FESTIVAL PREVIEW: UK Tech-Fest 2018 – Thursday/Friday
UK Tech-Fest has been providing a platform for bands hoping to break into the scene as well as allowing European bands the opportunity to play in front of a crowd of tech enthusiasts for multiple years now. Every year it seems to come back bigger and better than ever. Distorted Sound will be on the ground at this year’s festival so, to get you in the mood, we are previewing each day of this year’s festival. So, to begin, let our preview of the Thursday and Friday of UK Tech-Fest 2018 begin!
Thursday
The early bird attendees who descend on UK Tech-Fest on Thursday 5th will be treated to some of the UK’s finest rising talents including the long awaited return of favourites HEART OF A COWARD. The bombshell that talismanic frontman Jamie Graham would be vacating his throne shook the metal world to it’s core and left a lot of questions on people’s lips as to what the future would hold. UKTM fan favourite Kaan Tasan (Also known from NO CONSEQUENCE) answered the call and with plenty of time to showcase his prowess on a wealth of their back catalogue during their early bird headline set and a few gigs already under his belt with the band he should be poised to prove why HEART OF A COWARD are going nowhere.
Alongside the Milton Keynes heavyweights will be the vicious assault of Tokyo’s CRYSTAL LAKE hoping to pick up some new fans on their jaunt through Europe, the exciting new star-studded lineup from RAVENFACE building up some hype for their inbound 2018 release (including members from NO SIN EVADES HIS GAZE, ALIASES and THE COLOUR LINE) as well as the crushing melodies of URSUS who have stepped up to the plate after the unfortunate cancellation of EXTREMITIES.
Accompanying this already mouthwatering prospect is the accessible, ambient hooks of Copenhagen’s SIAMESE, the dissonant beatdowns of Nottingham’s TAKEN BY THE TIDE and the shredding wizardry of EMBODIMENT to warm those necks up for the gauntlet of crushing heaviness that awaits over the course of the festival. To round off Thursdays onslaught is the downtuned ferocity of Leicester lads FRACTIONS, Derby’s progressive metal horde FROM HER ASHES and special guest competition winner JONNY TURNER who has guaranteed to debut some new unreleased material to add to the excitement factor. Plenty to whet your appetite for a weekend of glorious tech metal!
Friday
Hoping for a little less ‘three months worth of rain in one hour’ and a little more glorious sunshine most patrons should be well settled into their accommodation for the weekend come Friday morning of UK Tech-Fest 2018. There is plenty of phenomenal musicians showcasing their talents over the course of the weekend but they don’t come much bigger than a band that are arguably the most important band in the history of the tech scene, the incomparable SIKTH. If it wasn’t for their fearless experimental endeavours back in the early 00’s inspiring a variety of musicians to follow their own path it does spark the question as to whether the scene would have exploded as much as it has. Recently treating their crowds to a lot of deep cuts from Death Of A Dead Day as well as their critically acclaimed full length debut The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild on recent tours the Milton Keynes visionaries are geared up to pluck anything from their back catalogue for this set. Expect the unexpected!
Also over the course of the day on the Winspear Stage is Indiana’s prog darlings THE CONTORTIONIST who will be poised to show why they are one of the most captivating live bands on the circuit, one of Scotland’s greatest exports BLEED FROM WITHIN, who will be raring to unleash material from their stunning new album Era as well as Danish groove-mongers VOLA making their hotly anticipated return to the UK.
To add to the European flavour of the lineup Ukranian’s progressive death metal upstarts JINJER will be gracing the Winspear Stage with their vicious onslaught, and accompanying them is UK Tech-Fest‘s favourites FROM SORROW TO SERENITY who have been causing quite the stir with the recently released single Supremacy, the instrumental wizardry of CHRIS SCHIERMANN and the unrelenting barrage of France’s THE DALI THUNDERING CONCEPT that are fresh off the back of their insanely adept concept album Savages. They will surely be champing at the bit to air some of their new material to build on their stellar performance back in 2016.
If the aforementioned wasn’t spoiling all in attendance enough the Waghorn Guitars Stage is also rammed with incredible bands and they don’t come much more energetic than the exuberant Aussies VOYAGER. The five piece cemented their stake in the progressive metal elite with 2017’s Ghost Mile and this is one of many reasons why the band have been going strong since 1999! Definitely a band not to be overlooked during the course of the weekend.
After releasing the mind bending Covenant, Germany’s tech metal visionaries UNPROCESSED will be bringing their arctic lorry full of riffs to the party in addition to the controlled frenzy of DESPITE EXILE, the raw intensity of THIS IS TURIN and the ferocious beatdowns of MISCREANT. Along for the ride to round up Friday’s lineup is the uplifting energy of YOU WIN AGAIN GRAVITY and the groove ridden FROM EDEN TO EXILE who are taking the role of death metal alarm clock will be aiming to revitalise the late night partiers who may still be a little tender from Thursday’s antics.
And there we have it! Stay posted to Distorted Sound as we bring you our preview of the Saturday and Sunday of UK Tech-Fest 2018 very soon!
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.