LIVE FROM THE PIT: REALITY UNFOLDS 2026

As London’s winter winds blow, there’s clearly only one place on everybody’s mind as hundreds of people converge on the New Cross Inn for three days of mayhem. Reality Unfolds has treated us very well over the years, and that hasn’t changed one bit. With a lineup that has a particularly large volume of hardcore this year, it’s certainly not one for the lighthearted, but those moshers who need to get their blood pumping after a lethargic Christmas will know their way here like the back of their hand.

REGRESS

Opening the whole weekend up was REGRESS, a London hardcore band on the fantastic Rucktion Records. Their label mates AGENCY are heading to South London for the Saturday of the festival, so there’s plenty of Rucktion love to go around - and the sound of LHC was received most gratefully. Playing all of their recently released self-titled debut EP,  the crowd was behind them the whole way and they revelled in it.

BREAK THEM

Following up from that excellent start was BREAK THEM, a UKHC band based in Peterborough. Summing our thoughts up perfectly early in the set, the vocalist remarked “What a lovely day.” Wise words. Whilst the crowd wasn’t quite as active for their entire set, their cover of LIMP BIZKIT’s Break Stuff - entirely predictably - had plenty of people moving and singing along, and their finisher, a cover of MACHINE HEAD’s Davidian no less, went down even better, prompting plenty of moshers to jump into the pit and throw some elbows.

CASKET FEEDER

Taking a slight turn away from the pure hardcore sound, the third act to play was CASKET FEEDER. The British-based band had a small dose of UKHC groove mixed into a big bowl of Swedish death metal, and whilst it can’t be said that they’re pushing the envelope particularly far, they had more than enough riffs and blast beats to go around for the duration.

NEGATIVE FRAME

Marking the back half of the evening’s entertainment, the almighty NEGATIVE FRAME stepped up to bat next and, as expected, were nothing if not stellar. Whipping the crowd into a frenzy, the metalcore/hardcore combination that they’re so good at was demonstrated wonderfully for all in attendance, showing off their home of The Coming Strife with aplomb. This would not be the only time most of the act played this evening though, although the ferocity they ripped through their set with would have you wondering if they even planned to finish their own!

ARKANGEL

Finally came the evening’s headliners, and Reality Unfolds delivered another knock out blow as Belgium’s ARKANGEL offered up a truly evil finish to the night. With ghoulish screams galore, riffs with more teeth than a shark, and a drummer who grinned like a man who was far too excited to watch chaos unfold in front of his eyes, they ran rampant and ripped the roof right off the Inn. Legends of the underground in their own right, the band made the stage their own and ruled over the venue like kings, performing their roles and playing their instruments with pin-point precision, all the while unleashing hell incarnate from their amps.

BULLET

Those next two days started with a similar level of intensity, as BULLET ran amok across the stage to start the weekend off, and despite not having one note of music out anywhere they still levelled the place. The fun they performed with was incredibly easy to see, and mercifully they are going into the studio shortly, so it won’t be long until we can hear them everywhere!

AGENCY

Following them was the fantastic AGENCY, who are - even after having played a single digit number of shows - a force to be reckoned with. They played like an act years into their career, and are putting out music that has a similar level of experience behind it. Beyond worth catching if you can, an early-career AGENCY set has every chance of being the stuff of legend a few years down the line.

MINDLESS

With a difficult set to follow, MINDLESS nonetheless came out swinging and were fantastic. The single greatest compliment a hardcore band can have is that they got the one audience member with their arm in a sling two-stepping, moshing, and jumping into the crowd, which was a great watch even whilst others were crawling past them! Plenty of people got up and at it for some Kent hardcore, and deservedly so.

RESCUE CAT

It was then time for a band from a bit further afield, as Italy’s RESCUE CAT showed us how it’s done on the continent. On their first ever UK tour, they played like animals and likely guaranteed their next UK tour, with their hardcore/emoviolence sound riling up all watchers. The drumming was particularly fantastic, and the variety of sounds they referenced and used was exquisite.

XAPOTHECARYX

Afterwards came a band we’ve seen before at Reality Unfolds , during the 2024 edition of the event - XAPOTHECARYX have ruined stages up and down the country, and the straight-edge vegan crew did the same again on day two of this year’s event. An act that always pulls up and shows others how it’s done, they put on a masterclass.

