Top Ten Bands You Need To See At Outbreak 2025

Outbreak Festival returns in June 2025 to Manchester’s BEC Arena and for the first time ever, London’s Victoria Park. Often hailed as the leading UK hardcore festival, Outbreak 2025 is sure to be an exciting, action-packed 3 days, split across 4 stages! While the opening day, 13th June, in London brings us a smaller line-up, it is bound to be no less electrifying.

To make sure you don’t miss out on seeing some of the hottest acts this year, we’ve collated this list of the top ten bands that are must watches at Outbreak, for you lucky readers.

Slowdive

Headlining at this year’s Outbreak Festival, this innovative shoegaze band has been giving us legendary live performances since 1989. With their dreamy vibe, fantastic visuals and immersive sound layers that engulf you, the atmosphere of their set is sure to be breathtaking. You can expect to hear extraordinary basslines, and a good mix of newer tracks and their classics, compiled for a perfectly flowing setlist. Recently, they performed at the Brooklyn Paramount, where they opened with “When the Sun Hits” to an electric audience – wildly singing along to every word. Slowdive performances draw in a chilled crowd, who can often be seen gently swaying to the ethereal music, eyes closed, before breaking into song when a fan favourite starts, creating a collective experience rather than a roaring mosh pit.

Julie

Julie’s set at Outbreak is sure to be insane! This up-and-coming band is definitely one to put on your watchlist as remarkable things can be expected from them. Their genre is a blend of hardcore, and shoegaze and every set is packed with raw emotion and energy, ensuring a thrilling atmosphere. You’ll be shook by their passion and intensity on stage – it’s going to be a set you won’t easily forget! Their debut album, “My Anti-Aircraft Friend” was released last year. It is a beautifully wild listen, with hard hitting heavy drums, distorted guitars and gossamer, hazy vocals – we can’t wait to hear some of the tracks on it at Outbreak.

Superheaven

Bringing us mind-blowing live performances since they first took to the stage in 2012, you can look forward to an atmospheric wall of sound, blended shoegaze, and grunge. An unreal experience! The stage presence this group has is mega, giving us emotionally charged music and so much energy. Superheaven draw in diverse, enthusiastic crowds, a real community you can expect to see singing along, head-nodding and a hint of vape smoke, rising from the masses. They recently played a gig at the Brooklyn Steel during their 2024 reunion tour – here they performed several classic songs, and the audience got hyped up quickly, excited to watch them again after their long hiatus. Trust us, you won’t regret seeing them at Outbreak!

Pest Control

Pest Control are going to bring a pure adrenaline, chaotic show to the stage at Outbreak. Their blend of hardcore and thrash metal creates an infectious, frenzied mosh pit of fans who aren’t scared to get rowdy and intense. Speakers blasting an aggressive, raw sound – producing a notable set you don’t want to miss. Their stage presence is intense, making every one of their performances unforgettable. Pest Control dropped their most recent album, “Don’t Test the Pest,” in May 2024, we can expect to hear some tracks on this played in their set at Outbreak!

Pain of Truth

This band is a must-see due to their hard-hitting raw energy, and hardcore/metal sound that’s perfect for moshing. Pain of Truth’s genre can often be described as metallic or beatdown hardcore. Their pits open up into brutal, and aggressive, super energetic crowds. Heavy breakdowns are part of their iconic sound and Pain of Truth’s crowds always match their crazy performances - stage diving and totally losing themselves in the power of their music! While we can’t say what exactly is going to be on their setlist at Outbreak Festival this year, we expect there to be a number of tracks from their 2020 album, “No Blame… Just Facts,” and some EP’s from their early days.

Witch Fever

A four-piece doom-punk band hailing from Manchester, UK, Witch Fever was formed in 2017 and since then they’ve shot to fame, defied many expectations – breaking genre boundaries, and they released their debut album “Congregation” in 2022. They’re known for really connecting with the audience and bringing a ton of vivacity to their shows. Witch Fever blends punk, noise rock and doom with distorted, heavy guitars and gorgeous but intense vocals. Sure to put on an outstanding performance as usual at Outbreak, especially with it being the return to their home town, on Sunday - 15th June at the BEC Arena.

Deafheaven

Deafheaven combines shoegaze with black metal -  their music often has features of harsh vocals, blast beats mixed with melodic passages to create such a unique sound. They can be considered quite differently to other bands at this year’s Outbreak festival, but their music still packs a punch, and their set is sure to be a memorable one! Their best album is largely considered to be their 2013 release, “Sunbather”, and we think there’s a fairly good chance Deafheaven will perform tracks from this at Outbreak. Their most recent live show was at Sick New World festival in 2024 where they played a medley of tracks from their discography, many of these being from their last album, “Infinite Granite” and of course, from “Sunbather”. This set was well received and there was so much positive energy, and fans headbanging along.

Contention

Formed in Florida in 2019, Contention is a band in the metalcore genre. They’ve gained a powerful reputation in breakneck speed, and are rising stars within the metal scene. They blend elements of punk, metal and hardcore to produce their music. Their shows often create sweaty, intense, beer-fuelled crowds and you can often leave one of their performances with that “been in a mosh pit all night” aroma – a sure sign of having had a great time! The nature of the band makes them perfect for a festival setting and they’re absolutely going to rock the stage at Outbreak 2025.

Drug Church

Drug Church is a rock band known for their honest, raw lyricism. They deliver a killer mix alt-rock, grunge, and punk, creating an abrasive, but catchy sound. Drug Church always put on an extremely amped-up show, guaranteed to stick with you. “Hygiene” - their most recent album was dropped in 2022, and it delves into societal issues and personal struggles, which has resonated with many listeners and garnered them new fans. We hope several tracks from this will be on the setlist at Outbreak! Some tracks from their earlier albums, like “Cheer” and “Hit Your Head” are also expected to be in their set. We’re sure you’ll have an outstanding time watching them at Outbreak regardless!

Kumo 99

Since forming in 2022, LA based duo, Kumo 99 has quickly built a dedicated following, becoming wildly popular within the DnB scene. Their live shows are totally unique – aggressive punk mixed with electronic dance sounds and a captivating stage presence that will grab your attention. A chance to see their raw, pure energy live! Since their performance at Coachella 2025, fans online have been raving about how superb they were! Their Coachella set paired punchy vocals with rhythmic beats and awesome light shows were added into the mix to create an experience like no other. Catch them at Outbreak so you don’t miss out on the chance to hear one of their digital hardcore sets live in the UK!

Words: Elliott-Jae Boulton