FESTIVAL PREVIEW: ArcTanGent 2023
Almost exactly halfway between the bustling metropolis of Bristol and the UK’s smallest city in Wells resides the village of Compton Martin. Taking a right at the Village Hall and making your way along the winding and twisting country roads will bring you to Fernhill Farm. For 51 weeks of the year, this is an active eco farm in sheep, cattle and woodland pigs, whist their Grade II listed stone buildings and Horseshoe Barn are available for events and accommodation. However, every third weekend in August, the peace and tranquillity of this site is shattered by the arrival of 5,000 punters for one of the UK’s most beloved and treasured small festivals: ArcTanGent.
Named after the critically acclaimed 2000 album by UK alt-metallers EARTHTONE9, ArcTanGent – often affectionally referred to as ATG – has been a hub for the more experimental end of heavy music since 2013. If you’re a fan of post-rock, post-metal, progressive metal, math rock, shoegaze and any other genres that push musical boundaries in terms of composition and time signatures, this festival should be the first thing marked on your calendar every year on a ‘must attend’ basis. Previous headliners have included OPETH, TESSERACT, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and COHEED AND CAMBRIA and, as ArcTanGent prepared for its eighth overall edition, let’s see who should be earmarked as bands to see.
Returning after its success last year is the pre-festival warm up party on the Wednesday afternoon. Taking place on the smallest of the stages, Elephant In The Bar, those attending early enough to catch the driving experimental rock of OGIVES BIG BAND would do well to ensure that. SKIN FAILURE are a stupid amount of thrash/hardcore fun and will start your evening off right; as it goes on, the extreme mathcore of PUPIL SLICER and DVNE‘s mix of trad-metal riffs with the expanse of prog and post-metal provide excellent, if contrasting, experiences.
CONJURER are more than likely going to crush everyone and everything with their sludgy, doom-laden riffs before local lads SCALPING, who take the likes of post-rock, punk and industrial and push it through an EBM and techno machine to create something like no other, finish off the band portion of the night. For anyone still with energy, STRAIGHT GIRL takes over the ArcTanGent famous Silent Disco for a short live set before the headphones finally switch off at 2am. Exhausted? We’re just getting started…
It might seem an early start for some, but it’s really worth checking out the blackened misery of GRIEF RITUAL, who open the PX3 stage at 11am. MOUNTAIN CALLER‘s wonderfully crafted instrumental prog will ease you well into the afternoon on the main Arc stage before things get intense very quickly, with Belgian black metallers WIEGEDOOD, British metallic hardcore heavyweights SVALBARD and American post-metal titans CAVE IN all playing one after the other between the Arc and Yohkai stages.
The bruising grindcore of EMPIRE STATE BASTARD on Arc goes up against the French hardcore punk of BIRDS IN ROW on PX3, while the excellent post-rock/hardcore of BRUTUS on Yohkai runs parallel with the wonderful heavy prog of ELDER on Bixler. RUSSIAN CIRCLES will provide some exceptional, post-metal instrumentals before the first main headliner of the year takes to the Arc stage; Massachusetts behemoths CONVERGE. Returning for the first time since 2017, the quartet will bring a career-spanning set, playing songs from the likes of Axe To Fall and Jane Doe, to name but two albums.
If you’re up and about for the beginning of Friday, look no further than the post-black metal of Hidden Mothers on PX3. CONJURER and PIJN‘s combined project, CURSE THESE METAL HANDS, take to the Arc stage in the early afternoon for another performance of their celebrated, sludge-laden EP. Germany’s Unprocessed will bring their tech-metal instrumentals to life on the Bixler stage before ASHENSPIRE will succeed them and bludgeon with their progressive black metal. AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR are ArcTanGent‘s house band at this point; this will be their sixth appearance, and they’ll once more be on the Arc stage. The doom metal of Washington’s BELL WITCH will likely comprise all of three songs in the set, but those watching on Bixler won’t forget them in a hurry.
For the first ever time, experimental rock legends SWANS will appear at ArcTanGent as main support on the Arc stage – it’s the first time they’ve played the UK in six years and the hype for their set is real. Whether you choose to watch the tech-metal wizardry of SIKTH on Yohkai or the blackened prog of ENSLAVED on Bixler is a matter of taste, but both will deliver regardless. Headlining the night is HEILUNG, the neo-pagan folk outfit from Denmark, Norway and Germany, who will waste no time in turning the Arc stage into their own, mystical ritual deep in the forest.
Saturday begins with the post-punk and goth-tinged NAUT on PX3, while PSYCHONAUT from Belgium will bring their heavy, psychedelic post-rock to the masses on the Arc stage. Over on the Elephant In The Bar stage mid-afternoon, you’ll find alternative act THOUGHT FORMS, who contributed to the soundtrack of the excellent 2014 film Ex Machina. Over on the Arc stage, Denmark’s VOLA will provide exquisite, progressive music before Brighton’s ROLO TOMASSI, making their first ArcTanGent appearance since 2018, will deliver a raucous set of post-rock and mathcore, likely focusing on latest album Where Myth Becomes Memory. Making their debut on Yokhai straight after are Connecticut’s THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE, whose set of post-hardcore, emo and indie will no doubt go down a storm, however for those who may not wish to indulge, THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS on Bixler will sort them out with their math-infused metalcore.
Heavy synthwave outfit HEALTH follow the DAOBOYS on Bixler and will have little issue turning that tent into their own, twisted rave while the bizarre mind of Gautier Serre, better known as IGORR, will bring an abrasive and stunning show to the Arc stage. Headlining PX3 are OHHMS from Kent, their progressive doom a suitably destructive way to round out one’s weekend, but they’re up against the final main headliner, the ever brilliant DEVIN TOWNSEND. A superstar whatever way you look at him, the Canadian may have toned down a lot from his days as metal’s resident mad scientist, but only a fool would bet against him being a total delight in every way possible as he brings ArcTanGent to a close for another year.
ArcTanGent will take place at Fernhill Farm on August 16th-20th 2023.
For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.