LIVE FROM THE PIT - Mangata Festival

In the heart of Nottingham, on Saturday the 13th of July, Mangata Festival 2024 took place. Held on four stages across three venues, it's a cozy little fest that's also absolutely packed with brilliant bands and talented musicians - not to mention some great local vendors! Between Rescue Rooms' two stages, Ghost's one and Tap N Tumblers' free entry one, there was plenty of space for all manner of awesome acts.

The day started for us with Rogue Limb, who were playing on the third stage in the upstairs section of Rescue Rooms. They were playing to a filled out room at 12:45, not even an hour after doors had opened, which was just one indicator of how popular the local hardcore duo are.

Immediately after their set it was over to the Rescue Rooms main stage to watch Orbital Alignment and their technical brand of death metal. The room was fairly well packed considering how early it was to be playing the largest stage of the festival, and they played as if the room was full out the doors!

Sheffield's Hidden Mothers played next on the second stage at Ghost Nightclub, and played a set of new material off of their upcoming album! The four piece played a stellar half an hour of post-hardcore/emo goodness which was received brilliantly by everyone in attendance. Make sure to watch out for their next release on August 6th, you don't want to miss this band!

After that, it was back to the main stage at Rescue Rooms to see Street Soldier, Yorkshire's own hardcore war machine. The muscle-y sound of their aggressively amped up beatdown garnered its fair share of spin kicks and two-stepping, and fan favourite track Nonce Killa was a treat to see in person.

Britain's latest underground metal darlings El Moono then performed a spectacular set to the audience at the third stage, which was once again full to the brim. After some unfortunate tech issues caused their set to be delayed a little bit, they whirled into action the moment they were able to deliver a seismic set that was worth every moment of the delay.

The main stage then saw the dark symphonic sound of Ghosts Of Atlantis take to the fore. The Suffolk group have risen to prominence quickly since their debut in 2021, playing a slew of shows across the UK and gaining a healthy fanbase that was clearly on show in Nottingham, judging by the number of 'tridents' being held up in support.

Once more into the upstairs of Rescue Rooms, a full crowd were waiting for the arrival of Drip Fed Empire to the stage. DFE were the first band of the day to get a really consistent moshpit for the whole set, which was more than deserved for their fiery mixture of EDM, metalcore and nu metal. The Bristol crew smashed their set and will surely be back soon for yet another stellar Nottingham show.

After a band from further afield it was time for a proper hometown group - Those Once Loyal are Nottingham's answer to the Killswitch Engage's and Bullet For My Valentine's of the world. With a melodic metalcore style interspersed with thick hardcore breakdowns, the locals took over the upstairs stage with another pit to be envied. The crowd had stayed on from the previous act so the room was still fit to burst, and by the time finale Carry You was played they had gotten most of the room moving at one point or another during their brilliant set.

Another fairly local band came on next, albeit on the main stage. Leicestershire group Cabin Boy Jumped Ship and their electronicore style have been around since 2013, which showed in their excellent support at Rescue Rooms. The room was bouncing from their high octane energy, and they ran the stage like veterans of the scene.

After a big performance at Download Festival just down the road in June, Veiled brought their deathcore performance to Nottingham for Mangata. The masked men played a suitably crushing set, which was not quite as well attended as the previous sets on the upstairs stage but did not stop them from giving it their all in what was still an excellent moment of the day.

Our second set of the day at the Ghost Nightclub stage was for South London's Burner, whose incendiary death metal and hardcore mix was cause for the most chaotic pit of the day. The four piece have an enviable live pedigree already that they demonstrated perfectly, and the set was capped off by a devastating performance of An Affirming Flame to send off what was already a spectacular set, and our set of the day.

We then went back to Rescue Rooms upstairs to watch the inimitable Pijn play a gorgeous instrumental set for an hour. The autumnal orange lights that illuminated them gave the atmosphere an extra boost, and everyone watching surely felt the same sense of wonder at each shift in energy, tempo, or heaviness.

Come 20:00 it came time for headliners Hacktivist to take the main stage at Rescue Rooms. The Bucks djent-rap band attracted almost everybody at the festival to fill up Rescue Rooms, and got people bouncing from the moment they walked out to start playing. The whole set went down a treat, particularly songs like new single Crooks and Criminals. This is just the third show they've played since its release, and their third show of the year, but their energy was brilliant and the crowd mirrored it all evening.

The final band of the day was not, in fact, the headliners but was Viscera over at the Ghost stage. Representing some of the best of British heaviness, they wasted no time once onstage and ripped into the riffs and growls we know them for. Nottingham's metal fans dug their teeth into the set and were rewarded by a good hour of bangers, not least a great run through of 2019's Lamb To The Slaughter. As festival closers go, there couldn't have been a much better choice.

Words: Jake Longhurst

Photos: Conrad Newton