Winner in 2018 of the Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards, ArcTanGent, the critically acclaimed, independent festival since 2013, took place this weekend at the idyllic Fernhill Farm near Bristol, with 100+ acts playing Math Rock, Post Rock, Progressive Metal and experimental music, across five covered alternating stages on a relatively compact site.

Given we were Arctangent virgins, we made our way down by train from London in eager anticipation on Thursday morning, not only having had missed Day 1 the day before, but also with a return ticket booked on the last train home tonight. Indeed, once out of the city centre, the fourteen mile cab ride from Temple Meads took us on a scenic trip through picturesque Avon, before arriving at a very well organised festival taxi drop off zone. Similarly, a smiling army of stewards giving directions, as well as a very welcoming ticket collection reception, ensured that we were inside the imposing festival site with time to spare.

Well not exactly. We had missed the opening Main Stage act, the amusingly entitled itoldyouiwouldeatyou, but we took consolation in purchasing our first beer from the plethora of bars, before heading towards the Main Stage to see Avkrvst. Passing by an already packed Bixler Stage, blasting the bludgeoning big riffs of UK Heavy Noise outfit Kulk's latest single, 'Beyond Gone', we could not help be impressed by the sound, lighting and vastness of the Main Stage, given it was virtually empty, with the Norwegian Progressive Rock outfit doing their soundcheck.

At this stage, we hold our hands up. Founded by Martin Utby (composer, drummer and synths) and Simon Bergseth (composer, guitars, bass and vocals), this was Avkrvst's only UK appearance this year, and following the release last year of their outstanding debut album, 'The Approbation', we simply could not miss this long awaited, albeit 33 minute set. Inspired by Porcupine Tree, Opeth and King Crimson, the quintet also comprise Øystein Aadland on bass, Edvard Seim on guitars and Auver Gaaren on keys.

Given their genre and the fact that their LP lasts 55 minutes, they went for four big hitters, with 'Isolation', sandwiched in between their singles, the opener 'Pale Moon' and 'Arcane Clouds', before finishing with their magnum opus title track, that ended with both Bergseth and Seim standing on speakers in front of an entranced, but now packed crowd. As Simon said before finishing the epic "Thank you so much for showing up so early!" Suffice to say, we're sure that they were all glad that they did!

Indeed, coming down on the train, we were discussing with a couple of Arctangent regulars, that sometimes it's not all about who you want to see, but what you might discover. Well, would you believe it, after getting another beer outside in the very welcome sunshine, we popped in next door to the Bixler Stage to see Unpeople. Formed from the ashes of former bands Press To MECO and Sarpa Salpa, the Alt Rockish quartet with a heavy underbelly, blew us away with an energetic set in another gigantic tent, that was sweating and bursting at the seams. An awesome six-song set, was testament to the jaw-dropping, alternating lead/rhythm guitar dynamic of vocalist/guitarist Jake Crawford and guitarist Luke Caley, not forgetting the strength of Meg Mash’s bass plus powerhouse Richard Rayner on drums, the highlights for mine being their recent single 'Waste', the delicious head banging riff of 'Smother' plus the audience jump participation on closer 'The Garden'. Wow!

With stage timings running nicely like clockwork, according to our planner, we caught the beginning of Doomy Noise/Post-Rock act, healthyliving, a transnational collective from across Scotland, Spain and Germany. The project of long-time collaborators and friends, guitarist Scott McLean (Ashenspire), drummer Stefan Pötzsch and vocalist Amaya López Carromero, with (we think) Andrés Ramos on bass, Amaya's distinctive, crystal clear vocals could still be heard as we made our way towards the other end of the festival, towards one of the many mouthwatering eateries available on site, passing by the growling PX Stage with Post Metal outfit Hundred Year Old Man duly doing Leeds Proud.

Once fully nourished, we made our first visit to the welcomely named, and smallest arena, the Elephant in the Bar Room, to see Sun Spot, spanning everything from Industrial Hyper Pop to ethereal Post-Punk, of which for mine, the local outfit's latest single, 'Wireframe', was the highlight, before we headed towards another larger new covered arena for the first time, the Yokhai Stage to take in Blanket. A bit like a stick of rock from their hometown of Blackpool, eclectic, euphoric Shoegaze/Post Rock/Grunge runs all the way through this band, consisting of Bobby Pook (vocals/guitar), Simon Morgan (guitar), Ryan Forsch (bass) and Lucas Fletcher (drums), of which, in a very satisfying set, the stand-outs for mine were the very apt 'Euphoria' and 'Kaleidoscope'.

Time now to visit the only outstanding stage on our itinerary, the PX Stage, which would turn out to be our first and last visit. Unfortunately, Norwegian instrumental Math Rock duo, Aiming For Enrike, consisting of Simen Folstad Nilsen on guitar and Tobias Ørnes Andersen, due to technical difficulties at the start, their set only lasted a quarter of an hour, including 'Flat Beats' and 'Moustache', that naturally left everyone wanting more, but to be fair this was the only sound issue we encountered on the day.

