Live Review: A Mangata Festival 2026 Experience!

Mangata Festival. 41 bands. 5 stages. 1 day. Like Pokémon it’s going to be damn near impossible to catch them all but with a prevailing wind and a cold beer in hand, we’re going to witness as many full sets as we can. So if you’re wondering why this live review is called “A Mangata Festival 2026 Experience“, now you know!

Our day begins in the Red Room at the Twisted Tavern Spirits stage with the almighty King Abyss [9/10] who play an energetic crowd pleasing set of aggressive Crossover Thrash with vocalist Dom Bould stalking the stage from the pit. They wear their influences on their collective sleeves with Hatebreed and Jagermeister t-shirts and despite being the first band out of the gate make a lasting impression with their high octane performance, cuts from album “Snake Oil” being well received.

The largest of the stages this year is in the Rescue Rooms so it’s a short walk down a flight of stairs to catch Metalcore merchants Wolves Don’t Sleep [8/10] whose corpse paint wearing vocalist is a bundle of energy that is truly happy to be here. As a band they have great stage presence and the crowd give them plenty of energy, the call and response element working very well. It might be a bigger stage for the quintet but they show no signs of nerves as the slick riffs keep flowing like a river to the sea.

We head back to the Red Room for the fuzz fuelled riffs of Syncolima [8/10] who prepare us for the long day ahead with songs like “Black Dog and the Bleak Sky” and “Gluten Free Toast“. The trio have a wealth of diverse influences from Black Sabbath onwards and that means we get rumbling bass and riffs fit for worship that you simply have to raise a poison chalice to. Potent and powerful, they ensure that their presence is felt throughout with melody, groove and crushing weight of sound.

Scottish Death Metal act Scordatura [9/10] offer some unholy sounds to the masses, their new vocalist out to impress as they rhythmically batter us to death with wave after wave of barbed riffs. It has to be said that their drummer Tam Moran is seriously impressive, providing intricacies as well as blast beats galore. New album “Led To Oblivion” is an absolute skull splitter and while vocalist Daryl Boyce isn’t here due to commitments with his other band Party Cannon, Tony Mitchell from Bloodthread does a sterling job with cuts like “Existential Termination” annihilating our brain cells in the best possible way.

Taking a different route to remain Ward XVI [8/10] play to a packed Rock City Beta, their stage theatrics adding a sense of drama to their songs which works incredibly well. From knives to straight jackets and a prison cell, the props just keep coming and when the fake blood begins to pour it’s great fun. They are however musicians first and foremost and the side show doesn’t distract from the main event with plenty of earworm riffs and sing-a-long moments during their set. Just remember “Blood Is The New Black“.

After a couple of successful tours in North America in recent times it almost seems surreal to find London Metalcore merchants Confessions of a Traitor [9/10] back on home soil. Early on they suffer from a strange feedback issue but persist and overcome with tunes like “Still Haunted” from their new album “This Pain Will Serve You” and the classic that is “Peacekeeper“. Encouraging everyone to smile while spin kicking his demons away, vocalist Stephen MacConville continues to be a legendary figure, the band surpassing a decade of destruction in sublime fashion.

Fresh from the grand unveiling of their new album “I Told You So” the trio that are A-Tota-So [9/10] are equally as impressive this afternoon as they were when we witnessed them at Summer Bash in Reading in July. Their songs maybe cathartic and miserable but they have a purpose, presence and charm about them quite unlike anything else. “Death Rattle“, “Form of Mass” and “Masks” are all brilliantly executed by the Grungey Post Hardcore lovers, much to everyone’s delight and yes, the live guest vocalists have now surpassed a hundred with Arian Malekpour from Hidden Mothers joining them for a special moment.

There isn’t a festival in the land that doesn’t have to deal with a last minute drop out and Mangata Festival is no different, the breaking of a drummers collar bone preventing much loved Post-Metal act Hundred Year Old Man from performing. Fortunately that gave Folk infused Black Metal quartet Aei-Ferlen [9/10] an opportunity which they grasp with both hands as they deliver a set of both enthralling and captivating material to the gathered masses at Rock City Beta. Meandering instrumental passages are permeated by both soaring clean vocals and brutal harsh ones as the bands American vocalist Steph Moffatt impresses throughout. Their album “All Is Far Away” is a thoughtful masterpiece and the backbone of the set.

