All the action from day three of Download 2026!
It's Download day three! Tired? Probably, but there's still a stupid amount of bands and bants to get stuck into. From the return of Linkin Park to Donington Park, to the debut festival visit from Spitting Glass, it's stacked. Here's what went down...
It’s been a long time since Linkin Park have been at Download, and it’s almost as if the universe itself knew they were coming. The sky above hangs in hues of dusty lilac and pink, mimicking the swirling colours found in the cover art of their 2024 album, From Zero. It was 2014 when they were last here, and a short teaser trailer for their forthcoming film Unshatter plays out before they arrive, with Mike Shinoda confessing within it, “the hardest part of ending is starting up again.”
Read the full review: Take your crown! Linkin Park reclaim their throne at Download
Something about Donington Park has unlocked a childlike excitement in A Day To Remember vocalist Jeremy McKinnon. “You have shown us love since the first time we ever touched down in the continent,” he says, pacing about with an extra spike of energy in his step. As such, the fans get treated to prime ADTR. The place explodes as soon as The Downfall Of Us All drops, then I’m Made Of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of? sets it off all over again. It always helps that they’ve got more bangers than an average butcher’s shop, from a life-affirming Right Back At It Again to a murderous Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End, while All My Friends gets hearty sing-alongs in the setting it was always made for, clinking paper cups and throwing your arms round your mates. “The fact you fuck with us enough to not have a good spot to Linkin Park means a lot to us,” says Jeremy. This is still more than just a starter for these stage headliners. It’s its own joyful main course. (EW)
“We’re Bad Omens, you can check us out on MySpace,” says Noah Sebastian, straight faced. He’s not a man of many words when he’s not engaged in screams that could pop the lung of an ordinary mortal, but when he does make time to chat, however, he’s subtly funny and self-depreciating. He looks over to the ferris wheel looming at the top of the arena field, and puts pity on the folks inside. “Now you have to listen to us, huh? You’re stuck there,” he says plainly. But, as it transpires, Bad Omens sound particularly beautiful this evening.
It’s really not bad timing to be suspended in mid-air at all, as latest single Left For Good gets its Download debut. Their time here is long overdue, after they had to pull out of the festival in 2024 due to burnout. Among glitchy graphics and peculiar melancholy short film interludes, the Apex Stage becomes all about the vibes under their control. Download takes a trip into the Bad Omens universe, and it’s one that’s multi-layered, complicated, and not a simple thing to untangle. Through their nonchalance and subtlety, it’s clear they like it this way, and lean into the poetic. They don’t need to be completely figured out or two-dimensional.
They perform in a way that feels extremely close to their recorded music, not a note out of place from any one of them. Noah’s clean vocals are arguably underrated on the regular, but it seems at Download they’re noticed a lot more. Spotlighted on what is now officially the biggest festival stage in the UK, during Just Pretend, he performs in a way that feels desperate and longing for something, his voice climbing and falling and showing the extent of his range.
The jewel in the crown is Dethrone. ‘Here am I, take me to the pearly gates,’ snarls Noah, with vocals so searing they could strip paint from walls or peel wood from trees. Bad Omens are masters at making modern metal. The downside to their mighty finale? It all ends rather abruptly. Maybe it’s all the fumes of a heady day packed with guest features, theatrics, the climbing of stage structures and much more, but their time with Donington is ultimately a lot more straightforward. They’re definitely a band that would be better fit on stage when cloaked in the night sky, a backdrop for their moody and atmospheric approach to a live show. No frills, just straight up heavy goodness that sounds serene, enraged, and sorrowful all at once.
