8 Heavy Bands Glastonbury Should Book For 2020

Glastonbury is one of the most open-minded festivals on the planet. Sure, the main coverage you see on TV comes from the platinum-selling artists or those currently riding the hype train, but that’s just one facet of the weekend – there’s a plethora of weird and wonderful music from all corners of the globe, and most of it kicks maximum arse.

And do you know what? They do like it heavy over on Worthy Farm! Since Metallica headlined in 2014, Earache Records have brought the metulz to Shangri-La with their Express Stage in 2017 and Scum Stage this summer boasting everyone from Napalm Death and Gojira to Wormrot and Venom Prison. All vital, all inspiring, all bloody heavy.

Here are eight acts we reckon would go down a storm at Glastonbury next year.

Winners of Best British Live Act two years in a row at the Kerrang! Awards, Architects’ message of hope, defiance and unity is one that goes hand-in-hand with the world that the Eavis family have built. Just like Bring Me The Horizon this year, giving the Brighton heavyweights 45 minutes with full production in the afternoon is sure to turn heads and start the biggest pits in Glasto history. Couple this with the band’s work with Sea Shepherd, and it’s got Worthy Farm written all over it.

This has to happen at some point, and to be honest, it will be much more at home alongside some of the festival's world music offerings than anywhere near the metal stage over in Shangri-La. Less of a band and more of an experience, Scandinavian folk project Heilung have become infamous in the underground thanks to their immersive live shows, channelling Norse history through a mixture of throat-singing, instruments made from human remains, heart-pounding tribal sounds, traditional Viking instruments and more. It’s quite something.

There have been rumours for years that ABBA are going to reunite for Glastonbury, but what if the Satan-worshipping ABBA turned up instead? In short, Ghost are one of the most bankable live bands in the world today, but when you combine their occult aesthetic with the humongoid choruses of He Is and Square Hammer, the Pilton hordes will come running over the hill. Imagine Cardinal Copia delivering a Sunday sermon live on BBC TV. It's so ludicrous that it would definitely work.

Just book IDLES again. Every year. Forever. They will headline one day and it will be joyous.

Sure, Myrkur’s ethereal concoction of crushing black metal, dreamlike choirs and expansive post-metal would surely be a midnight feast for underground metal fans, but Amalie Bruun's Folkesange project is made for the hippyness of the festival. Imagine stumbling through a forest at night to discover a clearing, fans all sat in a circle around a fire, embracing the ancient sounds of traditional Scandinavian folk songs. What could be better than that?

This one does very much depend on the weather because there’s nothing better than watching half an hour of ska-punk in the blazing sunshine. Undoubtedly one of the most fun live experiences you could ever have, Los Angeles partystarters The Interrupters are so well-placed for a Saturday afternoon on The Park Stage that it’s baffling it didn’t happen this year. There are a bunch of natural healing tents dotted about Glastonbury, but if you really want to make 200,000 people happy without the use of hard drugs, then this is the way to go.

In an ideal world, this wouldn’t even happen on a conventional stage, but some giant futuristic mechanism – like the Arcadia spider only more sci-fi. We want to see the synthwave superstar bring his biggest, most ridiculous production to date to Worthy Farm, firing lasers in every direction and setting fire to any passing object. Health warnings should be issued upon entry to the Carpenter Brut compound, which is so mind-bogglingly intense the BBC refuse to broadcast it on grounds of public decency.

Glastonbury and left-wing politics go together like the Stone Circle and conversations about the best biscuits, so it makes sense to book one of the most revolutionary voices in heavy music to spread the good word. FEVER 333’s shows are always chaos (as our K! Pit demonstrates), managing to energise and inspire every soul watching and listening to Jason Aalon Butler’s words of peace and change. Jeremy Corbyn nabbed himself a slot on the Pyramid Stage in 2017 and he didn’t even hang upside down off the rafters while screaming his head off, which we can guarantee Jason will deliver.

Read this next:

• In Pictures: The rock and metal of Glastonbury 2019
• SWMRS talk positivity, politics, and being the voice of a generation
• Never Mind The Bollocks: British rock is thriving