There are festivals, and then there is Outbreak.
For one weekend every year, hardcore kids, metalheads, skaters, punks and curious newcomers descend on Manchester with one common goal: to lose themselves in the music. From the first coffee of the morning to the last bruised body limping back towards the tram stop long after curfew, Outbreak feels less like a festival and more like a family reunion where the soundtrack just happens to involve blast beats, dive bombs and enough stage dives to make security question their career choices.
The beauty of Outbreak has always been its ability to seamlessly bridge generations. Legacy bands share bills with tomorrow’s headliners, while packed rooms give newcomers the same deafening reception as established names. By the end of the day, nobody cares who’s been around for thirty years and who’s released one EP… if you bring the energy, the crowd will give it back tenfold.
Here are a few choice highlights for us this weekend & our favourite performances.
Saturday began for us with a new indie outfit. Reclus.É.
Daniel P. Carter’s new project, Reclus.E, made an unforgettable statement, proving this is far more than a side project. Alongside the magnetic Soren Bryce, Carter delivered a set that balanced abrasive post-hardcore energy with moments of striking vulnerability. Bryce’s commanding vocals cut through walls of distortion, while Carter’s guitars, bass and synth work created an intense, cinematic backdrop that never let the audience catch its breath.
Debut single “A Muted TV” exploded live with even greater urgency than its recorded counterpart, while their haunting take on “Roads” showcased the duo’s ability to transform a familiar classic into something entirely their own. Every song felt purposeful, dynamic and emotionally charged, moving effortlessly between noise, melody and catharsis.
The chemistry between Carter and Bryce is undeniable, feeding off each other’s energy with complete confidence despite the band’s relative infancy. Reclus.É already sounds like a fully realised act rather than a new collaboration, leaving a packed mainstage captivated from start to finish. If this performance is any indication of what’s to come, Reclus.É are destined to become one of the year’s most exciting new heavy bands.
Credit: @WONDERGIRLPHOTO
If Reclus.É lit the fuse, High Vis kept it burning.
Few bands have managed to blur the lines between hardcore urgency and soaring post-punk melodies quite like High Vis. Frontman Graham Sayle possesses one of the most recognisable voices in modern British alternative music, and live it somehow sounds even more commanding.
Opening with “Talk For Hours”, the crowd instantly shifted from violent release to emotional catharsis. Every lyric came straight back from the audience.
Guitarists Rob Hammeren and Martin MacNamara layered shimmering textures over pounding rhythms while bassist Jack Muncaster and drummer Edward Harper created a groove impossible not to move to.
The crowd reacted differently than they had for the opener. The violence subsided slightly, replaced by waves of bodies bouncing shoulder to shoulder. Friends threw their arms around each other during choruses before launching themselves into the pit as soon as the heavier sections returned.
“Choose To Lose” generated one of the biggest singalongs of the afternoon so far, while “Trauma Bonds” transformed the main stage into one giant choir.
It perfectly demonstrated why High Vis continues to transcend hardcore’s traditional boundaries without ever abandoning its spirit.
Then everything became significantly uglier. In the best possible way.
Credit: @WONDERGIRLPHOTO
Bodyweb delivered one of the day’s most unsettling performances.
Bathed almost entirely in blood-red lighting, the band looked like they had crawled directly out of an abandoned warehouse. Their industrial-tinged hardcore hit with relentless force, creating an atmosphere that felt genuinely oppressive.
Feedback screamed between songs while dissonant guitars clashed violently against mechanical rhythms. Rather than encouraging singalongs, Bodyweb invited complete sensory overload.
The audience happily obliged.
Push pits became whirlwinds of elbows and spinning kicks, with dancers carving out space before every breakdown detonated into complete bedlam. Every crushing riff was met by another wave of stage divers launching from every available surface.
There was something beautifully uncomfortable about the whole performance. No unnecessary banter, No wasted movement. Just forty minutes of controlled aggression…
Credit: ANNA.SWIECHOWSKA
The momentum carried seamlessly into Higher Power, whose return to an Outbreak stage felt long overdue.
Jimmy Wizard emerged to deafening cheers before the opening groove of “Seamless” immediately ignited another eruption inside the pit.
Few frontmen command a hardcore audience quite like Jimmy. Equal parts charismatic and confrontational, he constantly encouraged movement without ever feeling forced.
“You’ve got plenty left,” he grinned. “You’ve only just started.” Challenge accepted.
“Low Season” prompted hundreds of voices to roar every word back at the stage. Alex and Louis laid down huge guitar hooks that balanced melody against crushing heaviness, while Ethan Wilkinson’s bass tone remained gloriously filthy throughout. Drummer Max Harper held everything together with precision despite the chaos unfolding directly in front of him.
Every breakdown created a fresh pile-up against the barrier. Security worked overtime during this set.
Then came the almighty cover Converge to close out Saturday night!
