Arctangent Festival has confirmed two new headliners and added over 50 new bands to their 2025 lineup. Nordic metal group Wardruna will headline the Wednesday night, and Milton Keynes prog metal band Tesseract will headline the Saturday.
Other new names on the lineup include grindcore duo Clown Core, Norwegian proggers Leprous, and French psych-rockers Slift. Also announced were Arab Strap, Emma Ruth Rundle, Kalandra, Mew and Green Lung – the last two bands marked as UK festival exclusives.
This new crop of artists will join a bill that features Karnivool as Friday nights headliners, Melvins, Rolo Tomassi, Kylesa, Adebisi Shank, Fall Of Troy and Between The Buried and Me. The festival will take place from August 13 – 16 in at Fernhill Farm in Bristol, with tickets on sale now.
In a press release, James Monteith, guitarist of Tesseract said: “We’re beyond excited to headline the Saturday at Arctangent 2025! The lineup once again boasts some of the most innovative and forward-thinking alternative bands around, and we’re truly honoured to close out the festival. This show will also mark the conclusion of our two-year tour in support of ‘War of Being‘, so we’re planning a very special performance to celebrate this milestone.”
An important part of the “Djent” movement within progressive metal, Tesseract released their fifth studio album, ‘War of Being’ in 2023 to positive reviews, with critics hailing it as their strongest work to date.
On January 10 this year they treated fans with a Tour Edition of their latest album, to coincide with their ‘War of Being Part 2 Tour’ coming in February. This updated version adds three bonus tracks recorded live from their headline set at Radar Festival 2024, featuring Kat Marsh of Choir Noir.
Fellow headliners Wardruna dropped their sixth studio album, ‘Birna’, recently on January 25. Reviewers appreciated its instrumentation and earthly themes, with Silent Radio commenting: “This album does not only transport you to a forest, but it will also leave you in a trance. One which you would not want to get out of.”
Festival organiser and booker James Scarlett expressed his excitement for the 2025 lineup additions: “To have Wardruna, a Main Stage headliner, closing off the Wednesday night of ArcTanGent 2025 truly cements this as our biggest year yet.
“If you can make it to ATG a day early, a 4-Day ticket is now a no brainer. Not to mention Tesseract headlining Saturday night alongside the new additions of Clown Core, Mew, Arab Strap, Envy, Green Lung and tonnes more across the whole weekend. You’re not going to want to miss a second of this weekend – FOMO is an understatement.”
Arctangent has become a crucial festival for platforming post, math, metal and various other progressive rock artists. With a capacity of around 10,000, It’s maintained its charm as a smaller, intimate event, where both upcoming acts and more renowned names are celebrated for their experimental music. Last year, the festival organisers fulfilled a longstanding wish of theirs, featuring Scottish post-rock titans Mogwai as a headliner for Arctangent’s 10th anniversary.
James Scarlett told MusicRadar: “Doing this without any corporate backing is tough but we’ve got there, and it makes me very proud to sit back and think about all the wonderful times we’ve had. Roll on year 20!”
The Arctangent 2025 lineup and other details can be viewed on the festival’s official website here.
