The third iteration of the UK’s rapidly growing progressive/fusion/tech metal festival took place at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. Scaling up in venue size from last year’s event down in Guilford, the industrial warehouse setting provided a unique two stage setup, with plenty of spaces for break out areas and other festival activities. Thankfully, both stages were indoors, with the organisers well prepared for a damp and muggy summer weekend full of loud, riffy metal goodness!
Friday kicked off with a bittersweet moment for Shattered Skies who performed their final ever set, opening the second stage at RADAR. A packed-out crowd were down early to tune into their soaring vocals, melodic riffs and pumping rhythms. The band bowed out to solid round of applause and appreciation from the early crowd, who in turn were rewarding the impressive level of musicianship on display, setting the bar nice and high for the weekend’s proceedings.
First on the main stage were alternative metal outfit Playgrounded. Their fusion of heavy riffs with contemporary electronica got the crowd moving nice and early in the day. Enthralling, would be the word to describe their stage presence, with vocalist Stavros Markonis, strutting about the stage as if he were captaining a mighty ship. Their sound, a blend of atmospheric prog, layered synths and periods of drone-like guitars, could only be described as hypnotic!
Newly formed duo Floya from Germany made their UK debut at RADAR, filling up the second stage with their poppy jumpy riffs. Their sound was on the cleaner side of things, sprinkling in electronic dance music layers into a modern-rock style. Stomping beats and airy synths echoed across the room as the band interacted with the colourful and dynamic lighting display. The duo finished with the single “Wonders” featuring intertwining vocal and guitar melodies, setting up a big euphoric finish!
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Another band from Germany, and a band I’d been looking forward to seeing was Unprocessed. By this point in the day, the crowd were thoroughly warmed up and ready for the party-like atmosphere that singer and lead guitarist Manuel Gardner Fernandes and co were about to unleash upon them. Despite the very technical and flamboyant riffs in tracks like “Abandoned” and “Real”, the crowd were singing along and jumping about. It was rather impressive to see Manuel pull off some crazy licks and sing at the same time. The set got progressively heavier as it went on and the band even kicked off the first rounds of crowd surfing at RADAR this year!
Next up on the second stage were Owane & Jack Gardiner, the first instrumental act of the weekend that I watched. No tech metal festival would be complete without at least one “Nintendo band” – a way my friends and I like to describe bands that sound as if they’ve written the soundtrack to Mario Kart! The two virtuosos battled in guitar solos against such a fun and lively backdrop, to which the crowd bopped their heads along to. The set featured not a single word until a final thank you at the end, with the guitars doing all the talking through super melodic and dynamic riffs.
The penultimate act on the main stage were Haken, a band I’ve heard a lot about but haven’t listened to much before. Dressed in coordinated floral shirts, I was amazed by the high level of musicianship and stamina, as the band worked through a complex set of very long songs that changed time signatures, had multiple key changes and also some acapella moments! A highlight of the set for me was the track “The Cockroach King” which took us on an almost ten-minute rollercoaster fusion of genres. The six-piece band from London, took RADAR Festival as a moment to celebrate ten years of The Mountain, an album that launched them into worldwide success.
Headlining the second stage were Monuments, who’s set could only be described as absolute chaos. The room was packed to the brim, with watchers spilling out into the corridors trying to catch a glimpse of the stage. I’d not seen the band with their new line up, with Andy Cizek taking the reign on vocals, but the crowd were in for a treat. His powerful cleans were executed perfectly whilst is screams had the room shaking, and I really enjoyed his spin on some of their back catalogue. Monuments’ set featured a mix of old and new, featuring tracks off Gnosis like “Degenerate” and “Regenerate” and some of my favourites from their latest album In Stasis such as “Cardinal Red” and “Opiate”. I felt Monuments and the crowd were perhaps hard done by the stage situation, with not a lot room for crowd activities, and almost no visibility of the stage unless you were in the first couple of rows. One festival goer did manage to hang off one of the beams of the roof, and most likely had the best view of the set! The band ended with fan favourite “I, the Creator” which guitarist John Browne’s iconic riffs bouncing off the walls off the thin long room – a perfect way to end the djenty, heavy and super sweaty set.
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With more than half the day’s crowd wearing Sleep Token merch, there was no surprises in guessing who was headlining the Friday main stage slot! An ominous cult like energy reverberated across the room as the band took to the stage, kicking off with “Chokehold” and “The Summoning” from their latest record Take Me Back to Eden. In full costume – masks, robes, and all – singer Vessel, had the crowd hypnotised from the very first words sung. The band worked through their set in an almost ceremonial like fashion, not speaking a word between tracks and putting on a very theatrical performance. Their mix of down tuned riffs, R’n’B-esque electronic beats, choral vocals and moments of indie-pop passages –sometimes all in one track, makes for interesting listening! Personal favourites of mine of the set were “Aqua Regia” and “The Love You Want”. It’s fair to say the crowd had learnt Sleep Token’s entire discography inside out, singing back every word as if we were at Sunday mass. The energy grew as the set went on, culminating in an enchanting performance of “Higher” and an encore of “The Night Does Not Belong To God” and “The Offering”. Sleep Token’s set was simply (and maybe too) perfect , both from a production standpoint and performance. It is no surprise that they’ve risen in popularity so quickly, with their headline set at RADAR, just one of many festival slots this summer.
Header image and photographs of Haken and Monuments by Eleanor Hazel
Photographs of Floya and Monuments by Charlie Bluck
