By The Riff Report 🤘
Well butt, Stonedead Festival has only just packed away the amps from 2025 and already the 2026 edition is shaping up to be a MONSTER. With the festival already sold out (yep, gone quicker than a pint on a hot day in Newark 🍺), the crew have unleashed their second wave of band announcements — and tidy one it is too!
⚡ ACCEPT – VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
That’s right — German metal icons Accept are joining the 2026 Stonedead lineup as Very Special Guests! 🤘🇩🇪
Formed way back in 1976 in Solingen, West Germany, these titans of Teutonic metal are celebrating their 50th anniversary in style. With 17 studio albums, 5 live records, and more metal anthems than you can shake a Flying V at, they’re gearing up for a career-spanning set that’ll melt faces as the sun dips over Newark Showground.
Expect a thunderous trip through classics like Balls to the Wall, Fast as a Shark, and Restless and Wild — alongside newer bangers that prove Accept are still firing harder than ever. This isn’t just nostalgia, mun — this is a full-blown heavy metal celebration five decades in the making. 🎉
🦁 BATTLE BEAST – FINNISH POWER METAL FURY
Next up, prepare your necks for some serious headbanging — because Battle Beast are coming to unleash chaos in the early evening slot! 🇫🇮⚔️
Formed in 2008 in Helsinki, this powerhouse sextet has been conquering Europe one riff at a time. Their debut Steel (2011) broke into the Finnish Top 10 and kicked off a hot streak of six charting albums, every single one landing in Finland’s Top 10 — proper job, that.
With their seventh album “Steelbound” about to drop, Battle Beast are storming into Stonedead ready to slay. Expect arena-sized choruses, face-melting solos, and frontwoman Noora Louhimo commanding the stage like a Viking queen. This is power metal turned up to eleven. 💥
⚔️ ARMORED SAINT – CLASSIC HEAVY METAL HEROES
And for that prime mid-afternoon slot — a real treat for the old-school heads! Armored Saint are rolling in from Los Angeles to bring some proper heavy metal history to the fields of Newark. 🇺🇸🔥
Since bursting out of the LA scene in the early ‘80s, these lads have been grinding away with the spirit of the saints — dropping their debut March of the Saint in 1984 and gaining MTV airtime faster than you could say “spandex and solos.”
Though tragedy and line-up changes hit hard, John Bush and Joey Vera resurrected the band in 1999, and they’ve since released six more albums, most recently in 2020. Expect pure, pounding metal and a masterclass from a band who’ve shared stages with Saxon, Alice Cooper, and Whitesnake — a line-up so classic it practically smells of leather jackets and Marshall stacks. 🎸
💀 TICKETS & WAITING LIST INFO
Here’s the catch — 2026 sold out in just 34 hours. Yep. Thirty. Four. Hours. 😱
But don’t panic, mun — if you missed out, there’s still hope!
👉 Join the official waiting list now:
And circle this in your diary with a big bloody red pen:
📅 Ticket re-sell page goes live Saturday 25th October at 18:00
This is the only official way to snag a ticket — so get in there faster than a metalhead to the front barrier when the gates open.
🤘 THE BOTTOM LINE
With Accept, Battle Beast, and Armored Saint added to the bill, Stonedead 2026 is already shaping up to be a meltdown of metal proportions. The organisers promised “something for everyone” — and they’re delivering like a flaming riff to the face. 🔥
See you in Newark, butties — we’ll be the ones screaming “METAAAAAAL!” with a pint in one hand and devil horns in the other. 🏴🤘
#StonedeadFestival #Accept #BattleBeast #ArmoredSaint #TheRiffReport #MetalCommunity #UKFestivals #HeavyMetalForever
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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