RELOAD FESTIVAL 2026: Three Days, Three Faces of Metal

The Reload Festival, held in Sulingen, Germany, has over the years developed a distinct identity of its own, becoming one of the notable festivals to bring different strands of modern metal together under one roof. The 2026 edition stood out in particular for its strong and well-balanced lineup; alongside seasoned names such as Judas Priest, In Flames, Arch Enemy and Lamb of God, the festival broadened its scope with bands representing different strains of metal and hardcore. Turning Sulingen into one of the centres of heavy music for a few days in mid-August, Reload 2026 ultimately proved to be an event worth assessing not only through its performances onstage, but also through the atmosphere across the festival grounds, its audience and the overall organisation.

Just as in the summer of 2025, we had been preparing for Reload throughout the year. To be honest, we had been caught a little off guard in 2025, as it was one of our first experiences with festival accreditation. This year, however, everything was perfectly clear to us. The festival officially opened its gates on Wednesday. Performances kicked off at 3:00 p.m. on the Radio Bob Stage. Later in the day, HEARTLESS HUMAN HARVEST, DRAMATIST and MORECORE WARM-UP helped get the festival grounds warmed up on the Tentstage.

Thursday

Our Reload 2026 marathon kicked off on Thursday. As in the previous year, two main stages were set up this year, the Impericon Mainstage and the Plazastage. I have already mentioned the Radio Bob Stage and Tentstage as well. Our focus was on the Impericon Mainstage and Plazastage. Since Sulingen is roughly an hour away from where I live by car, we did not have to deal with the challenge of staying on the festival grounds as we had at Wacken. Every day, we reached the festival grounds whenever we wanted, parked our car in the area reserved for press and, after a short walk, reached the stages. This was, of course, a major convenience for us.

Coming back to the festival itself, as you could already see from the 2026 lineup, Reload's identity means there are a lot of bands centred around core and its various offshoots. In particular, the bands opening the days tend to be acts firmly rooted in metalcore. You know us, folks: when it comes to extreme music, there are very few genres where we say, "Nah, I don't listen to that shit." You also know that, while I am not exactly miles away from it, I am not a die-hard metalcore fan. So my wife and I decided there was no point in getting to the festival grounds at the crack of dawn. In our pre-festival research into the bands scheduled to play, unfortunately very few of the acts appearing around 3:00 p.m. really caught our curiosity. Of course, that wasn't because those bands were bad, but when a band's sound simply doesn't get through to you, watching that performance can be painful. :)

Thursday's running order gave us plenty of room to manoeuvre, but we still arrived at the festival grounds at around 1:00 p.m. Press check-in was easier than last year. In 2025, we had handled the process in a building allocated to the festival, just five minutes from the festival grounds. This year, there was a check-in point right at the entrance to the press parking area, where we could easily register, collect our press wristbands and walk towards the stages.

Luckily, the festival grounds were set up in the same area as last year. Even the route towards the press area and the entrance were identical. For members of the press like us who had experienced Reload the previous year, this was obviously a great convenience. Before getting into the performances, I want to give you a little insight into how the festival itself operated. Let's start with the press area, since that was the first place we headed to. It had almost exactly the same layout and setup as last year, but it was more than adequate for a festival hosting 20,000 people. The food area, where all the press and guests gathered (folks, the barbecue buffet was fantastic both in terms of price and quality), was completely packed during the hours when the sun was directly overhead. I can say we had a bit of a competition going on to find spots in the shade and cooler corners. It would probably be better to make this area a little larger next year. Despite this minor detail, the press area was very comfortable and easy to use. Of course, for those staying there throughout the festival, going back and forth between the showers and the camping area may have been challenging in the hot weather that lasted from Wednesday through Saturday, but speaking for my wife and myself, the press area was more than sufficient for us.

