Festival Review: Arctangent 2026
Photo Credit: Derek Bremner
Arctangent festival bows out of Fernhill Farm with a truly one-of-a-kind event; featuring Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas’ iconic genre-defining album Mariner performed in full, alongside a collection of names like Chelsea Wolfe, Maruja and Igorrr that showcase the unique brilliance of Arctangent
I was there, the day Arctangent said goodbye to Fernhill Farm. I was there, the day Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas played ‘Mariner’ in full to celebrate its ten-year anniversary. I was there the day a man dressed in nothing but empty beer boxes decided to engage in a brawl with a man dressed as a giant dinosaur. In a festival full of “I was there” moments – Arctangent gave us one legendary final bow.
When I mentioned that I was going to Arctangent festival to my flatmate as I was running out the door; she commented “it looks a bit niche”. Niche is an understatement: Arctangent’s genre variety in the post/prog/punk metal fields showcases a lineup diversity that drifts between shoegaze and post punk at the touch of a button. One stage you’ll have Maruja and their post-punk brilliance with a touch of elevated jazz to their chaos and mayhem the next you’ll have Eivør performing ‘The Last Kingdom’ main theme alongside Chat Pile’s frontman Ray B listing a history of films made about music festivals to a befuddled crowd here for a brawl. The only genre best served for Arctangent is “Arctangent” – and festival organiser James Scarlett and company has crafted such a unique sphere of influence that it’s hard not to be pulled in over the trendier festivals of All Points East and hipster escape of Green Man happening the same weekend.
This edition is particularly memorable for it is the last year at Fernhill Farm in Bristol before the festival site ups sticks and moves to the Cotswolds, about an hour from Birmingham. So predictably, when I arrive on the Thursday, unable to make it down for the pre-festival warm-up party containing Svalbard’s last ever show among other bands like Papanagu and Cardiacs, it immediately becomes apparent that Fernhill Farm exists in a world unto itself: despite being the centre of a summer-long record-breaking twice over heatwave; we arrive on the only day where the heavens open and rain floods the field. But it couldn’t have been timed better – the coach gets into Fernhill Farm for ONE LAST TIME – I can’t stress this enough, we’re never going back to Fernhill again – there’s something mythical, romantic about a swansong that isn’t really a swansong because the core spirit of Arctangent is staying the same – it’s just moving places – the sun bursts from the heavens and we get ridiculously lucky with the ability to put up a tent in the sun.
THURSDAY 20 AUGUST
I make it over to the Arc Stage for Ian, first up – who go down a storm, and their cult of a fandom is very much real and alive. For a band on at 11am they have a huge turnout and make the most of it – emerging out of Exeter’s early 00s punk scene and have the visceral allure of Cult of Luna and Amenra almost instantly. ‘Come on Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing’ is a fantastic debut launch of an album and we are treated to a series of slowly mounting riffs that build and build with the allure of a master at work – their demand had them packed out the Dev at Desertfest long before start time; and it instantly becomes apparent that it won’t be long before they’re elevated further and further up the billing. What a way to start Arctangent – coming out of the gates and firing on all cylinders. You want hurling riffs you’ve come to the right place.
In need of a rest, second band we see on the main stage is Iskandr and by this time the party is in full effect – Arctangent is a marathon not a sprint and if you wanted to you could see upwards of 10 bands before 7pm so the trick is pacing yourself and not getting plastered too early. The number of bands means it’s a sober festival with barely any amount of time to stop for food or drinks, and the step count is higher than most regular festivals of twice Arctangent’s size. Iskandr’s psychedelic folk doom is triumphant and a real winner that position him up for tastemaker festival Left of the Dial nicely as a solo one-man-band, dipping into black metal with a swirl of post-industrial music that brings back the era of the 60s and 70s. It’s vivid and sinister, like a dream that quickly becomes a nightmare – murky and trusting the atmosphere from the go. Arctangent is an atmospheric festival and Iskandr couldn’t be more at home here.
