Poster Provided by Takedown
My very first Takedown has come and gone, and what a ride it turned out to be. I’d never been before, but co-founder Mikki had experienced the previous event and came back absolutely raving about it. Ever since organiser Sarah dropped into our promoters’ pit, I’ve been buzzing for this festival. Her excitement spread through Chaos like wildfire, and from that moment I knew we had to apply for press! AND WE GOT IT!
We got it! Takedown approved our press application, and suddenly everything felt very real. This year’s festival took place at the gorgeous Guildford Hall, Portsmouth, so we grabbed a Travelodge just a five‑minute stroll away. If you’ve never been, I genuinely recommend that one – the accessible room was spotless and spacious, which made things so much easier for my co‑host Ruby, who joined me for the weekend.
Day One:
The site opened at 4pm on Friday, so naturally we rocked up at 3:45pm because if I’m not early, the universe might collapse. We were wristbanded in straight away and guided to the press area, weaving through a backstage maze that eventually opened into a mini museum of musical history.
Jordan – the legend running press – was an absolute standout. He knew everyone’s names, every interview slot, every moving part of the day, and still managed to be one of the friendliest people on site. It really set the tone: the whole Takedown team were switched on, organised, and clearly playing to their strengths.
Friday Stage Times:
I tried my best to catch as many acts as possible as you do in a stacked line up such as this. As Chaos is only a few months old, juggling interviews, review writing and actually seeing the acts is something I need to work on.
The day kicked off for me with Stone Soup, Metal 2 the Masses winners 2024 and long‑time friends of ours. Opening a festival on day one is no small task – you’re expected to set the tone, light the fire, and get cooking. Stone Soup delivered that in spoonfuls (yes, I’m sticking with the pun). They launched into the TotalRock stage with full‑throttle energy from every member, and the crowd were very responsive!
Everywhere I looked, people were grinning, whether that was because they genuinely loved the music or because they were trying to process the sight of frontman Paul wielding both a harmonica and a tambourine, we may never know. Before I dashed off, I grabbed a couple of quick reactions from festival‑goers. One summed it up perfectly: “It’s not something I’d usually listen to, but they were such a laugh. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for them up north.” – Tour coming when?
It seems their blues‑infused metal experiment is paying off, leaving a strong first impression and a crowd warmed up for the rest of the weekend. I caught the first half of their set before sprinting out to catch Blacklight Vice.
Next up were Blacklight Vice. I had to weave my way through a sea of bodies just to get close enough, and it was absolutely worth it. Their sound hit hard from the first note, and the crowd responded instantly, people were swaying, dancing as best they could, and headbanging along to their heavy‑rock assault.
The band were pure motion, bouncing across the stage with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing exactly who you are as performers. At one point the front man even leapt down into the photo pit! Blacklight Vice have built a reputation as a Southampton band with a big attitude, and a stage presence that feels impossible to ignore and they lived up to every bit of it! They’re the kind of band who could slot anywhere on a festival bill and still pull the crowd together.
I also have to shout out their guitar solos. Proper, unapologetic solos. The kind you don’t hear enough of in newer bands. It was refreshing, impressive, and honestly just fun. I loved their set, and chatting with them afterwards in a wonderfully chaotic interview only cemented how much impact they made for me.
I only managed to catch the first ten minutes of Kill The Lights before sprinting off for interviews, but those ten minutes were enough to make me immediately add them to my playlist. They exploded onto the main stage with a surge of energy, delivering a performance that felt sharp, urgent, and completely dialled in. With harsh vocals coming from the bassist and soaring cleans from the frontman, they whipped the crowd into a frenzy almost instantly.
The lead singer didn’t stay still for a second whilst I was there, bounding from one side of the stage to the other, making sure every eye in that room was focused on the band. Even in the short time I had with them, it was clear why they’ve built such a reputation: they know how to ignite a stage and keep it burning.
Apologies to King Kraken as interviews ran over and I caught maybe five minutes of their set. But those last moments were enough to tell me I’d missed an absolute storm of heavy‑rock mayhem.