In terms of capacity, Reload does not rank among the top three biggest festivals in Germany. To put it into perspective, Reload is eight times smaller than Wacken. The projected capacity for 2026 was 18,000, but due to high demand that number was increased to 20,000, and with all tickets sold, Reload set a new attendance record. As we can infer from the number of attendees, the festival grounds are also smaller than Wacken's, covering approximately 450,000 square metres. As a result, the distance between the two stages isn't particularly long either. Being able to move quickly between the stages, event areas, food and drink stands and the press area was a great feeling. Compared with our experience at Wacken a few weeks earlier, it felt like we were moving at the speed of light. :)

The Impericon and Nuclear Blast tents were the most interesting spots for me. Compared with last year, a wider variety of attractions drew attendees to these areas throughout the four days. Nuclear Blast particularly caught my attention with its record discounts, which changed from day to day. I missed out on a really nice Behemoth record and was pretty annoyed about it. We said, "Oh, that's nice, let's have a look around this corner too, we'll come back," and then I forgot about it and missed the record as well. Ah well. :) We mostly took care of food, drinks, toilets and drinking water in the press area, but from what I saw, the infrastructure across the festival grounds was more than sufficient to meet these needs.

After entering the grounds on Thursday, we explored the area while also keeping an eye on STICK TO YOUR GUNS. In the festival organisers' own words, they were seen as "a band that creates very high expectations", and they even explicitly described them as a "force of nature on stage". Despite playing at what could be considered a relatively early hour, their interaction with the crowd was excellent. The heavy audience participation in the circle pit kept the energy at a very high level.

Towards the end of STICK TO YOUR GUNS' performance, we met up with some familiar faces around the festival grounds. After the usual greetings, catching up and quick assessment of the festival so far, we headed towards the Plazastage to watch DEAFHEAVEN. I first discovered this distinctive blackgaze band from San Francisco, founded in 2010, through their album "Lonely People With Power". The album was released in 2025. At the time, Pit-Stop was still primarily publishing through social media and YouTube. We published our review of "Lonely People With Power" on Instagram, although I have no idea whether it ever reached the band.

Coming back to the band, although DEAFHEAVEN have gone through their ups and downs over the course of their career, "Lonely People With Power" was unquestionably a very strong comeback for them. The band had once again embraced its black metal roots, perhaps even more tightly than in the past. I had absolutely no idea what DEAFHEAVEN were like live and had never watched any of their live videos. For that reason, comparing the perception of the band that had formed in my mind since writing the "Lonely People With Power" review with its sound taking physical shape onstage made me even more eager to see the performance.

The band took the stage at 5:20 p.m. Considering the time of day, the heat and the fact that they were playing on one of those long, bright summer days, it was obvious that the positive energy in the air did not exactly match the band's sound. DEAFHEAVEN have an intensely dark and atmospheric sound. I would say the time of day at which they took the stage slightly hindered the creation of that atmosphere, but the band's performance was completely unaffected by those details. We witnessed an extremely powerful live performance.

Opening with songs such as "Doberman", "Magnolia", "Incidental II" and "Revelator" from the latest album "Lonely People With Power" made for an incredibly enjoyable performance from my perspective. With every riff and every drum attack, the audience lost themselves in a vortex of chaos and melody. The band's performance was simply fantastic and went well beyond my expectations. Despite the hour of the day and the scorching rays of sunlight occupying every corner, the dense walls of sound and dark atmosphere pulled me, and then everyone watching, away from the hot and positive atmosphere of summer and threw us into city streets battered by cold winds and relentless rain.

After DEAFHEAVEN's performance, which will remain in the memory for a long time, we had only about five minutes before ORBIT CULTURE, which we spent walking towards the IMPERICON Stage anyway. We had watched ORBIT CULTURE at Wacken, but so what? The guys had come all the way to our doorstep. If you have the chance to see one of the most popular bands to emerge from Swedish metal in recent years, this relentless groove machine, you don't pass it up. My wife loves them too, so skipping them was never really an option.

