Download Festival, Day 3: Friday 12th June 2026

17 June 2026

After two enjoyable days exploring District X (reviewed here), the arena gates open and our Download gets off to an earth shaking start with Australian nu-metal quartet Headwreck. They arrive with a steamroller of a riff, and when the rest of the band kick in it is with the force of a ten ton hammer. They’ve a sound that reverberates around the whole site and magnetically pulls people towards the Dogtooth stage. They haven’t travelled all the way from Brisbane to take prisoners and are intent on making every second of their short set count. With pounding drums and caustic vocals, it’s a skull crushing affair that’s guaranteed to blow away any hangover and in doing so, Headwreck have raised the bar for the rest of the weekend.

If any band was aptly-titled then it is surely Slay Squad. Hailing from the bad streets of San Bernardino County, California, this crew are taking metal into uncharted spaces. Like the hardest of hardcore (think Bulldoze and District 9) moulded to molten metal, Slay Squad make for an unbridled sonic assault. The musical version of Bruce Lee, they arrive with fists flying and throw all sorts of neat moves; a twin vocal attack is delivered with razor sharp MC skills whilst the guitars are equally steely and cut through the air like a scythe (plus the guitarist gets bonus points for his Misfits t-shirt). Their ferocious set is rewarded with the first pit of the day (surely the ultimate sign of affirmation) and just like the music, its a swirling maelstrom that kicks up dust. They slayed, they conquered.

Our first visit of the day to the Apex stage is to see P.O.D., and they don’t disappoint. Formed in San Diego in 1992, they were one of the first bands to fuse hard rock and hip hop, and like most pioneers they got usurped by those who followed on the path P.O.D. cleared, yet this quartet still sound way ahead of the field and their call for unification is more urgent now than ever. True to form, they soon get the good vibes flowing and the crowd are only too happy to obey their every command, jumping and moshing in unison, locking the whole arena into a singular groove, those at stage front bobbing like Hasidic kids rocking at the Kotel. P.O.D. deliver infectious grooves that lock all into a singular groove, and in our age of fragmentation, that’s got to be a good thing.

When it comes to music, Wales is a country that punches far above its weight, but that must also create an unbearable level of expectation for any new band. However, Cardiff-based James And The Cold Gun are well equipped to stand tall amongst the likes of Budgie, Persian Risk and Manic Street Preachers. Armed with a punk-infused garage rock sound, they are powered forth by a drummer who seems intent on pulverising his kit to dust, JATCG are making the most of this opportunity and are more than living up to the unofficial title of Wales’ Loudest Band. It helps that the band come armed with a selection of original tunes that channel the spirit of ‘90s alternative rock and repurpose it for the new millennium, JATCG are on a collision course with the biggest stages. Future mayhem beckons.

Where once record sales were a measure of a band’s success, things are now gauged by streams and Hollywood Undead have amassed a mind boggling 3.2 billion over multi-platforms. It means that they are more than worthy to occupy the coveted mid afternoon slot on the Apex stage, and they immediately set the air ablaze with their multi pronged vocal attack. They’ve a fluid sound that defies easy categorisation, yet it’s one that flows exceptionally well, and the band are not adverse to throwing the odd hip hop beat or pop melody into the mix and when they tease the crowd with the riff from ‘Reign In Blood’, it looks like all hell might break loose, and proves that Hollywood Undead could easily kick with their Californian counterparts. There’s a pleasant unpredictability to the band’s sound, and that’s what keeps the crowd engaged throughout a tumultuous set. “Let’s Start A Riot” is screamed as an intro to ‘Riot’, and looks like it might do just that, the band are hyped and amped, and are leaving everything on the stage with ’Everywhere I Go’ making an impressive closer. Hollywood Undead are alive and kicking.