The next band I managed to catch were Chaos favourites South of Salem. Having interviewed Joey before and having seen the band tear up stages more times than I can count, I already knew I was in for a treat. Their set started with a few technical hiccups, but once the mic decided to cooperate and Joey’s vocals finally blasted through the room, the whole performance snapped into place and the chaos was unleashed.
Joey couldn’t resist a little playful flirting with the crowd, dedicating a song “to the ladies,” before launching into fan favourites like Pretty Little Nightmare, Cold Day in Hell, and Vultures or at least, they’re my favourites!! The entire band delivered a tight, polished set, each member clearly having the time of their lives on stage while the crowd belted out every word right back at them.
And honestly, how could I talk about South of Salem without shouting out the incredible dancers they brought on stage? Their routine added an extra burst of energy and theatrical flair to an already electric performance. The stage setup looked fantastic too! The signature purple coffin backdrop gave everything that extra punch of atmosphere.We were lucky enough to grab the band for a wonderfully manic interview right after their set, riding the high of what was easily one of the standout performances of the day.
Still recovering from the chaos of last week’s Buried in Smoke festival, courtesy of the Cole Brothers, I knew I had to catch Wall’s set again! And just like the week before, they delivered to a crowd that couldn’t have been happier. After the show, they mentioned to me that a few things had gone wrong here and there, but honestly, none of it showed. Whatever tiny hiccups they felt behind the scenes didn’t make a dent in how strong, tight, and downright enjoyable their set was.
Closing out the incredible first day of Takedown 2026, Therapy? delivered a set for the ages. I’ll be honest – I hadn’t listened to much Therapy? before this. I knew they had a loyal following, but I went in with zero expectations and no emotional attachment. By the end of their set, they’d completely won me over.
There wasn’t a single person in that hall who wasn’t moving, even from my spot back in the seats, the energy was electric. And really, would we expect anything less from a band that has spent decades perfecting their craft?
Unfortunately we did leave slightly early due to a flair up but if this madness if what day one looks like than I can only imagine the carnage of what day two would look like.
As a quick side quest between darting from the green room to the press area, I somehow managed to stumble into a handful of brilliant little moments. The first was meeting Ginger from The Wildhearts, which happened entirely because his dog suddenly appeared in the hallway like a fluffy omen. A beautiful border collie, absolute 10/10, would pet again without hesitation but with permission. Naturally, I launched into one of my favourite games: guess my day job. No one ever expects “primary school teacher,” and Ginger was no exception. When he told me I would’ve been his favourite teacher, I swear I ascended. I’m carrying that compliment with me for the rest of my life. Later that night he spotted me again and shouted, “Oh look, it’s the spooky school teacher!” and honestly, I’ve never been happier. What a legend.
Somewhere in the chaos a little while later, I also ended up chatting with Ginger and a couple of the lads from Asomvel, which spiralled into a bizarre conversation about dolphins. That’s just what happens when you throw a neurodivergent person into the mix, things get delightfully weird very quickly and I just can’t keep my weird facts to myself.
Photo Dump for Day One:
Nickie of Devolution and The Crypt
Rory from Graphicsfix
Blacklight Vice and Skin Changer
Day Two!: 04.04.26
Living with AuDHD is often a toss up of great and unbearable and I was once again speed‑marching to the gates at 12:30pm even though the site wasn’t even open yet. My brain is constantly operating on “panic o’clock.” As before, I ended up trekking over with Nickie from Devolution and George from 601/OST, the four of us shuffling along like a travelling circus of over‑caffeinated media goblins. The moment we found somewhere to sit, our bags exploded open and equipment spilled everywhere. Tripods, microphones and everyone’s favourite my squeaky hammers. Today promised even more interviews, more press, and a fresh wave of beautifully unhinged festival chaos.
