Rabidfest 2025: Breaking Down The Bands #5: Froglord!

Continuing the countdown to this years incarnation of Oxfords finest Metal Weekender Rabidfest, it’s time to talk about Froglord. Before we get into how they’re going to cause those who witness them at The Bullingdon over the weekend of 1st and 2nd November to lose their minds, drop their drinks and get in the mosh pit, lets just take a minute to remember why they’re doing it. Raising money for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation is why twenty bands will ascend to the Devolution Magazine sponsored main stage, so you can raise a pint in her honour and know you’re doing a good deed as well as destroying your liver. There will be blood, sweat and beers but everyone will be as safe as houses.

Here’s the line-up (in full!)…

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
Redeemon
Froglord
Komatsu
Thrashatouille
Until 9
Talassum
Liquid Dogs

…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

Spawned in the backwater swamps of Bristol, Froglord started life as the solo project of multi instrumentalist and vocalist Benjamin “Froglord” Oak in 2020. Painting portraits in Doom soaked Sludge Metal laced with environmentalism, conceptual storylines and… well… frogs, he recruited three like minded individuals for a live band in bassist Luke “Bufo” Clemenger, drummer Chris “Anura” Seldon and guitarist Jordan “Caudata” Cross a year later. Nothing short of prolific, the past five years have seen five studio albums, a live album, three EPs and two splits rise to the surface, each one bringing fresh ideas from 70’s style Psychedelic Doom Metal, perhaps influenced by licking poisonous toads all the way through to more Stoner Sludge style offerings.

2025 saw a change however, the band becoming a fully fledged entity and writing fifth record “Metamorphasis” as a full band. That album is a thing of dark beauty, refining the musicianship while offering up more varied vocals, retaining their orbit like orientation around riffs fit for worship and easing up on some of the experiments with Southern Rock elements. That being said, distorted riffs and crunchy bass can’t hide a cover of “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith, the obvious Clutch influences on “Herman” or indeed the harmonica. Not that there is anything wrong with any of that of course because it was enough to take previous Rabidfest survivors Stoned Soup all the way to the New Blood stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival last summer…

We’re proud to be a Media Partner of Rabidfest again this year alongside Red Death Media, Moomin Merchandise, Moshville Times, Moshville Radio, Metalplanetmusic, 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 1st and 2nd November 2025:

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

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