Black Veil Brides, Download Festival 2026
LIVE REVIEW: If you want to see how a metal show in 2026 should be delivered, go and watch Black Veil Brides.
They have seen and done it all over their many visits to Donington Park, but there is something about today that feels different. Something in the air that’s making the riffs sharper, the gutturals harsher, the solos slicker, and Andy Biersack’s smile bigger and heart even more appreciative.
Perhaps it’s how clearly head over heels the band are with their recent output, representing new album ‘Vindicate’ with a euphoric ‘Bleeders’ and beautifully devastating ‘Certainty’, showcasing just how melodically soaring and densely heavy their intentions are these days.
Perhaps it’s because some of their classics are causing pandemonium from front to back of this gigantic field, the metalcore battery of ‘The Legacy’ and timeless melodies of ‘Knives and Pens’ raising voices of fans old and new to deafening volumes.
Or perhaps it is simply that, right now, they are more locked in and laser-focused than ever before, and that will always produce a genuinely unmissable performance.
Black Veil Brides forever? Black Veil Brides forever.
✏️ Jack Rogers
📷 Carla Mundy