Festival Review: Radar Festival 2026
Manchester’s 02 Victoria Warehouse is turned into a melting pot of prog rock talent for the weekend showcasing acts like Pintglass, Einar Solberg and Skindred
Radar festival has had a difficult last few years. Airing the week after Glastonbury in 2025 it got caught in the immediate crossfire of the unfair backlash to Bob Vylan’s pro-Palestine speech and lost a bunch of names like The Scratch in the process through no fault of their own. 2026 was thankfully a return to form – with one of the best lineups since the hallowed 2023 edition; which caught Sleep Token right on the cusp of a meteoric explosion. The festival is already so confident it has booked Mick Gordon for a legendary world-first performance of the iconic Doom soundtrack; showcasing the festival’s embracement of the video game community and its stripped-back lack of pretentiousness. Few festivals can back up the claim of inclusivity as proudly as Radar can – listening to festival goer-needs and responding to them as and when; building a healthy discord community that thrives in-between years. Familiar faces return year after year – and with good reason.
Taking place over two stages in 02 Victoria Warehouse with a marathon no clash run – few festivals offer the chance to catch every band. But given the sheer volume of names – you’ll want downtime which the festival caters to; a glorious independent café upstairs joins PC chairs and tabletop tables for card game events like Magic the Gathering with a hefty amount of Warhammer 40,000 combat patrols in stock for those with even more money to spend. There’s a range of community here that feels incredibly welcoming – and Radar cannot be accused of having something to do outside of the music itself; even if the beers costing £8.50(!!) a pint for Camden Hells even in Manchester allow for practically a sober festival – the staff being friendly enough to offset this as was the minimal wait time; but it meant that alcohol stops were few and far between. Pretty much a good thing as well when you consider how jam-packed the music was - ‘that’s my jam’, as Skindred might say.
FRIDAY 31 JULY
We got to the venue in time for first band, Graphic Nature; sporting proudly neurodivergent-friendly banger ‘Fractured’ which embraces growing up without a diagnosis and knowing that you’re different but wondering why that’s the case. ‘fucked up just like me’ is a term of endearment – and it’s a celebration of everyone that’s different – not something that needs to be changed and why should we. It is bold; unafraid and a real statement piece – what a way to kick off the festival. ‘Something I’m Not’ embraces nu-metal full on with its deployment of intense riffs and beatdowns. Vocalist Freeman tackles the ability to turn into something that he’s not when considering hurting someone – “I used to think that kind of shit won’t happen to me / I used to think about all the things I wanted to be… I used to think that all my heroes were real / and now it’s gone…” is deployed to great effect.
CLT DRP are also highlights of day one; on the punkier side and on a pillar-supported smaller stage that gives off the vibes of Underworld back in London. Their infectious, uncompromisingly raw show feels abrupt and honest in its brutality that keep evolving every time out. Vocalist Annie Dorrett comes into the Sneak Energy Stage with the force of a hurricane – new single ‘WHAT IS SHE FOR?’ leads – a not-so-subtle protest to the requirements that everyone is expecting the band CLT DRP to be – questioning gender norms and explaining that the band are capable of existing sonically outside of anything that you’ve seen before.
More traditional old school hardcore aggro outfit Cage Fight tear up the stage next with all their punches pulled. There’s a feeling capable of capturing that of Slayer and Terror here – Rachel Aspe lending from her experience as part of Eths to elevate the band to new heights. Her talent scouting cover of Black Dahlia Murder means that there’s a touch of Black Dahlia all over the sound in terms of influence – and the vocal range on tracks from ‘Exuvia’, now released in its entirety, go exceptionally hard. They drift into thrash at times and the experienced guiding hand that James Monteithal lends from his days as TesseracT really helps them thrive. Not a bad way to start then – and I’m already a big fan of Radar’s diverse programming on day one.
