F*ck Reddit, Hardcore Lives IRL: Sound And Fury 2026

FEATURES, REVIEWS

August 31, 2026

Sound And Fury Fest first returned to Los Angeles exactly one decade ago. It’s unfathomable to think about how not only the hardcore scene, but the whole world has changed so much since then.

In 2016 Sound And Fury was held in the much smaller Regent Theater, the crowd was significantly more elderly, and there was much less diversity of genres. Since then; the hardcore genre has exploded amongst younger audiences in the post-pandemic era with bands like Turnstile and Drain reaching absolutely massive levels of popularity. Sound And Fury naturally, has blown up to a larger scale to reflect this growth and have upgraded in nearly every way – their collaborative vision with Braindead being a major part of this evolution. Even after moving to the much larger space of Exposition Park, Sound And Fury still feels as intimate and grassroots as it did 10 years ago. The soul of hardcore music will always make sure the festival feels this way, no matter how massive it becomes.

With this rise in hardcore’s popularity however, there naturally comes more debate on “what it really means to be a hardcore band” or “whether the hardcore scene has lost touch with its foundations”. While there are a lot of valid criticisms of the current state of the scene like the recent abundance of crowd-killing in the pits or its shift towards a more metal-influenced direction, most of these complaints come from keyboard warriors who haven’t even been to a show in years, or ever. While there’s no doubt in the world that Sound And Fury and most of the hardcore scene leans in a progressive direction, a genre based around working-class struggles and violence is naturally going to attract some controversial figures. However, the two more divisive bands on the lineup Merauder and End It had some of the most rabidly enthusiastic fan participation of the entire weekend. For those in the scene who actually attend shows regularly, they were just excited to see some rarer acts and could not care less about the drama and online static. At Sound And Fury, that sort of inner-scene conflict disappears completely and everybody unites in the simple goal of building a space for aggressive, passionate, and completely independent music.

Even while hosting some of the more divisive bands of current times, this year also brought us many “softer” bands than usual – easily making it one of the most diverse lineups in the festival’s history. Sound And Fury has always blended genres, but this year was on another level with the amount of different underground scenes that were represented:

Sextile and Nuovo Testamento were present to represent dance music, Saves The Day and No Pressure were defending pop punk, and Obituary performed every hardcore/death metal crossover fan’s dream set. This lineup crossed over into so many different scenes, bringing only the primest of examples that they have to offer; this really does seem like the year that will set the stage for Sound And Fury to transform into something much more massive than it already is.

In Sound And Fury tradition, the festival actually started long before doors opened on Saturday with pre-shows and events being held the entire week beforehand. The options were endless; with Fury headlining Milky’s for their 10 year anniversary of ‘Paramount’, Saves The Day headlining The Lodge Room, Cold World playing a stacked bill at Belasco, Le Shok/Ink and Dagger at Milky’s and even a “Mystery Vortex” show that featured End It as a surprise headliner. No matter what your blend of hardcore is, Sound And Fury consistently covers every base possible with their pre-shows.

There are too many to name here, but one is truly missing the Sound And Fury experience if they aren’t hitting up multiple shows before the festival even starts. One highlight pre-show consisted of Missing Link, Mongrel and Scalp at The Midnight Hour, a San Fernando Valley record store and venue that unfortunately just closed this past week. Again; it can’t be stated enough that no matter how enormous Sound And Fury becomes in taking over the world, they’ll never forget that the roots of the scene are built in DIY independent havens like The Midnight Hour.

Missing Link at Midnight Hour by Taylor Wong

Home Front was one of the bands that we at JankySmooth were most excited to see on the lineup, easily being one of the most unique acts with their bizarre yet harmonious blend of Oi, new wave, power-pop, ska; Hell really any subgenre of punk – they’ve found a way to incorporate it somehow. We first covered Home Front when they opened for Cock Sparrer’s last shows in LA, but they’ve absolutely reached headliner status since then with how anthemic and instantly iconic their discography already is. It was amazing seeing them back then, but immersing yourself in their absolutely creatively bonkers energy up front and personally without a barricade is a life-changing experience.

