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RADAR Festival 2025: line-up deep dive
Manchester’s genre-mashing weekender returns with Carpenter Brut, Underøath, Bob Vylan and more. Here’s your handy weekend guide
RADAR Festival has carved out a reputation as the UK’s most forward-thinking heavy music gathering, and 2025’s edition is its boldest yet. From 4 – 6 July, Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse will host a celebration of the loud, the experimental and the downright unclassifiable. Whether you’re into synth-laced brutality, post-hardcore catharsis or glitchy alt pop, RADAR’s got it. Expect a blitzkrieg of riffs, rhythms and radical ideas, along with all of the below and more…
The headliners
Carpenter Brut
Carpenter Brut returns to UK shores as RADAR’s Friday headliner. The French synth wizard has been fusing neon‑soaked 80s horror hues with rip‑roaring metal textures since the first of the Trilogy EPs exploded onto the scene in 2012. Expect blood-soaked disco: visceral percussion, theatrical visuals, and cinematic momentum that traipse between pounding electronica and borderline metal.
Bob Vylan
Saturday night’s big kahuna: London’s Bob Vylan. This duo resists neat categorisation – punk scraps, grime grit, hip hop snaps – all slathered in political spitfire that’s less whisper and more punch in the gut. Their anthem ‘We Live Here’ is a rallying cry carved in anger and resilience, turning gigs into communal therapy. Their live show? Part civil disobedience, part confessional. Come hungry, leave wired.
Underøath
To close Sunday, Underøath storm in – a heavy‑hit of spiritual anguish and post‑hardcore swagger. RADAR scored them as a UK‑exclusive this year, wrapping up three days of adrenaline with controlled emotional collapse. With the full emotional arc and raw grit of latest album The Place After This One to draw from, frontman Spencer Chamberlain will have the arena eating out of his hand. Moshers and crybabies, unite.
The genre-benders
Zeal & Ardor
Zeal & Ardor’s Manuel Gagneux conjures shivers by smelting spirituals into black metal engines – melodies that feel like a raised fist in a cathedral. Friday sees the return of this sonic ritual: black-clad, vocal purists, both unsettling and mesmerising. ‘Devil Is Fine’ is still a war cry. Intriguing, unnerving, unforgettable.
VUKOVI
Edinburgh’s alt‑rock fireball VUKOVI are all riffs and razzmatazz. Frontwoman Janine Shilstone is the sort of performer who yanks you into her orbit before hurtling into the chorus: bringing glitch-pop energy and rapid-fire hooks and a whole lot more besides.
Normandie
Sweden’s Normandie specialise in the grand gesture – melodic choruses stacked like crescendos on a rollercoaster. Hybrid rock with heavy portions of accessible melody; their staging is cinematic without the cheese. Check their tune ‘White Flag’ and prepare to weep softly before head-banging sincerely.
Lake Malice
Brighton outfit Lake Malice strap on electronica and shake metalcore hard. Their track ‘Bloodbath’ is a grenade in a dancehall – bass‑heavy welters, chopped vox and riffs that cut. Their stage crash is sweaty, sticky, unforgettable.
The progressive vanguard
Intervals
Instrumental virtuosity in full flight. Canada’s Intervals, led by guitarist Aaron Marshall, weave intricate gymnastics across six strings. Their travelogue in sound – see ‘neurogenesis’ –combines tight, tap-heavy riffs with dreamy layers. It’s ear‑splitting beauty, flawlessly executed.
David Maxim Micic
Solo prog‑metal fanatic David Maxim Micic, from Serbia, blends orchestral flavour with tripping meter shifts. His sprawling compositions – such as ‘Someone Else’s Hat’ – feel less like songs and more like mini‑soundtracks for sci‑fi futures.
As Everything Unfolds
UK’s As Everything Unfolds deliver catharsis wrapped in post‑hardcore lash‑outs. Charlie Rolfe’s emotional belt dovetails with guitar meltdowns that pack an urgent punch. These lavalike layers of grit and melody aren’t just performed – they’re exorcised.
The underground heroes
LASTELLE
Glaswegian post-rockers LASTELLE drip ambient textures with emotional vocals. Tunes like ‘Breathe Me In’ bloom gradually, unfolding in lush layers – particularly intoxicating when experienced in Warehouse’s concrete walls.
ĠENN
Maltese wildcards ĠENN inject punk aggression with psychedelic forays. ‘Feel’ trips between chaos and calm, anchored in buzzy guitars that could soundtrack a European road‑trip film at high volume.
RADAR Festival 2025 runs between 4 – 6 July at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse. Find tickets here