To open Creeper’s second show of the weekend, closing out the Dogtooth Stage in the absence of Static-X, the familiar figure of Darcia emerges to do her usual introduction. “The band got into a spot of trouble on Friday,” she grins, holding Will Gould’s severed head, “so, if you’ll excuse me I’ve got a bit of emergency stitching to do.” It’s a neat way of answering the question of how this repeat showing is even possible after the band’s Dark Lord singer got decapitated at the end of their first set. Anyway, it must be a weight off his shoulders… His return from the dead is greeted by a rammo tent, and it’s a much more in-your-face version of Creeper they get tonight. True, it’s largely the same Sanguivore set as Friday, rather than the rumoured celebration of their whole career, but Blood Magick (It's a Ritual), Headstones and Mistress Of Death are by now so stake-sharp that this is no issue. Especially not when the setting feels this much more intimate. Rather sweetly, Will dedicates More Than Death to his girlfriend, standing in the wings. More than romance, though, this is, once again, Creeper at their full-trousered best, all horn and fangs. A band you can rely on to do it twice when so many others would get soft after giving their audience such impressive head the first time… (NR)
Download Festival's new Head Booker Kam Haq could have tried to put his stamp on the festival by leaning on some of metal's old favourites or promoting a couple of the red hot new breed to headliner status. Instead, he delivers a much-mooted stroke of genius, flying in German techno legends Scooter to bring the curtain down on the third stage. It's anything but a gimmick booking, though. H.P. Baxxter and the boys basically are a metal band anyway, just with the guitar riffs replaced by deafening synths and scantily-clad dancers in lieu of dudes in papier-mache demon costumes. The songs are absolute bangers too, with God Save The Rave, Jumping All Over The World and How Much Is The Fish? every bit as memorable as anything else aired over the weekend. Move Your Ass might be a weird place to leave off, but judging by the relentless mosh and tide of loose-limbed crowdsurfers, it won't be long before they're back for another shot. Remember, life can be hard, but Scooter are harder! Awesome stuff. (SL)
Anger has always been a fundamental tenet of letlive.’s molten core and today is no different, least of all after Elon Musk was certified a trillionaire. “There should not be any way any human being should possess a trillion fucking dollars,” fumes ringleader of chaos Jason Aalon-Butler to introduce the grimly relevant Good Mourning America. “If you learn about capitalism objectively, you will fucking hate it too.” Still, away from the incendiary Renegade ‘86 and the crackling Banshee (Ghost Fame), there’s a slightly different shade of letlive. in focus today. Jason’s in emotional spirits, reflecting on how the dark clouds in his mind in recent times began to abate: “I used to want everything to be the best it could be and it caused me suffering,” he admits. There’s also a touching moment where he spots a child in the crowd: “Welcome to gigging… love you, little one.” Still, no matter what mood he’s in, he’s still guaranteed to climb all over stuff. Jason scales the lighting rig, the plug is pulled, and it screeches to an end. Don't you just ll.ove them. (EW)
Going to an Ice Nine Kills set is like unwrapping Halloween candy pocketed by trick or treating in a dodgy neighbourhood. There could be all kinds of horrors hidden inside the sweetness, your would parents warn, but the temptation and morbid curiosity is far too strong. High on the sugar rush and risk of what you might be getting yourself into, you eat it up anyways, much like how Download gobbles down the gory goodness today. The Apex is dripping with early evening sunshine, and a lot of faux blood. It feels like Summerwe'en already.