Keeping the Oi spirit going, Warthog’s set started like a battering ram. This is definitely the year we’ve seen the most from the Oi genre with Beton Arme, Home Front, Warthog, The Rival Mob, and Haywire. With the current state of the economy and lack of job opportunities for younger people, it makes sense that a subgenre based around unity and working class struggles would thrive more than ever. Warthog is about as raw as you can get for Oi, delivering a mix between the rock n’ roll roots of the genre with a massive splash of biker-gang Motörhead energy. Warthog recently just headlined a pre-show at 1st Street Pool & Billiard and those types of dive-y spots are typically where you see most Oi shows. It’s amazing to see bands like Warthog find their way onto the Sound And Fury lineup. If any band represents a shift towards a more rugged mentality in hardcore, Warthog on the Sound And Fury lineup is the best example I can think of. Hardcore cannot exist without Rock n Roll.

One of the most anticipated (and controversial) bands on the lineup was the legendary 1990’s NYHC group Merauder. I’m a “separate the art from the artist” guy for the most part, but I was honestly a bit shocked that Sound And Fury kept them on the lineup considering how the reactions online have been. We won’t cover too much of the controversy here, but it basically can be summed up with: Vocalist Jorge Rosado was doing quite a bit of right-wing Facebook boomer posting, mainly surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine and the typical “there are only 2 genders” anti-trans discourse. While the angry Reddit threads and Instagram posts surrounding his behavior would have you believe Merauder has been banned everywhere, you wouldn’t even know there was any sort of controversy based off of how feverishly excited everybody was to see them at Sound And Fury. Maybe the controversy added to the hype of their set, but it absolutely didn’t hurt them in any way. Great music is great music, and “Master Killer” is an all-time classic – one of the best albums in New York hardcore history. Merauder is easily going down as one of the best sets in all of Sound And Fury history, as well.

Before Merauder was even finished setting up on stage, oldheads and new fans alike both stormed towards the stage to get as close as possible to dogpile ontop of “The Master Killer” Jorge Rosado. Brody King of God’s Hate was planted front and center in front of the stage however, and if you’ve ever seen how massive the dude is (he’s an AEW wrestler as well) then you understand why there was a horseshoe of people scared shitless keeping their distance from him. As soon as Jorge hit the stage however, all preconditions of fear were off as the pit erupted all around you. Merauder may have been a throwback band for the oldheads, but you’d never guess that based off of the raw aggression and youthful spirit that Sound And Fury’s crowd had for them.

This may surprise some readers, but this is not the first time that Nuovo Testamento has played Sound And Fury as they actually made their thunderous introduction last year with a mid-day spot right in the peak of sunlight. If you’ve ever heard their unique mix of electronic dance, house, 80’s new-wave, and goth/industrial club music – you know they’re far better suited for an evening performance. They played right at sunset this year which was absolutely perfect, and it was very apparent that they were determined to impress the hardcore crowd as an unexpected highlight of the weekend. While Nuovo Testamento is fun to see in a more intimate club setting, there is nowhere better to see them than with a crowd of punks diving off the stage at Sound And Fury fest.

The last time Incendiary played Sound And Fury fest was in 2019 at the Belasco Theater, and at the time it didn’t seem like their lyrics of revolution in the face of oppression could feel any more relevant. I wish we were right about that, but the world needs Incendiary now more than ever. Moments of jumping on stage to scream “There’s no hope in an unclenched fist” or “No Purity, Just Inequality” really feel as cathartic as ever in a world where the odds are stacked against us; in the words of Incendiary themselves, “If you don’t know what the product is, the product is you“. The product is us; through AI replacing human jobs, our private information being sold for profit, every mid-level job position on Indeed.com being an MLM marketing scheme where you never even see a paycheck. I bought this album on vinyl in 2017 because I supported their message so much, but now I’m selling off all of my vinyl because I can’t even afford a record player. That’s embarrassing to admit, but it needs to be said. We need bands like Incendiary to warn us where things are headed. It cannot be repeated enough how right they were about everything 9 years ago.

It is unfortunate how rare Incendiary are to see live, but that just makes the experience more special every time that you do; and goddamn was this time special. Frontman Brendan Garrone achieves a perfect balance of being a clear center-stage performer while also immersing himself in the violence up front with the stage-divers; his presence is as old-school hardcore as you can get, on the level of the legends like Ian Mackaye or Henry Rollins. It’s absolutely insane how animated the rest of the band is as well, with every single member performing with as much dramatic swagger as possible to insight a riot within the crowd. Incendiary is the soundtrack to revolution after all, so riots are absolutely necessary in making sure that their message is heard clearly.