SiktH are scene veterans and have been around for a while – since 1999 – in fact – and that doesn’t stop them from putting on a hell of a show. I saw Mike with The Sad Season at the start of the year at the Lexington before I saw SiktH so it was good to get the chance to see this band live in full for the first time in all their glory – full with pulsating guitars and an influence on the genre of which many bands would simply just not exist without. Their mathcore tech metal is full of angry songs played by men that have now grown up but written them when they were first getting their act together – and there’s no reason for that to change when the world hasn’t evolved; in fact – it may have even regressed. If anything – time has made SiktH angrier and more visceral.
It is the ten-year anniversary of ‘Death of a Dead Day’ – and as a result this setlist is practically a celebration of that monumental album – tracks like ‘Bland Street Bloom’, ‘Flogging the Horses’ and ‘When the Moment’s Gone’ are deployed with sheer unmatched creativity. Few bands now can match SiktH’s legendary output of electro and drum and base mixed in with the rage and brutality – sounding innovative still even now. There’s life in the old dog yet – and anyone who hasn’t seen SiktH yet are missing out on a genre forerunner of which many of the bands on this lineup – and Arctangent’s – where they play later in August on the Wednesday pre-party – wouldn’t be here today without; or at least be very different.
Volumes were a last-minute addition to replace a band that dropped out; but it particularly becomes apparent that this was long awaited by the fan turnout. It’s a ‘Mirror Touch’ show – they run through fifteen songs with the confidence of a band that have survived plenty of lineup changes and still maintained a strong sound that has earned them a place in the djent-core pantheon of the early 2010s. ‘Via’ is still – all these years later; a fan favourite – and ‘Edge of the Earth’ goes down a storm – “and I’m here tonight, underneath the influence / and why can’t I find a way out? (why can’t I take a leap of faith?) / it’s calling me tonight, this secret I have become at the edge of…” is genre-defining – touching, emotional and completely memorable. It’s so profound it’s almost hard to imagine any band being capable of following Volumes’ set.
Of course the band that gets that honour and a tough challenge as any is Pintglass; pioneering their geezacore genre with masterclasses on how to be a Pintglass-style Geeza earlier in the day – and it’s rapidly becoming apparent that Radar missed a trick on making sure that Victoria Warehouse had any cans of stella available as a quasi-merch-type scenario. Vocalists Barney Warner and Ben Mason leave a memorable; wholly unique impression on the audience – coming onto a warped rendition of ‘God Save the…’ as the lead into geeza chants which full the room.
They have a lot of high-tempo; short but fast paced and unrelenting songs that prove they’re more than just a gimmick band, they’re an entertaining and grippingly authentic one – at times echoing the Paleface Swiss days of old, with tracks like ‘Beer, Gear and Fear’ alongside ‘Site Mentality’ and ‘Stella F.C.’ encouraging the crowd-surfers. They set a record for the whole weekend: 211 go up causing any bands afterwards to be forced to put out a statement telling the audience that they don’t recommend crowd surfing for their own safety. To leave such an impression showcases Pintglass’ raw fury and power – and shows easily why they’re fan favourites, returning after a double set in 2024.
SATURDAY 01 AUGUST
Hometown heroes The Hara kick off day two; touring new album ‘The Fallout’ that gives fans their rawest version yet. ‘Easier to Die’ is a fresh new single that feels like it boasts plenty of riffs and energy of excitement bursts – tapping into a heavier feel that has seen them transition from festivals like Reading & Leeds to Radar itself; showing their raw energy and how heavy they can turn their music to. It feels gripping, personal and enthralling and it fits in with their older tracks like it was always there – Josh Taylor’s vocals splitting down the room with the confidence lacking in bands with double their experience.
Glass Bridges have a video game-y type soundtrack influence about them that feels reminiscent of say; music to back Arcane to – and they’re not the first or last with this kind of sound on this kind of lineup. Their alt rock sound is touchingly emotional in places and doesn’t shy away from embracing heavy and melodic sounds of fury like ‘Pain’. The verses have well-articulated choruses and heavily distorted riffs that make up one of the most unique sets of the weekend – embracing so much stage presence across the board with a completely ethereal live performance that’s impossible to turn away from. They’re just simply cool – and if you’re not on board with that then you’re really missing out.
