“It’s like you’re on the set of a movie,” grins Speed frontman Jem Siow, still glowing from his band’s latest display of violence. “You’ve watched these sets so many times on YouTube, and now you’re here playing it. It’s surreal, to be honest.”

Under the vast, intricate shadows of the rusted, mechanical maze that is Sloss Furnace – resembling the dystopian grandeur of an abandoned factory you might stumble across in Fallout – almost 100 bands and tens of thousands of fans have come together for the ninth iteration of Furnace Fest.

Acting as a reflection of the state and strength of punk and hardcore in 2025, veterans and upstarts alike stand shoulder to shoulder across three stages to cause as much carnage as physically possible. At one end is The Pond stage, featuring the likes of emo

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