BELIEVE IN NOTHING

It was only right, thereby, to follow up a potently powerful display of hardcore with something completely different - cue BELIEVE IN NOTHING. This relatively new project put out their mindwrenchingly hefty debut Rot last year, and the bubbling mixture of sludgy nastiness, doom, and death metal is even more viscerally uncomfortable and cathartic in the flesh. A fascinating live show that pulls the audience into proceedings, the band was spectacular, and need to be seen to be believed.

HARROWED

It was a return to hardcore with HARROWED then taking over, although like the band preceding them they too had a taste of sludge in their sound, albeit their live show was much more confrontational and in-your-face than the discomforting slowness of that before. To sum up their live sound in a few words, it’s around about the sonic equivalent of bashing your head on an anvil. Nasty.

CALCINE

Another act from abroad claimed the mic next, Paris’ CALCINE, who blend hardcore and metalcore with stabs of mathcore mayhem to make for a searing sound both on record and live. The Church Road Records-based band put on a show that was received very well, and are absolutely a gem of the scene.

ENDLESS SWARM

The most serious band on the bill came next, as Scotland’s ENDLESS SWARM brought powerviolence to the Reality Unfolds stage. Subtle as ever, they made sure to remind us just what we were listening to between each song, with a small yell of “Scottish powerviolence!” each stop. They don’t often travel this far south, so their insane energy, headstands, and total drum disassembly were all very enjoyable to partake in.

SPLITKNUCKLE

Finally, headliners SPLITKNUCKLE, the kings of Essex, rocked up to blast the room to smithereens and round off Saturday in style. They’ve been going for a decade and still keep getting better every time - and nastier too. Their London style hardcore had movement from note one with plenty of crowdkilling, moshing aplenty, and all sorts of goings on in the pit.

SUNDAY BEST

Finally, day three began. Screamo Sunday, as a few of us affectionately named it, was exactly that - a bill primarily of acts from all over the screamo map, so who better to kickstart the day than a screamo band named after Sunday? SUNDAY BEST became the antidote to more than a couple of hangovers, playing a brand of music that pulled from the emo and alt rock end of the genre as much as from traditional screamo. The queer, POC, DIY band had bags of energy and showed us all how to shake off the tiredness for the final day.

AFRAID TO DIE

Reality Unfolds has a time-honoured tradition of breaking a new bands’ duck each year, and this year it was the time of AFRAID TO DIE to make their debut. Playing the kind of hardcore that POISON THE WELL might write, it was a savage set that will live long in the memory. The crowd bought in completely, despite not one person knowing the songs, and made it a stellar debut.

I'M SORRY EMIL

Screamo Sunday resumed with one of the most exciting young bands on the scene, I’M SORRY EMIL, who were surely one of the best acts of the weekend. A softer brand of screamo than most bands on the bill, theirs was a hypnotic, emotional set that had the room utterly enthralled. CASSUS had the touch job of following on, but their raw, aggressive brand of screamo contrasted fantastically and had plenty of onlookers rapidly getting back involved in the pit.

CROWQUILL

CROWQUILL’s northern mathcore/hardcore blend started the last stretch off, and their frantic performance earned themselves a veritable treasure trove of pit action. The finer details of their set, such as their squealing pic scrapes, had fans baying for more.

KID, FERAL

KID, FERAL took their place onstage afterwards, and the Swedish screamo crew were fantastic in both following on from and setting up for two much more aggressive sets, with their relatively tamer tunes still hitting right in the centre of the chest.

TEMPLE GUARD

TEMPLE GUARD’s balaclava’d look was amongst the first things most of the crowd noticed as they began the penultimate set of the entire festival, before their blunt force riffs shook the building and had elbows going at full force into various moshers. The brutish nature of their music acted as a foil to the final band, and gave the room one final go to get every ounce of energy out via flailing, two-stepping, or stagediving, in whatever direction they fancied.

BONEFLOWER

Finally, it was that time - the last headliner on the last day of a furious weekend of music. Madrid’s BONEFLOWER rose to the occasion, performing a beautiful set of anguished music that tore at the heartstrings and uplifted in equal measure. With plenty of tracks represented from their recent album REVERIES, it was a set to behold, each new song being rewarded with hoots, cheers, clapping, and pure adulation. A fitting headliner, and a perfect way to cap off a sensational weekend of heavy music. We’ll see you next year, Reality Unfolds.

Words: Jasmine Longhurst

Photos: Artemi Falzon