Saturday Stage Times:
Monochrome were an essential stop on day two, not just because they’ve been previous guests on Chaos Through the Blegh Witch Project with Mikki and OB, but because their reputation has grown fast since taking the Bristol M2TM crown. That momentum was obvious the moment they stepped onstage. The crowd surged in early, packing the room so tightly that getting through the door became its own challenge. Watching from the doorway didn’t dull the impact, though; the atmosphere inside was electric. Bodies moved in unison, heads snapped forward with every breakdown, and the room felt alive with the kind of communal energy only a rising metalcore band can summon. The vocalist’s harsh delivery cut through the space with razor precision, each scream lifting the room’s intensity another notch. Even from the threshold, the performance radiated confidence and hunger, exactly the kind of fire you expect from a band fresh off a major win and eager to prove they deserve every bit of the attention they’re getting. Monochrome didn’t just open day two; they set the tone for it, turning a packed room into a furnace of movement, noise, and anticipation for everything still to come.
Overgrown kept the momentum rolling as I slipped into my day‑two rhythm of splitting my time between stages. The TotalRock stage was already buzzing when I arrived, and for once I managed to grab a solid spot without having to wedge myself between shoulders. The crowd were already fully dialled in, especially when the vocalist asked for gentle swaying and head‑bobbing, simple cues the room embraced instantly. It helped that his blend of harsh and clean vocals made it almost impossible not to move. At first the band felt a little rooted to their positions, as if warming themselves into the set, but by the time my fifteen minutes were up there was noticeably more motion onstage. The drummer, locked behind the kit, was the exception – he played with such intensity that if he’d had the freedom to roam, he’d have been tearing laps around the stage!
Artio carried the energy forward as I made my way to the Kerrang! Stage, hitting their 2pm slot with such precision that I briefly wondered if they were running late! Right up until they exploded onto the stage in full force. Their set leaned into a soulful edge, the vocalist’s tone echoing cleanly through the room while the guitarist stepped in with supporting vocals that thickened the sound. The whole band looked genuinely thrilled to be up there, never staying rooted in one place for long as they worked the stage with a clear sense of shared purpose. The drums did a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of power and definition, anchoring the set with a punch that cut through the mix, while the interplay between clean and harsh vocals added a welcome dynamic lift that kept the crowd locked in. With that, every stage was in full drive and everybody was locked in for the madness.
Waterlines stormed in with the kind of chaotic confidence that only a well oiled festival performing master could pull off! Their cover of Pretty Green Eyes by Ultrabeat was an instant highlight, and when I say I couldn’t take my eyes off the drummer, I mean I was practically hypnotised! He passed the vibe check, issued new vibes, and redistributed existing vibes all at once. The crowd were fully locked in, especially when the band demanded everyone link arms and jump from right to left like some sort of joyful metal Irish folk dance. Every member bounced around the stage as if the floor was burning them, making sure no one in the room had a chance to zone out. And when Ben called for the crowd to split the room, everyone knew exactly what was supposed to happen… except the only thing that actually materialised was a perfectly clear walkway for a security guard to stroll through and shut the whole operation down. No wall of death today, well, maybe a few rebellious shoulder bumps once security wandered off!
Slackrr’s set spread through the room like a pop‑punk plague in the best possible way. Even in the short window I caught, their energy hit with the force of something airborne! One minute I was just observing, and the next I was fully swept up in the grinning, bouncing, utterly infectious chaos they were unleashing. Their joy didn’t just reach the crowd; it multiplied, jumped hosts, and turned the whole room into a happily contaminated zone of movement and noise.
Vexed hit me like an unstoppable freight train that I was absolutely not prepared for. I’d never seen them before, but the moment that dramatic drum‑roll intro hit, I knew I was about to witness something unhinged. Then front woman Megan stormed the stage with the kind of entrance usually reserved for WWE champions: full force, zero hesitation, straight into violent headbanging and those filthy, razor‑edged vocals she’s known for. The whole band locked in instantly, and because I’d somehow ended up right at the front, I had a perfect view of their absolute command over the room as moshpits erupted on cue. Their stage presence made it painfully obvious they belong on a main stage, not crammed into a smaller room that could barely contain that much raw energy. The musicianship was tight, controlled, and relentless, and the crowd devoured every second of it.
Vexed ended up being my last band for a while, because the second their set finished I was off again, sprinting across the site to dive back into another round of beautifully unhinged interviews, very much in the spirit of the previous day’s chaos. I would like to give a very special shout out to the bands that gave a small company such as ourselves the pleasure of sitting down for our interviews. We really want to be a fun, quirky little interview series and each band responded fun and feral. It made my day to hear multiple bands say that one of the highlights of takedown was my silly little hammer game!