Read the full review: The time of your knife! How Ice Nine Kills slaughtered Download
Heavy, weird and unapologetically a law unto themselves, Mastodon are a perfect subheadliner on an afternoon like this. The Atlanta legends have roamed this territory many times in the past, including a series of excellent shows last summer, and if the loss of ex-guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds in August is affecting them, it's only obvious in the kaleidoscopic grief of brilliant new single Your Ghost Again and the flickering melancholy behind their eyes. Otherwise, Crystal Skull, Black Tongue and The Motherlode land with the same pared-back brilliance they did on new six-stringer Nick Johnston's first tour of duty last year. It could feel a tad insubstantial, but as they pile into closing old favourite Blood And Thunder there's no time for revisiting the past as hundreds of the hardcore hammer each other to bits. (SL)
Gatecreeper bring a touch of their native Sonoran Desert to Download this afternoon. As in, the Dogtooth tent is hot, the Arizona terrors are tearing through their dirty-edged death metal, and it’s so dusty you’ll be blowing black snot for the rest of the week, thanks to the enormous circle pit they kick up. They also get heavier and more intense as the set goes on, with Caught In The Treads crushing like a charging tank, and even the HIM-indebted melodic touch of absolute banger The Black Curtain feels jagged and nasty today. Frontman/slacker Jesse Ventura-lookalike Chase Mason, meanwhile, delivers some of the harshest screams of the weekend, calling for pit after pit, ordering a change of circle direction, all while looking like the most mellow fella in the place. If Blood Incantation last night demonstrated the vastness of death metal’s creative scope, here Gatecreeper showed what it can do with its bloody knuckles. (NR)
'FUCK TOMMY ROBINSON!' As Tom Morello's back-of-guitar messages go, it's one of the most pressing and prescient this evening. Brcause Stephen Yaxley-Lennon can get in the sea."About 16 years ago, it was 'Fuck Simon Cowell,'" Tom reflects, depressingly. But as much as the change in public pantomime villains from song contest hosts to populist politician feels shocking, this is where we've found ourselves. In truth, Tom's son Roman is the real star of the show today, anyway, effortlessly cranking out Mr Crowley as he did at Back To The Beginning and generally mogging his old dad by playing complex parts behind his head for ships and giggles. The future is bright, regardless of our worst efforts. Most of today's Rage Against The Machine covers are confined to a riff-heavy medley, too, though Killing In The Name gets a big pit churning. "Heavy metal music is the music that made me love music," Tom admits, but still his version of Bruce Springsteen classic The Ghost Off Tom Joad hits as hard as anything all weekend. "Thank you, Download for a lifetime of rock & roll memories. Tonight we made another one." And it was wonderful. (SL)
Now here’s some music to break bones - yours or someone else’s - to. Boundaries have serious reason to steal the crown for the nastiest set of the weekend, their concussive breakdowns and barked vocals igniting a vortex of dust and flailing limbs in the middle of the Dogtooth tent. There’s a brief burst of melody when the opening verse of Only Endless drops, offering a change of pace - well, until it doesn’t when they plunge back into their usual brutality - but its chorus briefly gets people to jump instead of slaughtering each other. This might have been the weekend’s most underrated slice of violence. (EW)
“We came to PARTAAAAY!” roars Dinosaur Pile-Up's Matt Bigland in a tent busy enough for the temperature to rival that of a greenhouse. They've brought filthy guitar tones, stomping tunes from start to finish from Bout to Lose It to My Way, and an uproarious no-fucks-given energy that makes them an absolute riot to watch. And it would be remiss not to mention what fun the big, silly refrain of Big Dog is to scream to: ‘YEAAAH! BIG DOGS EAT FOR FREE!’ “I had no idea there would be a tent full of badasses!” Matt says. ‘Course there would be. It's because DPU slap live. (EW)
Social Distortion are a rare treat at Download 2026, a chronicle of punk rock's storied history with just a peek at its cutting edge. Frontman Mike Ness muses on the idea of "arrested development" at one point early in their fantastic set, but it's how the Californian punkabilly icons have matured that makes this performance so sweet. Tapping back into their troubled youth on new songs like No Way Out is one side of the coin, while reckoning on their troubled beginnings with older hits like Mommy's Little Monster ("That song never sounded this good back in 1983") is the other. But it's the evergreen singalong for Story Of My Life that confirms their status as bona fide legends, mind. The crowd might be tired late on Sunday afternoon, but there's an undeniable energy possessed by Mr Ness (and precious few of his peers) that just never goes away. Sublime. (SL)
