Rather than give a play-by-play review of ArcTanGent, I want to write about a few of my personal highlights of the festival. The beauty of the setup is that you can dip in and out of sets; nothing is more than a few minutes’ walk away, so should one set not be to your liking, no drama, just nip over to the next one. It’s a perfect way to see bands who you might not normally see.
First up for me was Wallowing, no gentle warm-up here, straight into the deep end. The band, all dressed in black beekeeper outfits, looked quite imposing, lit from the back, all smoke and the occasional hat that came into view. They are as heavy as hell, detuned thick riffs which you could feel as well as hear. They opened with ‘Phosgene’ from their first album Planet Loss and then played ‘Flesh and Steel’ and the epic title track from their 2023 release Earth Reaper. The last track is an absolute monster of a track, slow and brooding with the occasional burst of energy.
No let up as straight after it was Wiegedood – a band I had heard about but never seen live. Brutal and crushing, it felt a relentless march into some kind of industrial machinery. Bit of a criticism here (which I heard from a few people) that the sound wasn’t always balanced and as good as it could have been. Now nuance isn’t an adjective often used in extreme metal but some of the vocals and guitar was lost in the mix. A band worth seeing again just based on their energy.
Wiegedood
Svalbard, despite an early show- time dive straight into their set, the band brimming with energy. Serena Cherry (vocals and guitar) is in full headbang mode, hair flailing willingly while guitarist Liam although lacking long hair lacks none of the energy. The band has a great chemistry and evidently enjoy what they do. Always a fun band to watch and we got a sneak preview of two new tracks (‘Faking It’ & Eternal Spirits) from their upcoming album The Weight of the Mask.
Chat Pile, have recently sprung into our consciousness. On record they are visceral and in your face; their on-stage persona is a bit calmer, the members laughing and joking about; the music however, is anything but: the singer prowls the stage in what’s half a stagger and half a swagger. Guitar and bass ping off each other. The band open with ‘Why’ from their most recent release Gods Country. Raygun Busch (Vocals) is chatty between songs and mentions staying in Wookey Hole (a local natural landmark); before ‘Rainbow Meat’ he asks the crowd if we have them here and then says, no, you guys have Gregg’s to which everyone cheered! They ended their set with ‘Dallas Beltway’ and ‘Garbage Man’ from their 2019 EP Remove Your Skin Please.
Chat Pile
French, noisy post-hardcore band Birds in Row just launch into their set in the usual fashion, opening with ‘Water Wings’ which jars between somewhat light and chaotic. They played a selection of tracks from their 2022 release Gris Klein, keeping to their DIY roots with the same instruments as they’ve had for years – no fancy backdrop but just pure visceral and intense music. One of the singer’s rare comments, highlighted the recent civil unrest in France; he said that freedom is something we need to fight for which got a rapturous reaction from the crowd. It would have been nice to have heard a few songs from previous albums, we did get ’15–38’ from We Already Lost the World before the band ended up with ‘Rodin’.
Birds in Row
The wonderful thing about ATG is finding bands by accident; on the way to the main arena, stopping by the Elephant in the Barroom stage and stumbled on Ramkot – heavy, bluesy and very accomplished music that inspires lots of people to have a proper good dance. There’s no better way to discover a band than to wander past and just be able to dive in and sample.
Going up against heavyweights of the scene Converge, Sugarhorse closed the PX3 stage; although I knew this and band quite well on record their live show was a level above. Soaring vocals, a tight backing band and a vibrant light show just seemed to hit me somewhere. They opened with ‘Phil Spector in Hell’ a song which builds with the lyrics “A final hymn for our shattered lungs” and has an almost choral feel to it ringing out into the night as it builds to a stunning crescendo. The band played a section of tracks from Live Long Ever After ending with the 20-minute epic ‘Truth or Consequences, New Mexico’ introducing it as “this song is our last, it is very long, longer than time itself…” to which someone replied, “not long enough!” which sums up the set perfectly.
Sugarhorse
Another band to get their first ATG experience, Sheffield-based Hidden Mothers played to a full tent, despite the 11am start. The band took to it like a duck to water, lively and reacting to the crowd – the new songs coming across well, and the addition of Liam’s vocals adding a slightly lighter dimension to things. All credit to James Scarlet, (ATG head booker) for giving this band a chance when other festivals have told them ‘You’re not big enough’
Hidden Mothers
Next, ATG-invention and self-proclaimed I-Can’t-Believe-We’re-Not-Baroness band Curse These Metal Hands, albeit with a slightly different line-up. The band having only one album meant that the songs were all familiar, and they seemed to enjoy the stage and light-hearted nature of the set-up. The crowd were in a buoyant mood and especially lifted by set-closer the wonderful ‘High Spirits’.
