Festival Review: Download 2025
Download 2025. The sun was out, the speakers were blaring (unless they’d been confiscated), and it was time for Donington to descend once again into the throes of metal-induced madness.
2023 was a desolate, sun-scorched wasteland. 2024 was a swamp, a quagmire of mud attempting to drown the sodden sufferers of the campsite.
Well, 2025 turned out to be a pretty pitch perfect middle ground; uncomfortably hot at times, sure, and the sort of weather that led to just a crimson tide of exposed skin by Sunday, but with just enough wind and rain to keep things vaguely cool — and, therefore, the perfect weather to see as many bands as could be humanly crammed into one weekend. And first up?
Introducing South Floridian group The Haunt, fronted by brother-sister pair Maxamillion and Anastasia, opening Friday over on the Dogtooth stage. With the duo swapping vocal duty line to line, the group’s first appearance at a UK festival was a slick, polished and jubilantly lively affair. The likes of ‘Masochistic Lovers’ and ‘Claws’ got the crowd serving up the first mosh pits of the weekend proper, while ‘New Addiction’, the title track of their upcoming debut album, proved its namesake by way of the hundreds of ecstatic fans rushing into the newly spiralling circle pit. Donington even got a taste of new music by way of the explosive ‘Worst In Me’! As good a start as you could want.
Theatrical, dystopian, futuristic, cinematic, anarchistic. The part rock-band, part stage-show, and all auditory-and-visual-experience outfit Starset haven’t been to Donington since pre-Covid, and so much has changed: but not Starset. With an influx of stage smoke serving to shroud the rusted-looking Starset logo on stage, the Ohio collective were up next. And, even if some of the group’s signature live set-up was absent (due to time, space, lighting, or all of the above), the towering pillars of pyro surrounding vocalist Dustin Bates and his galactic raider-esque uniformed guitarists — how the hell they didn’t keel over from the heat was an even greater mystery than where the hell the Sleep Token coins disappeared to — and the string-bearing duet of Siobhán Richards and Zuzana Engererova meant there was no mistaking them. Even intermittent vocal issues couldn’t slow them down, though in hindsight they may have been a sign of what was to come for the Opus stage over the weekend.
Older fan favourites like ‘Carnivore’ or ‘My Demons’ went happily in hand with the ferocious ‘Degenerate’ or the live debut of the ominously foreboding ‘dark things’; there was even one of Starset’s iconic costume changes for closer ‘TokSik’, the band donning gas masks over the typically sci-fi’d NBC suits as Bates growled over Gilbert’s thumping drums. A longer set on a darker stage might have done wonders, but a trailblazing set nonetheless.
Gore. might not have been the most well known band on the lineup — “we don't even have a banner”, joked vocalist Haley Roughton — but it’s a name no-one present for their set back on the Dogtooth stage will forget in a hurry. With Haley’s heavenly vocals riding over the instrumental fury of her band mates — before breaking into furious screams herself — the Texas based trio were frankly phenomenal. ‘Doomsday’ veered between beautiful ballad and bone-shaking violence, ‘Pray’ was apparently named for the redemption-seeking reaction left in its wake, and the duality of blissful melodies and blood-curdling growls of ‘Babylon’ served as a soundtrack to an enraptured wall of death, the crowd smashing into each other like a child’s coloured blocks. The band’s first ever festival, over on the other side of the world, and still a contender for set of the weekend
Ethereal shoegaze with a sprinkling of bowel-clenching brutality. What’s not to love?
Over to the Apex stage now as Britain’s favourite Blackpool boys Boston Manor geared up for a mid-afternoon set. Having been a festival mainstay for a good few years now, from the more rock-punk vibe of 2016’s ‘Be Nothing.’ all the way up to the recent shoegaze-esque duo of ‘Datura’ and ‘Sundiver’, it felt right seeing them play to a packed out crowd, finally back on Download’s main stage. Early highlights ‘Floodlights On The Square’ and ‘Container’ got the crowd moving, all before the band’s self-proclaimed heaviest track ‘Sliding Doors’ saw the crowd collapse in on themselves in a dust-filled haze of collisions; the sing-along anthems of ‘Halo’ and ‘Passenger’, meanwhile, let fans ruin their throats alongside their bodies. Blissful chaos had by all.