Back at The Rescue Rooms Red Method [9/10] get the crowd surfers going as they plough through a set of Nu-Metal orientated anthems based around their new record “As In Life“. This afternoon they’re a five piece, a guitarist light and while they’re still up to their usual high energy antics, the absence of that guitar is noticeable because they’re not using a backing track to replace it. That being said, hats off to them for turning up and showing the fans what they’re made of rather than dropping out because of it. “Detonate“, “Counting Corpses” and “Slaves To The New World Disorder” all go down a storm and it takes all of two minutes for vocalist Jeremy Gomez to sweat off his corpse paint. Mosh or die.

Manchester electronicore quartet Dacara [9/10] grace the Red Room with a set of high energy material, bouncing off the walls in the process. The stage cannot contain them with vocalist Emma Shippen and guitarist Tony Olsén on the front row, giving us soaring cleans and barbed riffs that cut against their chemical beats. “Megalovania” and “Rot” get the crowd going and on this evidence it’s not going to be long before the quartet are supporting some genre heavy hitters because they have the presence, power and poise to perform on any stage.

If you’re yet to witness the self deprecating humour and game show antics of Death Metal outfit Raised by Owls [9/10] then you’re missing out because they like to party with crowd participation essential. From giving away some t-shirts of questionable origin to encouraging crowd surfing and mosh pit violence, they have it all and in songs like “Going For A Pint With Corpsegrinder“, “Sorry I Wore A Dying Fetus t-shirt to your baby’s Gender Reveal Party” and of course that Fred Durst endorsed cover of “Break Stuff” they have the material to make the crowd go wild. The funniest part is that there are times between songs when the band give each other knowing glances that say with a smile “what the fuck are we doing here?”

Celebrating thirteen years of playing Psychedelic Stoner Doom Metal together Sergeant Thunderhoof [8/10] are a band wrapped in mythology and folklore. The Bath natives offer up burnt offerings from their 2024 album “The Ghost of Badon Hill” and aren’t afraid of longer songs and longer instrumental passages, even if vocalist Dan Flitcroft has got nowhere to go on the most compact of stages. By the end the band have the crowd swaying like marionettes as they endure the sauna like conditions with good reason.

Liverpool natives Alpha Male Tea Party [8/10] are a really interesting band, a trio with a sound based around polyrhythmic grooves, heavy riffs and melodic complexity. Their new album “Reptilian Brain” saw them embrace vocals for the first time and even though they’re sparse, they give their compositions another dimension and they love every second. The band have a few technical issues at the start of their set but they’re grateful that the sound engineers have helped them and the crowd has stuck around. Once they get going “A Terrible Day To Have Eyes” and “Battle Crab” stand out with the bands humour between songs another string to their bow that would be sorely missed if it was absent.

Tonight’s headliner is the almighty Ten56. [10/10] who have packed out the Rescue Rooms having travelled from Paris France to bring their Nu-Metalcore sounds to the Nottingham masses. Since we last witnessed them they have gone from strength to strength even with vocalist Aaron Matts (ex-Betraying The Martyrs) spending a stint in rehab. Tonight their drummer Arnaud Verrier has been unable to make the journey and the fill in is so impressive that he needs to replace the snare drum mid-set having split the skin. Their presence here just goes to show how far this festival has come, a packed Rescue Rooms loving every second of songs like.“Earwig” and “Pty Fck“, screaming along with the band, headbanging and crowd surfing. A rousing rendition of “IO” sees guitarist Quentin Godet get a few minutes in the limelight, his progressive leaning lead work impressive as the band offer up something outside of their usual comfort zone. Ten56 bring the house down with a blistering rendition of “Boy” that sends the crowd wild once more and in all honesty you couldn’t have asked for a better finale to a day like today!