This year’s Roadburn line-up is genuinely exciting. Not that previous editions weren’t, but each year I still find myself surrounded by fans of heavier genres. And while the Roadburn audience is brilliant at embracing new directions and more experimental sounds, deep down many people are there to feel the heavy riffs and bang their heads to loud, weighty rhythm sections. This year’s programme brings together the best of both worlds: more of the “old” Roadburn returning to the stages, alongside genre-defying, mind-expanding experimental artists. To me, it feels like Roadburn may have found its perfect formula again after the slight “detour” of the post-Covid editions.
For the purposes of this preview, I won’t go into too much detail on the returning heavy-hitters, assuming most Roadburners are already familiar with them — Cult of Luna, Oathbreaker, Boris, Acid Mothers Temple, Agriculture, Inter Arma, Primitive Man, Slift, Ufomammut, Warning, and plenty more. What counts as an “established” Roadburn name is, of course, subjective. That said, I want to focus on a few hidden gems: artists I wasn’t personally familiar with before doing a deep dive into this year’s extensive line-up.
First off, for some this will be a well-established name, while for others it may be entirely new — but one of this year’s Artists in Residence is Krallice. I never thought I’d get the chance to see this experimental extreme metal band from New York live, given how rare their overseas appearances are. Getting to witness three different sets — past, present, and future — is huge, and genuinely exciting. Krallice aren’t for the faint-hearted, though. Their music isn’t for every ear: an intricate, progressive, exploratory strain of black metal, marked by dense, multi-layered guitars and sprawling, meticulously structured compositions. If that sounds like your thing, make sure you catch at least one of their sets during the festival.
As has become tradition at recent Roadburn editions, The Flenser will be represented by a range of artists — each bringing their own sound and personality to the festival. Alongside the aforementioned Agriculture, who will perform The Spiritual Sound in full, Crippling Alcoholism, Bosse-de-Nage, and Planning for Burial are all on the bill this year. The Flenser remains one of the most exciting labels around, consistently releasing some of the best underground experimental music. In recent years, a number of their acts have pulled sizeable Roadburn crowds — Midwife, Chat Pile, Have A Nice Life, and Agriculture among them.
This year’s main hype magnet is undoubtedly Crippling Alcoholism. Their music blends gothic noise rock, post-punk, and experimental rock, and they’re playing not only on Thursday, but also the night before as part of the Roadburn pre-show event, The Spark. Bosse-de-Nage return with their experimental blackgaze, newly reinvigorated following the release of Hidden Fires Burn Hottest. Planning for Burial will also be back, with Thom Wasluck performing two sets: one centred on the project’s full-length releases — including the latest, It’s Closeness, It’s Easy — and another leaning into his improvised drone and ambient work. Not technically on The Flenser anymore, but still adjacent via their previous band Sprain, Shearing will also grace the Roadburn stage with a similarly noisy, experimental set.
One to look out for is Backengrillen, who deliver “anti-fascist, anti-racist, freeform death jazz”, featuring members of the original Refused line-up alongside Swedish free-jazz saxophonist and flautist Mats Gustafsson. Their self-titled album was written on a Thursday at their very first rehearsal, debuted live on Friday, and recorded on Saturday — resulting in a raw, high-energy release. It’ll be fascinating to see what these seasoned operators of hardcore punk, metal, free jazz, and noise bring to the Roadburn stage.
One of the lesser-known acts I’ve been most intrigued by while researching this year’s festival is Ak’Chamel. There isn’t a huge amount of information about them online, which only adds to the mystery — and the appeal. Draped in shamanic, ritualistic outfits that evoke folkloric traditions, their sound feels tailor-made for the Roadburn stage: experimental, hypnotically repetitive, and rooted in a kind of psychedelic folk. Even their Instagram bio — “The Crazed and Sunchalked Bones of the Vanished Herds” — deepens the intrigue. This is one set you probably shouldn’t miss.
For anyone after something more aggressive and up-tempo, there are plenty of exciting prospects beyond the already-mentioned “big guns” we’re not covering here. Industry and Bad Breeding will deliver no-nonsense punk, with Bad Breeding making their return — and also playing at The Spark on Wednesday evening. Keeping the punk energy high, London-based queer punkers Traidora are one to watch, bringing a raw, vicious hardcore sound. All the way from Mexico, Habak add a crustier edge to their hardcore/punk, blended with post-rock-tinged soundscapes. World Peace bring their heavy, drums-and-two-bassists-and-no-guitars powerviolence to Tilburg, which could easily make for one of the festival’s heaviest sets. For fans of post-hardcore coming out of Japan, Heaven In Her Arms will perform their third release, White Halo, in full. Truck Violence play an intriguing mix of noise rock and post-hardcore, with great use of banjo — drawing some parallels to Show Me The Body (who would be a great addition to a future festival line-up). Metallic hardcore purveyors EYES might be responsible for one of Roadburn’s rare mosh pits, with their heavy, old-school sound. Having made an impression playing with Ashenspire at Roadburn a few years ago, Rylan Gleave will make a return with his own project called All Men Unto Me, which is will please fans of doomier music. Lastly, one I’m particularly excited to see is Prostitute (not a sentence I thought I’d ever write, which is probably a joke that’s been made a million times already), whose addictive, post-punk-inspired noise rock should be a post-festival highlight.
More danceable acts have increasingly become part of the mix in recent years, and that trend continues in 2026. Belgium’s ECHT! should offer a welcome change of pace with dancefloor-ready drum ’n’ bass that cuts through the festival’s guitar-heavy centre of gravity. Still psychedelic but equally groove-focused, Fauna bring hints of “oriental” influence; based on the highly addictive track “Animalisk”, they could easily be one of the weekend’s most reliably danceable bookings. Pain Magazine are another intriguing inclusion: featuring members of Birds in Row, they channel that intensity into industrial-techno territory, and should land as one of the more left-field electronic highlights.
So there you have it: a brief overview of some of the lesser-known acts gracing the Roadburn stages this year. And don’t overlook the Paradox line-up either — I caught some great sets there last year, and the annual Heavy Jazz Jam is often a festival high point. There are still plenty of artists playing who I haven’t had the chance to dig into yet (or simply haven’t covered here), but my motto for a festival like Roadburn is to avoid over-planning: don’t cling too tightly to the timetable, wander into a venue on impulse, and you’ll almost certainly stumble into something new and exciting.
Roadburn’s real magic isn’t always the obvious picks — it’s the under-the-radar sets: strange, heavy, danceable, confrontational, and impossible to neatly label. Show up curious, roam freely, and let a random room change your weekend.
