Earlier this week, the UK’s most popular rock and metal festival, Download, announced its 2025 lineup, and many fans are outraged at the lack of mainstream rock and metal bands featured in the lineup .

It’s clear that Download 2025 has opted for a wide range of new and prominent young artists for next year’s bill, and while that might surprise some fans, that’s actually exactly what the rock and metal scenes need need if they are to thrive again, let alone continue to exist.

Out with the old, in with the new

Metallica, Foo Fighters and Iron Maiden, to name a few, are all bands that traditionally headline Download and other like-minded rock and metal festivals, and in a to a larger and larger extent, these groups are all historical groups at this point. Continued over-reliance on these long-time headliners stifles new bands’ chances of securing headlining opportunities, and this is especially detrimental to the scene when there are new bands who truly deem themselves worthy of being headliners.

Recently uploaded and a select a few other festivals have attempted to move away from these practices, and last year Download went ahead and made Bring Me The Horizon one of its main headliners. The move was not only a big moment for BMTH, which had a long history of playing to sold-out venues and attracting millions of monthly listeners, but it was also a promising sign that festivals were starting to take notice. what the future of rock and metal will look like once these traditional bands are gone.

Download’s 2025 lineup appears to be doubling down on this theme with Sleep Token, Poppy, Spiritbox, Bleed From Within, DON BROCO, Boston Manor, Jinjer and Lorna Shore, among several other relatively new and upcoming bands set to be spotlighted at next year’s festival. . Of course, there will still be a few classic bands on next year’s bill, particularly Korn and Green Day who will also be headlining next year, but that’s not a problem when the festival incorporates and also highlights many newer groups.

Sleep Token headlining?

One of the biggest complaints about Download’s 2025 lineup is that the UK’s Sleep Token is headlining. Whether you love or hate Sleep Token doesn’t matter, because the fact is that Sleep Token has enjoyed a surge in popularity unlike any other band of this decade – the band quickly went from a sold-out amphitheater to today ‘today. sell entire tours of the arena. In a recent interview with NMEdownload boss Andy Copping had this to say about Sleep Token: “It’s their meteoric rise over the last couple of years that got me thinking. This is a group worth elevating. They have a sold out tour in a few weeks and we already know it will be a sight to see.

The roaring enthusiasm around Sleep Token is tangible, and it has only grown since the release of their 2023 LP, Take me back to Eden. With Download taking a chance and giving the headlining slot to Sleep Token, they are allowing that hype and enthusiasm around Sleep Token to come to fruition, which ultimately helps the scene grow.

What Download 2025 Could Mean for the Future of the Scene

With more and more top young bands like Sleep Token, Spiritbox and Lorna Shore taking the spotlight at these big festivals, it’s only a matter of time before more rock festivals and like-minded metal bands are stepping up and beginning to fully embrace a new wave of rock. and metal headliners. However, this reality depends a lot on the scene itself and whether the fans accept this change as well.

It’s certainly a harsh reality to accept that Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC and all of these titanic bands are nearing their endgame, some more than others. However, rock and metal fans need to consider that the future is now, and there needs to be a vision and a plan for what that future will look like before all of these historic bands disappear.