In just two years, Core. Festival has gone from promising upstart to a highlight of Glasgow’s considerable musical calendar, and 2025’s edition will be a treat for anyone who likes their music loud, in-your-face and socially conscious. Once again split across two stages at Woodside Halls and another in the infinitely cosier Hug and Pint, it’s an eclectic lineup that sees sludge heavyweights, hardcore heroes and ecstatic black metallers all take to the same stage, meaning that if you go into this weekend with an open mind you’re practically guaranteed to be walking away with two or three new favourite bands (and more merch than you budgeted for).
Opening on the Friday evening, punters have a choice to make. Do they stay at Woodside Halls for an evening of riffs, noise and gut-churning volume, opt for mathy, technical brilliance in The Hug and Pint, or mix things up and try to catch a bit of everything and get some exercise in?
The main stage at Woodside Halls will have the absolutely massive Torche closing out the night with a set that promises maximum distortion at maximum volume, all executed with a slick, hook-laden charm that reminds you of just how fun heavy music can be. In addition, noise rock miscreants OMO will be trying to top off their debut performance last year with one that, given the extent of their touring since then, will likely be just as brain-melting but tighter and louder, as well as the return of Seattle’s Helms Alee to this fair city. They’re a band that have always quietly excelled at their brand of distorted, ugly-beautiful rock to the extent where they play anything and it would still sound great.
Meanwhile, the Hug and Pint will offer the rare opportunity to catch And So I Watch You From Afar in as intimate a setting as anyone could hope for these days. Given that they’re a band who absolutely killed it on the main stage in ’23, science dictates that a smaller room is going to have an enjoyment density approximately 20x greater this time around. Further mathy madness will be provided by Waldo’s Gift, whose debut full-length Malcolm’s Law has been one of the year’s most invigorating releases, and a more aggressive yet innately danceable take on the genre from God Alone.
As a festival and as promoters, Core. have never made a secret of the fact that punk is in their blood. From a focus on DIY and grassroots venues to the ethics and diversity of their lineups, they wear their credos on their sleeves. Kind of makes sense that they’d have a whole day dedicated to it, and that day just happens to be a Saturday. The main stage will be kicking off with local noiseniks Moni Jitchell, a loud, bewildering and utterly brilliant force of nature who seem to spend more time on-stage than off. Make sure to stick around for Oversize too as you just know that their blend of Midwest emo and dreamy shoegaze is going to be incredible.
The pace will be picked up by Leeds thrashers Pest Control, a band once plugged as “the most exciting band in the UK right now” by none other than bloody Metal Hammer, and finally there’s Boston hardcore legends Defeater to show that no matter how long you’ve been in the game, you’re still better than everyone that came after.
Over at Stage 2, unpredictability is the name of the game, but we’d be remiss not to mention the fact that Cruelty will be there. All of their releases so far have been filled with the kind of intensity that promises a truly vicious live show, making this one a possible highlight for the festival as a whole. Add in the full-throttle fury of Las Vegas screamo crew Roman Candle, some juddering alt-noise and GVSB worship from DITZ, and some righteous punk rage from Shooting Daggers and you have a fine day of riffing, pitting and headbanging ahead of you. Of course, it wouldn’t be Core. without some local representation, in this case provided by Glasgow hardcore crew Grandslam and Ayr indie-math maestros Bellow Below, both of whom are well worth checking out if you have a free half-hour.
In keeping with Saturday’s more punk and hardcore-oriented bill, The Hug and Pint will be acting as a showcase for Glasgow’s burgeoning hardcore scene. From the slamming riffs of No Known Weakness and Lights Out’s old-school fusion of punk and death metal through to the caustic fury of Test Of Patience it will be a day for celebrating your community and pitting until your feet fall off. A change of pace can be found with Gout, a band who thoroughly impressed all of us here at the site with their performance last year. Expect doom, distortion and maybe a wee hint of folk if you’re really lucky.
Of the bands coming from further afield, False Reality will certainly be ones to watch out for. Their take on hardcore is a breath of fresh air, slickly executed but brimming with passion and an ear for a good hook, they’ve become one of the UK’s most promising hardcore acts and this set should be worth arriving early for. While still relatively new, Perp Walk’s take on old-school HC make them an attractive prospect, and some high-intensity oi from The Chisel will bring the day to a riotous close.
For those who are in for the long haul, Sunday is a treasure trove of heavy that is pretty much guaranteed to keep everyone happy. Headlining are the absolute legends that are Cave In, who’ll be celebrating 25 years of Jupiter this year. Given that album’s impact, not just on the band’s own not-considerable legacy but on heavy prog as a whole, it seems like this will be the kind of set that some people have been waiting much of their lives for. Joining them on the main stage will be ecstatic black metallers Agriculture, maybe one of the festival’s most exciting prospects. There’s been plenty of buzz around them in the past year, their emotionally honest and often-beautiful take on extremity setting them apart in a market full of identikit corpsepaint and guys with unsavoury political views, so you’ll want to stake out a good spot.
Representing our fair land will be Frontierer, a band that some may remember absolutely demolished the main stage crowd at Core. two years ago and who will likely do the exact same again, and a band of miscreants, virtuosos and ne’er-do-wells called Ashenspire. They probably need no introduction to anyone reading this so just go and get your mind absolutely melted.
Those who choose to stay at Woodside Halls and stop in on Stage 2 will find an eclectic assortment of artists, ranging from Jo Quail’s haunting, exquisitely crafted cello compositions and the equally expansive post-rock of Shutter to noisy, odd and completely unclassifiable The HIRS Collective. The frustratingly-named Allmylifeneededwasasenseofsomeplacetogo. will be a brilliant start to the day for the early comers, delivering noise, screamo and sick grooves in ways that you never imagined could be superglued together, while the return of No Kilter after 15 years in musical limbo will be a cause of minor celebration for anyone who remembered their chaotic, high-energy performances from the first time around.
Finally, Sunday at The Hug and Pint will be a smorgasbord of brutality (which would make an admittedly good band name for addition to the bill). A highlight is bound to be German-Ukrainian blackened hardcore band Machukha, who’ll deliver all manner of beautiful, exquisite noise. Last year marked one of their first shows outside of Germany so with this added experience under their belt, they’re almost guaranteed to impress. Before them will be Violencia’s UK debut which, for fans of powerviolence, will be a draw in and of itself. They’ve spent the past decade absolutely killing it live and on record, so better limber up for this one.
Mrs Frighthouse have been a staple of Scottish line-ups for the past year or two, so them bringing their eerie mix of post-punk, noise and doom feels almost overdue while fellow Glaswegians Belgrove will be providing big riffs and bigger hooks. Plus, there’s the force of nature that is Death Goals, haunting folk-tinged beats courtesy of Poor Creature, all before the festival is brought to rest for another year by Unmaking’s blackened sludge assault. Although they haven’t released anything to date, what we’ve heard is plenty promising and the fact that they’ve been given the duty of Core.’s equivalent of turning off the lights and locking up for the night means it should be well worth sticking around for.
If all of that simply isn’t enough, or even if you just feel limber enough to keep the party going, the basement of wonders that is Nice N Sleazy will be this year’s afterparty venue. Saturday will be a weird, wild and loud time thanks to Fantastic Man’s quality choons, while Core. veterans Kute will be handling DJ duties on the Friday night. Oh, and the Friday will also feature sets from two wee bands you might have heard of called Cwfen and Coffin Mulch. In all seriousness, these are two of the finest live acts in Scotland these days, so it will be just as unmissable as everything else at this ludicrously packed weekend.