As It Is hit me with a full nostalgia punch the moment they walked onstage, because my brain immediately flashed back to Patty Walters’ emo YouTube covers from way back when. Seeing them live felt like a weirdly wholesome full‑circle moment, and thankfully they delivered exactly the kind of set you’d hope for from a band that’s been going strong since 2013! They tore through a mix of old and new tracks, joking that the early songs came from a time when they were “broke and miserable,” which only made the crowd scream for them louder. I parked myself at the back, but it didn’t matter, no matter where you stood, those pop‑punk anthems swallowed the entire room. And of course, it wouldn’t be an As It Is show without some crowd interaction; the fans didn’t just sing along, they practically shouted the lyrics back at the band with ten times the volume and twice the emotion.
WARGASM came in exactly as Mikki warned us they would: like two gremlins fuelled entirely by chaos and battery acid, ready to turn the entire room into their own personal mental hospital. Their set wasn’t just high‑energy, it was a full‑blown detonation. The kind where the stage becomes a danger zone and the crowd collectively forgets what “standing still” means. The duo were in constant motion, sprinting, bouncing, and generally behaving like beautifully unhinged menaces, and the audience matched them beat for beat. Mini mosh pits kept popping up like whack‑a‑moles, crowd surfers drifted overhead, and even the people who’d sworn they were “just sitting down for one song” were fist‑pumping and swaying like they’d been possessed. In a line‑up this stacked, WARGASM still managed to be one of the most unavoidably electric acts of the day. Remember what I said previously about me just wandering the back halls trying to be in three places at once? Well, it came in handy when I accidentally bumped into both Sam Matlock and Milkie Way!! I generally try not to get in the bands’ way but I could not help but to ask for a picture and both were lovely enough to say yes! Made my weekend.
I slipped out of WARGASM’s chaos and bolted over to catch The Hara, because there was no way I was missing whatever unhinged spectacle they were about to unleash. I’d seen them back when they toured with Escape the Fate, but nothing prepared me for how dramatically they’ve levelled up since then. Their set was its usual cocktail of energy and chaos, but this time they’d apparently decided gravity was optional, because the lads were climbing on anything that would hold their weight just to crank the excitement up another notch. I can’t not talk about the bloody panda mask they wore – do I know why? Absolutely not. Did it add to the fever‑dream energy of the whole thing? Completely. No The Hara show is complete without at least one member ending up in the pit, and guitarist Zach did exactly that, shredding away in the middle of the crowd like it was the most normal thing in the world. They were a clear festival favourite, and the fans absolutely lost their minds for them. The trio dominated the space with relentless motion and sheer intensity, and their knack for forging an instant connection with the crowd came through as one of their strongest traits.
The headliners of Takedown 2026 arrived with all the mystery and menace you’d expect from the anonymous, mask‑clad question mark that is President – the same symbol stamped across half the jumpers in the venue! Their set vanished in what felt like seconds; I swear they played about three songs before time folded in on itself. Maybe that’s what happens when a band is that good, but I could’ve happily taken another hour without blinking. I didn’t expect them to drop Fearless so early, yet the moment that familiar intro hit, I was rooted to the spot and fully hypnotised. The crowd erupted, screaming every word back at them with the kind of unity that makes a room feel like it’s breathing in sync. And somehow, despite all that noise, President managed to command absolute silence during their spoken‑word moments, an entire packed venue holding its breath on cue, which says everything about the aura they carry! They also gave fans an added in special when they decided to drop a Deftones cover! I am not a massive Deftones fan but I believe the song they covered was Change (In the House of Flies). What an absolutely incredible end to this two day festival. My first of takedown but the first of many I can assure you.
Thank you to the team at Takedown and Divergent Promotion for giving us a chance! We had an absolute blast and can’t wait to see what you do next time!
Photo dump for Day Two!
Harry of Hammerdown
B.E.X
Lastelle
George of 601/OST
Nickie of Devolution
Some shows are live, some pre-recorded. All times are GMT
