One day, 5 stages, and over 40 bands.

Slamdunk. The one-day show that exhibits some of the best in metal, indie, emo, and rock. It’s an annual celebration that has evolved into a community party, in the South and the North of the UK, and with each year it still finds ways to improve on the last. With thick eyeliner, swoopy fringes, and cans of Monster Energy in hand (more on that later), Creature Records swiftly made its way around this year’s Slamdunk South, catching as many bands as we could. Two weeks on, we’ve had time to truly reflect on the success of this year’s event.

Festival goers may have caught a glimpse of the stunning grounds as they made their way into the festival site, a very different scene from the Forum - if any Slamdunk fans remember! The event graced Hatfield Park this year, which certainly seemed to give them some more room to play with. Arrival was straight forward, and queues were quick and seamless for those arriving for the first bands of the day. There was a great selection of food vendors, hosted by the team at D&J Catering, and the craft beer tent was a welcomed site.

We started our day over at the Kerrang! Stage, seeing Brighton-based band Lake Malice open up nice and loud. It’s safe to say that they brought the energy with them, like finding the perfect playlist on your way into work - starting your day with coffee and gutterals. The crowd is already packed for the 11:40am kick-off, ready to start the festival season with a (head) bang.
Lead vocalist Alice really takes control of the masses from the get go, sharing her energy with the crowd. There’s a sense of togetherness and love that beams off of everyone; a shared kinetic energy.
The band played their latest single release “Scatterbrain”, a homage to those that struggle with memory and balancing life’s daily comeuppances. It hits heavy, and the crowd was jumping along. Whether they were familiar with it or not, they breathed it in and exhaled with the same passion as band members Alice and Blake.

Part way through the set, Lake Malice had backup dancers join them on stage - a group called Kaos Kreatives - who wore shiny silver dungarees, complimenting lead vocalist Alice’s shimmery rainbow dress. It works well with the lighter feel of some of their tracks, which implement more electronic segments into the heaviness - almost something a bit Sci-Fi to it.
A circle pit breaks out during “Stop The Party”, a song about anxiety. It was a good warmup for the rest of the day for mosh pit dwellers. Again, it’s a great mix of electronic music with husky, heavy vocals. Everything is so complimentary of each other, it really fits in a live setting. I’m really excited to see how Lake Malice evolve with more production budget in the future.

”This is our last song.” Alice announces. “Open this pit up”. The crowd obeys, and then we are thrown into “Bloodbath”. This track is both well played and well received live. Alice (lead vocalist) and Blake (guitarist) make an incredible pair, feeding off of each other’s energy. This channels into the crowd too.

Next we caught Imminence, a metalcore band from Sweden. A heavy start with vocals and violin from frontman and lyricist Eddie Berg. The use of violin offers an eerie yet soft touch to the tracks, and really elaborates on the musical talent they have to offer.
”Slamdunk!” Eddie roars. The crowd is pumped, after an unapologetic opening to the set. If you weren’t already awake then they certainly made sure you were. Band members Barrett, Arnoldsson, Höijer and Hanström, add their own flare, rocking the long-haired headbangs. Gracing the stage, and audience, after their most recent album ‘The Black’, the set was certainly offering up a punchy, emotive, and dark atmosphere.

Already, Imminence are setting a bar and changing up the very definition of stage presence, using his violin to echo and amplify his vocals - something I’ve never seen before. It worked. It REALLY worked. It was powerful and, again, eerie.

A slight outfit change from Eddie, to see the whole band is suited up in black. The high and low screams work incredibly well, and are as good live as they are on the recorded tracks.

You can see them with a string quartet live this December at Camden’s Roundhouse in London.

LANDMVRKS.

Hailing from Marseilles, France, is this loud and proud metal band, who could be heard from across the site. They graced fans with a powerhouse setlist, including “Sulfur” and “Blistering”, bellowing the lyrics from Flo Salfati’s lungs. Of course, there’s a huge mosh pit. The heaviness is broken up with French rap, which allows fans to tap into different tempos and movements. Their set is at a great time of day, partway between just getting started but also warming up for that big Electric Callboy set a bit later on.

Frontman Flo is adorning a white Slipknot t-shirt, matching up with some of their own branding. It’s been well thought out. There’s energy, there’s atmosphere, and there’s active crowd participation.

Zebrahead, the Californian rock group that formed in 1996, brought their charm and their eccentricity to the UK for an epic, fun, and silly performance. People were crowd surfing on inflatables, in skeleton onesies. Two people went on stage to make use of a bar. Heck, Dan Palmer was playing guitar on a spinning box. All the while showcasing some classic Zebrahead tracks. It was nothing short of fantastic.

Opening with Trey Parker’s “America, Fuck Yeah” on tape, the band then went into “When Both Sides Suck, We're All Winners”. I believe it was at this point that the carnage truly started.

“We have a bar on stage, is anyone thirsty?” Frontman Ali Tabatabaee asks, midway through their set. Two people are plucked from the crowd to come and have a drink while the band starts playing “Drink Drink”.

Of course, the songs are welcomed with a circle pit. too. There’s just energy everywhere, and it’s bouncing off of the tent in all directions. It was a lively set, which would have entertained anyone - even those that had never heard of Zebrahead before. The carnage was nothing short of excellent.

The final track they play is “Anthem”, and the crowd give them a proper send-off here. There’s jumping, singing, laughing, and all the other chaos that comes with a Zebrahead show.

Now, let’s talk about The Used; the emo-rock group from Utah. Marking 25 years, the band start off with “Take it Away” and “All That I’ve Got”, before playing the “In Love and Death” 2004 album in full.

