Hellfest 2026: 5 acts to catch on Friday, June 19

There are 52 acts on the bill. 52 bands ready to hit one of Hellfest’s six stages on Hellfest on Friday, June 19, 2026, the second day of the festival’s new metal weekend. So, which artists should you not miss on Friday? Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Sinsaenum... Here are five groups to catch on June 19, 2026 in Clisson for the new edition of the Hellfest.

Hellfest 2026: 5 acts not to miss on Friday, June 19

Sinsaenum - Altar - From 3:55 PM to 4:40 PM
Blackened Death / Groove Metal - France / USA / Hungary

Do you love "supergroups"? If the answer is yes, then head to the Altar stage to catch Sinsaenum on Friday from 3:55 PM. Composed of Fred Leclercq (Kreator), Stef Buriez (Loudblast), Attila Csihar (Mayhem), Heimoth (Seth), Sean Zatorsky (Dååth) and André Joyzi, this dream lineup serves up a clever blend of blackened death and groove metal that should win over the ears of many metalheads!

Rotting Christ - Temple - From 8:35 PM to 9:35 PM
Melodic black metal - Greece

They are Greeks and widely known in the melodic black metal scene! Rotting Christ makes a stop this summer in Clisson to offer festival-goers a ceremony that promises to be especially spellbinding and powerful. Always led by singer and guitarist Sakis Tolis and drummer Themis Tolis, Rotting Christ currently boasts around fifteen studio albums. The Greek outfit recently re-recorded its 10th opus "Aealo", which appeared in 2010. You can expect the band to use its Hellfest set to perform a few tracks from that record.

Iron Maiden – Mainstage 1 – 9:00 PM to 11:10 PM
Heavy metal – United Kingdom

Fifty years in the business calls for a celebration. That’s exactly what Iron Maiden is doing with the extension of its Run For Your Lives Tour. Just before their show at Paris La Défense Arena, the British legends will lay down their instruments in Clisson for a 2h10 set that should thrust fans back in time, tracing their iconic tracks such as "The Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills", "The Trooper", and "Fear of the Dark".

• To be read
• Hellfest 2026: 5 acts to catch on Thursday, June 18
• Hellfest 2025: complete program and concert times

Mastodon - Valley - From 11:50 PM to 12:50 AM
Progressive sludge metal - USA

Fans of sludge and stoner will gather outside The Valley starting at 11:50 p.m. to ride the wave of Mastodon’s hits. On the menu? Melodic lines, catchy riffs, and pounding grooves that dive us back into the rich discography of this Atlanta-born American band. We’ll also surely spare a heartfelt thought for Brent Hinds, the talented singer and musician, who died in August 2025 after having left the group a few months earlier, in March.

The Gathering - Temple - From 00:55 to 02:00
Gothic Doom - Netherlands 

An unmistakable, unclassifiable act, but all the more influential in the European metal scene, The Gathering stops at Hellfest this summer to celebrate its cult album Mandylion (1995), with, for our great delight, the return of the talented vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. A moment not to be missed!

Obviously, this list isn’t exhaustive, and plenty of other bands are must-sees on June 19 at Hellfest. So what acts are you planning to check out and what will you be listening to on Friday in Clisson?

Hellfest 2026 : programmation complète et horaires des concerts
Hellfest is back with four new days of extreme-music showcases. Mark your calendars: the festival runs Thursday, June 18 to Sunday, June 21, 2026. This edition packs a lineup of top French- and international acts, including Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Limp Bizkit, The Offspring, Deep Purple, Volbeat, Megadeth, Papa Roach, Bad Omens, Mastodon, and Behemoth. Here is the full day-by-day, on-stage schedule for Hellfest 2026, with concert times. [Read more]