Taylor Momsen skips down the runway, her mic a magic wand able to fathom any reaction she wants it to from Download with a point or wave. She traces it along the barriers with a grin on her face, collecting screams in it as she goes. The Pretty Reckless are superb at the craft of putting on a good fucking rock show: guitar duals, oodles of crowd participation, and plenty of attitude. Guitars churn out sounds like heavy machinery with Going To Hell, concluding a set that’s sexy, gritty, and leaves a supercharged feeling. Duly, Download falls in love with the girl at the rock show. (RR)
Make no mistake: Magnolia Park enact some kind of sorcery live. Even when their mix is a little shonky, overwhelmed by the ribcage-shaking vibrations of the bass, it can't be denied just how many bops they have. Shadow Talk incites the urge to bounce like there are springs on the ground instead of grass, while a huge pit spirals open for Omen and closer Shallow ties a bow on their half hour of power with buzzing riffs and one last sing-along. This is a band it would be criminal to underestimate, whether it comes to the sheer number they draw live, or the sackloads of energy they exchange with the people watching them. (EW)
“Are you ready for a secret set?” yells Formula 1 commentator and metalhead David Croft, apparently unaware of the massive sign that reads Skindred behind him as he introduces the de facto Download house band to a jam-packed Dogtooth Stage. Thousands upon thousands of sunburnt revellers have turned up to witness the ragga-metal powerhouse’s victory lap after You Got This claimed the Number One spot in the UK, rivalling the number who turned up to Parkway Drive’s unannounced slot last year, with rows upon rows gathered outside the tent vying to get a view of Benji Webbe’s now-signature Satanic Labubu headgear. And he is on incredible form.
With barely half an hour to fill, it’s a brief but bangers-only set, opening on a punchy Set Fazers that instantly sends the hoards into a frenzy, kicking up an whopping cloud of dust and sending bodies hurling over the barrier. It might be half-way through the final day, but energy levels haven’t dipped on iota, especially when one of the UK’s greatest live bands are putting on a clinic.
Read the full review: Surprise! What happened at Skindred's secret Download set
Plenty of bands have tried to command the intersection between emo and metalcore, but few have ever managed it as convincingly as The Plot In You. It's agonizingly evident this afternoon as the Ohio boys strip back the flesh of Divide and You Get One to ask Donington to examine the beating heart underneath. "This has been an absolute pleasure," smiles Landon Tewers. "It's been a dream!" Then he drops into Left Behind, ramping the feelings to another level again, steering the set towards its heartbreaking conclusion. Of course, FEEL NOTHING pushes everyone over the edge with its bittersweet, poignant climax, but there's an inescapable sense that this Plot has still just started to play out. Heartbreakingly good. (SL)
TX2 boil some people's piss and they know it. In fact, as Evan Thomas recounts, they even got bottled when they played here two years ago. Today, with a front section crammed full of devoted fans, the picture is starkly different “I can't see a fucking hater in the crowd!” Whether they light you up or spoil your appetite, there’s no denying they attack their live show hard. Evan headbangs so hard he risks whiplash, while their heavier sections slam with a blistering aggression. Sure, it sometimes gets a bit overblown in terms of both technicality and attitude - “We will conquer the world! You are all on the right side of history!” - but the intention is pure, and that will always trump nonchalance. (EW)
Marcus Lundqvist pauses for a second as a team of Red Arrow fighter jets unexpectedly takes to the sky from East Midlands Airport, but in terms of shock and awe, Thrown refuse to be upstaged. There's no shortage of cutting edge metalcore at Download 2026 but these guys can take them all. Riffs? Yaps? Sweaty raincoats? They've got the lot. Add in cast-iron bangers like parasite and guilt and it's genuinely hard to resist turning round to punch the person next to you square in the face. And their first-ever song grayout is still as ironically colourful as the day it dropped. Download just got thrown a massive wallop. (SL)
