Stonedead 2026: Festival Preview
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
With Bloodstock now done for the year and August nights starting to draw in, thoughts turn to Newark and the annual – and essential – Stonedead show. Back for its eighth year, the concept of recreating the vibes of the old Monsters of Rock shows has found an enthusiastic audience, meaning a guaranteed sell-out almost as soon as the tickets go on sale for the following year. That there’s even a waiting list for resale must be heartening for the organisers and confirmation that they’re doing something the public wants more of.
This year’s line-up is another stellar one from the Stonedead team, with one of Sweden’s most iconic hard rock acts, Europe, taking the headlining slot. Formed as Force by Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum back in 1979, it was the change of name to Europe in 1982 that started the ball rolling for the band. The self-titled debut and Wings of Tomorrow sophomore record laid the groundwork for the multi-platinum behemoth that was 1986’s The Final Countdown. Five singles over two years and That intro solidified the band in the pantheon of Eighties Rock.
Yet the one thing the band somehow didn’t get was the recognition of being a killer live outfit. I caught them on Bon Jovi’s Milton Keynes bash in 1989, a year after Out of this World attempted the impossible task of follow up the band’s defining statement. I spent the next twenty-years telling whomsoever would listen what an awesome live band Europe is, and it took until the festival shows of 2009 that people started to believe.
I cannot image the intervening seventeen years will have blunted that cutting edge and, although they haven’t had the monstrous success of The Final Countdown since, they do have a new record locked and loaded in the shape of Come This Madness, scheduled to arrive in September. Expect some new stuff in the set but expect a whole heap of the now-forty-year-old Countdown too.
German heavy metal pioneers, Accept, hit fifty-years of age in 2026 and have been issuing albums on a reasonably steady basis since 1979’s self-titled debut, hiatuses notwithstanding. Cited as being hugely influential for bands as diverse as Slayer and Pantera and Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue, classic metal anthems like Balls to the Wall and Fast as a Shark show the breadth of Accept’s range.
Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has steered the ship through the entire length of the band’s journey, seeing members come and go, seeing musical styles change, but always keeping the band on a direct Heavy Metal bearing. Iconic vocalist Udo Dirkschneider fronted the band up to 1996’s Predator album, before the reigns were passed to New Jersey native, Mark Tormillo, whose pipes can be heard to this day.
It’s been a couple of years since the well-received seventeenth record, Humanoid, but the band are nothing if not savage road-dogs. Expect fireworks and one of the most Metal shows of the year when these Germans storm the Newark stage.
The tragic passing of founding Magnum member, Tony Clarkin in January 2024 put a significant question mark over the future of the band. Tony’s guitar tech, Brendon Riley was able to stand in for the great man on the 2025 tribute tour and still fills that role to this day.
Formed in the early Seventies in a Birmingham that had already given us Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and many more, Magnum’s brand of melodic hard rock caught the public’s attention on the 1978 Kingdom of Madness debut and the Magum II follow up.
The fantastical covers of Chase the Dragon and Eleventh Hour suggested here were albums full of fantasy and wonder, and songs like The Spirit and Sacred Hour were filled with magic. Yet, Soldier on the Line would be a more grounded tune and would find the band putting anti-war tunes on many of their subsequent albums.
It was the 1985 classic, On a Storyteller’s Night, that would see Magnum at their peak, with every aspect of the band in perfect tune with each other. How Far Jerusalem, Just Like an Arrow, the title-track and Les Mort Dansants, all wrapped in that Tolkien cover art.
Changes in the music scene meant the momentum Magnum has created into 1990’s Goodnight LA record slowed considerably as Grunge hit the airwaves. But they carried on regardless, issuing albums up to 2024’s Here Comes the Rain, a matter of weeks after Tony’s death.
Always a killer live band Magum will bring that touch of magical fantasy to the fields of Newark.
Finland’s Battle Beast have been delivering high-quality Power Metal since 2008, have issued seven albums, including last year’s Steelbound opus, and have been playing on sizable stages for some time now. They headlined the Thursday tent at Bloodstock back in 2017 with an energetic show a driving, symphonic metal and Stonedead will be the first-time new vocalist, Marina La Torraca, will be able to stand before a big British crowd and unleash the devastating combination of scorching guitars and orchestra keyboards. Having recently renewed their contract with Nuclear Blast Records, Battle Beast is poised to take the heavy metal world by storm.
Rising out of the early Eighties Metal scene, Californians Armored Saint were already causing major ripples on the back of their self-titled EP, and the one-two-three punches of March of the Saint, Delirious Nomad and Rising Fear albums, all released by Chrysalis Records between 1984 and ’87. Though the band have been through ups and downs, and have extensive hiatuses in their history, they have always regrouped and come back stronger, with killer albums showing a developing sound. Singer John Bush spent most of the Nineties and into the noughties fronting New York thrashers, Anthrax, appearing on four albums, including The Sound of White Noise and We Have Come for You All, both able to stand toe-to-toe with the band’s classic-era records. Armored Saint came back together with the reformation of the Belladonna-fronted Anthrax line-up meaning John was out of a job, and have issued albums worthy of their reputation since, beginning with 2010’s La Raza. Newest record, Emotion Factory Reset was issued back in May and showed the band have lost none of the fire or bite, or desire to create awesome heavy metal.
Canadian classic rockers, The Damn Truth is considered one of the most exciting names in the scene at the moment, following the release of their fourth and self-titled record. With a history stretching back to the independent release of debut album, Dear in the Headlights in 2012, they have more recently broken into Top 40 in their homeland on three occasions and been voted #1 Best Band in both 2023 and ’24 by the Montreal alternative press. Singer/guitarist, Lee-la Baum, was part of Alex Lifeson’s All Star Band at Toronto’s Massey Hall in 2025, and the band have played alongside such artists as Sammy Hagar, Bad Company and Alice Cooper. Stonedead is one of many festivals the band will be gracing across Europe this summer.
Out of Pottsville, PA, Crobot come to Newark, bringing their brand of dirty groove rock with them. Infused with the Blues and a sprinkling of country vibes, recent single Gun to My Head from the band’s sixth record, 2026’s Supermoon, is built around a driving rhythm and some big harmonica. Comparisons have been made with Wolfmother, Queens of the Stone Age and Soundgarden, with singer, Brandon Yeagley receiving praise for powerful vocals and a commanding stage presence. The Showgrounds certainly appears to be in for a treat when this quartet hit the early afternoon stage.
Harrogate heavy metallers, Asomvel, have a history dating back to 1993 of playing rampant biker-friendly anthems and the kind of driving rhythms and confrontational tunes usually available under the Motörhead moniker. Born to Rock n’ Roll hit the shelves a couple of years back and has so-far spawned four singles, including the very recent Lone Wolf. Expect a full-force rock experience when these Yorkshire lads hit the stage.
Opening the show in 2026 is Poll Winners, Aethoria, an alternative rock band out of Suffolk who’ve been garnering attention due to their cinematic, atmospheric narratives, emotional vocals and dynamic range. It’s powerful and modern and filled with ripping solos and represents the future direction of the classic rock sound. Get there early to catch their set.
There’ll no doubt be the obligatory fly-over by some classic British aeroplane and a chilled-out atmosphere had by a whole range of ages across the field. So, it’ll be business as usual at Stonedead 2026.
Photo credits: Tim Finch
For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.