Few bands carry the mythical reputation of Converge, and seeing Jacob Bannon stalking the stage remains one of heavy music’s most captivating sights. Without ceremony, the band launched into “Love Is Not Enough.”
Absolute carnage. Within seconds, dozens of people attempted to occupy exactly the same square metre of floor space. Limbs flew everywhere while the distinctive guitar work of Kurt Ballou sliced through the venue like industrial machinery.
Nate Newton’s bass growled beneath everything while Ben Koller reminded everyone why he remains one of the greatest drummers hardcore has ever produced. The sheer technical brilliance somehow never diminished the emotional violence pouring from the stage.
“Dark Horse”, “Under Duress”, & “Conduit”- three bangers back to back. Each song somehow raised the intensity to another level. Bannon rarely addressed the audience, preferring instead to throw himself physically into every lyric. His movements felt almost involuntary, as though the songs themselves were dragging him around the stage.
By the time “Concubine” closed the set, the room resembled a battlefield.
Sweat dripped from the ceiling. Shoes had been lost. Voices had disappeared. Smiles remained everywhere. A perfect end to Saturday’s lineup.
As Sunday begins & the temp drops, today might be the last day of the festival, but it’s stacked the gills with some of the best within the current music space.
A brief chance to recover from yesterday arrived courtesy of Nothing, whose dreamlike wall of shoegaze provided one of the festival’s most emotionally affecting performances.
Their set proved that heavy music doesn’t always need speed to create impact.
Layer upon layer of shimmering guitars filled the venue while Dominic Palermo’s understated vocals floated effortlessly above the dense soundscape.
Rather than encouraging chaos, Nothing created reflection. Couples stood arm in arm. Friends swayed together. Even the most hardened hardcore veterans seemed content simply closing their eyes and absorbing every note.
Songs like “Famine Asylum” and “April Ha Ha” washed over the audience like waves after hours of relentless violence. It was exactly the reset everyone needed.
Because what came next would erase any remaining energy reserves.
This is about to get ridiculous.
Credit: @WONDERGIRLPHOTO
If Nothing gave everyone a chance to breathe, Crowquill immediately took that breath away again.
Opening up the second stage & emerging next were Crowquill, whose performance proved exactly why they’re rapidly becoming one of the scene’s most talked-about names.
There was a refreshing hunger about everything they did. Every riff felt urgent, every breakdown landed with purpose, and every movement suggested a band determined to seize the opportunity.
Opening with “Black Vein”, they wasted no time in throwing themselves into the deep end. Vocalist Sam barely stood still, leaning into the front row before disappearing into clouds of stage smoke as guitarists Ethan and Joe layered crushing metallic riffs over thunderous rhythms.
The audience responded in kind. Attendees who may have arrived unfamiliar with the band quickly found themselves dragged into the chaos. The pit widened with every song until even those watching from the sides were eventually pulled into the action.
By the closing notes of “Deadweight”, Crowquill had undoubtedly gained hundreds of new supporters.
Credit: LIAMMAXWELLPHOTOS
Then came pure swagger. Gridiron marched onto the stage with the confidence of heavyweight prize fighters entering a packed arena.
Their blend of hardcore, hip-hop attitude and metallic groove hit differently from everything that had come before. There was bounce to the riffs, menace in the delivery and an infectious confidence that spread through the venue within moments.
Opening with “25-8”, vocalist Matt Karll stalked the front of the stage, encouraging everyone to move with a grin that suggested he knew the room couldn’t resist.. He was right.
The pit transformed into organised madness. Rather than one central circle, several smaller pockets of chaos erupted simultaneously, each filled with dancers throwing every move they knew into the air.. The breakdown in “No Good At Goodbyes” felt seismic.
People weren’t simply moshing anymore. They were celebrating a band’s rise to the top. As the final notes rang out, Gridiron left behind exhausted smiles and another room somehow louder than before.
Credit: ANNA.SWIECHOWSKA
That atmosphere rolled seamlessly into End It, which somehow managed to turn the intensity up even further.
Akil Godsey barely waited for the applause before launching into the opening song, delivering every lyric with the urgency of someone addressing every individual in the building personally.
End It has always balanced humour with absolute seriousness, and that combination translated perfectly live. One moment, Akil joked with the crowd, the next he was demanding absolute commitment.
Fans climbed onto friends’ shoulders before diving headfirst into waiting hands, while every gang vocal echoed around the venue with astonishing force. Songs including “New Age Slavery” and “Lifer” landed like knockout blows, each one heavier than the last. By now, fatigue should have been setting in.
Instead, the crowd somehow discovered another gear. If End It embodied controlled aggression, Haywire represents complete abandonment.
Their set was raw, uncompromising and wonderfully unpredictable. There was no polished production.. No elaborate lighting, just a band delivering hardcore exactly as it should be. loud, honest and relentlessly physical.
