[category]
[title]
Whether a beer at a Wacken India prelims try-out, a cover songs gig in the basement, or a concert where you have to get through fifty-five indie or soft rock bands first, there’s no place we metalheads won’t wheeze our way in for a good time. Well, Bangalore Open Air is back – with a date we’ll definitely have to plan our year around.
They announced the full lineup for its 14th edition on October 10, in, no points for guessing, Bengaluru. In a post, the festival itself described it as: ‘Six countries. The strongest line-up BOA has ever assembled – on the biggest production we've ever staged.’ If you’ve even so much as slightly associated with India’s metal scene, you’ll know about the image problem, and how BOA basically both destroys it (when it comes to scant attendance) and exemplifies it (when it comes to the noise, and the near-letting go of all sanity). And if you’re curious – we’ve got you covered.
What's Bangalore Open Air?
India's only dedicated heavy metal open air festival, running since 2012. It really does belong to the city, which has one of the country’s most thriving metal cultures. Performers in the past have likened it to mini versions of the world’s biggest metal concert, which is Wacken in Germany. Fourteen years in, BOA has survived lineup cancellations, venue changes, and a global pandemic to reliably deliver international heavy music to a country that doesn't get nearly enough of it. Past headliners include Kreator, Napalm Death, Nile, and Overkill.
Okay, so who's playing?
Carcass is headlining. The British band is among the architects of melodic death metal as a genre, and they’re returning to India over a decade after their 2015 Mumbai debut. By the way, ‘melodic’ isn’t a sign of a lack of headbanging at the speed of a woodpecker… just saying. They’re synonymous with the word intense itself.
Paradise Lost is coming! The Halifax doom legends have been active since 1988, are now 17 albums deep, and have somehow, in all that time, never played India. I’m happy to be doomed.
Other first-timers on Indian soil include Norwegian black metal veterans 1349, Brazilian-origin thrash metallers Nervosa, and the more 1990s-wave-style Australian deathcore act Thy Art Is Murder, whose Godlike album (2023) will give you a fair idea of what to expect. German post-metal outfit The Ocean are returning for a third time – they've previously played India in 2014 and again in 2019, which makes them practically regulars.
On the Indian side, Kerala folk-metallers The Down Troddence are back, fresh off their new record As You All Know, This Is How It Is. Mumbai's prog/sludge outfit Midhaven round out the bill.
When: October 10, 2026
Where: The festival has historically been held at Royal Orchid Resort, Yelahanka aside from a couple of other venues. We’ll catch you up on confirmed venue details closer to the date.
Tickets: Via BookMyShow. Tickets start at ₹5,499. Entry open to those 18+ only.