The Sanctum Unveils 2026 Lineup: Hacktivist + Lastelle Headline With Rituals, Defences, Cober Mouth and More!
After capturing the keen interest of the United Kingdom’s underground metal scene with its colossal inaugural event at Dead Wax Digbeth in 2025, The Sanctum: Modern Metal Festival returns on Friday 14th – Sunday 16th August 2026.
What began as a tried-and-tested all-dayer in 2024 rapidly accelerated in 2025 as The Sanctum became a fully-fledged two-day festival with a no-clash outdoor stage, including monolithic headliners Exist Immortal and The Five Hundred.
The Sanctum successfully continues to generate a palpable sense of excitement within the modern metal ecosphere, with its 2025 edition being heralded by many as a highly-organised, community-driven event with the foundations to continue evolving, with many comparisons made to UK Tech-Fest in the process.
Creative Director and Operations Director – Joe Hammond and Emma Collins respectively – jointly comment:
The Sanctum: Modern Metal Festival 2026 is not just a recapturing of the magic we had in 2025. It is refinement at its very best, painstakingly crafted with a sincere appreciation of what defines the United Kingdom metal scene from the perspective of those who play, perform and promote. This is a commitment to pushing the precipice of creativity, to embracing the sounds that challenge and change us, to celebrating the diversity of our backgrounds, passions and experiences.
At the helm of The Sanctum: Modern Metal Festival 2026 stands HACKTIVIST, the genre-defying titans best known for cultivating the next generation of nu-metal with their cutting-edge, confrontational spinup of grime vocals and dark djent grooves. Meanwhile, post-hardcore quintet LASTELLE close out the weekend with a Sunday headline set, comprising cuts from their latest outings “Exist vol. I” and Exist vol. II”. LASTELLE are joining The Sanctum following their monumental performance at Download Festival 2025, which inspired their booking for The Sanctum.
So far, The Sanctum: Modern Metal Festival 2026’s lineup comprises Rituals and Defences as Saturday and Sunday Main Supports respectively. Defences comment:
We’re so excited to be joining this year’s Sanctum and returning to Birmingham! The line up is absolutely stacked with some of our favourite bands, some of whom we’ve followed for years, and some awesome new artists too. Birmingham, come and join in the fun!
The Sanctum is offering two debut Birmingham show slots to Sixth Wonder and Alchemize on the Saturday, who join the festival from Glasgow and Manchester. Sixth Wonder says:
We are absolutely buzzing to be part of this years’ Sanctum lineup. This will be our first performance in Birmingham and we can’t wait to bring our Djent Pop sound to every Brummie metalhead we can.
The Sanctum’s 2026 lineup is rounded out by a plethora of upcoming modern metal powerhouses, including Swarm6ix, Cober Mouth, Scatter The Tribe, Vanitas, Archives, Meet Your Maker, Divinitas, Writhe, Andromedous, Tooth & Dagger, Rupcha Farms and afterparty DJ Doomed Cynicism, with the final lineup announcement – including the entire Friday roster – expected to drop later in February 2026.
As a closing statement on the purpose behind the festival’s drive to create a community, Directors Joe Hammond and Emma Collins comment:
The Sanctum seeks to go beyond its core message of celebrating modern metal too. We celebrate those who grew up within the overarching counterculture of alternative music, rebellion, fantasy, science-fiction, and disillusionment with what is typically considered “normal”.
We are putting a personal stamp on what we offer our attendees, with unconventional merchandise. This is best represented by our “Sanctumon” trading cards, which feature all of the performing bands and artists of the weekend and are stylised around Pokémon trading cards. These cards quickly sold out last year and we anticipate a further sell out in 2026. We are creating an environment where, ultimately, people have the confidence to be themselves and be free from judgement for things they may have once been ostracised for – an experience that is certainly true to ourselves.
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