Thankfully no such problems back on the Bixler Stage, as we took in Stoner/Sludge Metal/Metalcore trio Urne. The Londoners comprising frontman Joe Nally, alongside mercurial guitarist Angus Neyra and master drummer James Cook, took no prisoners in an aggressive five song set that included 'The Burden' and 'Desolate Heart', although the highlight of which was 'A Feast Of Sorrow' with its Gojira 'Silvera' snippet, given the band's well publicised ties to Joe Duplantier, particularly since the French Heavy Metal band's recent epic Olympic opening ceremony performance.

Back then to the Main Stage for Julie Christmas. For the uninitiated, those expecting carols or something similar to that effect would be disappointed, although to be fair, the former Battle of Mice/ Made Out Of Babies/Cult Of Luna vocalist, was indeed born on 25th December! Arriving early for the soundcheck (although conspicuous by her absence), Julie had gathered a perfect blend of musicians around her, that saw 'The Bad Wife' collaborators Andrew Schneider and John LaMacchia return alongside Tom Tierney, whilst Spotlights drummer Chris Enriquez and Cult of Luna's Johannes Persson completed the lineup. Obviously, having been busy in hair and make-up, Christmas made a spectacular entrance on to the stage to Battle of Mice's opener, 'Bones In The Water', wearing a neon-lit mask/headdress, finally removing it for 'Not Enough', her first solo single in thirteen years, in a pumping ten-song Post-Metal Mainstream set, that you could not take your eyes off of. Thankfully, for those present, Julie isn't just for Christmas.

Following, their memorable set earlier on the Main Stage, we then had the pleasure of interviewing Martin and Simon from Avkrvst in the relaxed, comfortable and well organised press area. With the guys having already spotted my Avkrvst t-shirt down the front earlier, I related to the pair that after the their set, another Avkrvst convert had stopped me to tell me how much he enjoyed them. Praise indeed. Anyway, not only can you listen to that interview at http://www.wrinklyrockersclub.com in the coming days, but we would also like to thank Freddy from InsideOutMusic, Simon from ForTheLost PR, Hayley from Good as Gold PR and of course Martin and Simon for making this possible. Skol!

Of course the yin and the yang of interviewing Avkrvst meant that we were late getting to the Yokhai Stage to bow down to England’s Doom Metal Masters, Conan, with their unmistakeable Sabbath vibe, although we still managed to see enough of the kings of brutally heavy slowness, to salivate over John Davis spitting his lyrics over uber-synchronised power chord changes and tempo shifts of the unholy trio of Chris Fielding's bass, Johnny King's drums and Davis's guitar. Hail Conan!

If you needed any proof of the band quality on display today, then look no further than Savannah, Georgia's, very own Grammy-nominated Heavy Metal outfit, Baroness, playing on the Main Stage. The American quartet, consisting of lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist John Baizley, bassist Nick Jost, drummer Sebastian Thomson and lead guitarist Gina Gleason, came out all guns blazing in front of a rammed audience, with a brace from their latest and sixth album, 'Stone', namely, 'Last Word' and 'Under The Wheel', before returning to the Proggier 'Blue Record' (2009) album with 'A Horse Called Golgotha'. In a thundering eleven track set, anyone foolish enough to consider slipping away from this Rock masterclass, were no doubt further put off by the fact that torrential rain was now falling outside. This took me back to a very wet day in July 2015 and a crammed Ramblin' Man tent in Maidstone, when guitarist Ian Siegal pondered whether the punters were there to see him, or just to shelter from the rain! That was certainly not the case here, even though it was lashing it down outside, as Baroness ended an exceptional set with 'Isak', from their sludgy, guitar-banging critically acclaimed debut, 'The Red Album' (2007), and finally, mixed it up with 2012's 'Yellow & Green' double-album, and 'Take My Bones Away'.

By the way, did I mention it was still raining? Suffice to say by the time we reached the Bixler Stage to see Norwegian Alternative band, Kalandra, we were well and truly soaked. And I mean sopping wet. And to make matters worse, the wind was blowing the rain into the tent, despite valiant efforts by some punters to prevent it with their umbrellas! Hey ho - perhaps this band with roots in melancholic Nordic folk and gritty guitars, weaving ethereal melodies into raw and eerie musical landscapes, would take our mind off of the weather outside! Spearheaded by four Norwegian/Swedish musicians, namely singer and songwriter Katrine Stenbekk, guitarist Florian Döderlein Winter, guitarist Jogeir Daae Maeland and drummer Oskar Johnsen Rydh, crafting their own unique sound, they opened with 'Slow Motion', taken from 2020's 'The Line'. Underpinned by Stenbekk's delightful, distinctive voice, other highlights in a mesmerising nine-track set included their breakthrough cover of Wardruna's ‘Helvegen’ that amassed over four million views on YouTube, as well as one of our former Tracks Of The Day, the beautiful 'Ensom', plus the set closer and 2023 single, 'Bardaginn'.

Unfortunately, despite Kalandra's best efforts, we were still feeling wet wet wet, and therefore decided to head over to the massive well-stocked merchandise stand to purchase two Arctangent 2024 t-shirts. With the ground becoming more muddy (although nowhere near Download 2016 proportions), we beat a retreat and left to make our way back to our taxi driver, who thankfully turned up! Despite the weather, as we changed into our resplendent, dry, new t-shirts on our way back to Bristol Station, en-route to London, we both looked back fondly at a very well organised festival, with exceptional bands, outstanding staff plus a very friendly atmosphere. Here's to 2025!

AJ