It’s not our first time catching Lake Malice live, having seen their set supporting Japanese metalcore crew HANABIE. (reviewed here), yet their stage craft has come in leaps and bounds during the intervening months. Not that there was anything wrong then, rather things have been honed into a red hot laser beam, and now they’re primed and ready for action. A line of choreographed dancers make for an arresting spectacle and means Lake Malice now hit the crowd on two levels; both visually and audibly, and the result is a multi pronged attack that takes no prisoners. New single (called ‘Ghost In A Hell’, I believe) is evidence of the band’s upward trajectory and bodes well for the new album that releases in September. The result is a band who are playing like they’re on the cusp of greatness and 2026 could be their year. Future headliners? Quite possibly!

If there’s one thing that Electric Callboy know how to do, then it is to make a dramatic entrance, and they do make a spectacular arrival. With a bang that startles the whole of Download, Electric Callboy appear on stage dressed in gaudy fashion and immediately make their presence felt (but, like, how could you miss them?!) with a groove laden sound that gets the whole crowd jumping from the front of the stage to the very back of the arena. Some inventive lighting, along with some smart stage craft seems to close the gap between band and crowd and it feels as if we are watching Electric Callboy in a small club rather than from within a huge festival crowd. After a quick costume change the band return in ever gaudier sportswear (really, they should hand out sunglasses) and launch into ‘Hypa Hypa’, and a more sublime slab of disco metal you’ll never hear. While Electric Callboy haven’t chased the clouds away, they’ve certainly brightened things up, and for that we should all be grateful.

All the way from Tokyo, The Primals put a new spin on familiar themes in that smart way only the Japanese can. The band have gained a lot of traction through their association with Final Fantasy XIV and I hope that won’t overshadow their music because they have a unique sound and one which is difficult to draw parallels with any other group. If you force my hand then I’d say they share an aesthetic with ska punks SiM, yet the Primals’ definitely have their own thing going on, and testament to their prowess is the huge crowd they’ve attracted. With the stage bathed in crimson light, The Primals’ draw first blood and from that point on they go straight in for the kill. Their songs have a sing along quality (even if you don’t know the words) and that immediately creates a bond with the audience, and it’s one that’s hard to break. Attired in black shirts with white ties, The Primals come dressed to kill…and that they do.

Imagine being trapped in a small room with an angry heavyweight boxer (after you’ve been caught cheating with his wife) and you’d have something approaching the ferocity of Stampin’ Ground. Born from the UK hardcore scene (with the emphasis on hard), they operate with a relentless fury, the whole band locking in tightly to ensure that every beat lands like a juggernaut punch. After a lengthy hiatus, Stampin’ Ground are very much back in the game and operating with the kind of fury that characterised their early career. They are not made for the faint hearted or weak of constitution and they proceed to stomp all over the Dogtooth stage like a 900lb gorilla for 35-furious minutes. ‘Officer Down’ is the closer and it causes all sorts of mayhem and it leaves the crowd battered, bruised, dazed and confused…like the victim of a violent street fight. For all their aggression, Stampin’ Ground offer a message of hope, the finding of strength in adversity, and that’s precisely the creed they live by. UKHC goes hardest.

Back in the late 1980’s a lot of metalheads got into rap, it’s not that they were disloyal but we could appreciate the heaviness of rap (what Anthrax’s Scott Ian called “metal without guitars”) and if you want to know why us long haired ne’er-do-wells got into rap, you need look no further than the Apex stage. Bands such as Cypress Hill were heavier than most of what passed for metal in the 1980’s and could crush bands like Poison with their beats alone. What many mistake as illegal fracking is actually Cypress Hill cranking out ‘When The Shit Goes Down’, or take ‘Lick A Shot’ with it’s razor sharp MC skills and scratching which throws many in a hex and has less hardy souls running for cover. Along with a DJ unleashing all sorts of mayhem, Cypress Hill have a percussionist to supplement the beats and it all adds up to a skull crushing affair. Metalheads were often stereotyped as being closed minded but today’s set puts that notion to rest as Cypress Hill are welcomed with open arms (along with gang signs and devil’s horns) as the classics keep coming with ‘A To The K’ and ‘Hits From The Bong’ being exceptionally feisty. Pretenders step aside; the kings have returned for their crown.