New Delhi’s Bloodywood are proud dream chasers. Today, they get their biggest ambitions realised. Raoul Kerr stares down Donington with a contagious determination, and acts like a motivational speaker, sharing how they got here through sheer audacity and resilience. Their signature recipe of mixing of dhol drumming and traditional Indian rhythm work with modern heavy flavours makes them exciting at the best of times, but today it’s exceptional to witness such grandeur in a festival setting for massive tunes Bekhauf and Nu Delhi. A low plane flies over, and vocalist Jayant Bhadula watches in awe. They are one of the most unique talent on the bill, and they bring everyone together. Bloody great! (RR)
“How many girlypops do we have in the audience?” Jules Wylde asks. Lots and lots, it turns out. The Pretty Wild storm into the packed tent with the epic Paradox, and their divine feminine diva energy has a spellbinding effect, an enigmatic fusion of sugar and venom. Between the bubbling floor filler of Infra-Red and the jagged Sleepwalker, they are blooming into a proper force live. There's definitely a step up in quality even just from their run with Sleep Theory a few months ago and, surely, once they have worn themselves in on the road, they'll be a supernova. (EW)
It's not clear what most of the mass of rubberneckers assembled for Dogstar expect, but judging by the mumbles of confusion when they actually go on, it's not this. Hollywood megastar Keanu Reeves is indeed up onstage, but rather than a starring role, he's in the supporting cast today, as the greying, bearded (albeit still devastatingly handsome) bassist in a Los Angeles alt. rock collective with far more in common with Pearl Jam, Queens Of The Stone Age or Bush than Wyld Stallyns. They're still pretty good, though. Fresh from last night's show at the London Roundhouse,,and just a few weeks on from the release of fourth album All In Now, there's a cool confidence about Runway and All In Now that works perfectly on a tired Sunday afternoon. And although the strange combination of an unholy crowd squeeze and general disinterest in the music itself does undercut the atmosphere somewhat, these Dogstars' day is far from done. (SL)
If you can conquer Miss World Chile, Download should be piss easy right? Vocalist Ignacia Fernández went viral late last year for bringing death metal to the beauty pageant which she won, but now she's turning her attention to producing some truly ugly sounds from her throat with Decessus. Her larynx-shredding gutturals are woven through textures that are gravity-defying, elegant and ferocious all at once, glinting with grandiosity, yet it still commands plenty of moshing (and much hair-swishing from Decessus themselves). It's pretty awesome, and it's easy to imagine it metamorphosing into an even bigger spectacle. (EW)
RØRY is a beacon of hope today. She might be dressed like she’s ready to wrestle, but even the toughest champs have to cry sometimes. She flits from laser focus to emotional outpouring, crouching for a moment to process the weight of playing the Main Stage at this magnum opus of rock festivals. With Sorry I’m Late, she proudly shares a speech about the triumph of being a woman in her 40s on the Apex Stage. She cycles through stories on grief, addiction, and chasing a stubborn dream, making Blossom a fitting crescendo. By the end, she stands victorious, one fist in the air, celebrating a total smackdown. She deserves to feel all the glory to its fullest, teary max. (RR)
"I think it's time we take the throne," sings Wolfgang Van Halen on Another Celebration At The End Of The World. Two songs into Mammoth's packed-out Opus stage demolition, it sounds like the son of one of rock's greatest ever guitarists might actually be ready to pick up where his father Eddie left off. No talentless nepo baby, Wolfgang has always been a virtuoso in his own right, contributing across Mammoth's layered multi-instrumental compositions and providing vocals to boot. But where, in the past, he's lacked the swagger to go with his skill, today he actually feels like a star. It doesn't hurt that his like-minded bandmates seem as hungry to get their teeth into Same Old Song and Like A Pastime as he is, and that this big audience have let those bangers under their skin, but pivotal is the frontman's willingness to be the star of the show. "We're just a band who likes to play loud rock and roll!" he shrugs. That's all Donington has ever needed. (SL)