It might have been their sixth time playing Download, but Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath never takes the band’s platform for granted. “We come here from a country in the throes of fascism, the throes of authoritarianism”, he solemnly intones, the scathing anger held in check but evidently there, bubbling under the surface. “The songs stay the same but the world in which we play them change every year”. Most of the songs do indeed stay the same, Tim’s signature husky vocals on full display as he races across the stage during fan favourite openers ‘Re-Education (Through Labor)’ and ‘Under The Knife’, practically falling off the stage in an attempt to close the gap between band and barrier, before fan favourites ‘Prayer of the Refugee’ and the Jimmy Eat World- dedicated ‘Satellite’ sees the crowd awash with the cries of the impassioned, inflamed crowd. The full band UK-debut of ‘I Want It All’ still managed to give Donington a taste of upcoming tenth studio album ‘Ricochet’, though, while a vitriolic-scream punctuated ‘Help Is On The Way’ and the final sing-along throes of ‘Saviour’ helped cement the band’s sixth Download set as comfortably their best so far.
The understated set design, distinct lack of production and bare crowd engagement, from any other band, would feel a little like phoning it in. Instead, Jimmy Eat World seemed to just let the strength of their thirty-odd year discography do the talking for them. It did mean that, for those less familiar with Jimmy Eat World, there was a slight sense of disconnect — no spectacle, just the group’s litany of emo-adjacent alt. rock anthems. For anyone in the know however, you couldn’t have asked for more. From the infectious energy of opener ‘Pain’ to the iconic ‘Bleed American’, it was all guns blazing — and, given the near uninterrupted sea of red necks, Donington was feeling the heat. Add in the inevitable closer of the generation-defining ‘The Middle’, even those feigning disinterest happily screaming along, and you’ve got one happy crowd.
The Danish prog-metal favourites Vola, were next, although it seemed a cruel quirk of scheduling to have the sets from both Vola and Opeth so at odds with each other; plus, it didn’t help that the early evening lull was making itself painfully known. Despite that, though, the group’s expansive soundscapes surging through the sadly-only-half-filled tent reflected a four piece that made their intricate instrumentals feel almost rudely effortless. ‘Head Mounted Sideways’ added a vocoder effect to vocalist Asger Mygind’s deep, emotion-rich vocals — always a fun addition to a heavy track — which leaves you all the more in awe throughout his soaring, wordless screams, nightmarish in their haunting, mesmerising intricacy, while the more delicate ‘24 Light-Years’ saw Adam Janzi’s high hats go haywire before Mygind’s gentle vocals took centre stage… and then the instrumentals kicked back in, the intricate drumming leaving the song feeling like an ever-changing kaleidoscope of rhythms and sounds.
Despite being drowned out at times by Weezer, and despite being one of the quieter sets for attendance, it’s undeniable that Vola were comfortably one of the most passionate, and arguably one of the most individually talented to boot. What beautiful djentlemen.
Speaking of Weezer, hoofing it down the hill after Vola led you to the latter half of the iconic ‘Island In The Sun’, the LA quartet already in full swing. With the occasional joke aside — “is it like this all the time in England?”, grinned Rivers Cuomo, before chuckling at his own sense of humour — the Weezer set felt more like a medley of sing-along classics delivered by a beloved (although slightly detached) group of slightly self-indulgent musicians. Still, there’s no denying the waves of grins lighting up the crowd at the Donington Park lyric change of ‘Beverley Hills’ or the crowd-wide sing along of ‘Say It Ain’t So’. Add on closer ‘Buddy Holly’, and that generation (and meme) defining guitar riff, and it’s undeniable that Weezer have left their mark in Download 2025’s history books.
After ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the speakers saw the biggest (and most painfully off-key/off-rhythm) singalong of the day, it was finally time for the undeniably legendary trio of Green Day.
