This year is already the 21st edition of Reload Festival in Sulingen, Germany. After celebrating 20 years in 2025, the festival is not slowing down anytime soon. For three full days, August 13th till 15th, the town was overtaken by metalheads. With the unofficial start of the festival on Wednesday also came the announcement with the first 30 bands for the 2027 edition. The 2027 edition includes headliners Electric Callboy and Heaven Shall Burn, who will be celebrating their 30 year anniversary.
While Europe has been going through heatwave after heatwave, the festival grounds started to look like we were at Coachella, as the dried out dirt ground made clouds of dust every time someone moved. The stand selling bandanas must have made a good amount of money, as plenty of people were seeking some way to protect themselves from the dust. With a crowd mostly dressed in black clothes, it didn’t take too long before outfits started looking more brown than black. In front of each stage was a hose, which the security used to spray the crowd and cool them down.
The first few bands on the Thursday line-up were all over on the Heist Plaza Stage. Just the last couple of years the festival decided to also open up the Impericon Mainstage on the first festival day, as previously all bands would only play on the smaller stage for day one. One thing about Reload Festival, is that they always try to put a fun act on first, luring everyone to the grounds bright and early. On day one it was up to Wrestlemaniacs to open up the stage, coming on stage wearing wrestling masks. A lot of props were brought out during their set, including a spiked baseball bat, wrestling belt, and money bills stapled to the band member’s clothes. The crowd also got inflatable bats, which they were playfully hitting each other with.
While other metal festivals still struggle adding more women to their line-ups, Reload Festival has no problem inviting all the badass women onto their stages. Vulvarine was up next, the band from Vienna who made it their mission to fight for more FLINTA* ( females, lesbians, non-binary, trans and agender people) in this male dominated industry. The band put on a great performance, playing their hearts out and visibly having a lot of fun on the stage.
Up next on the Plaza Stage was Allt, coming all the way from Sweden. While the temperatures kept rising throughout the day, the slight breeze was helping everyone cool down, as well as the security walking around with the hose spraying everyone down. It did not take long for the crowdsurfing to begin, as they were steadily coming in from the 3rd song on. The encouragement to make the crowd spin in a circle pit for the 4th song did not have to be repeated, as the middle of the crowd rapidly made a big open circle and plenty of people were running around.
Over in Germany the people seem to love Swedish bands, as right after Allt it was time for Self Deception to turn the festival into one big party. The band did not think it was hot enough yet, as they added pyro to their set, heating it up even more. Bassist Patrik walked out on stage in multiple layers of clothing, including a bandana covering his face and a bucket hat. It didn’t take long before he took his thick fur coat off and kept switching accessories. Before ‘Hell and Back,’ frontman Andreas Clark took a moment to talk about mental health, especially it not being talked about enough between men. He dedicated the song to his friend Adam, who he sadly lost. He encouraged the crowd to talk to somebody if you feel like shit and to always be the person that takes time to listen. Between playing songs like ‘Matthew McConaughey’, ‘GODDAMN ME’ and ‘PSYCHO’ you could see the band having fun being on stage in front of the crowd. While Patrik had some water guns, he also got the hose from the security to cool down the crowd. During ‘BREAK!’ Patrik jumped off the stage and joined the crowd, who started a circle pit around him.
The first band to play the Impericon Stage this weekend was Stick To Your Guns. Right from the first song the energy was through the non-existent roof, with walls of death, mosh pits and circle pits going on non stop. The genres that Reload Festival invites to play is broad, as the crowd was treated to some blackgaze up next with Deafheaven at the Plaza Stage. After that it was back to deathmetal with Orbit Culture on the Impericon stage, where lots of long hair was flying about while headbanging to the songs.
While the sun had set for the day, Lamb of God made sure no one was thinking about their bedtime yet. Starting their set with sudden fireworks, the loud bang sure made everyone wake up fully. While the crowd was happy to see them, chanting their band name before the set started, singer Randy Blythe took the time to give a shout out to the bands playing before them. He dedicated the next song to them, which was ‘Blunt Force Blue’ of their latest record titled Into Oblivion. For ‘512’ Blythe asked to see some crowdsurfers, which he of course quickly got. “Music is a unifier, are you ready to unify?” is what Blythe asked the crowd before ‘Walk With Me in Hell’. They ended their set with ‘Redneck’ for which Blythe wanted the biggest circle pit, turning the whole place into a tornado.