The perception of Obituary has changed wildly since I was a young metalhead in the 00’s; with the discourse at the time being that they were “inaccessible” or “had weird vocals” compared to other 90’s Florida death metal contemporaries like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, or Deicide. They were a band that my peers always respected, but could never quite get into; almost as if they were a remnant of a past era of metal that no longer exists. In 2026 however, this couldn’t be further from the truth and it’s insane I believed such a farce. Obituary is the most culturally in-touch death metal band you could possibly see nowadays, keeping the genre true to its core with their embracement of the “slam a beer and jump in the mosh pit” violence that the scene once stood for. While most of the big names in death metal are often touring with nerdy prog-metal dweebs obsessed with time-signatures, Obituary just finished a tour with Nails, Terror, Spirit World, and Pest Control; more importantly here, they were one of the most rowdy and unique bands in all of Sound And Fury’s 2026 lineup.

This was my first time seeing Obituary and it’s hard to even imagine seeing them in a standard metal concert circle-pit setting, their discography is so built for stage-diving and hardcore dancing. While we all know “Redneck Stomp” as the main destroyer of the pit at their shows, it cannot be overstated how starstruck everybody was to scream along to “Slowly We Rot”. “Redneck Stomp” may have been the hardcore dancing violence-freaks’ anthem, but “Slowly We Rot” was the crusty punk anthem of the evening. While we all know “Cause Of Death” as one of the most classic and essential death metal albums of all time, “Slowly We Rot” is the unhinged drug-addicted cousin that was kept in the basement during family gatherings, and Sound And Fury 2026 was finally their chance to shine. And boy did it shine; everyone forgot we were seeing a death metal band and the pit exploded onto the stage. It seemed that even Obituary were even shocked at the response they received to the material of “Slowly We Rot” compared to the usual metal audiences they encounter. Obituary is the most punk rock death-metal band, no questions asked.

It’s almost impossible to explain how drastically No Pressure switched the vibes up after Obituary’s pummeling brutality, turning the usual battleground of hardcore dancing in Sound And Fury’s mosh pit into a classic SoCal circle pit that almost resembled Vans Warped Tour with how whimsical and upbeat it was. As huge of a fan as I am, I somehow still haven’t listened to their newest album; but somehow it felt as if I knew every single word to the newer songs, as they all register as instant classics upon first listen. Recently, frontman Parker Cannon just played Vans Warped Tour with his other band The Story So Far, and while I grew up with them and have a deep connection with the lyrics – it cannot be understated how much more fun it is to see No Pressure live nowadays. Seeing The Story So Far is a spiritual experience, but seeing No Pressure is an angelic one ~ you’re far more fearless flying through the pit.

related: Photo Recap: DRAIN at 1720

The Rival Mob originally abandoned us back in 2016 (probably when we needed them more than ever with that election year). We know The Rival Mob are hardcore punk. We know The Rival Mob are hardcore. We know The Rival Mob are Oi. I don’t think anybody in attendance at Sound And Fury could tell you exactly what subgenre The Rival Mob fall into, but everybody in attendance knew they were the most dangerous set of the night if you were anywhere near the front row. To start; it’s absolutely fucking bonkers that they opened with “BOOT PARTY”; their biggest song right off the bat. A song about bashing Nazi skinheads’ heads in. My friend’s phone got stolen during their set; kind of matching the reckless “The Warriors” vibe the pit was throwing at us. This was more than an amazing hardcore set, this was an amazing unhinged set for punk music period. For all the skeptics of the current hardcore scene who think that the kids don’t respect its punk roots, The Rival Mob proved them all wrong – and figuratively punched them right in the face afterwards for even thinking such nonsense.

DAY 2

Of all of the bands that have blown up instantly amongst younger crowds in recent years, there are few better examples than the Inland Empire’s Big Ass Truck. It’s quite apparent why they are so huge with the TikTok generation; the obvious meme-value of their name, their barebones beatdown style that is perfect for crowd-killing, and the ages of the members themselves – being one of the significantly younger bands in the scene right now. With the lack of youth unable to move out of their parents’ places due to the current recession, many are stuck out East and Big Ass Truck is a band that speaks to this demographic directly.