We took our places with the band fresh in our memory and ourselves fully warmed up for another round. The band once again delivered a fantastic setlist. "Death Above Life", "From the Inside", "Hydra" and my favourite track, "Vultures of North", shook the grounds one after another like a barrage of fire. The band are no strangers to Reload, having already played the festival in 2023. ORBIT CULTURE are absolutely a perfect fit for Reload's identity. In an environment where even the slightest breeze could whip up enough dust to suffocate you, their performance turned the area into a battlefield, sending clouds of dust and dirt high into the air that could easily be seen from a distance. They delivered one of the festival's standout performances with an energy that was nothing short of an anthem. Niklas Karlsson once again proved that he has reached an indispensable level as a frontman. He moves effortlessly between growls and clean vocals, which I believe is one of the most important factors behind the band's strength as a live act.

After a fantastic ORBIT CULTURE performance, we had to stop by the press area. Following a mandatory short break, we headed back towards the Plaza Stage, approximately... Another very special band was already tearing the place apart onstage. One of the hardcore scene's finest users of thrash/crossover elements, Terror, had already begun their phenomenal performance. Regular readers of the site will know that Hüs recently reviewed the band's latest album, "Still Suffer". Although we missed a little of the beginning, we watched most of the set and, naturally, as a festival tradition, video-called Hüs so that we could witness a monster hardcore performance together.

When Terror are involved, it is impossible not to talk about Scott Vogel. He is capable of physically directing the crowd and communicates extremely well with the audience; that forms the centre of the band's energy. The moment the band took the stage, the slightly loosened lines tightened immediately. Pit surfing, which had started as soon as Vogel stepped onstage, never stopped. For that reason, it would not be wrong to say that the festival security staff were seriously exhausted by the end of the performance and that this was the most demanding set for them. But was that a coincidence? Of course not. Terror love being onstage and they are more than well trained in this department. I remember reading in an article about the band that they had played more than 3,000 shows since 2002. That explains their command of the stage very clearly.

To be honest, battling the heat was already a war in itself. Both the oppressive weather and the struggle with the dust were pushed aside while Terror were onstage, and the audience simply surrendered to the band's performance. The difficulty of the weather was genuinely visible on people's faces, so I would say the time of Terror's set worked in their favour. People still had energy, and the band combined it with their relentless performance, producing an incredible spectacle.

Having successfully passed our test with Terror, we had earned a break. It was long past time to eat. Next up were THY ART IS MURDER. I have absolutely no connection to the band, their sound does nothing for me, so we treated this performance as a meal break. Of course, some of you reading this will love the band. "You missed out on so much, Ozan," you're saying. But dozens of bands perform at a festival, and it is impossible to love 100% of every band's sound or style, as you will appreciate. That does not mean I completely ignore bands whose sound doesn't get through to me. When we spoke to people who love the band, the feedback we received was quite interesting. In particular, the fact that this was one of the band's first shows with their new vocalist, Jerry Grindfield, increased the importance of the performance for their fans.

According to those who regularly follow THY ART IS MURDER, the band were generally exactly as you would expect them to be. The pit was, as usual, extremely active. As for Grindfield's performance, people found it slightly amusing that he came onstage wearing a fairly heavy rain jacket despite the hot weather. He eventually couldn't take it anymore and took the jacket off. As for Grindfield's vocal performance, it was considered extremely aggressive. At times, Grindfield ventured into some very deep, low frequencies. The new vocalist's communication with the fans seems good for now. Over time, the fans' opinions of Grindfield will become clearer.

Towards the end of THY ART IS MURDER's performance, the Plazastage was gradually being prepared for Soulfly. I had never seen Soulfly before, but like many Sepultura fans and anyone who closely follows Max, we were familiar with many of Soulfly's hits. The most obvious of these is undoubtedly "Back to the Primitive". Max and the crew opened with an absolutely savage attack on the song. I was following the setlist from one of their previous shows on the side, but they played the songs in a completely different order. As expected, Max looked tired. Of course, I wasn't expecting a performance like the one he gave in 1995, but considering that he had lost his daughter just six months earlier and then had to continue performing, I imagine the experience had taken quite a toll on him. The wear and tear that comes with age is visible in every metal musician from his generation who is still taking the stage. But he seemed particularly affected by the process.

