The UK Techfest, one of the England’s many great festival events for metalheads and guitar enthusiasts, kicks off in just two days.
The show has attracted a number of high profile death / tech metal bands, including The Black Dahlia Murder, Aborted, Obscura, and The Haarp Machine. That’s a lot of shredding!
It’s particularly nice to see The Haarp Machine re-gathered and making an appearance after a period of inactivity and uncertainty.
Guitarist and songwriter Al Mu’min is one of the most interesting guitarists in metal – check out this play-through video of some of their new material (and appreciate the Strandberg guitar, of course):
The festival has been held annually since 2011, with the Newark Showground (Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire) serving as its home base since 2014. The festival features a proper campground that even includes showers – this is not the Fyre Festival (it was great for a laugh though).
Organizers have included a number of options so tickets and campground access can be purchased together or separately, with an all-access show pass and full-weekend campsite for £110. Single-day tickets are between £20 and £30 – a fair price considering the number of bands on each stage.
More info about the show can be found on their official website and Facebook page, while tickets can be purchased here.
Complete Lineup (Alphabetical)
| A Trust Unclean | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Aborted | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Aenimus | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Alaska | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Bear | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Bear | Sun 9th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Beyond Creation | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Borders | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Carcer City | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Chelsea Grin | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Conjurer | Thu 6th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Continents | Fri 7th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Core Of iO | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Death Remains | Fri 7th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Dreamwaves | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Drewsif Stalins Musical Endeavors | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Dyscarnate | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Exist Immortal | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Exivious | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Fraktions | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| FRCTRD | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Ghost Iris | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Hacktivist | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Harbinger | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Harbinger | Sun 9th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Hieroglyph | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Humanity’s Last Breath | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Hypophera | Sat 8th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Igorrr | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Ingested | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| James Norbert Ivanyi | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Martyr Defiled | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Maxi Curnow | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Meyoumusic | Sat 8th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Musica Masonica | Thu 6th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| My/Bitter/Half | Thu 6th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Northlane | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Novena | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Nycosia | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Obscura | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Oceans Ate Alaska | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Oni | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Panzerballett | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Persefone | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Pteroglyph | Sun 9th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Red Seas Fire | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Rolo Tomassi | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Sarah Longfield | Sun 9th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Sentience | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Shattered Skies | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Sleep Token | day TBC, unknown stage |
| Strains | Fri 7th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Super Jam | Sat 8th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Techeoke | Sun 9th, Double Slit Guitars Stage |
| Textures | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| The Algorithm | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| The Arusha Accord | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| The Black Dahlia Murder | Fri 7th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| The Colour Line | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| The Faceless | day TBC, unknown stage |
| The Fine Constant | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| The Haarp Machine | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| The Parallax Method | Sat 8th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| The Royal | Thu 6th, unknown stage |
| Toska | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Uneven Structure | Sat 8th, Carillion Guitars Stage |
| Valis Ablaze | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Virvum | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |
| Within Destruction | Fri 7th, Hands on Printing Stage |