Download festival is no longer just recycling the same old metal legends, and that matters for a festival business that depends on keeping artists, fans and the wider live pipeline moving. This year’s edition at Donington Park mixed returning giants with first-time headliners, expanded representation, and bookings that stretched from deathcore and sludge metal to hip-hop and Indian folk.
New blood finally shares the top of the bill
For years, Download was mocked for leaning too hard on 1980s-era names, but recent editions have started to make small gains. This year, Guns N’ Roses returned, Limp Bizkit made their headlining debut, and Linkin Park, now co-fronted by Emily Armstrong, became the first band with a female singer to top the bill.
The festival’s broad range was on display from the start. Swiss deathcore act Paleface Swiss dominated the second stage early on Friday, with frontman Marc Zellweger raging through hellacious breakdowns. German party-starters Electric Callboy drew one of the weekend’s biggest crowds on the main stage, and Cypress Hill moved from classic to classic with ease. Limp Bizkit dedicated their set to late bassist Sam Rivers and friend Dougie Miller, and turned the show into a kind of karaoke night with every lyric on the screen behind them.
Saturday’s old guard stalled while the fourth stage surged
Saturday morning brought British-Iranian trio Lowen, whose Middle Eastern prog metal and frontwoman Nina Saeidi’s ritualistic dress made a strong impression on the fourth stage. Conjurer followed with material from Unself, their latest album, and Let Us Live emerged as a sledgehammer-heavy highlight with its protection-of-the-trans community message.
Trivium delivered a reliable main-stage set, tearing through 20 years of melodic, ferocious material in just over an hour. Guns N’ Roses, by contrast, failed to match that energy. Axl Rose’s voice had lost its rasp, he barely interacted with the audience, and the band’s playing was spotless but lifeless. Midway through the promoted 200-minute set, Blood Incantation offered a reprieve on the fourth stage with their death-metal/kosmische blend, and the headliners finished 40 minutes earlier than planned.
Sunday belonged to the newer voices
Sunday opened with rising UK avant-rockers Unpeople, whose screeching guitar feedback made them the loudest performance of the weekend. Mammoth, led by Wolfgang Van Halen, played an understated set that leaned more toward Foo Fighters and Alter Bridge than his father Eddie’s 1970s sound.
Indian metal band Bloodywood were the best main-stage act of the weekend, pairing tight jams with motivational messaging and vibrant folk. But the festival’s biggest impact came from Letlive on the third stage, where singer Jason Aalon Butler led an incendiary, interactive rally and took control of the entire event.
What to watch next: Download’s continued push for first-time headliners, and whether more bands like Bloodywood, Letlive, Lowen and Unpeople keep pulling the festival’s center of gravity toward newer names and broader representation.
For editorial consideration and industry coverage inquiries, contact [email protected]