Whatever he has been through, Max has a family that loves him deeply and always supports him. After all, Igor Amadeus and Zyon were also onstage with Max throughout this tour. Even though Max does not attack the vocals the way he used to, seeing him onstage and being part of the connection he establishes with the audience was a fantastic feeling. If I'm not mistaken, before "Prophecy" he invited everyone to crouch down. We joined in with a little reckless courage. When the explosive opening of the song hit, we all jumped up together, and as I lifted myself off the ground, I was leaving my 42-year-old self behind. We had thrown twenty years off our shoulders together. When we landed, I was 22 and he was 37. Maybe he wasn't onstage at his fittest at Reload, but even that was enough to shake thousands of people watching the show. After a 40-minute performance in which they fired off hit after hit, including "Back to the Primitive", "Prophecy", "Bumba" and "Jumpdafuckup", they handed the stage over to Lamb of God.

There was only a five-minute break, and after grabbing a great spot with a perfect angle in front of the Impericon Stage as quickly as possible, we didn't have to wait long before welcoming Lamb of God. Like ORBIT CULTURE, they were one of the bands we had watched at Wacken. Being able to see Lamb of God again just a few weeks later was honestly a huge luxury. Their set was clearly longer than at Wacken. This gave the band more room for a relaxed and effective performance. Compared with Wacken, I would say Randy Blythe was more energetic. The band made full use of the Mainstage. They used explosions or flame effects on almost every song. Naturally, the visual spectacle fired up an audience already inclined to get the pit moving, and the entire atmosphere reached its peak during "Redneck". Two more bands would take the stage after Lamb of God, so they were not the biggest headliner of the day, but even so, I would say they opened the night's headliner segment from a very high level. Hearing hits such as "Laid to Rest", "Redneck" and "Omerta" one after another again only a few weeks later felt fantastic.

As much as I don't want to say it, Lamb of God was the final band of the night for us. After that, Black Label Society took the Plazastage, Arch Enemy the Impericon Stage and Perturbator the Plazastage again to bring the night to a close. To be honest, as much as I have enormous respect for Black Label Society, there is only one song that comes to mind whenever I hear the band's name: "Stillborn". As for Arch Enemy, I completely stopped following the band after Gossow. And when it comes to Perturbator, honestly, I had never heard of them. But as always, the next day we collected impressions from those who had watched all three acts.

Black Label Society's Reload adventure actually dates back around a decade. The band's name appeared on the 2017 lineup, but they were unable to perform due to a scheduling mix-up at the time. Reload kept its promise with the 2026 lineup. Since the band played the Plazastage, the performance did not feature the kind of spectacular stage show that might otherwise have stood out, but instead people particularly mentioned how well Zakk Wylde connected with the audience. The "No More Tears" reference to the Ozzy Osbourne era was another moment that made the performance special. In short, the band's performance offered Reload's audience a measured but extremely powerful set drawing on classic heavy metal, Southern rock and blues roots, positioned between the festival's modern and aggressive extremes.

For ARCH ENEMY, Reload 2026 meant more than just another festival show. Having previously played Reload twice, Arch Enemy took to the Reload stage for the first time with new vocalist Lauren Hart. Clearly, Hart received full marks from the band's fans. Of course, Alissa White-Gluz had been the band's vocalist for a long time, so a comparison was a natural reflex, but Hart did not buckle under it. After later listening more carefully to "To The Last Breath", the first song Lauren Hart recorded as the band's vocalist, I can comfortably say that, like me, even those who had put a great distance between themselves and the band after Gossow may be drawn back into the ARCH ENEMY ranks by Hart. She has a fantastic aggressive style and is very successful at transmitting it to the audience. But Ms Hart, I have one request: let's keep the clean vocals to a minimum. If you continue with the vocal writing in the vein of "To The Last Breath", you'll be tearing shit down as you go. Speaking of vocals, some comments suggested that the vocals being presented in a very bass-heavy, distortion-driven mix made it difficult to follow the band's performance. Folks, I'm talking to the Reload festival crew here: there will always be a little whining, so don't you dare turn the distortion down! :)

