Began in 2011, the festival prides itself on featuring diverse, up and coming bands within progressive and experimental metal that are noted for their innovation and creativity. The festival offers a fully inclusive atmosphere where bands and fans alike have the opportunity to network and share ideas.

Speaking on the future of the festival, the event said, “we are taking this opportunity as a new beginning. The main even will return in a different form down the line.”

Pulling a headlining slot represents a huge opportunity for Loathe who are often cited as one of the most exciting new bands within the UK scene and beyond. Formed in 2011 by guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe, the band signed to SharpTone Records in 2016, re-issuing their first EP Pepare Consume Proceed. From there, the group began grabbing the attention of critics and fans alike, with many praising the sound and experimentation of songs.

Nominated for awards from the likes of Metal Hammer Magazine and featuring on festivals such as Slam Dunk and Download, the band looked set to explode as a major force within the scene when the Covid pandemic struck leaving many bands considering their survivals. The band persevered, releasing songs and projects that sustained interest for listeners before the band had a chance to get back to performing live.

Loathe, often a difficult band to pigeon-hole into one particular genre or sound, have been praised for incorporating elements of electronics to boost the atmosphere of certain songs which many critics have cited as an effective accompaniment to their djenty, industrial sound. This has proved a real positive for the band, allowing them to fit seamlessly on bills with a number of different acts within a variety of genres.

Loathe are now in the midst of working on their next full length release while having recently announced a run of tour dates in the US with Chevelle and Three Days Grace.

Tech-Fest will take place from Thursday, 29 June to Monday, 3 July. Find tickets to UK Tech-Fest here. Find tickets to Loathe in Europe and the UK here.

Loathe UK Tour:

19/06/2023 – Hole 44 – Berlin, Germany
20/06 – Backstage (Werk) – Munich, Germany
21/06 – Gebäude 9 – Cologne, Germany
22/06 – Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn, Netherlands
23/06 – Outbreak Fest – Manchester
24/06 – Full Force Festival – Gräfenhainichen, Germany
05/07 – 2000Trees – Cheltenham
13/07 – The Roundhouse – London
28/07 – Radar Festival – Manchester
16/08 – ArcTanGent – Compton Martin

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The UK Tech Fest was originally founded in August of 2011. On the festival’s website, they describe their vision as being: “…creating a festival centred around musical innovation, creativity and diversity. The festival focuses on technical, progressive metal music and was created in order to give the best upcoming bands in this sub-genre a platform to play alongside some of the most talented acts from around the rest of the world. UK Tech-Fest is a metal festival where the bands and fans are able to integrate, network and share the passion of music together.”

The festival has garnered a great deal of positive attention over the last decade, featuring well revered acts such as Sikth, Dying Fetus, The Acacia Strain, Monuments and The Black Dahlia Murder. The festival often branches out from metal however, having featured the likes of UK math rock outfit TTNG in 2018, and American math rock project Invalids in 2019, making their UK debut.

After unfortunately having to cancel last year- as was the fate of many festivals for the last two years- UK Tech Fest has triumphantly returned with a fantastic line-up for 2022, with some of the most exciting names in metal from all over the world.

Some of the biggest names at the festival include German progressive metal band The Ocean Collective, French progressive metalcore band Novelists, Irish post-rock band God Is An Astronaut, London grime/metal crossover band Hacktivist and South African extreme metal sextet Vulvodynia. Also on the bill are UK mathcore/metalcore outfit Pupil Slicer and Frontierer, an American fronted Scottish mathcore outfit, who released their blistering third full-length album Oxidized in 2021, carrying the spirit of The Dillinger Escape Plan and marrying it with seven-string guitars, whammy pedals and even less melody.

Given the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic, not all of the bands slated to perform in 2021 have made it to the 2022 line-up, such as American metalcore band Upon A Burning Body, who were originally slated to headline on the final day of the festival, and exciting Liverpool band Loathe, who released their fantastic debut full-length album I Let It In And It Took Everything in 2020.