The Best Metal Shows of 2025 (And How to See Them Again in 2026)
Monday, 08 December 2025
Written by Matt Mills
This might have been the greatest year for heavy metal live shows in a generation. In July, Ozzy Osbourne’s retirement gig brought the entire genre together for one stadium-filling moment of reverence, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. From Iron Maiden to Ice Nine Kills, multiple bands have graduated to their biggest leagues yet, while the underground is full-to-bursting with promising talent. And, the momentum already seems set to continue in 2026.
At this transitional moment just before the New Year, it’s an ideal time to take stock of the 12 months that were while also casting one eye forward. These are the best metal performances of 2025, alongside details of how you can experience the bands in action all over again (or catch them for the first time if you missed out) in 2026.
Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine
It may have ended under acrimonious circumstances, but Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine’s co-headline tour was a celebration for millennial metalheads. The bands played their 2005 breakthrough albums, ‘Ascendancy’ and ‘The Poison’, in full while performing totally different shows. Where Trivium channelled Iron Maiden with their blow-up monster Monte, Bullet brought a modern production with fancy video tech. Trivium will return to the UK next year, making a special appearance at Download festival in Donington in June. As for Bullet, they’re currently working on album number eight but have promised headline shows for 2026. Keep your eyes peeled.
Bloodywood
Bloodywood have had a 2025 to shout about. The Indian band were already viral stars, thanks to their fusion of good-time Bollywood music with cathartic nu metal, but this year sealed their ascent. In March, they sold out the O2 Forum in Kentish Town and got the entire venue jumping and pushing for 70 minutes. They repeated that magic when they supported Halestorm at The O2 in November. In 2026, the trio will support Linkin Park and Babymetal, before returning to Europe to play at the Download and Graspop festivals in the summer. Their gigs are always high-energy exercises, so start warming up now.
Iron Maiden
East London’s heaviest export came home during the summer. Having founded Iron Maiden in the area 50 years ago, bassist Steve Harris secured a victory lap for the ages this summer by headlining the 80,000-capacity London Stadium, now home to his beloved West Ham. Armed with an overhauled setlist, new live drummer Simon Dawson and a fancy video backdrop, they put on one of the greatest spectacles of their career. The metal legends’ gold-anniversary tour will circle back to Blighty in July, when they play at Knebworth House in Stevenage with a mighty supporting lineup. The Darkness, The Hu, Airbourne and The Almighty will round out the hard-rocking festivities.
Linkin Park
On the same night that Iron Maiden rocked East London, Linkin Park rattled the other side of the city using an onslaught of nu metal anthems. The now-Emily-Armstrong-fronted superstars played the biggest show of their lives at Wembley Stadium and brought a setlist worthy of the occasion, including such generation-defining anthems as Numb, Papercut and In the End. With rising stars Spiritbox as a support act, it felt like a hard-earned triumph for women in the metal scene. Linkin Park will be back in the UK in June, when they headline Download with Guns n’ Roses and fellow turn-of-the-millennium idols Limp Bizkit.
Deftones
Deftones have found new life as the vanguards of ‘baddiecore’: a sensual style of metal that includes Sleep Token, Bad Omens and Spiritbox. Although the Californians seem as confused by their resurgence as anyone else who doesn’t have a TikTok account, they rode the wave to great heights in 2025. In June, they headlined London’s 25,000-capacity Crystal Palace Park and opened with a murderer’s row of hits, tearing through Be Quiet and Drive, My Own Summer and Diamond Eyes. The band will come back twice next year, starting with a UK tour in February. Then, in August, they’ll take over London’s Victoria Park for an all-dayer also featuring Idles, Deafheaven and many, many others.
Back to the Beginning
A couple of weeks before Ozzy Osbourne passed away, he and his fellow Black Sabbath co-founders bowed out in an unmitigated triumph. They headlined a day-long extravaganza in their hometown of Birmingham, supported by a who’s-who of hard rock, including Guns n’ Roses, Metallica, Tool, Gojira, Halestorm, Mastodon and a number of ‘supergroups’. A true once-in-a-generation event. Obviously, Sabbath won’t be back in 2026, but a number of other artists who took the stage at Back to the Beginning will return. Metallica are doing a stadium run of the UK and Europe in the summer, Lamb of God are set to headline Bloodstock Open Air in Derbyshire in August, and Anthrax will play across much of the continent to open for Iron Maiden.
Letlive.
Ostensibly, Letlive. came back to give fans the farewell tour they never got. Jason Aalon Butler’s post-hardcore innovators literally tore London’s Electric Ballroom apart during their first UK gig in nine years, stage-diving from the balconies then using stage monitors as a makeshift drum kit. The show was so great that, before it even ended, Jason implied that the band will carry on after their ‘goodbye’. Living up to that tease, Letlive. will appear at Download in June. They’re also slated for more European sets at Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring. It seems that good times can last after all.
Machine Head / Gojira
Headlined by Trivium, Machine Head and Gojira, Bloodstock may have been the best weekend of unadulterated heavy metal all year. Every headliner had a 10-out-of-10 showcase at Catton Park, with Machine Head bringing enough pyro to burn down the Amazon rainforest. The night after, Gojira capped off the festival in reliably brutal form, unloading recent bangers and tech-death classics without lifting their feet off the gas. Machine Head will tour Europe again in the spring, resurrecting their ‘evening with’ format to let loose three hours of thunder a night. Then, in the summer, Gojira will be one of Metallica’s support acts and demolish stadiums across the continent.
Karnivool
Bristol festival Arctangent is a must-attend for any progressive metal fan, and it cemented its status this year by booking an exclusive set from Karnivool. No frills were needed for the Aussie maestros’ Friday headliner: just stirring, emotional songs and a crowd who knew every word to all of them. They also played some of their first new tracks in 12 years, granting a powerful preview of next year’s long-awaited ‘In Verses’ album, which drops in April. Karnivool will tour Europe more extensively after its release, supported by fellow progressive whizzes Intervals, so expect a night of avant-garde deviations from two of the genre’s best.
Svalbard
When Svalbard announced their intention to split earlier this year, you could almost hear the collective cry in the UK underground. For 15 years, Serena Cherry’s post-hardcore crusaders have been one of metal’s most principled bands, their lyrics taking on rape culture, the music industry and depression with no punches pulled. Their swansong UK headliner at Hackney’s Oslo club in November was bittersweet, the barrage of crowdsurfers and the unending moshpit only making their upcoming departure all the sadder. Next year will be the band’s last, and in August they’ll play their final UK festival set when they appear on the Wednesday of Arctangent. Tissues at the ready, please.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
