Now in its eighth year, Leicester’s Uprising Festival remains a jewel in the UK’s heavy music calendar. With a stripped-back one-stage format for 2025, the festival dialled into quality over quantity, delivering a cohesive day of genre-defying intensity. The lack of clash anxiety meant every band received the spotlight they deserved, and the result was a truly communal celebration of the UK’s vibrant underground and rising stars.
Despite a slightly delayed start due to extended soundchecks, Sulvain (8) opened the day with fire in their veins. Hailing from Northampton, the band played their final set with unflinching energy and clear emotional weight. Tracks like Rain rallied early attendees from the wings, and by the final note, the room was buzzing. A fitting farewell—intense, defiant, and deeply felt.
Voidwalker (10), familiar faces to Uprising fans after their 2023 Metal To The Masses win, have grown sharper, darker, and heavier since their debut. Their set was a tightly coiled assault of riff-laden fury, with standout track Boiling Point setting the tone for a ferocious display. There’s no filler here—just relentless intent from a band finding their edge.
Instrumental trio The Grey (8) brought a shift in energy without losing an ounce of power. Their sprawling, doom-laced compositions enveloped the venue in a slow-moving, seismic hug. But it was a rare pause between tracks that cut deepest: the bassist delivered a sincere and vulnerable speech about mental health, hardship, and solidarity. It was a moment of quiet clarity amidst the noise, so moving it brought some in the audience to tears. A perfect reminder that heaviness isn’t just sonic, it’s emotional, too.
From the first unholy scream, Underdark (10) proved why they remain one of the UK’s most exciting blackened exports. Singer Abi Vasquez commanded both stage and barrier, exuding raw power and fearless vulnerability. The band’s expertly crafted dynamics—swerving from blastbeat chaos to ambient haze—created a compelling, cathartic storm that left no soul untouched.
TAYNE (8) tore through genre boundaries with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. Their hybrid of industrial, pop, and noise offered one of the day’s most sonically volatile sets. It was disorienting in the best way—hooks disguised as haymakers, melodies emerging through the rubble. Visceral, sweaty, and oddly danceable, TAYNE blurred the lines between torment and euphoria.
Obeyer (9), riding high on praise for their recent album Chemical Well, brought venom and confidence in equal measure. Vocalist Carl Brown prowled the stage with feral intensity, while the rest of the band hammered out punishing riffs and jagged grooves. Their set felt dangerous in the way good hardcore should; urgent, unrelenting, and gloriously unhinged.
Hidden Mothers (8) offered contrast with their elegant chaos. Emotive post-metal riffs, shifting textures, and duelling vocal styles painted a picture of paradox; melancholic yet furious, fragile yet forceful. There’s a confidence in their quiet moments that makes the eventual eruptions all the more explosive. A band balancing on the knife-edge of heartbreak and rage.
Defences (9) took that momentum and turned it into gold. A band at full tilt, they delivered a soaring, emotionally rich set that felt equal parts battle cry and balm. Cherry D’s vocals floated effortlessly above pummelling instrumentation, and the connection between crowd and stage was undeniable. This was more than performance—it was communion. Defences didn’t just show up. They took over.
As the evening drew in, Black Orchid Empire (8) turned the energy up another notch. Their set was precision-engineered, riff-heavy and drum-led with a contagious urgency. Tracks like Angelfire and Death From Above hit like a freight train—tight, aggressive, and impossible not to move to. This was a band dialled all the way in and loving every minute of it.
But if one performance defined Uprising 2025, it was Lowen (10).
Returning to the festival with the aura of something sacred, Lowen delivered a spellbinding set that fused the brutal with the divine. Nina Saeidi’s voice—a soaring blend of Persian heritage and metal ferocity—filled every corner of the O2 Academy, drawing curious onlookers to the front in silent awe. Thunderous percussion, jagged riffs, and ritualistic visual elements turned their performance into a near-religious experience. By the final note, the audience was rapt. Lowen didn’t just play—they conjured.
With a new album on the horizon and a UK tour looming, Esoterica (9) hit the stage with purpose. Their set was equal parts progressive and primal, with new tracks like “Alive” showing off the band’s evolving sound. Frontman Tobias Keast roamed far beyond the stage; singing part of the set from the beer garden like a prophet among his disciples. Their refusal to follow formula is their strength, and tonight, that unpredictability felt electric.
The task of closing fell to British heavyweights Earthtone9 (8), and they took it on like seasoned warriors. Their set was a juggernaut of groove-infused chaos, delivered with urgency and zero indulgence. Even a brief technical hiccup couldn’t slow them down. Riffs rained, pits opened, and the crowd stayed ravenous to the very end. It was a masterclass in controlled destruction—and a worthy finale to a day that celebrated every shade of heavy.
Uprising 2025 wasn’t just a showcase of stellar talent. It was a reminder of the power of community, catharsis, and the unifying force of noise. With no weak links and several unforgettable highlights, it has firmly secured its spot as one of the UK’s most essential festivals.
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