By DJ Astrocreep, Jase Walker and Josh Bicknell
Three was the magic number as our terrifc trio of ninja reviewers stepped things up to the next level and headed back into the pit for the third and final day of this celebration of all things ‘core \m/
There’s still a full day of great stuff to go and I’m about to kick things off with my buds in Waterlines.
It’s been a real hot minute since I saw these last since moving away and fuck me they’ve gotten so much heavier it’s unreal! I mean this lot went hard as hell even in their Sertraline days but man this is a different beast entirely. Ferocious riffs and Ben screaming and jumping around with barely any care for his own well-being. Dealing with the difficult task of getting a sleepy and hungover crowd going first thing on the final day is quite the feat but Waterlines rises to the challenge. Any cobwebs that were sitting around have most definitely been blown off into the aether.
The Monuments influences are still definitely present but mixed with their own spin on fast, aggressive riffing. Their cover of ‘Pretty Green Eyes’ clearly grabs people’s attention as it’s not exactly an expected cover for a metalcore band, but they absolutely fucking own it. Their development over the past couple of years has been staggering, a huge shift towards EDM elements in their sound that echo the likes of Electric Callboy and Northlane, all wrapped up in some real British grit that has shades of While She Sleeps and Bury Tomorrow. Good fucking morning (well, afternoon) RADAR. (JW)
Love Is Noise hit hard with a crushing performance centred around the song ‘Jawbreaker’. The track’s weighty riffs and pounding drums built an intense, heavy atmosphere that gripped the crowd from start to finish. Frontman Cameron Humphrey’s raw delivery pushed the energy higher, making the set feel like a cathartic release. It was heavy no doubt, and the band made sure every moment counted. (JB)
Next up is the beautiful gentlemen from sunny old Scotland, Tiberius! I walk in to hear ‘Let’s Go Girls’ booming over the PA before switching my gaze to the overwhelming number of balloons bouncing around in the crowd. Seeing these graduate to the main stage this year makes me super proud of their progress, but I can’t help but feel this may impact their ability to mess with the audience a bit, but it seems they’re quite happy to keep themselves occupied anyway.
‘Tip Of The Spear’ easily one of their biggest singalong bangers that puts their hypermelodic style into real focus, it’s not just Protest The Hero that has this down, Tiberius easily got chops for it too.
By the time they get to ‘Leviathan’ the audience is growing quite chaotic but not quite for the reasons you’d expect, evidently people just fucking love balloons and beach balls. Tiberius loves their theatric elements and making sure the crowd are with them though, a brilliant emphasis on keeping everyone a part of the show despite their change in proximity. This set from Tiberius has been easily as much fun as getting them to say ‘Purple Burglar Alarm’, and that’s saying a lot trust me. I’ll see you lads again in a couple of months at Prog Power Europe! (JW)
David Maxim Micic is admittedly a new name to me prior to the festival, though a quick flick through Google shows he is clearly a quite capable multi-instrumentalist. Right before hosting a masterclass, he takes to the main stage to what is initially a quiet room, but which fairly quickly builds up nicely. His work live is quite reminiscent of the likes of Plini, lots of fine guitar wankery, tippy tapping and heavily skewed towards instrumentals.
He is certainly highly talented and has assembled a good team to support him, who work excellently together. The set is tight, coherent and expertly played, drawing loud, high pitched ‘woo’ responses from the crowd, who also toss around several balloons and inflatable beach balls to each other, showing energy a bit earlier than the previous day. A great set to start my day with. (DJ)
Shields‘ return was a triumph of resilience and raw power. Opening with a sombre spoken-word intro, the band dropped straight into crushing territory with ‘Abuser’ – one of their heaviest songs to date. Joe Edwards’ guttural screams and Sam Kubrick’s clean vocals balanced brutality with melody, while Sam’s guitar work kept everything razor tight. Behind the kit, their drummer, only with them a year, didn’t miss a beat. Even more impressive was the bassist, performing what I’m told by Sam, was his first ever show with the band after just one audition. With only 72 hours’ notice, it was sink or swim and Sheilds absolutely nailed it. (JB)
Yonaka bring a high-octane energy to proceedings when taking to the stage. Progressive influenced alt rock, lots of melody, they play a really tight set and are the first to really get some proper crowd interaction, both with a bigger moshpit and some actual singalongs. It’s pleasing to see the room fill up more, too, as there are definitely a lot less people than would normally be expected at the venue.
They even have time to debut a new song not long written, which still has more than a few dancing or nodding away, despite an obvious unfamiliarity with the song. The set seemingly flashes by in the blink of an eye, with some heavier stuff coming in later in the set getting the pit opening back up. There seems to be a lot of love both ways for a well performed set – it’s always a good sign when 50 minutes doesn’t seem long enough! (DJ)
After an extended time filled with interviews and terrible food, it’s back to the main stage for Vukovi! After a short taster back at Jera On Air, I get to experience a bigger set with a pretty packed out audience. Holy hell they are going HARD on the flashing strobes alternating between red and blue, matching the intensity of the music that’s kicked off!
Vukovi are immensely energetic and every time I see them, they manage to up the ante! Janine stomps around the stage constantly, not missing a single beat blasting out her signature big vocals and doesn’t waste any time getting propped upon the main stage barrier! Their sound has evolved progressively from almost straight punk into an ever-steadier move into straight up metal and on a massive stage like RADAR’s main it sounds absolutely incredible! ‘SLO’ leads with the most amped up and intense light show of the set so far, admittedly a bit hard to look at sometimes but impressive nonetheless!
The new album material hits very different live, it’s definitely much more geared for larger stages compared to NULA and previous. It comes across incredibly well and sounds bloody gigantic, big thumping rhythms, searing fat riffs and Janine is fully at the center of it all and drives the songs along. The title track of ‘My God Has Got A Gun’ goes so blisteringly hard live and the crowd gives back every bit of that energy in spades, the pit is in full flow, crowd surfers coming over the top, arms waving in the air, the absolute works.
We’re heading for the end of the set but now before ‘Run/Hide’ gets a spin to keep the energy going! Behind me is a gigantic circle pit that I can feel stomping through the concrete floor! Well, it’s going well right up until they bollocks up the drop but for what it’s worth the massive pit doesn’t seem to be too bothered about it haha! Finishing with ‘La Di Da’ with a rather precarious start trying to crowd surf and sing at the same time which didn’t quite last long before she had to abandon that and get back on stage. A good solid hour of Vukovi is an hour well spent. (JW)
After an overnight scramble, flying in just hours earlier and even losing their luggage, Underoath took the stage with a palpable sense of purpose. Strobing crimson and icy white lights danced through the haze as Spencer Chamberlain’s screams sliced the air. Behind him, the keyboardist layered pulsating, atmospheric textures over thunderous drums, gradually ratcheting up the tension until everything went black.
Then, just as the anticipation peaked, they ripped into ‘Hallelujah’: the drop hit hard as fuck, and the floor erupted into a maelstrom of bodies and voices. In the pause between songs, the band traded triumphant grins, feeding off the crowd’s energy. When they finally played ‘Writing on the Walls’ under a wash of deep violet light, it was undeniable that this was more than a show, it was a fierce, triumphant return and a headline set I’ll rave about for years to come. (JB)
This wraps things up for RADAR 2025, another fantastic entry in the annals of a wonderful festival.
- Photos by Charlie Bluck/Claire Alaxandra/Coal Poet Media/likeanao/loztogs. Courtesy of RADAR.
- All content © Über Rock 2025.