When the rock punk icons were announced as headliners last year, one thought was on everyone’s minds: what took them so long? Although they’re not strictly adherents to the Download tradition of the biggest metal bands in the world, Green Day nevertheless feel like a no-brainer: are they big enough to headline? Well, alongside the multiple billion-streamed songs online, the however-many platinum records, and the frankly uncountable number of tickets sold over the band’s nearly 40-year career, they’ve even got their own broadway musical. Iconic enough? Ask someone on the street to name a punk band, and more even than not, they’ll name Green Day. What about stage presence? Well, between the rabbit racing on stage to hype the crowd up and the mash up of three classic rock tunes (and one Star Wars’ ‘Imperial March’) blaring over the speakers, you could feel Billie Joe Armstrong and co’s signature level of chaos pervading the Donington-strong crowd before the band had even deigned to come on stage. Add on the opening duo of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Holiday’ and you’ve got the makings of, ten minutes in, what already felt like a historic headline set.
‘Ladies and gentlemen we are slipping into fascism’, announced Armstrong, the crowd’s confused cheers quickly sliding into the boos such a statement deserves before ‘Know Your Enemy’ saw an ecstatic fan brought up, practically in tears as she gave her best attempt at finishing up the track. The emotional ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ soon followed, the crowd sing-along still in full force — even the between-songs engagement refused to give up, an announcement that the band had “been coming to play festivals for like forty years now” somehow leading into a crowd chant of ‘you fat bastard’ aimed at convicted criminal Donald Trump — until, inevitably, ‘One Eyed Bastard’ and ‘Revolution Radio’ gave the crowd their first tastes of the band’s newer offerings — and by-and-large offered at least a bit of a reprieve.
And so it continued. ‘Longview’ and ‘Welcome To Paradise’ led into ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ and ‘Brain Stew’, ‘St. Jimmy’ and the jaunty ‘Minorities’ gave way to the inimitable ‘Basket Case’ and fellow Dookie favourite When I Come Around’. It was the prophetic ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’, the group channelling their rock god energy to summon the very heavens themselves, or the legendary ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’ that really drove the point home though — it might have taken a few too many decades, but Green Day are finally, well and truly, Download royalty.
Saturday now, and Download was in a distinctly jovial mood. Sunstroke was the name of the game. And the rules? Don’t get it.
After rushing to the Opus stage and getting faked out by the Trivium secret set rumours — egged on by Matt Heafy’s post the day before — the first act was the conveniently placed Lastelle on the Dogtooth stage, a cool breeze wafting through the tent to the sound of the quintet’s atmospheric rock. With the group sharing the vocal duties — at least until it was time for Adam Rigozzi’s roars — the set felt weirdly endearing, like a well oiled machine running on community. Some bursts of trumpet, a heavy underutilised instrument in modern meta, from bassist Freddie Whatmore helped give early tracks an added sprinkle of delicacy, before heavier numbers like ‘Life In Silhouettes’ or closer ‘Breathe Me In’ saw the crowd go crazy, working out the Friday night aches with a heady round of mosh pitting, enshrouded by the dust thrown up in their wake. Catch them on their just-announced UK tour this September.
If there’s one thing to complain about with the following act Loathe, it’s that they’ve been doing the same set for the past four years odd. Well, not any longer: enter recent release ‘Gifted Every Strength’. Combined with the airing of an unreleased track, and new Loathe is firmly, finally, on the horizon. The masters of the brutal side of shoegaze, Loathe have long been a Download favourite — even if this year was the first time they’ve taken their deserved spot on the main stage, and it was abundantly clear as to why. Ridiculously clean screams and growls floated over the blistering drums — a rude awakening for anyone still asleep in the campsite, although if they managed to stay passed out through Static Dress they’d probably be fine — as the Liverpudlians tore through a selection of tracks from 2020’s ‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’. ‘New Faces In The Dark’ saw a sea of outstretched hands, grasping for Kadeem and Bickerstaffe’s more ethereal vocals, while ‘Heavy Is The Head[…]’ saw just a miasma of dirt, sweat, and Friday-night-regret hovering over the crowd-wide circle pits. Even having to cut the set short, Loathe’s set was brilliant — and there’s no denying that the outraged crowd’s chants for more wouldn’t have been at least some consolation.