The opening breakdown of SUMMER NIGHTS” immediately produced one of the largest pile-ons of the festival. Microphones disappeared into the audience, and entire verses were screamed even from the furthest barrier.
The invisible line separating band and crowd simply ceased to exist.
It felt less like watching a performance and more like participating in one.
That sense of community has always defined Outbreak better than any lineup announcement ever could. Nobody cared where you came from.
Nobody cared how long you’d followed the bands. If you knew the words, there was a place beside the microphone waiting for you.
Credit: ANNA.SWIECHOWSKA
Now, Trash Talk has built its reputation on unpredictability, and it delivered exactly that.
Lee Spielman barely remained on the stage for more than a few seconds at a time, constantly throwing himself into the crowd, climbing barriers and encouraging absolute bedlam. By the second song, the distinction between audience and performer had completely disappeared.
People clambered onto the stage from every direction before launching themselves back into the mass of bodies below. Security looked overwhelmed but still seemed to be having fun. Songs flew past in a blur of distortion, feedback and relentless movement. Every breakdown became another excuse for complete pandemonium. It was gloriously unhinged.
Credit: ANNA.SWIECHOWSKA
As darkness settled outside, anticipation reached a fever pitch for the next band. Few bands represent perseverance, positivity and sheer hardcore determination like Hatebreed.
The roar that greeted Jamey Jasta as he walked onstage was deafening. Without hesitation, the band launched into “Empty Promises”.
Thousands of fists punched the air in perfect unison. Every lyric carried the weight of personal experience, resonating with fans who had spent decades growing alongside these songs as well as teenagers discovering them for the first time.
Carl Schwartz and Wayne Lozinak locked into monstrous grooves while Frank Novinec’s guitar work added extra weight to every crushing breakdown. Behind them, Matt Byrne drove the set forward with mechanical precision.
“Hollow Ground”, “Afflicted Past, ” and “Not One Truth” Each anthem generated another tidal wave of voices.
When the unmistakable introduction to “I Will Be Heard” arrived, the festival reached one of its defining moments. Every single person seemed to be singing. As the final chorus echoed around the venue, it became impossible not to appreciate Hatebreed’s lasting influence on everything Outbreak represents.
Credit: ANNA.SWIECHOWSKA
Closing out our weekend a rare but amazing set from Baltimore legends Trapped Under Ice on the main stage.
The opening feedback barely had time to ring out before the unmistakable introduction to “Pleased to Meet You” detonated across the dance floor. Justice Tripp stood centre stage with the confidence of someone who knew exactly what was about to happen, while guitarist Sam Trapkin, bassist Jared Carman, and drummer Brendan Yates drove the Baltimore hardcore legends through one of the weekend’s most ferocious sets.
The reaction bordered on total anarchy. The floor disappeared beneath a sea of swinging arms, two-steppers and stage divers who seemed to arrive from every conceivable angle. Security barely had enough time to guide one surfer over the barrier before three more followed behind.
“See God” brought one of the loudest singalongs of the day. Every lyric was screamed back with such force that Justice frequently stepped away from the microphone to let the crowd take over. The connection between band and audience felt effortless, less like performers entertaining spectators and more like hundreds of friends sharing songs that had shaped their lives.
If there had been any doubts that Outbreak remained hardcore’s spiritual home, Trapped Under Ice erased them completely.
Instead of one final explosion, the crowd responded with heartfelt singalongs during “Reality Unfolds”, embracing one another as the final notes rang out. It felt like the perfect ending.
Credit: @WONDERGIRLPHOTO
As the sun started to set on the main stage, nobody looked ready to leave.
Bruised shoulders, hoarse voices, lost trainers, smiles that refused to fade.
That’s Outbreak. A festival where legends reaffirm their status, rising bands announce themselves to the world, and complete strangers become friends somewhere between a breakdown and a stage dive.
Long after the amplifiers had fallen silent, conversations continued outside the venue as fans compared favourite sets, swapped stories about impossible dives, admired fresh bruises and promised to meet again next year. Because that’s the magic of Outbreak…
For one unforgettable weekend, hardcore isn’t simply something you listen to. It’s something you live…
Review: Joseph Mitchell
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About Outbreak Fest:
Launched in 2011 as an independent, DIY one day festival in the north of England, Outbreak Fest has rapidly expanded in its 14 years of operating to become the premier event within the UK’s thriving counterculture. Initially launching as a home to hardcore, punk and metal, the sounds emanating from the festival have broadened to suit the ever-diversifying tastes of its audience; now playing host to the finest established and emerging names in the genres of its origins, but also hip hop, indie, shoegaze, emo, electronic and so much more. 2025 saw more scope to the reach of Outbreak Fest, with a triumphant one-day event in London’s Victoria Park alongside its usual two-day weekender at Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre.
