Rabidfest 2026: Breaking Down The Bands #21: Vanitas!

You could spend your Halloween watching a classic horror movie or three while being constantly interrupted by wave after wave of trick or treating kids… or you could grab a friend or two and head down to The Bullingdon in the heart of Oxford and enjoy twenty bands over two days at Rabidfest! That will of course be Saturday 31st October and Sunday 1st November. There will be no tricks there, only treats both on stage and behind the bar as each band takes it in turn to demonstrate their prowess and earn the right to become your next favourite. This year they’re running a best dressed fancy dress competition with 2 pairs of weekend tickets to Rabidfest 2027 up for grabs! But be warned, there could also be a few spooktacular things in store!

Rabidfest will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 31st October and 1st November 2026, here’s the line up in full:

Saturday:
Hacktivist (headliner)
Bldsugr!
The Dead XIII
Black Candy
Novacrow
Vampyra
Rattlesnakes
Devilhusk
Necronomicunt
Twin Skeletons

Sunday:
N0trixx (headliner)
Lesbian Bed Death
The Crawling
Maatkare
Vanitas
Dacara
Spared An Endless Orbit
Omegathrone
The Blade Itself
BlackMarket

Why has this feature reached it’s 21st incarnation? Well… unfortunately Swarm6ix are no longer able to perform at Rabidfest this year… but where there is an exit, there is an opportunity and so Vanitas have been announced as their replacement! The Cinematic DJent pioneers who hail from the midlands have been on an incredible journey since forming in 2021, releasing an unholy trinity of EPs and playing to sell out crowds with highlights including Slammer, Summer Bash and Bloodstock where they played the EMP stage between sets from Sepultura and Lamb Of God!

Their sound takes inspiration from JPRG soundtracks, Progressive and Technical Metal so you get beautiful clean sung vocals and death growls from Jade Maris, pummelling percussion from Jackson Cann, bombastic bass from Jonathan Willingham, riff lord wizardry from Elijah Storer and Mitchell Barlow coupled with orchestrations from their unofficial sixth member Matthew Jones of Capsaarx Studios. After all that we should probably offer you some recommendations but there is so much quality to this band that doing so poses a serious challenge. So lets go with personal favourites “Your Demise” which has something like 65k of Spotify and YouTube steams combined and “Solaire” which has 136k. If their set is anything like the one that impressed us so much at Bloodstock the band will be putting plenty of bounce in the mosh pit before encouraging everyone into a HUGE sing-a-long!

We’re proud to be a Media Partner of Rabidfest again this year alongside Red Death Media, Moomin Merchandise, Chaos Under No Ties, Moshville Radio, GraphicsFix, TwoFace Promotions, Blackstar Amplification and main stage sponsor Devolution Magazine. The Festival is all for charity and this year the profits will be going to the The Sophie Lancaster Foundation!

Rabidfest will take place at The Bullingdon in Oxford over the weekend of the 31st October and 1st November 2026:

Get your tickets -> https://www.rabidfest.co.uk

Get your merch -> https://shop.rabidfest.co.uk