As for PERTURBATOR, the performance was scheduled to begin at 1:05 a.m. anyway. Looking at the schedule again, I can see that we wouldn't have managed it even if we'd wanted to. PERTURBATOR closed Reload's Thursday programme with a sharp transition from metal to electronic music, effectively turning the festival grounds into an open-air dark rave at the end of the night. James Kent's project, with a two-person stage setup, combined the physical force of drums with industrial electronic foundations and sharp synth textures, creating something closer to a dystopian sonic experience than a conventional synthwave show. In fact, watching the performance from the audience sparked a great deal of curiosity. I would absolutely love to experience this live, just not at 1:05 a.m. :). At times, the performance evoked a post-apocalyptic landscape, at others a dark cyberpunk world and at others a mechanical vision of the future. This industrial trance music completely changed the atmosphere of the festival grounds. In short, we can call it a dark, mechanical and hypnotic experience. It definitely made me curious. If I get the chance to catch them at a more suitable hour again, I will definitely watch them.

Friday

On Friday, we hit the road again for the next chapter of our Reload adventure. The day's running order was once again deliciously exciting. On festival days like these, especially when you're dealing with hot weather and desert-level clouds of dust, you wake up once again appreciating what a luxury it is to spend the night in a comfortable bed and thanking your lucky stars for it a thousand times over. We went back over the daily plan we had already worked out.

Although Gutalax are a super-fun live band, having watched them at Wacken saved us from having to stand in front of the stage at 9:30 a.m. I mentioned this in the Wacken review too; I wrote that the band should have their stage time moved much later, but who is Ozan anyway? Naturally, they played at what could be called the crack of dawn on the festival day. When I think about it, I still wonder: "Does anyone actually manage to do this?" Apparently, some people do, folks.

When we arrived at the festival grounds, ALIEN ANT FARM were onstage playing their famous cover of "Smooth Criminal". Even before we had entered the festival grounds, there were traces of Gutalax everywhere. Toilet paper and toilet brushes could be seen all over the place. It really is like the subject matter the band puts at the centre of its lyrical themes. Even after you flush, it can leave a mark behind. :)

We watched CYTOTOXIN as the first performance of the day. The German technical death metal band's performance made for a good start before the bigger names we would see later in the day. When it comes to technical death metal, you have to listen a little more carefully to understand what a band is doing. Because here, it isn't just about speed; the constant movement of the riffs and drums is equally important. Despite playing relatively early in the festival, the band's performance remained remarkably lively. Grimo's interaction with the audience was excellent; while Fonzo and Jason were buried in their instruments, Grimo practically had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

After that, we took it easy around the grounds until Alestorm. We went back and forth to the press area, chatted with friends and went through the classic festival calculations of "Where is what, and which stage are we moving to next?" We once again took advantage of the compact layout of the festival grounds. Being able to move from one stage to another within a few minutes is a serious luxury, especially when there are bands you want to see back to back.

When it was time for ALESTORM, we found ourselves the best possible spot in front of the stage. It was a fantastic performance. We were reminded once again just how many fans the band have. Alestorm's music is already tailor-made for a festival environment, but it would be unfair to judge this performance solely on the music. The neon-green-dominated visual aesthetic of the stage extended into every detail, from the band members' clothes to the colours of their instruments.

The giant inflatable ducks passed from hand to hand, the visual show spreading across the entire stage and the giant inflatable "FUCK YOU" sign appearing onstage at the end were simply magnificent. Throughout the band's performance, our team were naturally exchanging photos through our group chat. In the end, sending Hüs, who constantly claims he doesn't like the band, a photo of the giant "FUCK YOU" sign was a good strike thanks to the quality of the opportunity that came our way, even if Hüs didn't deserve it. :)

Am I a fan of the band? No. Can I sing any of their songs from memory? No. But even I had a fantastic time. I think that's the essence of Alestorm's success here. They don't force you to become a fan. They walk onto the stage, they know exactly what they're going to do, and somehow they pull you into the fun as well.