While the crowd was waiting for the headliner to start, a huge banner was hung in front of the Impericon Stage that read “pure fucking metal”. Arch Enemy are back at Reload Festival for the 3rd time, previously on the line-up in 2016 and 2022. While it’s not the first time for the band, they do have one Reload newbie on stage with them. The previous editions had Alissa White-Gluz behind the mic, but this year new front queen Lauren Hart is taking over. Despite a new singer, there is no doubt the band is still headliner material, with a full crowd of fans singing and headbanging along to the songs.
All photos of Thursday can be found here.
The second day of Reload Festival was going to be even hotter than the day before, which also meant another day of dust flying around. While the first band, Gutalax, was already up at 9.30, we started our day a few hours later with Alien Ant Farm at the Impericon Stage. With it being pretty much the end of the festival season, this was the last day of tour for a lot of bands playing this weekend. Dryden Mitchell told the crowd they had a lot of fun at both their headliners as well as the festival sets. During their set they played songs like ‘Courage’, ‘Wish’, ‘Movies’, ‘Storms Over’ and of course ended their set with ‘Smooth Criminal’.
While a lot of bands are just some dudes on stage, the ones that go that extra step further always stand out. Of course Gutalax in the morning, with their songs about toilet activities while wearing hazmat suits and a crowd full of people holding up toilet brushes, but now also Cytotoxin. Their theme was more into nuclear waste, wearing gas masks and having big barrels on stage emitting smoke.
Back on the mainstage it was now up to Fit For An Autopsy to keep the crowd going. This is the bands first appearance at the festival and they made sure to give the crowd a performance to remember. With songs like ‘A Higher Level of Hate’, ‘The Wretch’ and ‘The Sea of Tragic Beasts’ they showed the crowd what to expect from them. For ‘It Comes for You’ the band wanted to see the biggest circle pit, and to keep it spinning. They ended their set with ‘Far From Heaven’ and surely showed they are worthy of returning to the festival again in the future.
Most bands on the line-up are either from somewhere near Germany, like Scandinavia or the UK, with some bands coming over from America. What we don’t see often on the line-up is bands from Japan, especially a girl group making metal music. Broken By The Scream were ready to take the stage, combining metalcore and deathcore with idol elements. The band members were wearing scary looking masks, while the girls showed up in their cutest outfits. Don’t let the cute outfits fool you, as the screams and growls coming out of Io Nozukidaira and Yayoi Takayashiki are far from cute.
One thing about Reload Festival is that a lot of bands love coming back to play at the festival. Of course there were also a lot of newcomers on the line-up, but not Paleface Swiss. The band has already played here back in 2024, getting a slot even earlier in the day. With songs like ‘Nail To The Tooth’. ‘The Orphan’, ‘Everything Is Fine’ and ‘Please End Me’, they once again had the crowd moving along to their music, genuinely enjoying the band from Zurich. Afterwards another badass girl band took to the stage, which was Thundermother from Sweden. Pretty early on in their set they showed off that they are no less than their male counterparts, and can rock out just as hard, maybe even harder. Songs like ‘Thunderous’, ‘Loud and Free’ and ‘The Road Is Ours’ got the crowd headbanging along.
The festival could not miss out on some pirate metal, with Alestorm from Scotland taking up this year’s duties. It was their first appearance at Reload, which was long overdue. The back of the stage was filled with three giant inflatable ducks, while the rest of the stage and band was dressed in green. On the keyboard stand we had baby Yoda hanging, along with a license plate reading “Pirate69”. At the start of their set another one of the giant inflatable ducks was also thrown into the crowd, bouncing around between the hands of the crowd. With songs like ‘The Sunk’n Norwegian’, ‘Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship’, ‘Mexico’ and ‘Banana’ they got the crowd going, enjoying the happiness that the band radiated. For the next song, ‘The Storm’, Christopher Bowes requested the crowd to jump. He understood it was hot, with the temperature rising to 39 degrees celsius, but he would love to see everyone jump for them. The rest of their set included songs like ‘P.A.R.T.Y.’, ‘Shit Boat (No Fans)’, and ‘Drink’. Somewhere during their set two more giant inflatable ducks made their way into the crowd, who now had to keep three ducks flying around. Their set ended with ‘Fucked With an Anchor’ for which they had a inflatable sign stating “Fuck You” at the front of the stage.
Before it was time for Judas Priest to get up on the mainstage, Airbourne was giving it their all. Running around the stage and jumping in the air, singer Joel O’Keeffe seemed to have an infinite amount of energy. Concluding the mainstage for the second day, rock legends Judas Priest are on the Reload stage for the first time. The band might have formed back in 1969, but 2026 is the year that the Reload fans could finally see them on their beloved stage. Judas Priest have paved the way for metal as we know it today, with frontman Rob Halford also being known as ‘The Metal God’. At 75 years of age, he is still taking to the stage like it’s his home, ready to give everyone in attendance a performance to remember for a lifetime.
