Festival News: Camden Rocks second wave of announcements is something special!

Camden Rocks 2018 is shaping up to be something quite special.

The London all-dayer received its second announcement on the 14th of February, revealing twenty five more bands to an already stellar lineup. Perhaps most notably is the addition of Mallory Knox who, on the same day, broke news of the departure of lead vocalist Mikey Chapman, reducing them to a four-piece. Vocal duties will now be taken over by bassist Sam Douglas; it’ll be interesting to see how the band treat their older material without the voice that made it so particular, or whether they simply push the new tracks they’ve been teasing thus far.

Hacktivist have also been added bringing a heavier edge to the bill. The nu-metal/rap-djent aesthetic doesn’t altogether mesh with the rest of the lineup but it will sate the needs of those that want to mosh.

Sleep Token grace the Camden Rocks stages for the first time this year. The relatively new band (who only boast six songs across two EPs) are known for their reverence for the occult – worshiping a god known only as “Sleep”. That being said, they’re not ridiculously weird; as far as anonymous masked musicians go their music has its gentle moments – their two EPs (conveniently named “One” and “Two”) feature the calmest of lullabies, crunchiest of harmonies and vocal dives as well as the chuggiest of down-tuned riffs. Definitely one to look out for.

Twin Atlantic mark 10 years since their first EP “A Guidance from Colour” in 2018. Whether they’ll do anything special for it, we don’t know; the Scottish group are no strangers to the festival stage so we can but hope they make some acknowledgment to their past feats.

Also added to the Camden Rocks lineup are Create To Inspire, Dead!, Public Image Ltd and Bad Sign. Taking up residence in venues all across Camden the festival promises to be a varied and enjoyable day with something for absolutely everyone.

Words by Rhys Haberfield