We all know Los Angeles is the capital of hardcore worldwide, so it does mean the world to have representation when you’re stuck out in the boondocks. While the Inland Empire does have a rich history within hardcore music with venues of the past like Showcase Theatre, it’s a history that is often forgotten and Big Ass Truck may be the first huge band from the IE to break out of being limited to the SoCal region. They had the biggest on-stage dogpile I’ve ever seen in my life during the anthemic “BIG ASS TRUCK” breakdown of the titular track, “Big Ass Truck”; so it’s safe to say that they’ve risen far beyond the meme-band status and have become a force with more positive impact than we could have possibly anticipated.

Besides Merauder, End It was probably the second most controversial band on the lineup; for way more silly reasoning, but the drama surrounding End It is even more emblematic of the divide between online forum circles and those who actually attend hardcore shows. Again, we won’t dive into the controversy too much here but to summarize: Frontman Akil Godsey encouraged hardcore dancers in the pit to attack and rip the banana costume off of a fan in attendance. While I “understand” the argument that it’s kind of reckless to insight mob behavior like that, it’s incredibly obvious that the incident was in jest and meant to call out the attention-seeking behavior seen from Gen Z and Gen Alpha at hardcore shows (i.e. the incident where Drain told people to jump on everybody sitting in the “rowing pit”). End It really didn’t need to apologize at all – if you put yourself out there like that at a hardcore show, hardcore dancing is probably going to be a bit more active towards you. However they did open their set by making an apology, almost just to get the silly online bullshit out of the way before the chaos abrupted.

End It’s reputation as one of the rowdiest and most unpredictable hardcore bands out right now surpasses the silly banana situation in any way you can imagine. To start, their groovy riff-based flow could not be more refreshing in the current climate where metalcore breakdowns are the hot trend – End It is a punk band just as much as they are a hardcore band. While their sound and stage presence is as punk as you can possibly get, their attitude towards the scene doesn’t have the tacky “this music is for everyone” approach that most modern “punk” bands do. This is hardcore music for hardcore fans and while everyone is welcome, the scene isn’t cut out for everybody. In the classic unpredictable experience of seeing End It live, frontman Akil Godsey performed an acapella rendition of “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” by Temptations singer Jimmy Ruffin to close out the set. The crowd was split on how many people knew the words, but it worked out better that way. Akil does have an iconic hardcore screaming voice, but he’s a beautiful singer as well. You should be able to tell that already by hearing the passion of his vocals in End It’s music.

Carry On was one of the most talked-about sets of the entire weekend, being a reunion that completely surprised everybody and shook the hardcore community up when they teased their return during Terror’s secret set at Sound And Fury last year. During their original run, they only released one single album in 2001 and broke up two months after its release. Consisting of members of Terror, Nails, and Internal Affairs – AND being a straight edge band that could not sound more drastically different than any of those projects, it’s easy to see why hardcore fans around the world were clamoring for this return. Their set was absolutely beautiful, but they stated very clearly that this was not a proper reunion; rather they are performing a couple of one-off shows to give love to the fans who have been dying to see them. Sometimes it only takes one album and a couple of performances to change the world, and I can’t think of many better examples than Carry On.

A recent tradition for Sound And Fury has been the annual elusive “secret set” and we were actually blessed by two different surprise bands this year; God’s Hate and Twitching Tongues. God’s Hate announced a (very) short-lived hiatus during their set at S&F last year, but they really couldn’t have come back at a better time with their home base The Midnight Hour tragically closing this last week. A hole has been left in The Valley’s hardcore scene, and God’s Hate was here to fill it – also performing their first new music in 5 years. It’s absolutely insane they’ve been able to tour off of material from the same album for so long, but with an album that was filled to the brim with as much brutality and violence as the self-titled “God’s Hate” was – nobody had complained yet. New music from them doesn’t feel like an expectation, but a gift that they’ve blessed us with.