Radar festival favourite Heart of a Coward are next; and having seen these now three times they put on a brutally intense; raw and powerful performance each go out. ‘Drown in Ruin’ pulls all its punches and we’re of from the word go whilst ‘Passenger’ being deployed from ‘This Place Only Brings Death’ showcases a band only rising in confidence and stature. The melody here washes the gut punch of the harmonies away – “sleepwalking through existence / this is the end / your eyes are open / you can’t see” cries Kaan Tasan – who has fully embraced this new chapter that by this point is no longer new – and has more than kept Heart of a Coward in the drivers’ seat of metalcore.
The first UK show of Royal Sorrow was Arctangent 2025 and seeing that live instantly made me a fan of the Nordic outfit who released debut album ‘Innerdeeps’ last year. Vocalist and guitarist Markus Hentunen has near unmatched charisma – and first single released at this point; several years ago in 2024 ‘Metrogave’ gives Royal Sorrow a real chance to show their growth and power. There’s also time for ‘Bloodflower’ – a versatile tune that features the deployment of a chaotic guitar solo that ends in – appropriately – a titanic breakdown of unrivalled proportions. In terms of new bands few have won me over as fast as Royal Sorrow – and seeing them again is pretty much a requirement. They instantly emerge as heirs to bands like VOLA (when back, Radar?) and TesseracT – with a distinctively unique vocal style.
From here on out it is pretty much all fun for the evening. BLACKGOLD puts us in party mode – reminding you from the off that ‘It’s Art’ and having time to put you in the mood with Cypress Hill covers. Radar has been a reminder that nu-metal is very much not dead, with tight suitably melodic tracks that give us such a vast injection of pure fun it is impossible to resist. This appropriately puts us in the mood for Skindred later – a well-trodden festival booking act but nonetheless welcoming to finally cross off the list of shame all the same. When people ask “how?” it’s possible to go all these years without seeing Skindred before I’m a textbook example of how it’s possible – clashes abound at other festivals make missing them an unfortunate necessity – there’s no choice really when the answer is PJ Harvey paired opposite them the last time it happened; but when Skindred step on stage it quickly becomes apparent just how entertaining they are. Now on album number nine the fans join in with the countdown to the acclaimed number one spot for ‘You Got This’ that Skindred have been working so hard for – and the crowd go up in their numbers. It’s Saturday night in Manchester after all.
And by the end - SATURDAY NIGHT, MANCHESTER becomes something of a rallying cry. Frontman Benji Webbe uses his natural charisma to goad both sides of the crowd into competing against each other for who can cheer the loudest; mixed in with covers of tracks like ‘Jump’ they even have time to bring out spookz from BLACKGOLD for the encore. ‘That’s My Jam’ indeed – and Benji’s call to arms telling the audience that ‘You Got This’ couldn’t have happened at a better time. Their unique blend of ska and heavy metal makes Skindred a titanic force of unrelenting high quality – impossible to tear away from.
The one barrier to fun – though very good in their own right – is one of the festival’s most requested bands; Northlane. Their personal trauma of ‘Alien’ provides the groundwork for ‘Obsidian’ which compliments that personal trauma; released in a post lockdown world – looking at the anxiety of everything put on pause in ‘Clockwork’ – wrapping up the set in style. The unflinching lyrics of Marcus Bridge leave nothing to the imagination – high impact metalcore from beginning to end make this an evening of epic proportions.
SUNDAY 02 AUGUST
Benthos are another early example of acts booked to play both Radar and Arctangent and their set on The Sneak Energy Stage shows them why. Their mathcore has a kind of emotional swagger to it that supplements the explosive riffs – sneaking in some synth sounds to broaden the variety. Vocalist Gabriele Landillo absolutely tears up the room and Benthos show incredible variety in their genre – drifting from experimental one second with robotic voices and synths in ‘Athletic Worms’ and allowing for a heavier approach with ‘Perpetual Drone Monkeys’ in the other. Fans of Haken are well catered for here; as are those of The Dillinger Escape Plan – but to box Benthos in would be wrong; inventive is the watchword.
