Download Festival Review: Guns N’ Roses Disappoint While Letlive Shine as Metal’s Biggest Festival Steps Into the Future
Download Festival at Donington Park showcased a more varied and forward-looking lineup this year, even as it still leaned on some of rock and metal’s biggest legacy acts. Guns N’ Roses returned as veteran headliners, Limp Bizkit played the top slot for the first time, and Linkin Park became the first band with a female singer to headline the festival, with Emily Armstrong joining co-frontman Mike Shinoda. The shift marked a notable change for an event long criticised for repeatedly booking the same classic 1980s-era names.
The weekend opened with Swiss deathcore act Paleface Swiss delivering an intense early set on the second stage, powered by aggressive breakdowns and frontman Marc Zellweger’s fiery stage presence. German crossover favourites Electric Callboy drew one of the largest main-stage crowds of the festival, while Cypress Hill followed with a crowd-pleasing run of hits that fit naturally into the festival’s heavy, nu-metal-friendly atmosphere. Limp Bizkit’s set became a major singalong, with the band dedicating the performance to late bassist Sam Rivers and friend Dougie Miller. Lyrics flashed on the screen behind them, amplifying the karaoke-style energy as tens of thousands of fans, many wearing Fred Durst’s trademark red cap, jumped, shouted and moshed.
Saturday highlighted some of the weekend’s more adventurous and socially conscious performances. British-Iranian trio Lowen mesmerized the fourth stage with a blend of Middle Eastern-inspired prog metal, anchored by Nina Saeidi’s powerful vocals and ritualistic presentation. Conjurer brought sludge metal with personal and political weight, performing songs from Unself, an album shaped by singer-guitarist Dani Nightingale’s experience as a neurodivergent non-binary artist. Their song “Let Us Live,” a fierce statement of support for the trans community, stood out as one of the heaviest and most affecting moments of the day.
Trivium delivered a consistently strong main-stage set, covering two decades of melodic and ferocious metal in just over an hour. By contrast, Guns N’ Roses’ headlining performance was described as lacking spark. Axl Rose’s voice no longer carried its former bite, and the band offered polished but detached playing, with little crowd interaction and no between-song banter. Although the show had been billed as a 200-minute epic, it ended 40 minutes early. Elsewhere, Blood Incantation provided a dramatic escape from the main stage with a feverish death-metal and kosmische performance that sent the audience into another dimension.
Sunday opened loudly with UK avant-rockers Unpeople, whose feedback-heavy set was among the weekend’s noisiest. Mammoth, led by Wolfgang Van Halen, offered a more restrained performance rooted in modern hard rock rather than his father’s classic style. Indian metal group Bloodywood earned praise as the strongest main-stage act of the festival, combining tight musicianship, folk influences and motivational themes. Yet it was Letlive who delivered the weekend’s most explosive performance, with Jason Aalon Butler turning the third stage into a chaotic, participatory rally before dismantling part of the drum riser and climbing the scaffolding in a furious, physical finale.
Linkin Park closed the festival on a triumphant note. While Chester Bennington’s absence remains deeply felt, the band avoided dwelling on loss and instead focused on the songs that defined a generation. Performances of “One Step Closer,” “Crawling” and “In the End” united the crowd in mass singalong, while Armstrong and Shinoda projected joy and confidence. “Faint” brought the weekend to a powerful close, leaving Download with a more diverse identity than in years past and a sense that the festival is slowly changing.