All photos of Friday can be found here.
The last day of the festival had some colder weather in the plans, which unfortunately also came with some rain. Jumping from 39 degrees celsius, to suddenly having to put on a raincoat is nothing crazy in terms of Western European weather. For the last day a lot of people got up early, to not miss out on the Vengaboys, coming from their neighbouring country The Netherlands. The band was on the Plaza Stage, but with the big crowd they attracted they easily could’ve stood on the main stage. Vengaboys might be the last band you expect to find at a metal festival, but as scary as metalheads might seem, they do love to party and have fun too. While the crowd brought bubble blowers, a Dutch flag and people in shark costumes, the band also brought confetti cannons with them. The band spoke about how they are already welcomed into the gay community, playing at pride concerts just a few weeks ago, but now also feel welcomed into the metal community. I don’t think the band ever expected to get crowd surfers and mosh pits during their set, but they were happily asking for them and encouraging the crowd to go crazy. Their rock mashup of the songs ‘Final Countdown’, ‘I Was Made for Loving You’, ‘Jump’, ‘I Love Rock n Roll’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ got the crowd singing along loudly. Of course their biggest hits, ‘We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)’ and ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’ also were received very well, with mosh pits and conga lines.
Today we didn’t just get one badass band with fierce female energy, not two either as there were three bands on today’s line-up, either consisting fully of female members or being led by one. First of the three was Finnish band Luna Kills. In her pretty outfit Lotta Ruutiainen captured the crowd with their combination of alternative and nu-metal. ‘slay ur enemies’ could of course not be missed from their setlist. Later over on the Impericon stage Germany’s own Future Palace wow’ed the crowd. The band has been around since the early 2020’s, but have been on a rise. This is their second time at Reload, getting an upgrade from the Plaza Stage back in 2024 to the mainstage this time around. Frontwoman Maria Lessing took her time to address the crowd and speak out how they are against racism and sexism, and don’t tolerate any of that behavior. Back on the Plaza Stage full female band Kittie are ready to bring their Canadian charm to Reload. The band has been around since the 90’s, when metal was pretty much still a closed circle of men. Between then and now the band has had a 13 year break, but they are back and filled with more energy and power than ever.
Also making their Reload debut is none other than Vended. With two of the band members, Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan, being sons of Slipknot’s own Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan, the expectations of the band are high. Luckily the band has no issues to entertain the crowd, showing that they are much more than just the “sons of”. During their set the rain also started to make an appearance, cooling down the crowd, which gave them more energy to go crazy.
The Ghost Inside is not a new face to Reload, as they played here back in 2011, while the festival was still pretty unknown. In these 15 years the band has gone through some crazy experiences, coming out even stronger. After their bus incident back in 2015, which left several members with life changing injuries, their future as a band was uncertain. Fortunately for the fans, the band had the ambition and power to do everything they can to be back. Drummer Andrew Tkaczyk had to relearn how to play the drums, after he had to get part of his leg amputated. During their signing earlier in the day, a kid asked Jonathan Vigil if they could play a song for him, ‘Dear Youth (Day 52)’, Vigil then dedicated the song to everyone who came to the signing, but especially for that kid. Vigil also took the time to talk about the accident and how it affected them, which resulted in the song ‘Aftermath’. During their set they also played songs like ‘Going Under’, ‘Mercy’ and ‘Engine 45’.
We are nearing the end of the festival when Godsmack takes to the stage. While this might be the band’s first time in Sulingen, the show they gave the crowd will definitely leave them wanting more. In the future the band surely will be asked back, as frontman Sully Erna gave them the performance of a lifetime. The frontman is not only a singer, but also a drummer. During their set Erna and drummer Mike Mangini battled each other in a drum battle, with two drum kits on stage. The crowd was warmed up and full of energy, ready to end the weekend on a high note.
Ending the whole festival was up to In Flames this time around. The band is not new to the festival, as this is their fourth time coming back. After 2015, 2018 and 2023, the band are always coming back on the festival goers wish lists. With songs like ‘Voices’, ‘Trigger’ and ‘Take This Life’ In Flames know how to deliver and have earned their place as headliner of the festival. At the end of their set, the concluding fireworks went off above the Impericon Stage, wrapping up this year’s Reload Festival.
Right after this edition was over, tickets for 2027 went on sale. Tickets are going fast, with 50% of the tickets already sold in just a day. If you want to attend the festival next year, don’t take too long to decide or the tickets will be gone! Tickets for next year can be purchased here.
All photos of Saturday can be found here.