Luna Kills feel like they’d be a perfect fit for Against the Current and go incredibly hard with their pre-built video-game mechanics of a vocal. They leave zero room for the audience to come up for breathe and feel like a natural fight at heavy festivals – fresh and original with a tight and original edge. Their single ‘Lower’ has the raw power that mixes in with tracks like ‘Eva’ and ‘Contagion’ for a true capture of the word chaos thanks to the committed intensity of frontwoman Lotta Ruutiainen who holds nothing back. When she calls the pit to open the crowd are engaged from the off – commanding screams and riffs leave nothing left to imagination. We also get a good helping of favourites like ‘love u’ and ‘slay ur enemies’ – that propel ‘DEATHMATCH’ forward – its vocal melodies have a soothing dark quality to them that pulls you into the atmosphere. They were easily one of my takeaways from the weekend and could go very far based on what we’ve seen here.
Then it’s time for what ends up being my last three sets of the festival. Einar Solberg of Leprous was one of my favourite “discoveries” if you could call it that – LeProus are very much a known quantity having caught their explosive set at Arctangent last year. Einar Solberg got the chance to offer something new and entirely different – the singer and keyboardist unleashes the heavy prog metal of ‘Vox Occulta’ on an entranced audience; exercising his raw vocal range that hits the heights that earned him prog magazine’s vocalist of the year. The orchestral prog metal is triumphant and a really sharpened artistic vision that arrives incredibly polished – complimenting Luna Kills’ video game aesthetic with a truly cinematic orchestral wall of sound.
Eurovision 2023 winners Voyager take centre stage next and we’re in for an unexpectedly emotional journey. The lineup; unchanged since 2011 and plenty of touring has led them to a force to be reckoned with – unfortunately robbed of their immediate ascent to stardom by the diagnosis of stage 4 cancer by Danny Estrin that gave him months to live. However; several years later – he’s back – and now Voyager are ready for the second go out. It almost brings some members in the audience to tears – a moving and harrowing journey that compliments the prog rock anthems Voyager deploy. ‘Seen Better Days’ and ‘Promise’ capture the crowd and the circle pits don’t take long to form – it’s Radar – you’ll get a circle pit for anything, and as far as Sunday evening highlights go Voyager are a band and then some. They are by default – when your competitors are Måneskin and Mae Muller; the best live Eurovision band I’ve seen – and they have the titanic resources available to go very far indeed.
For me the last band I am able to see is Ten56 – who were delayed from their set in 2023 and only arrived several minutes out after multiple incidents outside of their control. Perhaps learnt from the 200+ crowdsurfers that adorned Pintglass’ set earlier in the weekend most bands wisely warn the audience that they don’t recommend that they crowd surf. Ten56 don’t care about the rules and openly encourage a wall of death anyway – robbed of a track with Siamese as a result of the band’s cancellation of Radar and performing ‘The Shape of Water’ live – they leave nothing left behind – it’s basically a full album set for ‘Downer’ – raw and engaging – ‘Boy’ goes insanely hard like a gut punch to the throat and ‘Sick Dog’ holds nothing back. The mix of aggression and melody really makes a case for them being arguably the most intense band in the industry at the moment – with such a titanic set it’s hard not to come away awed.
So that’s that then, Radar festival. Until next year; and Mick Gordon. You were; as always – pretty special, expensive pints and all. Picking a top 3 is nigh on impossible, but bands like Pintglass, Einar Solberg and Skindred all stood out. If you’re a fan of anything metalcore or prog – and you haven’t made the pilgrimage to Radar festival yet – what are you doing? Few festivals are as for the fans as Radar is - you can catch your favourite artists inbetween sets simply just rushing off to catch the next act - not a single person on stage didn’t want to be there - and in terms of the festivals’ ability to be one of the most welcoming in the world; it very much succeeds on that front.
PhotogrAphy by Charlie Bluck, Claire Alaxandra, Oli Duncanson