Curse These Metal Hands
At the other end of the emotional scale, Dawn Ray’d: the band describe themselves as anarchist black metal but weave between full-on black metal with a smattering of folk, as Simon Barr deftly switches between violin and vocals. It’s a combination that almost shouldn’t work but does.
Dawn Ray’d
Brighton’s CLT DRP took over the Elephant in the Barroom stage. Brimming with energy Annie sashays around the stage, her half-spoken, half-sung vocals interspersed with yelps. The trio have a great energy and vibe off each other, Drummer Daphne always holding things tight whilst guitarist Simon has an unusual array of pedal sounds. They have an infectious energy – new track ‘Nothing Clever Only Feelings’ is vibrant and muscular, and it’s not long until the entire tent is bouncing.
CLT DRP
Under an increasing leaden grey sky, Death Goals throw themselves into their set, the singer/guitarist Harry, commanding the crowd to form a pit. Energetic and chaotic, full-blown mayhem did not break out, but it wasn’t far away. The duo seem to bounce off each other; always energetic if not always perfect, but that’s part of the charm of the band. Opening with the abrasive ‘Genderless Clones of Gameshow Hosts’ the band charge through a selection of tracks from A Garden of Dead Flowers and ended with the chaos that is ‘The Horrible and the Miserable’ from their first album of the same name. Just what we all needed late on a Friday evening.
Death Goals
Closing the PX3 stage, Danish doom-mongers LLNN brought the infamous ATG rain with them. The band started fairly low key, just synth and some growled vocals, those familiar with them knowing something massive was coming, and before long the opening throws of ‘Imperial’, Victor’s vocals tearing through the morass of noise. Heavy doesn’t really cover it, it’s more or an all-encompassing, unrelenting force. They played a selection of tracks from their 2018 album Deads and their more recent album Unmaker ending with the dissonant and despair-laden ‘Obsidian’. If you had to choose a soundtrack for the apocalypse LLNN would be a good selection. Highly recommended if you want to be sonically pummeled for 45 minutes or so. I needed a strong drink and sit-down after all that!
LLNN
Playing their second ArcTanGent, Cultdreams were a late addition but a welcome one. A hard band to pigeonhole, part shoe gaze and part punk with a sound far bigger than their two-piece formation would suggest. Vocalist/guitarist Lucinda brims with energy, raw and full of passion, that sits beautifully alongside discord- and reverb-laden guitars. They are a band that are not afraid to tackle difficult issues with a particular fuck-you attitude. A great set by a duo that should really have more exposure than they currently do.
I eased myself gently into the Saturday by listening to GGGOLDDD from the comfort of the grassy field, although this band is about as far from easy listening as it gets given the subject matter of the song writing. It feels almost intrusive to listen to Milena’s delicate but powerful vocals. A very intense set and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were more than a few people brought to tears by it.
GGGOLDDD
A friend recommended Leeds DIY two-piece Grub Nap, new to me but connecting with me just two minutes into their set – filthy and caustic. Drummer/vocalist Steve Myles cuts an imposing image whilst managing to both scream his lungs out and play thunderous rhythms paired with heavy detuned guitar and second vocals from DVNE’s Dan Barter. The drummer is quite chatty between the noise; he explains that they’ve been given 30 minutes, but they only have about 20 minutes of music – “punk innit!”. It’s the soundtrack of a particularly violent riot.
Grub Nap
Another highly anticipated band, Atlanta’s The Callous Daoboys. have ‘Sweet Caroline’ playing as an intro before they open their set with the chaotic math core track ‘Star Baby’ from their 2022 release Celebrity Therapist – the album that propelled the band into wider consciousness. Singer Carson bounces around the stage with his half-spoken, half-sung lyrics before they dive straight into ‘Violent Astrology’ from the same album, harder edged and Dillingeresque. The band seem to thrive on the verge of chaos, the six members jostling for position on stage. In the middle of the set, they delve into their back catalogue with ‘Die on Mars’ and ‘Fake Dinosaur Bones’ before ending the evening with ‘Beautiful Dude Missile’, a track that veers wildly from jaunty clean sections to chaotic math core, and ‘A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops’ where Carson announces he wants to test out our free healthcare so launches himself into the crowd and actual chaos. Brilliant!
The Callous Daoboys
2023’s edition of ArcTanGent thankfully kept true to its roots, mixing big names, home-grown on-the-cuspers and local talent with a few curveballs thrown in that left me with lasting memories. The attendees were overwhelmingly outgoing with people stopping randomly to chat and comment on bands they had seen and giving recommendations. Friendly, accessible and diverse – ATG proved itself an antidote to the ever-increasing corporate nature and sprawling size (not to mention expense) of the bigger festivals.