Poppy is one of the most talked about artists in modern metal — even Spiritbox end up talking about Poppy in interviews, although that’s more because of the interviewer not being able to tell Courtney and Poppy apart — and for good reason. With global renown accompanying her gradual shift from surreal art pop to screamed auditory punishment, spearheaded by both her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel with Knocked Loose and her feature on Bad Omens’ ‘V.A.N’, she’s gone through one hell of an evolution over the past ten years, and that’s left her just as comfortable with sweet pop or melodic rock as it has with the grittier, brutal moments in her repertoire. Even her opener, ‘have you had enough?’ quickly flitted from gentle rock to what was likely the heaviest moment of the day so far, Poppy’s blood-curdling shrieks washing over the Donington crowd. Each song somehow felt heavier than the last; even living through each four minute~ track, you were still left in shock and awe at what Poppy could accomplish, the visuals incongruous with the perplexing-but-mesmerising reality. The beautiful ballad-esque intro of ‘Scary Mask’ devolved into a maelstrom of fury, ‘Concrete’ seemed to run the gambit between anime theme, classic rock and bone-breaking metalcore, and the ‘cover’ of ‘V.A.N’ was as dystopian and heavy as you’d hope, especially with Download still waiting for their Bad Omens fix after last year. A fantastic set.
Most people know Awolnation as ‘that band that did ‘Sail’’. Understandable, really - that song was everywhere, and nothing else big was really like it. But anyone brave enough to delve into the group’s discography will find likely the most unique group on the Download 2025 roster. Blues, rock, indie, pop, metal, rap — pretty much everything gets a look in under the Awolnation banner, as evidenced by their eclectic-seeming set on the Opus Stage. Even from the opening duo of ‘Jump Sit Stand March’ and ‘Soul Wars’, Donington saw chants become pop become screams, before culminating in what can only be described as a chaotic, raucous rap-rock that was as bewildering as it was utterly engrossing. With Aaron leaping across the stage like a human pogo stick, skulking like an anthropomorphic spider, and just generally releasing all of the pent-up UK energy the band had accrued since last coming over in 2018, it was as if the group needed to make up for lost time — a run of tracks like ‘Kill Your Heroes’, ‘Run’, ‘Burn It Down’ and ‘Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)’ ending in one final, explosive, cataclysmic scream. None of the disparate tracks felt all that alike, but not only did it work, it excelled, delivering — although calling it one of the best is a personal opinion, certainly one of the most interesting. And, as the packed crowd shouted along to ‘Sail’, one thing was for sure — they better not take another seven years to come over.
Sydney’s finest export, Polaris, are no stranger to the UK soil. They even opened the main stage for Download back in 2023, preceding the likes of Fever 333 and Ice Nine Kills. But, as the melodic ‘Nightmare’ or the vitriolic ‘Landmine’ gave way to stage-wide circle pits, all those other bands didn’t matter. ‘Dissipate’ gave a hint of danger as the vocalist’s long hair approached dangerously close to the gouts of flame, the chaotic ‘Hypermania’ left hearts and sanity a flutter, and a lovely little mid-set sing along to ‘The Remedy’ left fans dizzy with excitement. A final airing of ‘Inhumane’ later, unbroken streams of crowd surfers making the security work for their money, and the Opus stage ended up with a lot of ‘band of the weekend’ claims breaching people’s lips.
‘What is it worth if no one remembers’, Jamie Hails asks the crowd during ‘All Of This Is Fleeting’, Jamie Hails’ effortless vocals in the bridge shocking fans anew — no worries there Polaris, noone’ll be forgetting this in a hurry.
Don Broco might just be the only band alive that can play any and every festival, genre pigeon holing be damned. Returning to Donington’s main stage, only the third time in the thirteen years since Download-debuting on the Red Bull tent all those years ago, the Bedford boys made damn sure no one forgot why they’ve climbed this far. A bass-heavy blast of ‘Everybody’ kicked things off with unrelenting swagger, Pete Daynes on keys helping to elevate their chaotic blend of electro-rock and metal mayhem, while Rob Damiani — mulleted, manic, and heady master of moshing ceremonies — whipped the pit into gear. Between stomping renditions of ‘Come Out to LA’, ‘Gumshield’, and the chaos of ‘Uber’, the latter given extra weight by Rob’s impassioned speech on racism, free speech, and the genocide in Palestine, Don Broco proved that underneath all the neon and noise sits a band with serious things to say. ‘One True Prince’ gave Matt the stage with a stunning vocal showcase, ‘Bruce Willis’ let everyone live out their screamed Die Hard desires, and, while ‘Action’ lacked a guest appearance (despite half of Download seemingly qualifying), Rob more than stepped up with some impressive screams of his own.