Photo Credit: Abbi Draper-Scott
Matador have a cover of ‘Where is My Mind?’ that they bring their own allure and mystique in a sludge-y metal way, using their cinematic influences to make a memorable setlist that comes alive with a sonic wall of sound that’s impossible to tear away from. ‘The House Always Wins’ is an instant mood-setter – and the psychedelic post-metal feels incredibly expansive. You could see them at Desertfest sooner rather than later – a band quickly on the rise that has a touch of clean sound to it that navigates through the rawness.
It’s a quick run to Zeta who are one of the more stylistically unique and different bands of Arctangent’s whole lineup, focused on dense polyrhythmic percussion mixed in with Afro-Caribbean music and injected with pure unaltered punk psych. They’re one of the more eye-catching bands on Arctangent’s entire lineup and their performance creates an instant 70s style vibe that draws many in instantly – and creates many new ones. Impossible to tear away from I was hooked and they end up being my favourite of the whole weekend; leading an angry cry against America and how members of their band can’t be allowed into the country due to their birth location – as they bring themselves from Venezuela to the UK they come thousands of miles away for a memorable experience that’s instantly peerless in their form.
Photo Credit: Abbi Draper-Scott
Psychonaut and Benthos come next, the post-rock industrial sounds of Psychonaut create an instant foundation that builds on a psychedelic prog and have been thriving in the scene of Europe’s underground for almost a decade – crafting their own unique sphere of influence in Belgium to the point where they’ve ended up this year at Rock Werchter; their version of Reading and Leeds. The thunderous doom that accompanies a Psychonaut set has vocalist Thomas Michiels in the form of his life – opposite Benthos’ prog brilliance that was worthy of a repeat trip after such a memorable show at Radar in Manchester earlier in the month, they’re even better here. The Italians mix mathcore with post-hardcore and psych to create such a unique sound that’s impossible to turn away from. I love ‘Perpetual Drone Monkeys’ and you should too – an instant highlight of a sound that feels so utterly distinctive, starting high and then roaring into life with the way that few bands can capture their vocal range.
For most festivals this would be enough but Arctangent just keep going. The double header of Nordic Giants and Agent Fresco is incredible, and a comedown means we miss Alcest – but man, the wonderfully named Tony Danza Tapdance Extravangaza goes hard with a pure noise onslaught of math rock that is loud, abrasive, and goads the crowd by encouraging them to crowd-surf the most times to win a tee shirt, and anyone who leaves Arctangent early and sees them at their other shows and does it the same number of times will win a permanent guest list spot. It gets the crowd motivated and they brawl – Arctangent capable of switching between the sonic cinematic post-rockers of Nordic Giants and Tony Danza feels like chucking a grenade into a room and watching it explode – a mosh-friendly audience leaping at the opportunity to go apeshit.
It’s seven pm then, and normal doors open time for any normal gig. But this is Arctangent: I’ve seen ten bands already and Igorrr are only just coming on. And oh my god, Igorrr. They give one of the best sets of the entire festival – a thunderous onslaught of ‘Blastbeat Falafels’ that tear through AOTY-contender of 2025, ‘Amen’, with French composer Gautier Serre exploring the eternal battle between good and evil in as avant-garde a fashion as you can expect. It’s a never-ending wall of sound that feels spiritually unique and all-encompassing with a wholly eclectic set – able to drift between searing opera and gut-punching metal force. They have a ‘fuck it, let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ approach with extreme metal mixed in with opera and techno that allows the Arctangent crowd to eat up the metal with the appropriate fury of a master craftman at work.
After missing Maruja at Arctangent in 2024 and being completely bowled over by EP ‘Connla’s Well’ and album ‘Pain to Power’ – I knew I couldn’t resist a spell in the chaotic pit that shows you the kind of post-punk band that would play at Arctangent – don’t expect more traditional post punk outfits like IDLES or Amyl and the Sniffers – both at Outbreak in London at the weekend; but the jazz-riddled eulogy of Maruja’s music makes it a perfect centre-piece to be placed in between two big name acts – electric, majestic and triumphant in all its forms – ‘Look Down On Us’ encourages the crowd to brawl and a pit to open before the jazz brings the tempo down a bit, the rap-type beats almost echoing the punchier Kneecap but given a jazz-twirling swirl. The instrumentals, flows and breakdowns are top tier and the sonic inflections are filled with passion right from the off – a ten-minute saga of a song deployed in real force that just keeps going and going, Maruja refusing to bow to such a thing called convention. The dance between melting pot of pit-starting energy and swirling jazz is a match made in heaven; as Maruja craft a stranglehold as one of the most unique offerings on the entire lineup.
