Reload Festival 2027: The next chapter begins – Electric Callboy and Heaven Shall Burn kick off the first wave of acts

Tomorrow we’re opening the gates. Reload 2026 is sold out – 20,000 people, Judas Priest, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Lamb of God. A record we’re proud of. And whilst we celebrate the coming weekend in style with you, we’ve already got something in store for you: the first wave of bands for 2027.

Two headliners who need no further introduction. A debut we’ve been waiting for for a long time. An anniversary that couldn’t be better suited to any other stage. And bands you’ve been asking for for years. A total of 30 bands have confirmed their appearance at Reload 2027. This isn’t just a taster. This is an announcement.

Electric Callboy – Headliners. Because there’s no other option.

It was never a question of ‘if’, but of ‘when’: in 2012, they took to our stage for the first time as the support act. Since then, our paths have crossed time and again – from early gigs to a sold-out arena tour. That’s not just good booking. It’s a shared history. Electronic. Metal. Synth-pop. Partycore. All the labels open up, none of them quite fit – and that’s exactly what they’re all about. What really sets this band from the Ruhr region apart: music that’s both uncompromisingly hard-hitting and shamelessly upbeat. They last performed on our stage in 2022. What happened back then wasn’t just a concert – it was a collective loss of control in the best possible sense: crowd surfing, confetti, chaos, goosebumps, all at once. Since then: sold-out venues across Europe, millions of streams, one of the most-streamed bands in the hard and heavy scene worldwide. In 2027, they’re coming back – as headliners. Welcome home!

Heaven Shall Burn – 30 years. A show that will never be repeated.

We know what you’re thinking. And we’re thinking the same thing. 2027 is the year that fits like no other: the live powerhouse from Thuringia is celebrating its 30th anniversary – and they’re doing it with us. With an anniversary show that is exactly what the name promises: an evening that, in this form, will never be repeated.
Their latest album, ‘Heimat’, provides the soundtrack – not a romanticised look back, not nostalgia, but a hard-hitting assessment of where they stand. Solidarity, identity, responsibility. Issues that are particularly pressing right now – and a band that has known for three decades which side they’re on. Live, Heaven Shall Burn don’t just put on a show – they sweep the audience along with them. This anniversary is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Children Of Bodom – An evening to remember.

One name. A brief moment of silence in your mind. Then the thought: It can’t be true. And yet. Children Of Bodom will be taking to the Reload stage in 2027 – and this performance is more than just a festival slot. Four of the five original members are returning together, alongside Samy Elbanna (Lost Society), a close friend of Alexi Laiho. Not a comeback. Not a relaunch under the old name. A tribute – to the legacy, to Alexi Laiho, and to the songs that have shaped entire generations. There are very few shows like this. This one is one of them.

Kanonenfieber – First time at Reload. And what a debut.

They’re one of the bands you’ve been clamouring for the most. Now they’re here – and their first Reload appearance won’t be a laid-back evening. Kanonenfieber tell the story of the First World War: not as a myth, not as a tale of heroism, but as a stark look at people, loss and what war does to bodies and minds. The band deliberately remains anonymous – as a reference to the ‘Unknown Soldier’, representing countless fates with no place in tales of heroism. Live, this builds to full force: an elaborate stage show, pyrotechnics as part of a production that builds tension and never lets go. Massive, dark, precise.

The Butcher Sisters – Third time. New album. Same mission.

Reload for the third time – and the chavs in tracksuits aren’t coming empty-handed. With “Das Schwarze Album”, The Butcher Sisters bring new material: harder, darker, more precise – without losing their DNA. Metal meets rap meets hardcore, nineties energy, and that special talent for oscillating between silliness and power – whilst taking both completely seriously at the same time. Live, that means: no long build-ups. Pushing at the front, dancing in the middle, laughing at the back – and by the end, hoarse and satisfied. Full throttle.

Jinjer – As focused as ever. More intense than ever.

Jinjer are back – for the third time. Progressive metal that doesn’t ask whether it fits. Tatiana Shmayluk’s voice switches within a single bar between clear melodic vocals and a growl that runs deeper than expected – and live, the band brings precisely this energy to the stage: focused, direct, with an intensity that transforms the room. In 2022, they headlined Thursday at Reload. In 2027, they’ll be back.

Tickets will be available from Sunday 16 August 2026 at 8.00 pm via the official ticket shop at reload-festival.de/tickets.

Thirty bands. And that’s just the start. What this first wave already shows is that 2027 will be a Reload to
remember. Welcome home.

Reload Festival 2027 – 12. – 14. August – WELCOME HOME!

With: Electric Callboy, Heaven Shall Burn, Children of Bodom, Kanonenfieber, The Butcher Sisters, Jinjer, Skindred, Hammerfall, Beast in Black, Igorrr, Clawfinger, Hypocrisy, Malevolence, Atreyu, Make Them Suffer, Shadow of Intent, Emil Bulls, Humanity‘s Last Breath, Madball, Carnifex, The Browning, OXO 86, Brand of Sacrifice, Bloodred Hourglass, Mittel Alta, Infected Rain, PeelingFlesh, Fulci, Calva Louise, Left to Suffer and many more!