While Sextile is a band I SHOULD have seen before considering how many times we’ve showered them with love here at JankySmooth, this was actually my first time witnessing them live and I was absolutely blown away by how electrifying and infectious their stage presence was. Both members Brady Keehn and Melissa Scaduto bounce back and forth between each other seamlessly, switching off between the frontman role and handling the electronics. Especially when you’re in a raving mindset, having the combination of both male and female vocals is ethereal – filling you with such a vast range of emotional stimulus that can only be cured by dancing. During their set, I almost forgot I was at a hardcore festival with how groovy everybody was getting down. Even if you aren’t a fan of electronic music or industrial dance in any way, Sextile’s raw energy is as punk rock as it gets and I challenge you not to start dancing as soon as they take any stage. Even though it’s a DJ set, I’ll definitely be attending their Lights Down Low warehouse party on Halloween.

Angel Du$t is a band that can never be seen live enough times, with this being my 9th time seeing them. I personally love Angel Du$t even more than Turnstile or Trapped Under Ice; and they are in the best era they’ve ever been in. As far as visual art and projections go, they went above and beyond anything we’ve ever seen in Sound And Fury history and delivered a set full of classics and newer bangers. Nothing that Angel Du$t creates ever misses. The sound went out for half of the stage during “Headstone”, but you wouldn’t have even noticed considering how loudly everyone was screaming along to every word.

Saves The Day may seem like a wild-card pick at first glance, but their roots in the hardcore scene go back way further than you might expect with their first album being considered a classic for the melodic hardcore sound. Even with their later pop-punk material, the spirit of hardcore is still very present as it never really leaves any of us (except the posers). This was a really special way of seeing them however, with their catchy infectious melodies being absolutely perfect for stage-diving and screaming along to. It was apparent the band was having the best time as well, with frontman Chris Conley repeatedly expressing his appreciation and amazement at the audience reaction. Hopefully we see Saves The Day on more hardcore bills in the future, as they fit into this scene perfectly with how much they embrace the chaos.

It’s no secret that Haywire is the one of most promising bands in hardcore at the moment, already reaching enormous levels of success after only forming a bit over 2 years ago. From opening for Dropkick Murphys, opening the main stage at Vans Warped Tour, and playing every single state in the United States on a single tour; Haywire is the most talked about band in punk and hardcore music at the moment, and possibly in the past decade or so. While Turnstile may technically be more popular, I’d argue Haywire has more crossover appeal to the old-school demographic of punk rock fans. Like The Rival Mob the night previously, Haywire’s set was a bold declaration that hardcore IS still rooted in punk rock no matter how different the scene may look now. You really only need to hear a single track by them to understand everything that the band stands for; unity, grassroots community-based creation of art, respect for your influences, and being the better person in the face of pain and adversary even when it pisses you off sometimes.

Haywire ended their set with the completely unexpected move of mounting a leaf blower to blow $5000 into the audience in celebration of announcing their new album. This was a really creative and generous way of giving back to the community, but it really does represent everything that the hardcore scene and Sound And Fury represent in 2026. The scene’s thriving and its fans are suffering, but it almost doesn’t even matter because we’re all in this together. Haywire, and Sound And Fury, couldn’t exist without all of the grassroots support that young and angry punks have provided them with over the years.

More than any other moment in our lifetimes, there are so many reasons to be angry and want to fight against the powers keeping us down. It makes perfect sense that Sound And Fury is bigger than it ever has been, but they prove to us time and time again that they will never forget the community who helped build such a massive entity in the first place.

Happy 10 years to Sound And Fury, and Happy 10 years to everyone who’s supported its existence throughout all of this pain we’ve experienced in the past decade. Even with how bleak things feel, we know that Sound And Fury will always be a light in the darkness of the underground.

Words by Danny Ryan
Day One photos: Albert Licano
Day Two Photos: Taylor Wong

Danny Ryan

Danny Ryan is a Los Angeles music journalist based out of Glendora, CA who isn’t hesitant to cover any genre; but mostly specializes in hardcore punk, pop music, alternative rock, death metal, 90’s rave, and industrial. His tastes may throw you for a loop; jumping from seeing Trapped Under Ice to attending the Taylor Swift eras tour the next week, but you’ll always be hearing a different perspective than what you’d typically expect from the punk scene. Outside of music and nightlife; Danny’s interests include animation, Y2K internet culture, collecting vintage video games, visiting theme parks, and spending time with his two cats.

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