Photo by @abbidraperphoto
Returning to Fernhill Farm for its twelfth edition, ArcTanGent once again makes an argument for the best sound in the alternative world at the moment to be that of prog, math, and the more experimental edge of things. With over 100 bands scheduled across four stages and four days, it's the festival's biggest and strongest lineup ever, and the crowd continues to be amongst the most devoted you’ll see on any festival circuit.
Wednesday
This year's Wednesday pre-party lineup is the fest’s grandest ever, and after an excellent, mood-setting performance from Edinburgh’s healthyliving, with singer Amaya López Carromero’s voice captivating the crowd from the off, Year of No Light take to the stage to display their cacophonous, crescendo-driven expertise in post-metal, with a three minute intro launching into an atmospheric epic. In most bands, three guitarists and two drummers would look self-indulgent, but every single member of this six-piece plays their part in creating monolithic walls of sound that leave the tent shaking and the fans entranced.
Year of No Light / by Derek Bremner
Having to open the main stage on a Wednesday night for the first time ever due to the sheer popularity and status of the band, ArcTanGent have struck gold by bringing in Nordic folk masters Wardruna to headline the opening festivities. Starting off with subdued solo strings, the band play an almost two-hour set of material encompassing their whole discography of music that defies genre, thus feeling right at home at a festival as diverse as this. The mood set at the start continues throughout, with the backdrop showing the band’s silhouettes in an eerie yet beautiful aesthetic, and the vocal harmonies and traditional Norwegian instrumentation being in sheer force. A captivating, almost tribal quality, Wardruna have the audience in the palm of their hand throughout, and 105 minutes fly by.
Wardruna by Joe Singh
Thursday
The fest having opened up proper, Maud the Moth start the early afternoon of the Thursday over on the Bixler stage with a performance that it already feels like may be in the conversation for the best set of the weekend come the end of it. healthyliving’s Amaya is back with her solo project, expanded into a three-piece for today, and it truly proves her expansive talent, her voice once again ethereal, her stage presence commanding as she stands on her keyboard, and her band playing phenomenally to hand with niche touches like the bowing of cymbals and unusual percussion to match the obscure and nuanced song structures. Amaya uses her Spanish heritage to great effect, mixing her native language with English for her lyrics to shine, and the set proves a microcosmic start to the weird and wonderful weekend ahead.
Maud the Moth by @abbidraperphoto
After Horrendous’ super-fun brand of progressive death metal on the same stage, with its members all looking like they’re having the time of their lives and that energy passing over to those in attendance, snooze follow them play a very different set indeed. Telling that it’s their first time playing outside of the US, there seems to be no anxiety from them on playing new shores as they slam through their eccentric and eclectic catalogue with a stunning three-pronged vocal attack and nigh on virtuosic musicianship. It’s satisfying to see the band with their ‘Meshuggah in major’ brand get their dues after grinding for a while, and everyone here seems to have had a brilliant time.
Playing seminal album Doppelgänger in full for its 20th anniversary, The Fall of Troy are a band that never cease to amaze in their unrivalled ability to entertain and humorize whilst playing some of the most technical music in the scene. The tent is full of die-hards who seem like they’ve been there from the start by their screaming of every single word back to the band. Returning for a third ATG already, The Fall of Troy seem like they may become a staple here with back to back triumphant sets as the tent empties out with grins on every face.
The Fall of Troy by @abbidraperphoto
Talking of triumphant ATG sets, Leprous, having headlined the second stage three years ago, are bumped up to subbing main this time around, and it’s a move that’s proved intuitive with the tent being rammed and the crowd being at arguably its loudest all weekend. Playing a much shorter set than they’d be used to at only 50 minutes, the band waste little time talking and instead plow through a collection of fan favorites and hits from their latest album Melodies of Atonement. The band as tight as ever, vocalist Einar Solberg his as always commanding self, and the impressive addition of extra keyboardist Harrison White, this is a set filled with joy and awe in equal measure, and a brilliant way to bring in tonight’s headliners shortly after.
Leprous by Joe Singh
Over on the Yohkai stage, Scottish indie rockers Arab Strap could seem like an odd choice for a fest like this, but any concerns are instantly dispelled when they start with their brand of subdued monologues of sorrow as often as joy, and they seem to resonate with more and more people as they enter the tent out of curiosity by hearing them from outside. By the end of the set, the band appear to have gained a myriad of new fans from giving everything to a festival they feel like they have a point to prove at, something that they do perfectly.
Perhaps the biggest get in terms of booking of this year’s festival, legends of the post-rock game Godspeed You! Black Emperor make their return to ArcTanGent nine years after their last and only performance to an entire field that seems to have been clamoring for their set all day. The ten-piece (including two film projectionists) all make themselves known with a massive on-stage presence and aesthetic, and it’s just 90 minutes of Godspeed doing what they do best - proving that there’s a reason they’re toward the top of any list of the best post-rock bands to ever do it, and finishing out night two of the festival with an almost haunting aplomb.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor by Jez Pennington
Friday
Beginning Friday is an emotional affair here. Stalwarts of the British metalcore scene over the last decade Ithaca decided to call it quits recently, but didn’t want to do so without playing their last ever show at the festival that feels like home. Featuring guest slots from scene peers Devil Sold His Soul’s Ed Gibbs and Pupil Slicer’s Kate Davies, this is a farewell set of the band - deservedly on the main stage this time around - playing their hearts out and stirring massive pits and as many tears. Ithaca receive a long, rapturous applause long after they finish playing, and as sad as it is to see them go, at least they do so on exactly their own terms
Ithaca by Derek Bremner
Atmospheric sludge band Dimscûa are a very different entity, playing their first ever show off the back of their lauded debut Dust Eater, this set goes on to be one of the most talked about of the entire fest, and it’s unsurprising given their crushing sound that rattles eardrums and the stage itself throughout. The emotion poured into a performance that the band are clearly glad to be starting their career with is obvious, vocalist Alex Rowlands sounds devastating, and he’s backed up just as well by his bandmates who, as an outfit, could have a very fast trajectory indeed.