The crowd sways through “Yesterday’s Feelings”, a soft and melancholic track. With it’s pain still familiar, crowd surfers smile and sob their way over the barrier. Frontman Bert jokes with the crowd, raising middle fingers with his skeleton-hand gloves. It’s all very early-2000’s and we love it.

The band seemed to be having just as much fun as the crowd, with smiles and reminiscence on both sides. While some mourned the lack of “Lies for the Liars” 2007 tracks, there was also a collective love for the full record homage. It really did start to feel like a celebration of the band’s 25 years, and it also became a little bit intimate by means of everyone’s nostalgia.

Next up on our list is Electric Callboy, a German electronicore metal band formed in 2010. It’s safe to say that this group only go from strength to strength, adding new threads to existing sub-genres, and reminding us that music can tap into many more emotions and narratives. Sometimes, it’s okay to get silly.

Now…there’s a lot to unpack about their set, and rightfully so. It went above and beyond. The last time that EC graced Slamdunk’s line-up was back in 2022, when the band’s drummer was struck with bad news then too. That time, a humouring replacement of a cardboard cut-out (that looked like a blow-up doll from afar) became the substitute. This year, we had Frank Zummo of SUM41.

It was great to see Zummo joining in on the EC fun, taking on the role perfectly - after joining the band for the Australian “Good Things Festival” in 2024. Zummo seems to be a great fit for the German metalers, and it’s exciting to see where this relationship goes.

The band opened their set with “Elevator Operator”, which immediately got the crowd going. It’s a great track for live performances, as it builds on energy and excitement. One thing that Electric Callboy do well is implement opportunities for chanting, and in a very British “football hooligan” type of way.

The band also debuted their latest song “Revery”, which fans already seemed familiar with. It was well received, and many sang along at the top of their lungs. The band didn’t shy away from their covers either. Around a campfire, they performed Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”.

As always, there’s confetti, fire, steam, and many, many outfit changes.

Let’s take a quick breather to revert back to Monster Energy. The popular energy drink brand had their own tent this year, showcasing The Meffs, Save Ferris, Home Grown, The Ataris, The Aquabats, Zebrahead, Streetlight Manifesto, Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and the Slamdunk North’s Closing Party. As Southern attendees, we missed out on this one. Hoping our Northern brethren had a blast!
On top of this, the brand offered free cans of Monster Energy straight from a packed fridge - as many cans as you wanted, and in any flavour. Shame the prop claw machine wasn’t operational, but coming away with 3 cold cans of the good stuff from 1pm was a delight.

Next up, as the night grows darker and colder, we caught Hot Milk on our way over to A Day To Remember. Many fans stuck around for the hard hitting set, playing some usual bangers like “Breathing Underwater” and “Bloodstream”. Lead vocalist Hannah Mee jumps around with the same energy as the crowd, drenching herself in water and headbanging droplets everywhere.

They really owned the Kerrang! stage, beaming their purple lights across the crowd, reaching further out into the site. You can’t ignore the vibrations coming from them as you walk by, even with the headliner starting up over at Main Stage West.

Hannah Mee gives a heart-warming speech on how Slamdunk is a festival she started going to when she was just 16 years old, and so being on stage is a real full circle moment for her. This, in addition to fans singing “Breathing Underwater” lyrics back to them, leaves them in awe and appreciation, with even a few tears.

Finally, we come to the headliner of the event; A Day To Remember. All of the nostalgia comes flooding back as soon as they start, as they open with “The Downfall of Us All”. Waves of people are cheering, dancing, and headbanging along.

We have all the classics coming out in full force, such as “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?”, “If It Means A Lot To You”, and “All Signs Point To Lauterdale”. The guys also did a tremendous live debut of “Bad Blood”, their parodic track of Taylor Swift, and played one of their newer ones - “LeBron”. All were received with the same enthusiasm and energy.

“Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End”’s drop is anticipated, with the crowd raising their voices and their middle fingers. Jeremy McKinnon shouts “Disrespect your surroundings!”, and it unleashes the jumpers and moshers. Whether you were at the barrier, in the pit, or at the back, you were moving.

There’s confetti flying everywhere, and soon they bring out a t-shirt canon - shooting shirts into the night sky. Of course, there are circle pits throughout their set as well. Would you expect any less?

The stage is absolutely packed out, and the confetti feels like it turns to snow. What a way to conclude the day, with the kings of metalcore and pop-punk splicing.

All in all, Slamdunk did an amazing job. The site felt great, with everything being in reach but also spaced out just enough. The selection of food vendors was great. The Monster Energy freebie tent was a really nice touch, especially as it’s a festival that doesn’t allow any outside food or drink to be brought in - being able to grab a nice cold can on a hot day pays off.
It would be nice to see the site allow sealed bottled water to enter the premises in the future.

Entering the site was a breeze, however leaving the site when you didn’t park was a little more confusing, with a lot of people having to ask stewards where to go, and some not quite knowing the answer.

There were a lot of big clashes over the weekend too, which comes with the territory of expanding as a festival. It’s something to keep in mind for the future, and no doubt it’s a monumental task to organise.

The festival also had two main stages, West and East. After finding your footing, you figured out which was which. However, it isn’t something I’d recommend the festival sticking with going forward.

All of that aside, it was a lot of fun. The quality of the bands from start to finish were amazing, and despite the clashes it felt like a very smooth day. Let’s see what they can pull off for their 20th anniversary next year!

Reviewed by: Courtney Wallace

Score: 8/10

FULL SLAMDUNK 2025 LIVE REVIEW

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