Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Kiss, Pantera, Motley Crue... yep, Hellfest is killing it once again with their 2023 line-up

Hellfest 2023 bill — (Image credit: Hellfest)

Hellfest has announced 179 bands for its 2023 event, and frankly it might be easier if we listed the bands who aren't playing, because this is one seriously heavyweight bill.

The four main stage headliners for next summer's festival, which will be staged from June 15-18 at Clisson, France are Kiss, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden and Slipknot. Among the big names joining them on the main stage are Hollywood Vampires (June 15), Def Leppard and Alter Bridge (June 16), Porcupine Tree, Carpenter Brut and Puscifier (June 17) and Pantera and Amon Amarth (June 18).

Beyond the main stage, there are five additional stages running each day at Hellfest 2023, with a range of bands which will make any heavy music fan drool.

The line-up for the festival's second stage, or rather then Main Stage 02, includes - deep breath - Parkway Drive, Architects, In Flames and Code Orange (June 15), Sum 41, Machine Gun Kelly, Papa Roach and Vended (June 16), Within Temptation, Powerwolf and Arch Enemy (June 17) and Teancious D, Incubus, Halestorm and The Distillers (June 18).

Moving on to the Warzone stage, the four headliners are Fishbone, Rancid, Black Flag and The Ghost Inside, while The Valley stage headliners are Amenra, The Cult, Clutch and Melvins.

The Altar Stage will be blessed with headline performances from Katatonia, As I Lay Dying, Meshuggah and Testament, and the Temple stage will be closed by Behemoth (June 15), Venom (June 16), The Hu (June 17) and Fields of the Nephilim (June 18).

Festival goers can also expect to see the likes of Voivod, Paradise Lost, Monster Magnet, Exodus, Greg Puciato, Motionless In White, Skid Row, British Lion, Hatebreed and Less Than Jake over the course of the weekend, and we're going to stop now, because if we list anymore bands our brains might explode.

Hellfest, once again, we salute you.

See the full line-up, so far, below:

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.