As shirts flew skyward for the closing ‘T-Shirt Song’, a cloud of sweat, BO, and euphoria hung over the crowd — and if this ends up serving as a warm-up for their finally-nearly-finished next record, we’re in for something massive.
Shinedown may been away from UK stages since 2022, but they seemed set on making up for that absence with a sub-headline set that balanced fire, finesse, and no shortage of heartfelt moments. The Jacksonville giants brought their full arsenal to Donington: flames, sparks, big riffs, and even bigger emotions. ‘Cut The Cord’ hit early and hit hard, a blaze of pyro matching its punchy rhythm, before newer track ‘Dance Kid Dance’ proved that Shinedown’s knack for festival anthems is still razor-sharp. Brent Smith — ever the frontman — declared “this is your house, this is your show,” and the crowd responded in kind, roaring back every word to ‘Devil’ and ‘Enemies’, the latter prefaced by Brent personally directing camera ops mid-song. They even managed to build an emotional centrepiece into the set, with the likes of ‘Three Six Five’, the backdrop of family photos transforming it from ballad to communal catharsis, and the acoustic lighters-in-the-air serenity of ‘A Symptom of Being Human’ striving to replicate the UK night sky. Contrasted with the pummelling stomp of ‘Monsters’ and ‘Diamond Eyes’, it was a masterclass in range. And just when you thought it was over, ‘Second Chance’ brought everyone back together for one final singalong. “Shinedown number eight is on the way,” Brent teased. Judging by this performance, it can’t come soon enough.
Sleep Token didn’t just play Download 2025 — they consecrated it. Just four years ago they headlined the second stage at the Download Pilot, three years ago they commanded second fiddle on The Avalanche stage and now, as dusk fell over Donington on June 14th, they commanded a main stage that looked more like a temple than a performance space. A weathered tomb adorned with their sigil loomed behind them, flanked by Arcadian flags and garlands of pink petals — the only colour in a landscape washed with grey. No intro music, just the sound of wind and the occasional windchime fluttering across the speakers as security stood like statues, backs to the band, facing us like silent priests awaiting communion. And when the curtain finally dropped, a cascade of pink confetti shimmered like dying stardust in the strobes, as ‘Look To Windward’ began in earnest— Vessel reaching skyward, breaking character for the briefest of moments with a grin as he beheld the sheer size of the congregation — it was to the tens of thousands screaming in earnest. From there, it was a masterclass in emotional whiplash: the ethereal pulses of ‘Alkaline’, the twisted spasms of ‘Hypnosis’, the writhing beauty of ‘Rain’ — complete with choir-like harmonies and a stage that became, momentarily, a literal fountain of grief. ‘Granite’ saw the band retreat into shadow, Vessel centre-stage in a trap-laced lament, while ‘Caramel’ and ‘The Summoning’ flipped between tenderness and towering drama — TikTok may have birthed the latter’s fame, to many a chagrin, but here it felt like a primal, physical ritual. ‘Higher’ cast golden beams into a crowd drunk on reverence, and for anyone still questioning whether Sleep Token were *heavy* enough for Download, early track ‘Vore’ delivered a pulverising sermon of noise and violence — and then, just as quickly, the likes of the saxophone-bolstered ‘Emergence’ or the piano-led ‘Damocles’ smoothed out the rough edges.
Photo Credit: Adamross Williams
Admittedly, it’s easy to understand the complaints. A festival certainly isn’t the right place to first encounter Sleep Token’s live show, the distinct lack of crowd engagement and the short visual interludes proving aggravating to anyone on the fence, even if they’re par for the course for anyone who’s seen the band before. But, as Vessel prostrated himself before the crowd at the close of ‘Take Me Back To Eden’, the rest of the band visibly shaken by the outpouring, it was clear this wasn’t just a gig for the group — it was a spiritual reckoning. If there was any doubt before, there isn’t now: Sleep Token are no longer just part of the scene. They’re defining it.
