FESTIVAL PREVIEW: UK Tech-Fest 2018 – Sunday
With the damning prospect of returning to civilisation lurking just around the corner, Sundays at festivals can often paint a fairly morose picture in certain ways. However, we’re more than willing to entertain the notion that UK Tech-Fest is exempt from this, with yet another full day of delectable divertissements to come from Simon Garrod and the crew, neatly distributed betwixt the two stages once again.
Ensuring that proceedings are truly hot and heavy from the get-go, Glaswegian groovesters LOTUS EATER will be hitting the Waghorn Guitars Stage early on in the day. With the Nottinghamshire sun at its zenith, this act will no doubt be ready to match the majesty of the elements like-for-like, delivering comparable levels of heat through their chaotic amalgam of djent, hardcore, and metalcore. Hot on their heels will be German prog-mathcore outfit THE HIRSCH EFFEKT, and on the topic of heat, this act will be ready to bring plenty of it. Armed with a myriad of bangers from 2017’s epic, hour-long release Eskapist, and carrying a level of pace and energy comparable with mathcore legends THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, this performance will no doubt prove to be exactly what the doctor ordered to diminish those Sunday blues.
With a mushroom cloud of sweat vapour no doubt emanating from the Tech-Fest site at this point, instrumental collective THE SURREALIST will temporarily put bodies and minds at ease, offering a remedy in the form of their graceful brand of instrumental prog, making their official Tech-Fest debut in the process. Perfectly suited to a sultry afternoon in the height of summer, this is undoubtedly an act that will fall into the ‘stand and watch’ category; something that will sit nicely with the sweltering masses. Prepare to grab a cold drink, and let Roopam Garg’s mesmerising arpeggios take you to a place of unbridled serenity. This being said, just as day must make way for night, THE SURREALIST will follow suit and make way for their sonic antithesis, namely the melodic tech-death antics of home-grown outfit BLOODSHOT DAWN. Hailing from Portsmouth UK, this act will be ready to storm the main stage just as they stormed the death metal scene earlier this year, unveiling their impressive and audacious new album Reanimation. Equipped with an eclectic cache of blast beats, solos, cathartic vocals, and a torrent of melodic leads and synths, BLOODSHOT DAWN will surely serve to get the juices flowing once more, as the day’s final events approach.
As the day’s twilight draws nearer (both literally and figuratively), the Tech-Fest crowds will gear up for three more acts, all adequately exciting in their own right, but rendered even more so by the nature of their announcement. Much to the dismay of many punters, Sunday main-stage headliners PROTEST THE HERO were forced to withdraw from their upcoming European tour, resulting in their removal from the Tech-Fest lineup, condemning main-support act-to-be NORMA JEAN to the same fate. In due course, a series of amendments were made to remedy the situation, the first of which coming in the form of Liverpudlian outfit LOATHE, a consummate UKTM fan-favourite. If the blow of missing out on NORMA JEAN could ever truly be softened, this is perhaps as close as Tech-Fest could possibly get. Considered to be the leading arbiters of the UK’s stylistic strat-djent movement, the popularity of the scouse sovereigns has seen a dramatic upturn over the past year or so, their set promising to be the ideal kickstarter for the weekend’s final phases.
Thrilling as the prospect of LOATHE may be, the day’s penultimate act presents something far more enigmatic. In a creative attempt to combat the disappointment caused by the cancellations, the Tech-Fest team have elected to embellish one of their replacements with a tint of mystery, namely with the announcement of a ‘secret act’. As is to be expected this has caused quite a stir amongst the online community, with speculation already rife amongst the Tech-Fest faithful, a few key names being thrown around in an excitable flurry of conjecture. In any case, with lead organiser Simon Garrod claiming that they are “absolutely not to be missed”, one can be almost certain that Sunday’s ‘secret act’ will appease the fans, and do absolute justice to their main-stage, sub-headliner slot.
And finally, wrapping up Sunday’s antics in addition to closing out a four-day siege of madness, main-stage headliners BETRAYING THE MARTYRS will be aiming to honour the prestigious nature of their slot in every way possible. Bumped up to headliners following PROTEST THE HERO’s unfortunate mishap, the Parisian metalcore sextet will no doubt be eager to do what they always do best, putting on a truly energy-laden performance, and serving to end the festival in style. Equipped with a fresh toolbox of material following 2017’s release of full-length attempt The Resilient, these guys will arrive ready to deliver grooves, breakdowns, synths and balladic choruses aplenty, rifling through an extensive setlist comprised of both new and old. The stage set for them to provide a graceful crescendo to the festival, BETRAYING THE MARTYRS’ performance will no doubt act as a fitting microcosm for the entire event: replete with grooviness, brutality, melody, and euphoria.
And so, that brings our preview of this year’s UK Tech-Fest to a close! Check out our preview of the Thursday/Friday and Saturday and we will see you all next weekend to celebrate everything tech and progressive!
UK Tech-Fest takes place from July 5-8 2018 at Newark Showground. Weekend tickets are priced at Weekend tickets are £79.99 + £20 Camping and can be purchased here.
For more information on the festival like their official page on Facebook.