LIVE REVIEW: Slaughterhouse Festival 2026

Music festival season in the UK begins by the time May comes around, and keeps going all the way through the summer. Kicking off a spell of alldayers, weekenders and more for 2026, the first weekend of May saw Slaughterhouse Festival come to Birmingham for its fourth edition. It showcased all sorts of talent in heavy music coming out of the Midlands and beyond, on three stages for the first time. The Castle & Falcon may be a bit out the way from the city centre, but has hosted some of the best Birmingham gigs you'll find over the years, and today's no different. While I'm here, I'd like to thank Rory for asking me to cover the event, for adding Diaries of Doom to the festival poster (that's a first!) and also inviting Slump to headline the unplugged stage for what was our first acoustic performance.

My first band of the day are Osiris, who give everything they've got for half an hour on the second stage. Showing off a varied range of influences, Osiris cover plenty of melodeath and groove metal in their sound, with a bit of an old-school Slipknot and Pantera vibe at times. It goes down an absolute storm, helped by their fantastic performance that's filled to the brim with passion, energy and attitude. Towards the end, a couple of members even get in the pit, demonstrating the band's excellent stage presence. It's not all appearances, though. Their drummer injects double kick sections at top speed, showing his creativity along with the fact that, well, he fucking rips. Their vocalist's scream is gnarly, the riffs and breakdowns bang, and there's some cool guitar solos to add the icing to the cake. Their youthful exuberance really carries them; Osiris are a band to watch and have bags of potential ahead of them.

On the main stage, Insurgent's tight and polished prog/alt metal goes down a treat. A powerful opening suckerpunch of Colours Bleed and Dogma sets the tone early on, with angular riffs from the two Jakes delivered with precision behind Katie's anthemic vocals, while Mike's tight grooves behind the kit keep everything held together. Insurgent are unafraid to utilise backing tracks, turning their stage sound into something frankly massive as layers of ambience and harmony make for a commanding sonic presence. It's an unashamedly modern way of doing live music and the result speaks for itself. Insurgent have mostly moved past the live era of the Sentient EP, their most recent recorded music. Following a lineup change since then, their newer tracks will be familiar to many who've seen them in recent times. Regardless, the sound of their next chapter is clearly as powerful, melodic and technical as ever and points to a bright future.

Black Country rap metal icons Mantis Defeats Jaguar don't so much show their presence on the main stage but loudly announce it. Wasting no time in setting the old school, funky nu metal vibes, they're full of energy, jumping about and demanding attention from the whole room. Bounce gets everybody dancing, and latest single Kick The Wreckin' Off explodes into life. It's hard not to have fun watching them, such are the grooves, the nostalgic songwriting, and the way frontman JP leads the floor. Mantis have a lineup shift for the day, with Jamie from fellow locals Skull Fox filling in on bass guitar, who holds down every riff with confidence, locked in tightly with Jimmy, who himself rotates to fill in on the drum throne instead of his usual bass duties. Yet if you didn't know the band, you wouldn't have known Mantis were playing with a different lineup. And for those that do, it takes nothing from the performance, closed out by the party vibes of We're High (When We Get Down) that gets everyone singing. A proper festival set.

Mantis Defeats Jaguar

Blackwater Fiend do well on the acoustic stage. Slaughterhouse Festival's third stage, situated in the main bar, provides a nice contrast to the high-octane shenanigans on the main stages in the gig room. Today marks the first time the festival has done an "unplugged" setup. It proves how the organisation has constantly looked to build and improve on previous years. Blackwater Fiend go down nicely, playing smooth and classy acoustic renditions of their own and their influences' material. Incubus's Drive earns a good singalong, and they also bring some good-natured fun with a cover of Pink Pony Club, showing they're here to entertain, as is the essence of live music. Blackwater Fiend are stripped down to two guitars and a lead vocal for their set, and the gentle melodies, moody atmosphere and pretty guitar leads wash nicely over the room. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them in their full form.

I'm impressed by Atarka, who I've seen on several local gig posters but never caught in person until now. Their energetic, metalcore-tinged melodic death metal doesn't drop in intensity for the whole time they're on stage. With bags of presence, the sonic end result is polished and professional. On top of this, the entire thing is so fun and engaging that it's hard not to have a good time. Clearly, the beers have been flowing nicely for a while by now, and the audience laps it up. Advertising their slot at the Metal 2 The Masses Birmingham Grand Final in early June, if today's showing is anything to go by then they've surely got a good chance of representing the home of metal at Bloodstock this summer. The breakdowns are tight, the guitar riffs are killer, and the vocals are confident and assured. In the middle of their final song's pit, you get the impression the crowd would have happily taken a much longer set from them.

Crucible, who won M2TM Coventry in recent times, were next on the main stage with a Pantera tribute set. It's a lot of fun for this time of night, and the boys kill it. Shrugging off early sound issues - and the fact their guitarist has his foot in a cast - they confidently blast through a setlist of metal classics. It's slightly rough around the edges, but this plays to their advantage and gives them a real charm and festival energy. Plus, their vocalist's Anselmo-style delivery is solid and powerful. Cowboys From Hell sets the tone, before a hell-raising Fucking Hostile ignites the pits. It's cool to have a slightly deeper cut like Slaughtered alongside the likes of the cowbell-laden Drag The Waters or the anthemic Walk, which brutally transitions into A New Level to a raucous response. A blistering run-through of Domination, complete with a guest vocalist appearing, ends their performance on a high note. A truly riotous set that reminds us why Pantera have passed the test of time.

Crucible

Tonight's headliners are Mount Slatra, who were finalists in Birmingham's M2TM last year. They deliver a worthy performance for their slot, with bags of charisma, polish and fun. Sonically, they're a bit like a proggier Anthrax, with cool thrashy instrumental breaks and a good amount of versatility in their songwriting. The guitar leads rip and the drumming is tight and well-controlled, holding up for the faster beats as well as the mid-tempo grooves. Introducing a guest vocalist for one of their numbers towards the end of the set, their performance has a triumphant feel to it that sees them rise to the occasion as festival headliners. The crowd mosh, headbang and raise their horns in response, lapping up every second as the night draws to a close.

MN