk about the facilities. Water was freely available and there was a mix of portaloos and urinals conveniently spread out around the festival, and the team did a good job of keeping them clean and stocked with toilet rolls and hand sanitizer. The shower facilities were excellent, although the queues were very long during the morning rush. You pay the sort of premium for food and drink you’d expect at a festival, but there’s a wide selection and everything I tried was very high quality. Bunny Chow gets a special mention for their vegan chilli served in a hollowed out half loaf of fresh bread which was not only delicious but also a much more generous portion than I expected. Budget-conscious revellers are free to bring their own food and drinks with them.

You can tell that the main priority of this festival is the music, and the sound and lighting was impeccable the whole time. I didn’t notice a single technical hiccup, or a performer struggling with poor monitoring. The stages kept to schedule and the sound was excellent even when stood well outside the tents. There’s less theming and decoration than I’ve seen at other festivals, but the people are here for the music and couldn’t care less.

Friday

Friday got off to a great start for me with Yomi Ship, a mesmerising instrumental prog rock band whose music is elegant and complex, mostly (but not always) using gentle, clean guitar tones. Benefits are angry at society, and they want you to be angry too. They achieve this by screaming and shouting poetically over a wall of freeform experimental noise. Often lacking any type of steady pulse, the experience is jarring and raw, but beneath the rage is an undeniably positive message. Three Trapped Tigers blend rock guitars and lush synths with incredible breakcore-inspired drumming which gives their music a totally different feel than what you’d normally expect from a prog rock band. Great energy and great musicianship combined.

They say the highest compliment a musician can give another musician is a look of total disgust watching someone play something that seems impossible, and the music of Animals As Leaders seems to be designed to elicit exactly this reaction. True virtuosos, they make their music out of almost incomprehensible parts, while still somehow maintaining a sense of jubilation throughout. Ranging from serene to mind-meltingly heavy, they effortlessly flowed through an endless stream of hideously technical sections that never seem to repeat. Full credit to the musicianship of the audience who were able to sing along to the hooks, and even clap along to some of the gnarly polyrhythms.

And now it was time to see one of my personal favourites, the mighty Meshuggah. Pioneers of the djent genre, they are uncompromisingly heavy, with every element of their music designed to be as devastatingly dark, aggressive and unnerving as possible. Their use of polymeter means that even though the drop-tuned 8-string guitars are always playing vicious, unpredictable rhythms, there is almost always a solid pulse that makes it easy to headbang to. Even the quiet sections are full of menace. It’s cold, sinister, savage and relentless. The only thing that’s subtle about them is the profound influence they’ve had on modern metal.

The Meshuggah set was biggest crowd I saw for any band at ArcTanGent, and despite being near the front in a crush of bodies, there was a beautiful moment when someone next to me lost their glasses on the ground and everyone nearby made space, got their phone torches out and were careful with their feet until he got them back. The people at this festival really are so kind and there’s a great sense of camaraderie. The whole time I’ve been here I’ve barely even heard about any type of negativity. Strangers are happy to help each other, chat and joke around. The vast majority put their rubbish in the bins and there’s almost no pushing in the busy tents. Most of the clientele are in their 20s and 30s but there are also a healthy number of older and younger people, including a fair few families with young children and babies.

With the live music finished for the night and still feeling hyped, I finally took part in the silent disco that follows the live music til 3am every night. There are multiple different channels you can tune your headphones to, which include classic rock and metal anthems, rave, and a surprising amount of The Mars Volta. It’s a strange mix, but it clearly works because everyone was having a great time, either dancing in the tent or socialising outside. It was a great way to meet new people and wind down for the night.

Saturday

Saturday’s highlights included Scaler, who do deep, dubby industrial techno. Vocals are murmured with intensity and the trancy song structures pace forward with a sense of cold determination. Meanwhile, Gallops combine earth-shaking, growling synths with pounding mid-tempo techno beats to put the audience into a pumped-up trance, and Slift delighted me with their prog/psychedelic rock sound, frenetic drumming and soulful guitar solos. Their creative guitar lines mash together big heavy chords and strange lead melodies to produce a chaotic sound that feels like it’s constantly building. Last up, were post rock titans Mogwai with their massive sound, soaring guitar melodies and transcendental experience-inducing songs. Rising from gentle, soothing soundscapes that slowly crescendo into formidable climaxes, their music is moving and profound, and their set was as good a way as any to draw the festival to a close.

After four days at ArcTanGent, I’m physically a little drained, but emotionally invigorated. I’ve seen some of my favourite artists, discovered totally new ones and also rediscovered artists that I hadn’t listened to in a long time. Aside from all the phenomenal performances, it’s been such a joy to be in the presence of so many wonderful, like-minded people. This festival understands its niche and it’s no wonder that it’s held in such high regard by fans of a whole range of genres that are too often underrepresented at other festivals. I’d recommend it to anyone, with the disclaimer that if you prefer your music predictable and unchallenging then you might want to brace yourself.

ArcTanGent, I’ll see you next year.