THE SANCTUM: MODERN METAL FESTIVAL 2026 is an upcoming independent grassroots metal festival taking place at Dead Wax Digbeth, Birmingham UK on Friday 14 – Sunday 16 August 2026. Our belief – and ultimately, our reason for establishing The Sanctum – is that the future of music is in community, and the coming together of ideas and sounds that challenge and change us.
THE SANCTUM: MODERN METAL FESTIVAL 2026 is set to erupt with its first headline set by SHIELDS on Friday 14 August. Returning from a six-year hiatus following their debut LP, "Life in Exile", SHIELDS offer a number of visceral cuts from their latest record "Death & Connection", one of the most emotionally-resonant, dizzyingly-heavy and musically mature outings of 2026.
At the helm of the Sanctum's stacked Saturday 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. Armed to the teeth with a catalogue spanning fifteen years of precipice-pushing progressive metal and a history of supporting the likes of Korn and Enter Shikari, HACKTIVIST return to Birmingham for an exclusive 2026 live performance.
Concluding the festival with emotionally-evocative post-hardcore, Oxfordshire quintet LASTELLE close out the weekend with a Sunday headline set, comprising cuts from their latest outings “Exist vol. I” and "Exist vol. II”. Following LASTELLE's performance at Download Festival 2025 the band have furthered their reverence across the globe, often praised for their abundance of atmospheric, ambient instrumentation and soaring, spine-chilling choruses.
FRIDAY LINEUP
FRIDAY HEADLINER: SHIELDS
FRIDAY MAIN SUPPORT: DOWNPOUR
FRIDAY SUPPORT: TAKE BREATH
FESTIVAL OPENER: THE MECHANIST
SATURDAY LINEUP
SATURDAY HEADLINER - EXCLUSIVE: HACKTIVIST
SATURDAY MAIN SUPPORT - EXCLUSIVE: CHUGGABOOM
SATURDAY SUPPORTS: SWARM6IX | ALCHEMIZE | SIXTH WONDER | SCATTER THE TRIBE
ARCHIVES | ANDROMEDOUS | RUPCHA FARMS | DJ DOOMED CYNICISM
SUNDAY LINEUP:
SUNDAY HEADLINER: LASTELLE
SUNDAY MAIN SUPPORT: DEFENCES
SUNDAY SUPPORTS: COBER MOUTH | VANITAS | WRITHEMEET YOUR MAKER | DIVINITAS | TOOTH & DAGGER
