Ten Bands You Must Check Out At ArcTanGent Festival 2023

ArcTanGent Festival is a three-day festival held annually at Fernhill Farm near Bristol since 2013. It features over 100 acts playing across five alternating stages. It’s known for featuring the best and up and coming acts across progressive rock and metal, post, math, experimental and so much more.

This year’s event is taking place from the 16th to the 19th of August, and it will be the first time we attend. We’ve always wanted to, but with Bloodstock being the weekend before and that being our annual pilgrimage, time and money has meant it just hasn’t been possible.

Until this year… and what a year we have chosen to attend. The line-up is incredibly strong across all stages and days. The festival features plenty of bands we’re familiar with in the live environment, but plenty that we’ve not had the chance to see live yet. That makes it an extremely appealing prospect and we can envision a lot of running around to see everyone we want to see.

There’s so much to see. So, we thought we would give you ten bands we recommend you check out if you’re going to ArcTanGent this year. Narrowing it down to ten was very difficult, so this list doesn’t include the likes of the headliners, who are a given of course. Instead, we’re focusing those that you may not be too familiar with and offering up our reasons as to why you should see them.

Thursday – Wiegedood (Arc Stage)

Wiegedood play a heinous and horrid style of black metal. It is the stuff of nightmares, the sound of feverish hallucinations and the feeling of revulsion that comes over you upon experiencing something unfathomable. Why wouldn’t you want to see them at the festival?

Thursday – Din of Celestial Birds (Bixler)

Be prepared to feel all kinds of emotions with this band. a staggering amount of talent in their ranks, music that makes you move… while crying. Din of Celestial Birds are a very special band who experiment with instrumental cinematic post-rock and create something that is truly unforgettable.

Thursday – Grief Ritual (PX3)

A hefty helping of blackened metallic hardcore, flavoured by post-metal, and sprinkled with elements of black and death, Grief Ritual are a creative force of heaviness and misery. This one is going to hurt.

Thursday – Birds in Row (PX3)

Mixing experimental punk and hardcore, Birds in Row are a very weird band, creating compelling music that can be extremely baffling to the ears. How will the music from their latest album ‘Gris Klein’ sound live? The fun is finding out. This will either be one of the best things of the weekend or one of the weirdest. Either way, it’s going to be an experience.

Thursday – Sugar Horse (PX3)

Unpredictable and unique, Sugar Horse are one of the most interesting UK bands you might ever see or hear. They can make you want to go crazy in a pit, dance the night away, or burst into tears. Sometimes, all within the same song. There is little like a Sugar Horse show and you genuinely never know what you’re going to get. Aside from the fact that it is going to be unforgettable.

Friday – The St Pierre Snake Invasion (Yohkai)

Be assured, if there is one thing The St Pierre Snake Invasion does at ArcTanGent, it is getting you moving. Raucous rockiness, abrasive rhythms, dramatic melodies, and blistering heavy intensity. It’s going to be a something very special indeed.

Friday – Dawn Ray’d (PX3)

Primeval, perverse, and poignant music infused with folk-inspired elements. Dawn Ray’d are refreshing sound in the darkness of the black metal world. Unafraid to experiment, their sumptuous back catalogue is going to sound immense live.

Saturday – Copse (Bixler)

Combining the innate beauty of the ‘gaze’ sound with the errant intensity of post-metal, Copse deliver profound and powerful music. They are a mesmerising band, and who doesn’t want to be mesmerised when watching a band play live?

Saturday – Naut (PX3)

One of the more ‘curious’ bands at ArcTanGent this year, Naut can be best summed up as a dark and gothic post-punk band. Although that doesn’t fully do their experimental aspects much justice. They’re a difficult band to describe, eclectic and enigmatic, transcending basic genre limitations. All with a confidence and swagger that is staggering. This could be an extremely memorable show.

Saturday – Ohhms (PX3)

Expect greatness from the sludgy post-metal band and get greatness from the sludgy post metal band. If there is one band over the entire weekend that will deliver without a doubt, it’s Ohhms.