GET TO KNOW: Reality Unfolds 2026

There’s something about January in London that makes heavy music hit harder. The nights are long, the city feels bruised around the edges, and there’s a collective hunger for something real. Reality Unfolds understands that instinct better than most. Returning to the New Cross Inn from 16–18 January 2026, the festival marks its fourth year as one of the UK underground’s most vital independent gatherings for hardcore, screamo and extreme music.

Built on DIY ethics and community rather than hype cycles, Reality Unfolds has steadily grown into a collision point for scenes, generations and subgenres. It’s a festival that thrives on proximity — bands and crowd sharing the same air, sweat dripping from low ceilings, no barriers between release and response. After a standout 2025 edition, 2026 looks set to push even further.

Friday is about legacy and impact. Belgian H8000 icons Arkangel headline, bringing decades of metallic hardcore savagery to Church Road. Their influence is etched across modern hardcore, and live they remain a force of total physical authority. They’re joined by Your Demise 2004, tapping directly into the roots of UK hardcore, and London’s own Negative Frame, a band inseparable from Reality Unfolds since its earliest days. Break Them inject the night with big-riff UKHC chaos built for movement, while Regress keep things grounded in London-style mosh tradition.

Saturday is where Reality Unfolds truly sprawls. Essex kings Splitknuckle sit at the top of a bill stacked with weight and variety, their status as national treasures forged through relentless touring and an uncompromising sound. Scotland’s Endless Swarm bring powerviolence designed to test both bodies and room limits, while Paris heavyweights Calcine represent European hardcore at its most punishing.

Depth comes from every angle. Harrowed unleash blackened hardcore hostility, xApothecaryx deliver edge-metal stomp, and Believe In Nothing drag the room into filthy sludge-noise destruction. Italian outfit Rescue Cat cut through with furious emoviolence, while Mindless return with blood-soaked, explicitly anti-fascist hardcore. Wiseguy, Agency and Bullet round out a Saturday that offers no let-up, only escalation.

Sunday has become Reality Unfolds’ emotional core — less about dominance, more about release. Madrid’s Boneflower, signed to Deathwish Inc., bring raw, expansive post-hardcore that thrives on tension and atmosphere. Temple Guard, featuring members of Renounced, xRepentancex and Ego Trip, channel righteous edge-metal fury rooted in conviction.

Screamo takes centre stage as Swedish outfit Kid, Feral make their first-ever UK appearance, bringing expansive, cathartic intensity that’s already earned them cult status. UK veterans Cassus return with renewed urgency, while I’m Sorry Emil represent the new wave of British skramz. Hardcore grit comes via Not Without Punishment and Tension, before debutants Afraid To Die — featuring members of Heights, Svalbard, Ravachol and *shels — make their mark. Mountain Peaks deliver raw screamoviolence steeped in DIY ethos, and Sunday Best close the weekend with post-emo anthems that feel reflective without losing bite.

Reality Unfolds isn’t about spectacle or scale. It’s about presence — three days where heavy music becomes a shared language, and the line between performer and audience dissolves. In the depths of January, few places will feel more alive than the New Cross Inn.

Reality Unfolds takes place next weekend (16th-18th of January). Tickets can be found here.

Words: Mia Gailey

Cover Photo: Conrad Newton