Sunday now, and it was a pleasantly cooler morning after the rain the night before — but it was soon to be heating right back up as Nothing More hit the Opus stage ahead of their return in November with Catch Your Breath, Solence and Ankor. Fresh off a U.S. tour with Disturbed, the Texan titans brought their own brand of polished chaos to the second stage, led by a black-and-gold, sun-scorched Jonny Hawkins who, topless and gleaming in the afternoon light, looked like a rusted Midas statue come to life. Opener ‘House on Sand’ set the tone, a spiralling anthem laced with tension, before ‘Angel Song’ and ‘If It Doesn’t Hurt’ happily tore through the crowd. Guitarist Mark Vollelunga added visceral bite with shared vocal duties, especially on the anthemic refrain of “It’s over, it’s my time” during ‘Stuck’ — a moment that felt less like defiance and more like an exorcism — while in ‘Go To War’, the Grammy-nominated juggernaut, Jonny’s acerbic, seething screams added an extra bite to the otherwise melodic call to arms. The old school closers of the devastatingly personal ‘Jenny’ and the anthemic sing along ‘This Is The Time (Ballast)’, meanwhile, acted as an anchor, keeping the set grounded solidly in the moment: no matter how flashy and fun new tracks are, you always return to the favourites. If Download was a proving ground, Nothing More walked away with the crowd’s blood on their hands — and smiles on their faces.
Survive Said The Prophet didn’t so much open their set as explode into it. Just seconds into the pounding electro-led opener ‘Useless’, frontman Yosh bent double with a manic grin, looking less like a performer and more like the human personification of joy. “This is where miracles happen,” he beamed to the crowd, and for many, this unexpected moment of pure happiness in the Dogtooth tent felt exactly like that. Best known internationally for their anime tie-ins (including Banana Fish and Vinland Saga), the Japanese rock outfit proved they’re far more than just an ‘anime band’, not that there’s anything wrong with that regardless. New track ‘State of Mind’ landed hard, the stage just oozing energy, while ‘Paradox’ and ‘MUKANJYO’ — the latter introduced with a set of barrier-level fist bumps from Yosh between throat-tearing screams — showcased the band’s unique ability to swing between precision and mayhem. At one moment soaring, the next collapsing into chaos, theirs was a set that left more than a few jaws slack. By the time the final notes faded and the band bowed with wide grins, it turns out that the band had it wrong all along. Who wants to merely survive — instead, they thrived.
Swapping their early morning Opus slot for a later time on the more intimate Dogtooth Stage, it was hard to know what to expect with Seven Hours After Violet. A good portion of the crowd didn’t seem to care one way or another, the set punctuated by screams directed at the legendary Shavo Odadjian, but with the band’s debut single coming less than a year ago — and feeling suitably bat shit crazy at that — they’ve not really been around long enough to get going.
But Shavo isn’t the only powerhouse in the band, as Left To Suffer’s Taylor Barber quickly proved. A wall of mass and muscle, the imposing vocalist somehow managed to make the menacing majestic, the terrifying triumphant, as his voice hit low notes that shouldn’t really be allowed to exist naturally. Combined with his soft counterpart in Alejandro Aranda, the likes of ‘Cry’, ‘Gloom’ and ‘Glinka’ were elevated to an out of body experience. Add on the closer of ‘Sunrise’, the band calling for the crowd to go feral, and you have a monster of a group.
If there was one band that could match the hype of Sleep Token over the weekend, it was President. With a prominent slot announced even before debut track ‘In The Name Of The Father’ graced headphones across the country, everyone was wondering who the hell they were. And, as their neon-pink logo lit up on the pitch black podium arrayed at the front of the stage — to the cheers of the thousand crammed into the tent, not too dissimilar from the scenes of Parkway Drive at around the same time the year before — it was finally time to find out. Launching into the metalcore madness of ‘Fearless’, the four masked musicians immediately proved that they knew their business. Their anonymous frontman – not quite the secret it was likely aimed to be, but still — is mercifully less reliant on the vocal effects shown so far on the admittedly bare back catalogue, and instead shows his impressive range, gentle crooning and throat-ripping screams alike buffeting the fans at the barrier, even as dozens more tried to sift into the tent, while his masked bandmates, as outwardly calm and collected as they were likely internally sweltering, let him do his thing. A trio of unreleased songs — ‘Dionysus’, ‘Rage’ and ‘Destroy Me’ — gave the crowd something new to obsess over, from stomach clenching screams to jaunty alt pop sections, and the final appearance of ‘In The Name Of The Father’ felt like conductors playing an instrument, the crowd throwing themselves over the barrier.