After Alestorm, we headed to the Plaza Stage for KIM DRACULA. We had seen the band from a distance at Wacken, but when we got another chance to see them at Reload, we decided to pay closer attention this time. This band have a very interesting stage performance. While playing their own songs, a famous cover suddenly appears, sometimes performed on saxophone, before they connect back into their own material.

At first glance, there is a structure that can make you think, "What the hell is this?" But if you watch a little more carefully, you realise that this is a completely deliberate approach to live performance. What Kim Dracula do is not a random collage of covers. The band know how to combine their own music with very different points of popular culture within a single performance. They are an interesting band, but definitely not a bad one. In fact, I think they are an act that deserves to be listened to without some of the preconceptions surrounding them. They clearly know what they're doing.

AIRBOURNE were next. But by this point our energy levels had seriously dropped. So we watched the performance from a distance. What Airbourne do onstage is hardly a surprise. Joel O'Keeffe's refusal to stand still, the classic hard rock riffs and the performance style that constantly gets the audience moving were all there again. We, meanwhile, were trying to make it through the day by watching from a little further back. :)

After Airbourne, we headed back to the press area for a bit of a break. The heat and dust of the entire day, combined with the fatigue from the previous day, were now all over us. But the real reason we were there that night was still waiting for us.

Finally, JUDAS PRIEST took the stage.

The number of bands the British have given to world music, and especially to Heavy Metal, is countless. As a fairly dogmatic Maiden fan, I have to admit that Judas often affect me more than Maiden. In fact, I have never personally pitted these two bands against each other. On the other hand, it still amazes me that two bands from what we could call the same generation have the ability and accumulated experience to produce enough hits, from ballads to the most energetic, insane guitar-driven tracks, to accompany an entire human life in all its fullness, while still being capable of creating music today, and that both bands have a song that can accompany virtually every emotion and moment in my life. As someone who has had the chance to see Maiden three times, being able to see Judas on Reload soil was nothing short of a blessing.

The band also played Wacken, but after the exhaustion of running metres upon metres between dozens of bands, we had passed on them with the comforting thought that we could see Judas again at Reload. And now Judas were finally back onstage, and with the luxury of being close to the front at Reload, we were face to face with the entire band and their stage show. There is no need to explain again how important having Judas Priest on the Reload 2026 bill was for the festival. We were watching one of the most important bands in heavy metal history on the main stage of a 20,000-capacity festival. According to the festival itself, this was Judas Priest's first concert in Sulingen, and the band's arrival also showed how far Reload had grown in scale.

And yes, it was a fantastic performance!

Judas Priest's greatest advantage is no longer just their music, but the stage experience accumulated over decades. The fact that Rob Halford can still stand on a stage like this at 76 and command thousands of people is something worthy of respect in itself. Of course, expecting the same performance on certain high notes as on the recordings from the 1980s would not be realistic. Halford sometimes moves more slowly and you can physically feel his age. And I admit that, personally, I pay particular attention to this. Ultimately, I can say that when I compare Rob with all the vocalists from the same age bracket, Rob is ahead every time. He is still razor-sharp, delivering his songs without missing a beat, and he absolutely nailed "Painkiller" despite his age. From changing costumes to his interaction with the band members and every single person at the front of the stage, to fulfilling every demanding aspect of being the central figure in the stage show, Rob does his job more than justice. A magnificent human being; world music is incredibly lucky to have him.

As for the band's performance itself, it was extremely solid. I think every member of the press who witnessed this concert feels the same way I do.

The emphasis on classics in the setlist obviously pleased the audience enormously. When songs such as "Breaking the Law", "Hell Bent for Leather", "Turbo Lover" and, of course, "Painkiller" arrived, there was no distance left between the stage and the audience. "Painkiller" in particular was one of the strongest moments of the entire festival.