Matt Honeycutt talks to Download like a Texan gent, all “Yes ma’am.” Running on three hours of sleep and a 2am McDonald’s, Kublai Khan TX are still fired up and bringing plenty of swagger as Darwinism gets brains rattling. Their chunky rhythms and guitar squeelies are accompanied by Matt thumping his chest as he looks over the festival that has become their temporary kingdom. His sweet talking works its magic over the Apex field, with Theory Of Mind still making for a colossal closer that feels just as brutal even in the early afternoon. (RR)
The artist otherwise known as Matthew Cullen, Zero 9:36 lands on the Avalanche Stage like a stick of dynamite. Billed in some press as a rap-rocker, the Pennsylvanian hellraiser initially deals more in gleaming alt. metal today. His chest-caving Make Me Feel is legitimately one of the most powerful openers all weekend, and new single One To Create You comes on like Thornhill or Bad Omens overdosing on muscle drugs. "I haven't eaten yet," big Matt radiates a weirdly dusty charisma. "I've not slept in two days!" Witnessing the tight-wound mania that powers Chasing Shadows, you believe it. It's a visceral experience, with impressive levels of push-and-shove throughout, dozens of crowdsurfers, and even defiant demands for a wall of death on unhinged highlight System ("I don't give a fuck if you end up in the churro stand!"). Sensuality and soulfulness bleed in with the anthemic adrenaline, but they're blown away by cataclysmic final destination The End. "How many of you guys have never heard of us before?" Matthew asks. "How many just wandered into this bitch?" After today, count on every one of them to rush back. (SL)
“When the world screams at you to be anything but yourself, who are you?” a disembodied voice asks the thick throng of people who have assembled for Catch Your Breath. This is one such gem from an excessive number of faux-deep interludes deployed throughout their set that come over like Siri reading Instagram poetry, and the Texans' music doesn't do a great deal of heavy lifting, either. There's a wave of enthusiasm from the crowd that prompts healthy sing-alongs to 21 Gun Salute and Dial Tone, but they sound watery and a bit synthetic, with the band not exactly throwing a ton of enthusiasm into their performance. It feels frustrating when they had the capacity and the eyes on them to deliver so much more. (EW)
The ascendancy of Sleep Token and President has taught us that mystery is magnetic. Give away nothing, and the fans want to know everything. A year on from the inaugural President rally that was destined to become one of the festival’s biggest talking points, Download have repeated the trick by slapping a band on the poster that at the time of announcement had no music out whatsoever.
That band is Spitting Glass, a transatlantic group fronted by Fit For An Autopsy’s Joe Bad with longtime players in British heavy music. This, however, isn't a total rinse and repeat situation when they have a level of biography and history those previous groups don't - at least on a name and face basis. They also are capable of a kind of cartilage-tearing heaviness that President simply do not have...
Read the full review: Ready to break: What happened at Spitting Glass' Download debut
If you stand close enough and listen out before unpeople hit the stage, you’ll hear them before you see them. They crack their live synergy open like a glow stick with chants and screams from some place behind their beady-eyed banner. It’s a ritual that clearly works well, as they’re on yet another main stage following their ace Slam Dunk set last month. “Wakey wakey!” screams a suited and booted Jake Crawford. Fresh off the announcement of their debut album, lead single clouds is sung back to them like it’s been around for years. Not complete without a trip to the garden, Em Lodge brings chugging bass and Download brings the energy. A group that’s bubbling up to be more than a band, but a movement. (RR)
Bangovers are thumping on Sunday morning, but not half as hard as Ego Kill Talent. Boasting two drummers and perhaps the widest range of percussion instruments ever seen at Donington, the São Paulo rockers deliver a remarkably feelgood beatdown, sort of like classic Sepultura with the blood, fire and death swapped out for cocktails on the beach. Vocalist Emmily Barreto is a fizzing livewire, too, alternating between melodic highs and unhinged breakaways oddly reminiscent of Suicidal Tendencies' Institutionalized. "We Came all the way from Brazil," she greets the early risers. "Dance with us. Be weird." Faced with the torrent of brilliant, mostly unreleased new material blasting out of the PA, there's no other choice, really. Muito excellente! (SL)