Photo Credit: Adam Rossi
We’d say catch them at their inaugural headline show at the end of July, but it’s already sold out.
Racing over to the Avalanche stage, leaving early enough to catch the iconic ‘Rooster’ from the legendary Jerry Cantrell, it was time for Dead Poet Society. Arriving just after Jack’s inimitable vocals broke into ‘Uto’, the group’s distinctive, addictive, bluesy melodies were in full force. From ‘.CoDA.’ and ‘.intoodeep.’ to the closing duo of ‘Fission’ favourites, ‘Running in Circles’ and ‘HURT’, even the half set was sublime.
Lorna Shore didn’t just play the heaviest set of the weekend — they summoned a sonic apocalypse. From the moment opener ‘Sun//Eater’ detonated across the Opus Stage, it was clear this wasn’t a gig so much as an auditory assault. Blast beats blurred into a near-constant barrage — more akin to holding down a keyboard key than anything resembling drumming — while Will Ramos delivered what can only be described as the most convincing animal impressions outside of a David Attenborough documentary. Growls, squeals, snarls, unholy bellows that may or may not have once been words — Ramos flitted between them with a fluidity that made the grotesque feel balletic. No note remained untouched, no vocal cord unshredded, no neck unbanged. With some surprise cameos from Taylor Butler and Nick Chance, the band evidently trying to win Feature Bingo, ‘Oblivion’ and ‘To The Hellfire’ were, frankly, disturbingly, disgustingly delightful. The ‘Pain Remains’ trio even saw Will sing actual words. prompting a momentary ripple of confused concerned . But, jokes aside, the set had the kind of power usually reserved for acts of God. For all the stops and stutters, Lorna Shore ended up delivering one of the most jaw-droppingly intense sets of the weekend.
Korn have never needed to move much to make the ground shake. Taking their long-overdue headline slot after three decades of reshaping heavy music — better late than never! — they walked on to an off-key, spine-crawling version of ‘Pop Goes The Weasel’, an already sinister nursery rhyme flipped into something far more unsettling, before detonating straight into ‘Blind’. Light spilled across the stage like a prison searchlight during ‘Clown’, the space turning into a cage of sound and fury as Jonathan Davis paced like a caged animal, every roar and whimper feeling like a collision with the bars barely keeping him restrained.
A sprawling instrumental jam bled into the anxiety-wracked shrieks of ‘Shoots and Ladders’, the eventual arrival of Davis’ bagpipes adding an eerie melancholy to the menace. Somehow, even this mournful prelude sparked a torrent of crowd surfers — more than some bands got during their entire set. And then, amid it all, came a rare moment of reflection. “We’ve been a band for 31 years,” Jonathan said, staring out over a sea of faces. “We’ve been playing this festival since before it was called Download. And finally… it’s taken 30 fucking years.” The roar was volcanic. But the band weren’t done being furious — ‘Y’all Want a Single’ turned the field into a pulsing, middle-fingered mass, chants of “fuck this!” rippling louder than the chorus.
There admittedly wasn’t much stage show, not much production. For most bands, standing mostly still would scream low energy. For Korn? It made them seem somehow heavier, each member — Davis, Fieldy, Munky and Head — anchoring the stage with the kind of force that made even the air feel dense. There was a tangible presence to them, as if the crowd was mired in the sort of quicksand of Download’s past, an inescapable suction to their black hole of engrossing set.
They were also the only headliner to do the old-school walk off, fake end encore move — a little ego stroke, maybe, but when you’ve waited this long, why not? That said, the crowd’s response to it was tepid at best — less rapturous return, more patient expectation. But any doubts dissolved by the final track of the festival: ‘Freak on a Leash’. The unmistakable vocal breakdown echoed across Donington like a prayer, closing out the weekend with the band who helped build the very foundations beneath their boots. Long may they rumble.
A fantastic festival, as ever, that’ll leave the most cerulean blues in its wake. Now onto 2026!
Words by James O’Sullivan