We are undoubtedly living in the golden age of female fronted metal bands with the likes of Lovebites, Nemophila and Bridear all beating a path to the Western consciousness, but the brightest of the bunch are Band-Maid. There’s an interesting juxtaposition between their cute outfits and their impressively heavy sound, and those expecting some cutesy performance are in for a rude awakening. In fact, such is the magnetic pull of Band-Maid that they’ve pulled a huge swathe of the crowd away from Cypress Hill (no mean feat) with an explosive opening that finds shards of effervescence shattering in every direction. It’s a high octane set that Band-Maid deliver, the band all smiles and dealing in a sound that is highly addictive and as such should really come with some sort of health warning. There’s plenty of substance to go with their style, the twin guitar attack riffing in tandem then trading blistering solos like the pairing of KK Downing and Glenn Tipton in their prime. Band-Maid…at your service!

When Metallica headlined Donington in 1995 they were kind enough to assemble a bill comprising some of their favourite bands, and one of those groups was Corrosion Of Conformity. I’m pleased to report that the preceding three decades have done little to erode the band’s power and are still trawling the depth of Hades for the heaviest riffs. Part of the band’s charm was always a serious lack of fluff, and that’s exactly what’s going on here. There’s a strong focus on the music (as it should be) and from this reductionism sprouts a sound that seems to be emanating from Satan’s stereo. Tracks such as ‘Who’s Got The Fire?’ (the answer is Corrosion Of Conformity, of course) find them firmly in the groove and rocking with full force. Like a grizzly bear on a rampage (after drinking moonshine) the band stomp with a sound that’s straight from a New Orleans opium den and is just as potent with ‘Clean My Wounds’ taking us towards curfew and gets us there in style. Solid.

Remember when Limp Bizkit burst onto the scene as snotty nosed kids intent on shaking up the orthodoxy? If any band seemed intent on burning themselves out on their own frenetic energy it was this bunch (of course, they did that too), so who’d of though they’d be headlining Download after all these years? Yet here they are, battered and bruised, but still buoyant and still operating on their own terms. To say that this set has been hotly anticipated would be something of an understatement, and a sea of red hats have been flowing around the arena all day in tribute to the band that most people love to hate (or should that be hate to love?). If the band are feeling the tension and displaying nerves then it doesn’t show because the band are bang on point from the very first number, delivering a sound that is at once heavy and malleable, flowing smoothly between heavy breaks and hip hot beats, the songs interspersed with self effacing raps from vocalist Fred Durst. His vocals get a lot of plaudits (and rightly so), yet the band are a very agile beast and segue smoothly between different styles. It is a fluidity that holds the crowd’s full attention; there is always a section of the crowd wandering aimlessly around the periphery of every festival, but not so much with Limp Bizkit who hold the crowd in a vice like grip. Of course, that they have songs such as ‘Break Stuff’ and ‘Nookie’ in their arsenal doesn’t hurt and when Lauren Sanderson makes a guest appearance on ‘Hot Dog’ things go off the scale. It wouldn’t be a Limp Bizkit show without cover versions and opener ‘Thieves’ (Ministry) gets us in the mood and later in the set both George Michael’s ‘Faith’ and The Who’s ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ hit the bullseye. Four girls are brought up onto the stage to sing ‘Full Nelson’ with Fred…and that is the kind of move that makes a Bizkit show so special. Of course, Limp Bizkit shows are known to get a bit crazy and the intro to ‘My Way’ is cut short when a member of the crowd gets in trouble. But all is forgiven when a reprise of ‘Break Stuff’ brings the set to a conclusion whilst outro tape ‘The Promise’ sends the crowd away with a spring in their step.

Limp Bizkit Set List: