After three tremendous days at Fernhill Farm, the time came for Saturday – the day when yours truly really overachieved, because the line up was simply stacked and multiple times throughout the day I wanted to bend time and be in two places at once – and I managed to achieve that once, somewhat (the truth was I just sprinted from one stage to another mid-song, but let’s go with the bending time theory).
I wandered into the Main stage at 11am not knowing what to expect, because I love getting surprised by ArcTanGent acts – I didn’t know anything about Sara Zozaya, and I stayed mesmerised for the whole set. The Basque artist created minimalist, introspective looped ambient compositions with captivating projections behind her, and it was a simply glorious way to start the day. The push and pull of ethereal and brutal sounds at ArcTanGent is a balancing act the organisers perfected over the years, and those of us who contain multitudes can stretch our ears to take in the whole musical spectrum, and this is why we return each year.
The perfect embodiment of the brutal vs ethereal spectrum materialised immediately as I ran to catch Meatdripper – they are one of those bands whose name prepares you perfectly for the noise that they conjure. As if they trapped the ghost of Ozzy Osbourne himself, the Birmingham quartet instantly stole the hearts of the ArcTanGent audience with a sludgy doom that sounded as if it came straight from a 70’s psychedelic slasher b-movie. Their riffs were filthy and I got instantly obsessed.
Reclus.É, the new project of Tummyache‘s Soren Bryce and Daniel P. Carter, are a band that I had the immense pleasure of following since their very first gig, so I couldn’t miss their ATG performance. Blending hardcore with delicate, Portishead-like sounds, and not shying away from their political stance (“Fuck Trump, Free Palestine!!” screamed Soren from the stage), they offer a commentary on modern existence that is poignant and magnetic. They just announced their debut LP and I personally cannot wait to hear a full record.
Entering the first impossible clash of the day, I continued my day with the folk horror outfit Forlorn, whose front woman Megan transformed the PX3 stage into a ritual with audience as willing disciples. Performance is a key element of their brand of pagan metal, and it’s been amazing to observe how it evolved to become less introspective and more inclusive of the audience. It’s spectacle I could watch over and over again.
I then bent time to catch the inimitable cellist Jo Quail who was performing with Tom Atherton and the Crossbones Ensemble. Jo’s music has accompanied the best part of the last 15 years of my life and her compositions, masterfully looping her electric cello, are simply hypnotic to witness. While usually she plays solo, this unique performance included drums and trombones and to hear her compositions expanded to include additional instruments was simply breathtaking. She was another artist who offered introspective pause in between the noise and metal, but her music transcends genres and always takes up space amongst the heaviest of sounds with ease.
I am not exaggerating when I say that tears were shed during Oathbreaker‘s spellbinding performance of their breakthrough 2016 album Rheia – after the gentle intro of ’10:56′, following the album’s cadence, the band launched into cathartic, guttural and visceral intensity and I got swept right into it. Caro Tanghe’s microphone was decorated with ribbons that danced around her as she sung and screamed, as if she was fighting against the elements. This performance brought the Belgian metal outfit back from a hiatus, and what a return to form it was.
After that emotional performance, it was time to bend time again – I started off with the ethereal Faroese performer Eivør, who blends folk and electronica to produce singular soundscapes. You could draw a line of influence from Eivør to Sara Zozaya and Lili Refrain, but they each offer something unique. And with darker, ritualistic tones of Forlorn and gothic notes from Chelsea Wolfe and A.A. Williams – Eivør fitted right and captivated ArcTanGent’s audience. With pagan-folk elements and the use of shamanic drum set to a backdrop of synths and occasional techno beats, her impressive vocal range created a mesmerising spectacle.
At last year’s edition, during their farewell performance Ithaca incited Kate Davies from Pupil Slicer onto the stage – and this year it almost felt as if that was an act of passing the metalcore baton, as Pupil Slicer completely owned the PX3 stage, giving a performance to launch endless mosh pits. Kate Davies completely owned the stage, rarely staying in one place for more than a few moments, and the crowd went absolutely feral. Their merch includes patches with a motto ‘Trans Inclusive Radical Hatred’, which leaves no room for nuance as to what they stand for, and the audience instantly resonated with that energy. Absolutely worth bending time and space for.
The tent was absolutely packed for A.A. Williams, whose newest record Solstice has been received with widespread acclaim. She is another artist whose rise in the scene I’ve had the joy of observing since day one, and it was wonderful to see her become a true mainstay and fan favourite. With her trademark Gibson in tow, she served her mournful goth spells that I could listen to (and often have) for hours on end. Having this as one of my last ArcTanGent performances truly felt like a cherry on top of a perfect musical cake.
But the crown of the festival belonged to Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas, who performed their acclaimed 2016 album Mariner in full, fulfilling many ArcTanGent festival goers dreams by doing so, as they previously announced they wouldn’t do that anymore – the ArcTanGent reunion felt that extra special knowing they decided to do it just for us. Julie Christmas’s stage presence is singular and her LED-illuminated masks and stage outfits are legendary. Cult Of Luna’s thunderous riffs combined with Julie Christmas’s piercing and emotionally devastating vocals formed an explosive cocktail, and there have been many tears in the audience – this is how much hearing that album performed live in full meant to people.
This is also the magic of that festival. It will gather several thousand of people in a field and unite them over a shared love of piece of music and provide a level of community and emotional release you cannot find anywhere else. There have been many discussions about the site of the festival moving to the Cotswolds next year, and the farewell to Fernhill Farm has been extra emotional for the regulars. But from my point of view, the farm provided the first save haven for this incredible community, but wherever ArcTanGent goes – I will follow, because it’s the people and the music who make it what it is: my spiritual home. One that I’m happy to share with several thousand of like minded humans.
Tickets for the 2027 edition are available now.