FESTIVAL REVIEW + PHOTOS: RADAR Festival 2025 – Saturday

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A few changes to the day’s schedule see Break Fifty initiate proceedings with an onslaught of gutturals and visceral screams, deafening rhythms and dissonance. The nu-sonic quality enhances their brutality with an urban edge befitting the industrial concrete setting of the Sneak Energy Stage. Only a couple of songs into their set, Break Fifty already have the room spinning in a fury distortion. Manchester’s progressive quartet VMBRA unleash their characterful sonic fusion across the Kerrang! stage. Entwining prog elements, with touches of blues, heavy riffs, groove and stunning vocal harmonies, VMBRA’s set sees something new with each track. Their latest single Money Tree strikes all the right chords with energetic rhythms, lyrical hooks and a dark undertone.  

Pintglass are no strangers to RADAR. Last year they not only performed at the after party but also garnered a slot on the second stage. This year, they’re on the Kerrang! stage and in moving from the industrial setting to a larger scale production, they’ve upped their game. The fiery red and orange lighting bringing an even more intense experience to their unceasing, unyielding sound. It’ll demolish anything in their path…though hopefully not the stage, or the entire venue. Sheffield’s Air Drawn Dagger strike with passion from the off. The microphone stands and drum kit are adorned with white flowers entwined around them. Air Drawn Dagger indulge in an array of emotions in their music, with a punk attitude, more personal moments and touches of doom and gloom. Vocalist Maisie spends most of the set in the crowd and in the mosh pit sending it spinning with a rendition of The Prodigy’s Omen that segues into Britney Spears’ Toxic.

Oceans Ate Alaska throw down a torrent of crushing breakdowns in their modern sound. The metalcore outfit also open up about the importance of sharing mental health struggles with their track Endless Hollow. Back over on the Sneak Energy stage, post-hardcore outfit LASTELLE deliver an inviting setlist that ebbs and flows through shadows and rise into more uplifting moments. An eager crowd is collecting at the Kerrang! stage for Novelists. With a dramatic start, it’s clear as soon as the band set foot on the stage they have dedicated fans here at RADAR. Between the multiple volleyball games in the audience and a crowd surfing dinosaur, the French quintet’s fierce energy is infectious.  

Arch Echo present a prog paradise with intriguing melodies, textures, and synths through which we are transported to another world. Heavier guitar sections ground the dreamy feel. Non-standard time signatures galore, energetic percussion, very impressive technical proficiency. Continuing in a similar vein, the Canada’s Intervals provide their own take on immersive instrumental progressive music. Atmospheric soundscapes envelope the Kerrang! stage while technical guitar leads dance, entwine and wind themselves through the instrumental layers. Intriguing electro-punk duo Shelf Lives bring a tongue-in-cheek performance to the Sneak Energy stage. Lashings of attitude accompany the backing of electronics and rhythmic beats.  

It might seem surprising that in their career spanning over a decade, Annisokay haven’t performed at a UK festival before. Now, headlining the Sneak Energy stage, the German metalcore sensation curated a setlist of crowd favourites incorporating their distinctive catchy hooks and danceable rhythms alongside their brutally heavy offerings. It isn’t long before a stream of crowd surfers emerge from the sea of banging heads. Kicking off with the highly anthemic Throne Of The Sunset, the energy is through the roof with fans singing along. Fan favourites from further back in the band’s discography including Parasite and Good Stories sit aptly alongside newer tracks like H.A.T.E, before ending with the hard-hitting STFU.

Finally, Sweden’s Normandie raise the roof with their headline set. Stepping up at the last minute after Bob Vylan’s ill-fated appearance, the high-powered band present an animated set of seventeen tracks—the longest set they’ve ever played and last of 2025. Bringing an alt rock party vibe with a wealth of electronics thrown in, the Kerrang! stage is electric at the end of day two.  

Words by Holly Royle

Photos by Will Robinson (Instagram)