And then there's that motorcycle. This has been a classic moment I have watched and grown accustomed to since the years when I first gained access to Heavy Metal videos. Rob comes onto the stage on a motorcycle. Throughout the day, my wife, our friends and I had talked about this quite a bit. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a show like that. But it happened. Rob Halford rode onto the stage on a magnificent custom Harley during "Hell Bent for Leather". Even if he now does certain things more slowly, he showed that he has absolutely no intention of giving up some of his old habits. :)

After Judas Priest, the second day of Reload was over for us as well. To be honest, other bands still played afterwards, but by then our bodies were sending a very clear message: Go home, Ozan.

So we went home. :)

Saturday

Saturday morning was the final day of Reload. VENGABOYS were opening the programme. They were an act my wife particularly wanted to see. It is obvious that they sit outside the general metal and extreme metal spectrum. But especially when it comes to German music culture, they are a band that delivers songs everyone knows by heart, regardless of genre.

Despite taking the stage at 10:00 a.m., it would not be an exaggeration to say that they managed to draw the entire festival crowd to the front of the Plaza Stage early in the day. In fact, based on the comments of those who watched the performance, I can say that Vengaboys' set went down as one of the most extraordinary moments of the day. The crowd effectively turning into a Eurodance festival during "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and "We Like to Party", complete with crowdsurfing and even a polonaise, was the best example of that.

Of course, we still hadn't recovered from the previous day's destruction, so we couldn't be at the festival grounds at that hour. Missing Vengaboys on Saturday morning wasn't a huge loss for me, perhaps, but it was a different story for my wife. :) Anyway, sometimes you have to make choices at a festival. We simply didn't have the conditioning required to watch Vengaboys at 10 a.m. after Judas Priest.

Waking up and getting ourselves together for a fresh start already took us until noon. The first band we had marked out for Saturday was MISERY INDEX. When the band took the stage, we were already in position.

Pure death metal. An unadulterated extreme metal feast.

There is no unnecessary decoration in Misery Index's music. Direct, hard-hitting death metal with a strong technical side. After the modern metal, hardcore, hard rock and alternative strains elsewhere across the festival, watching a performance like this was genuinely refreshing. The band included songs from their last three albums alongside new material, and I can say, both from my own perspective and based on the consensus of those watching the concert with me, that this setlist choice was one of the details that made the performance so strong.

It was a phenomenal performance for us too.

Our next target was GAEREA. We chatted with friends until the band took the stage. We talked about history, politics, music, everything, and of course the conversation eventually came around to beer. In the end, we started criticising Budweiser.

Folks, this beer really isn't very good.

Budweiser is a beer I've tasted several times at different points in recent years, and it is definitely not to my taste. If this American beer wants to sponsor festivals in Germany and establish a stronger position in the market, it definitely needs to put in more effort. I think the beer you drink at a festival is also part of the festival experience. In my opinion, Budweiser failed that test.

Finally, it was time for Gaerea.

I had previously seen the band at Bei Chez Heinz, also known as Kellerclub, in Hannover. Anyone who knows the place will agree that it can get pretty airless inside during the summer. Gaerea had performed there on one such day. The vocalist had to repeatedly pull the mask away from his mouth and push it towards the other side of his face just to breathe.

Fortunately, the conditions at Reload were very different.

On Saturday, we did not have to battle the unbearable heat and clouds of dust that had plagued us on Thursday and Friday. There were occasional light showers, and they felt fantastic. Later in the day, the rain became significantly heavier, finally bringing the dust on the festival grounds down to the ground. Compared with the previous two days, it was noticeably cooler, and the rain that fell during Avatar in particular helped settle the dust.

At Gaerea's stage, however, there was a dark and intense atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the weather conditions. Their masked identities, the way they keep their faces in the background onstage and the fact that they place atmosphere at the centre of their music are important parts of the band's live performance. There was a huge physical difference between the Gaerea I had previously seen in a small, airless Kellerclub in Hannover and the Gaerea performing at Reload in front of thousands of people, but the band's intensity onstage was exactly the same.

On the other hand, the fact that Gaerea were reaching such a large audience at Reload was also significant. Considering the rest of the festival programme, their sound occupies a much darker space. Despite that, audience interest was extremely high. I think the Reload performance has a strong claim to being one of the day's most powerful sets.