Back on the Bixler, Norwegian noise-rockers Heave Blood & Die bring chaos to a tent mostly full of people who’ve wandered into something they don’t quite understand at first but quickly fall in love with. Four albums into their career, HB&D play a set spanning post-hardcore to electronic music, with an oddly-paired dual vocal approach of guitarist Karl Løftingsmo Pederson and keyboardist Marie Sofie Mikkelsen that actually really works, and the latter’s stage presence just seems to translate joy to everyone who’s here. An excellent set all round, and a name to watch closely.
Emma Ruth Rundle by @abbidraperphoto
Making her return after her 2022 performance of then-current album Engine of Hell, Emma Ruth Rundle this time plays a more discography-expansive set on the main stage armed only with an acoustic guitar, but managing to completely fill the tent with the sheer power of her voice. It’s the best crowd response of the weekend so far and the emotions range from heartbreak to euphoria, Emma’s macabre humor a weird relief between songs as she tunes up. Such an unassuming character to hear speaking, it’s always breathtaking to hear the raw power she can produce, and as she finishes out by telling the crowd that it’s a festival she’s attended before as a fan, you can tell she genuinely loves being here, and thus hopefully she will return very very soon.
Karnivool by Jez Pennington
Post-rock stalwarts Maybeshewill are joined on their Yohkai-headlining slot by a lovely addition of a string trio, including festival favorite A.A. Williams, and it’s a fan-pleasing set that showcases their legacy, and leads well into tonight’s headliners over on the main stage, Karnivool. Karnivool make their ATG debut, and it’s beautiful to see just how happy they are to be here, frontman Ian Kenny smiling so hard throughout the entire set that it’s a wonder that he’s able to sing at all, but alas he does so in a monumental capacity, somehow sounding even better than on record, and it’s a theme that resonates to the rest of the band too. All in attendance here are equally joyous, with diehards holding on to every moment and filling up the entire arena with a rapturous cheer for fan-favorite ‘Themata’, and on hearing about the band’s forthcoming new album. In terms of festival headlining performances, this is right up there with the best that ATG have ever had.
Saturday
Playing the dangerous slot of opening up the last day of a festival to a crowd who’re often rather hungover and tired after three days of partying, Sugar Horse have no problem in quickly bringing them round with an atmospheric start into a set of their genre-defying catalogue. They play a too-short slot to be able to showcase all of exactly what they do, but in the 30 minutes that they do get, they prove just why they’re one of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming outfits, with a fantastic sound to a satisfied crowd.
Sugar Horse by Joe Singh
Spanish post-hardcore outfit Boneflower take to the PX3 stage to an audience curious as to what they’re about, then become quickly enamored with the band’s emotive post-hardcore power in an excellent set demonstrating everything that’s good about the genre and the place it’s in right now. New album Reveries is one of the scene’s best this year, and its songs are even better live. Frontman Eric Montejo tells just how grateful the band are to be here, and it shows in the passion of their performance. The crowd get more into the set the longer it goes on, and this showing is a performance that could be a milestone in the new chapter of Boneflower’s career.
Boneflower by @abbidraperphoto
After playing their beloved album Colors in full the day prior, prog metalcore maestros Between the Buried and Me play a ‘greatest hits’ set today over on the main stage, where they demonstrate their chops with a varied show of dance and groove, span their entire career with their setlist, and show that they’re still at the top of their game. With new album The Blue Nowhere just around the corner, the band are full of energy and sounding even better here than on record, and they show that they’re really ready to usher in their next step with new song ‘This We Tell Ourselves in the Dark’ getting a superb reception.
Between the Buried and Me by Derek Bremner
Rolo Tomassi are a name that everybody should know. Making their sixth appearance here at ArcTanGent, they grace this year’s edition with a special set to mark their twentieth year as a band. Their performance spanning their entire discography, and with the accompaniment of a stunning string quartet, this will go down for many people as the best set of the weekend, and it’s easy to understand why. Outings like ‘Party Wounds’ and ‘Fofteen’ are fan favorites that don’t get played anymore, so it’s amazing to see their return, but the real special moments begin after three songs when Tomassi are joined by the aforementioned strings, the quartet offering a whole new edge and an even more mature sound to a band who are already at the best point in their career. As they end their show with the brutal ‘Prescience’, with the night and the festival only having a few remaining hours, there’s an air of euphoria around, and it’s a perfect offering from one of the best bands the UK has produced in the scene, ever.
Rolo Tomassi by Carl Battams
Headlining tonight and closing out the festival, Tesseract make a stunning return after their 2022 headline performance, and it’s also a set that feels like a band at their absolute zenith, showcasing their accomplished discography with every song feeling colossal with the power, tightness and might of the band. Along with frontman Dan Tompkins’ huge vocal ability and massive stage presence, the addition of backing vocalists adding an extra layer really rounds out a truly impressive display. Tried and tested, proving once again that they know how to close out a fest in utmost style, Tesseract bring down the curtain on another unrivalled weekend at perhaps the best festival that the UK has to offer.
TesseracT by @abbidraperphoto
