Rabidfest 2025: Breaking Down The Bands #2: Arimea!

While we impatiently wait for the powers that be at Rabidfest HQ to announce the final seven bands and the sins they’ve committed to get on the Devolution Magazine sponsored main stage at this years event, it’s time to breakdown another band. Before we get to that however it’s time for a cheeky reminder. This years incarnation of Oxfords finest Metal Weekender will take place over the weekend of 1st and 2nd November at The Bullingdon in the heart of the city with no less than twenty bands taking to the stage (plus four if you count The Fight Before Rabidfest on Friday 31st October at The Jericho Tavern). So what are you waiting for? The ticket link is at the bottom of this article, your eardrums will thank you later!

Here’s the line-up (so far)…

Raging Speedhorn (Saturday headliner)
Red Method (Sunday headliner)
Seething Akira
Kill II This
Arimea
Break Them
Collapser
Raised By Owls
Korrupto
Lethal Evil
Aei-Fierlen
R.P.C
Mondegreen

…and if you’re interested in a little extra, here’s the line-up of for The Fight Before Rabidfest on Friday 31st October at The Jericho Tavern:

Confessions Of A Traitor
Ocean Planet
Imperial Avenue
Along The Pines

For Nu-Metal quartet Arimea, Rabidfest is something of a spiritual home as well as being a home town throwdown of a show and having graced the stage of the event in previous years, fans will know what to expect… or will they? As a band, in 2022 Arimea made a bold decision and re-invented their sound from the ground up after the Progressive Metalcore of debut EP “Castle Bravo“. Since then they have removed the record from streaming services and gone down an entirely different path, waterfall releasing a wealth of singles that weave together elements from inspirations in bands that reigned supreme in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. For those not in the know, we’re talking Flyleaf, Deftones and Linkin Park although the band do bend genre rules, toying with our souls as they add shades of Alternative Metal, Hardcore and Hip Hop into the bubbling cauldron.

Happier in their new *ahem* Nu skin, they’ve managed to get some serious traction, earning 72.5k of Spotify and YouTube steams combined for “Nostalgia” as well as 52k for their cover of “Never Really Over” by Katie Perry. Arguably that opened the doors to more opportunities to play live and the four piece have since shared stages with Forlorn, After Smoke Clears and LestWeForget making fans and friends all along the way. So if you love a bit of Nu-Metal and you fancy being enticed into cutting shapes on the dance floor while singing along with Whitney Cooper then don’t sleep on Rabidfest, it’s gonna be a blast!