Day One headliner Chelsea Wolfe wraps up the day in style – her majestic slower, mystical approach bringing the tempo down after the fury of the pits to give a calmer launch day for the Thursday as we’re swept under her aura – ‘The Dark’ is one of the best albums of 2026 thus so far and to see much of it live with the aid of a brilliant crowd – one of the strengths of Arctangent is how respectful of the band everyone in the tent is - is a real delight – as Chelsea Wolfe is able to launch a commanding ode to her craft. New songs ‘Death is Not the End, the Dark’ and ‘Cold’ fit in seamlessly with tracks from ‘She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She’ and instantly pull you in across the board.
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington
FRIDAY 21
The first band I make it down for is moksha, a side project of the brilliantly loud Ithaca who have recently ended their run as a band. It is immediately clear moksha are a different beast entirely – founded by Sam Chetan-Welsh, who is aware that for everyone there because he was in Ithaca moksha are very much not Ithaca, a spiritual guitar band that would almost be more at home at Green Man or End of the Road with their Beverly and Glenn Copeland covers mixed in with humour in-between sets. Yet moksha’s style suits Arctangent perfectly – an art rock collective that can spotlight debut single ‘Three Rivers’ that takes its name from the confluence of three sacred rivers in India where families come to immerse the ashes of loved ones and perform rituals connected with remembrance and comes up with the core DNA of the band. It is the hope of moksha – liberation, and that is the core founding pillars of the band that embrace emo, with math and a touch of jazz with a whirlwind of unique instruments that really make for such a different set.
We then get Windmill-scene favourites Ringlets next, abrasively brilliant with tracks like ‘Posh Girl Holds A Whip’ and ‘Ancient Gays’, and the cinematic brilliance of Civil Service who prove that not all Civil Services are entirely useless country wide, going through ‘These Cities are Ruins’ and ‘She Would Never Retreat, Their Negativity Just Made Her Stronger’ in spades – pulling almost entirely from Dark /// - another excellent record from 2025. The atmospheric flair is given emotional depth with enough vocals to prevent it from becoming a purely instrumental piece – but it’s a band that when you learn guests on the album included the likes of Overhead, the Albatross and Hidden Mothers it’s easy to see why.
You Win Again Gravity and Conjurer are the next two bands - You Win Again Gravity using this show as a proving ground for new album ‘Don’t Leave Me Here, Pt.1’ that encourages a cinematic storytelling that allows their songwriting to really shine. Tracks like ‘Character Arc’ and ‘Something Has to Change’ get the run out; the band tapping into post metal with a proggy melodic sense of awe that isn’t afraid to tap into hardcore, delving deep into the breakdowns that aren’t afraid to hold back. I really like Conjurer – and to see them again allows the black metal to come fully around is triumphant again after multiple festival sets in the past. It is unrelenting, propulsive energy that feels truly angry and alive.
If you think you have seen mosh pits you have not seen a Heck pit before. I’m telling you this now in case they ever come back again because it is their final show again, tempted out of retirement for a throw of the dice at Arctangent. It’s amazing any of Yohkai’s construction is left standing by the time the brawl that Heck start is done – formed under the name of Baby Godzilla almost TWENTY years ago and returning for a swansong after bidding goodbye the first time in 2017. This is a band that has developed a reputation for chaotic shows and their only full-length album ‘Instructions’ allowed for them to burn brighter than Icarus with a short-lived but memorable stay that made sure anyone who saw them live would be talking about them for decades after they wrapped. Hardcore math rock allows for a force of sheer pandemonium with extreme noise that sees frontman Joe Rawson climb almost to the top of Yohkai’s construction – no small feat – before throwing himself off onto the clutches of as many big boys as he can find. The chaos really starts in full fashion and just does not let up – it is the most intense pit of the whole festival and arguably, of the whole year. No pit before or since will rival Heck at Arctangent 2026, mark my words.
Photo Credit: Derek Bremner
There is a rare overlap between both 2,000 Trees and Arctangent, both booked by James Scarlett, and Arcane Roots is that overlap, having played twice at Trees and once at Arctangent this means it is now the third time I’ve seen them in two months. And what a full force it is for Arcane Roots – whose prog math rock brilliance shine brighter than they have done; bombastic with a cinematic air of grandeur that really embraces the inner chaos driven nature of it all. ‘A Wave, Across the Sea’ tricks the audience into thinking it’s going to be a casual set and then all hell breaks lose with Arcane Roots unleashing full havoc – a run through ‘Heaven and Earth’ and ‘Melancholia Hymns’ is more than welcome; Arcane Roots prove their staying power as they celebrate those who were there – no matter what time they joined, just as long as they joined the Arcane Roots experience, that is enough.
It is a quieter Friday for me; unconvinced by Primus – but I do have time for BRUIT <’s cinematographic post rock with the Toulouse quartet never being subtle in their approach: BRUIT literally means noise – and having written albums in mountains and recorded them in churches before; it shows you everything you need to know about their allure for insanity. It’s just pure chaos – conceptual and born on a desire and need to exist independently. It shows live – as they make the most out of a small tent, even if at this point in the evening the atmosphere is noticeably different as many people re here for Primus rather than the usual core bunch of Arctangent regulars – a very different vibe across the festival on this day in particular. It doesn’t change the fact that the crowd are lovely and warm, welcoming everywhere you go – and within less than half an hour of arriving in Arctangent’s field, you already come across plenty of friendly, familiar faces. I’ve been going since 2024 and it practically feels like a second home. No festival elsewhere exists that has the vibe that Arctangent has – and I count myself lucky to have experienced three editions at Fernhill Farm.
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington
SATURDAY 22
And so dawns the final day. The sun is shining and we’re here for the final ever day at Fernhill – switching locations to the lofty Todenham Manor Farm near Moreton-in-Marsh, as a result of the landowners deciding last year they no longer wanted Arctangent on their farm – we see it move for the first time for horizons new. And it is for Kathryn Joseph who kicks things off, a slower tempo arthouse fair that feels wholly mythmaking. The debut ‘Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled’ won the 2015 Scottish album of the year award and it’s easy to see her talent deployed can elevate her to bigger headline slots. The punctual named ‘DEER.’ ‘WOLF.’ ‘ROADKILL.’ Are blunt but show you her thematic relevance, as she taps into newer record ‘WE WERE MADE PREY’ that feels like a culmination of her work thus so far over the course of her career with an entrancing, dark folk template that maximises the conflict between living things and the animal call of the wild. The accents vary and the dreamy lyrics almost have you in awe.
Jo Quail has played Arctangent before but is the first time she has brought the Crossbones ensemble in tow. She goes through ‘Butterfly Dance’, ‘Rex’, and the majestic ‘First Rain’ where she commands the audience to listen and the audience almost universally obeys. It is a spell being cast on the crowd with outstanding backing visuals that make for one of the best sets of the whole festival and a perfect pairing with Kathryn Joseph for a calmer but no less cinematographic feel of ‘Notan’ – that bridges the divide between metal and classical music in a way that few artists can and instantly makes a case for both genres being so much similar than they are – this feels like it inhabits in the same space as Wardruna and God is an Astronaut, and it’s easy to see why they’ve enlisted Quail to play with them in the past. I wonder how many of the Crossbones ensemble will return to Arctangent with as a loyal following as Quail has – she is truly one of a kind and to see her live is such a rare treat. For sets like Quail’s and Joseph’s it is why I return to Arctangent time and time again, and time and time again it has not disappointed one bit.
So naturally, the next act that I see is emo pop punkers itoldyouiwouldeatyou, all one word, all lower case, who bring comedy into the equation opening their set with jokes about both members being unable to look at each other because of their neurodivergence and then commentary on “autism? At Arctangent?” and it being more in common than you think – and it’s true, it’s a festival that’s a known heaven for neurodivergent people and a real welcome difference from the more commercially-driven events like All Points East that appeal to the masses. Yet itoldyouiwouldeatyou lean into this commercial feel and create a fashion show for their merch mid set; and are as good as a comedians as they are artists. This lends us into nicely for the comedy variety hour of Arctangent with the legendary Jamie Lenman – who tore up Great Escape with an acoustic set earlier in the year, talks shit about Primus as diplomatically as he can saying that when he saw them they were bad but apparently they were good the night before – and takes time to praise Hang Linton, one of the most unique sets of Arctangent who is on just before with so much energy coming out of one man he’s made me an instant fan (check out ‘Radiator’ and ‘MAD DOG’) – and wows the crowd over.
Photo Credit: Carl Battams
Lenman argues that he is the first person to challenge James Scarlett for a lower slot on the festival billing than he deserves; and has the unfortunate draw of splitting the crowd with a Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas record signing but makes the most out of the huge audience that comes to see him by tearing up Yohkai. He dips into Reuben territory with ‘No One Wins the War’ and ‘Agony/Agatha’ – enlisting drummer Luke McDonnell from Los Skeletos to stand in on drums after discovering him through a book launch event. There’s time for the new material – ‘You’re Nothing’ comes for the transphobes and those who make the world a scarier place – and the plea of unity of ‘All of England is a City’ ends the night only Lenman can. Much of what comes before is comedy gold: a whole song dedicated to watching a film on TV that’s shit and being distracted by the characters watching a better film on TV that you’d rather be watching instead in a tongue in cheek, fearless way that no other artist is capable of.
Chat Pile come next and I saw them earlier in the week in London at Bush Hall and they keep up the energy and the crowd flow going; Ray B launching into high tempo that doesn’t let up across the board. New single ‘PEN I SMALL’ sums up Chat Pile’s humour in one song; using a catchy name to have a go at an old manager at a minimum wage store job and also use much of the set to go for AI and how none of the band members ever have or ever will use it. It’s inspirational stuff – politically relevant and charmingly on the money. The ferocious noise rock riffs craft a unique spell on the crowd and it’s fun to watch Raygun’s love letter to festival movies, sporting Woodstock among others as name-drops and giving you updates on what he’s reading allowing the crowd to come down.
Eivør come next and the Heilung sound drenched in techno is impossible to resist; the band having travelled among the furthest to get here from the Faroe Islands. She has a love-letter to Faroe culture and the visuals create such a stark imagery it feels appropriate not to be cast under a spell – very befitting in its own right that towards the end; the theme song from the brilliant tv show ‘The Last Kingdom’ is deployed to a welcome reception from the crowd – and you couldn’t have asked for a more emotional moment than this song being deployed so near the end of the entire festival. It extends beyond its means – creating an ode to Fernhill Farm being the last kingdom, and it really becomes apparent that this is it and we’re never coming back here as the hours end and the night gets colder.
But oh my god. What a send-off. What a send-off. After the majestic A.A. Williams; embracing gothic sorrow in such a way that rivals Chelsea Wolfe (no wonder she is chosen as support for a Kentish Town headline show in December, we are drawn back to a rare, one-of-a kind this will never happen again type moment of excess: Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas performing ‘Mariner’ in full; for your ears – it is triumphant, it is earth-shattering and monumental. The post-rock wall of brilliance is a run through of five songs that celebrate ten years of this album in its own right – you know the setlist, it’s an album show – ‘The Wreck of S.S. Needle’ and ‘Cygnus’ are just perfect ending songs that you get to have a spin of in its rawest form – a real grand-standing ovation of a curtain-closer that many festivals would only dream of booking so catered to them exclusively that capture such a massive appeal (I mean, can you imagine ‘Mariner’ at Reading and Leeds?). One of the most adorable moments of the night was watching a new father put a young child on his shoulders and declare “this is my favourite album of all-time, I’m so happy you get to experience this with me,” and I instantly know that deep down, I will never be as cool as the kid that is getting raised on ‘Mariner.’
Photo Credit: Jez Pennington
So, farewell then, Fernhill Farm. Goodbye the old, in with the new. It will be a case of meet the new Arctangent, the same as the old Arctangent, we’ve been assured, but there’s something final about this night that won’t ever be taken away from us.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