As Alpha thanked everyone for being there and mentioned that they were a band from Portugal, I couldn't help myself and shouted:

"RONALDOOOOO!"

Funny?

No. But I can't help it. :)

After Gaerea, we skipped AVATAR's performance. The rain came down heavily, and we headed towards the press area to eat. To be honest, that was also how we sat out the worst of the rain. Missing Avatar wasn't a huge problem for me, because we had already experienced the band's stage persona before. But the fact that the rain coincided exactly with Avatar's performance was one of the festival's more interesting coincidences. The light rain that had been falling intermittently throughout the day seemed to dump almost all of its accumulated force onto Avatar's set, and it would be fair to say that it added a different atmosphere to the band's theatrical approach to the stage.

After getting through the heaviest rain and our meal break, we returned to the front of the Plaza Stage for AGNOSTIC FRONT.

And thank God we did.

It was a fantastic performance. Absolutely worth it.

We were standing in front of one of the most important names in New York hardcore. Vinnie Stigma's presence onstage alone is enough to explain why the band remain so effective. The question of age is particularly interesting here. On one side, only a few hours earlier we had watched the dark atmosphere of a young, modern band like Gaerea; on the other, we were watching people carrying decades of hardcore history onstage.

Agnostic Front do not turn this into a museum performance, though. The music is still direct, hard and physical. Their relationship with the audience is built around that as well. The moshpit found its place again, crowdsurfing continued and the band walked offstage having done exactly what they know. Agnostic Front's set transmitted that "ageless" New York hardcore energy to us in full. Experiencing a live performance of a song like "For My Family For My Friends" was fantastic.

After that, we took a brief look at GODSMACK. The fatigue of the day, and in fact of the entire three-day festival, was now seriously catching up with us. Godsmack's double-drum duel between Sully Erna and Mike Mangini in particular became one of the most talked-about moments of the night. Using two drum kits simultaneously, with Erna also taking his place behind the drums, made for a genuinely impressive show.

We, meanwhile, had reached the end of the festival.

After taking a brief look at Godsmack, Reload 2026 was over for us.

As we headed home, we were leaving behind three days filled with dozens of completely different genres of music, hundreds of small moments, tonnes of dust and several litres of sweat. :)

On Thursday, we experienced DEAFHEAVEN, ORBIT CULTURE, TERROR, SOULFLY and LAMB OF GOD; on Friday, ALESTORM, KIM DRACULA and JUDAS PRIEST; and on Saturday, MISERY INDEX, GAEREA and AGNOSTIC FRONT, all within the same festival.

And that is, in part, where Reload's real achievement lies.

On one side of the festival, you can have a band like JUDAS PRIEST that helped write the history of heavy metal; on the other, VENGABOYS, one of the most recognisable names in '90s Eurodance; on another stage, GAEREA's dark post-black metal; at the Plaza Stage, AGNOSTIC FRONT's New York hardcore; and on the Mainstage, GODSMACK's hard rock. And somehow, all of this can find a response within the same audience.

Reload 2026 reaching 20,000 people was no coincidence. It is very clear that the festival is no longer an event shaped around a single specific strain of metal. Yet while doing so, it also preserves the compact nature of the grounds and the festival's distinctive, relatively relaxed atmosphere. According to the official figures, the 2026 edition was the highest-attended edition in Reload's history with 20,000 visitors, and more than 30 bands have already been announced for 2027.

From our perspective, Reload 2026 was a continuation of the story that began last year. When we came here last year, we were dealing for the first time with all the details that come with festival accreditation. This year, we knew where to stand, when to move and which stages and performances to follow.

Most importantly, the festival was no longer unfamiliar territory for us.

We left Reload 2026 behind. We took the dust, the heat, the rain, the music, the beer, the toilet brushes, the giant ducks, Judas Priest, the "Ronaldooooo" screams and all those little moments of quality madness from those three days with us.

We'll be there again next year.

Reload outdoes itself every year and reaches more and more extreme music fans. We are very happy to witness that evolution and bring it to you.

See you next year!!!

https://reload-festival.de/