Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival Trailblazers 2025

One of the best things about Call Of The Wild is that they spend a lot of time every year getting out there and looking for the Next Big Thing. There are heats in various small venues where bands and crowd reactions are analysed to the nth degree, with the best of the best being offered a coveted slot on the Trailblazer stage.

Several bands who made their debut on this stage have gone on to grace the bigger stages here or bother many other venues, so it’s an important thing that the Upstged team are doing here. Details of how to apply are always shared on the festival socials, so if you’re in a band or you know a band that deserve to be showcased give them a follow and maybe next year you too could be gracing that sweaty tent!  

To the details then, lets have a look at the bands who entertained us this year. Any genre, any age, any way you want it there was something for everyone. 

Friday opened with Poole Vigilantes who are not from Poole but are older guys who play 70-style rock in the vein of Deep Purple and the like. They have a signature song ‘Every Mother's Nightmare’ which is on their t-shirts, and they are perfect if you enjoy a bit of classic rock.  

Jehenna were one of my finds of the weekend, a female-fronted AOR band with lots of keyboards and melody mixed in with some proper mean and moody riffs. Great sound, good look and fabulous music, nothing to fault with them at all.   

Next up aren’t a new band but due to other commitments they’ve not been around for a while. Heartbreak Remedy are a personal favourite band who play dirty, blues-based power rock. Even after minimal rehearsal they are as good as ever, hitting us right between the eyes with a set that is bouncy and infinitely danceable. They never change and they never let you down, from opening groove to closing with their anthemic ‘Life’ with its amazing singalong they don’t put a foot wrong.  

Reckoner unfortunately clashed with acts on the main stage so I only got a very brief look but they appeared to be another classic rock band with a slightly retro vibe.  

The Soul Revival gave us blues with a bit of a funky edge. Again due to stage clashes I didn’t see all their set but it seemed like they had a lot of people in there dancing so they were obviously doing something right.   

Tom Killner and his band stood in for Thieves of Liberty and they were country cowboys with some toe tapping yee-ha hoedown rock. Upbeat and fun, they soon had the tent heaving and rolling along with them.  

On Saturday we started with To Nowhere, another surprise find. They gave us stomping nu-metal. The vocals were both harsh and clean, there were tempo changes galore and they seemed to be having as good a time on the stage as they were giving us in the crowd. The sound was gritty yet also sophisticated and I really enjoyed watching them. Oh, and the drummer has fab hair! 

Sydney Fate had clean twin vocals and sent us in a Linkin Park pathway. They were good, but could have probably done with being further away from To Nowhere on the bill as they played in a similar style. 

For a complete change of direction, we got retsecroWs next. I have no idea where that name comes from but oh my goodness, what a band! These are young kids. Literally, the singer is just 13 years old and is wielding a guitar that’s nearly as big as he is; I'm told that his mum cried at the end of the set! They started with a Metallica cover then went on to a bass-led stoner/doom sound with a handful of original songs. They finished with some more covers, throwing out Judas Priest’s ‘Breaking The Law’ followed by Blink 182’s ‘All The Small Things’ and finally a stonking version of Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’. If they are this good at this age, can you just imagine what the future may hold for them?  

I was hoping that Silk Spinster, complete with pink spider flag, might be a bit glammy but no. Despite the name they were face-painted, helmet-and-chainmail-wearing, sword-carrying Vikings and they played tight, fast power metal. It was loud and unapologetic and rather fabulous. 

Mint too were rather, well, mint. They were punky, sleazy and a little bit like The Wildhearts. The songs were punchy and fun and having missed all but a couple of songs due to main stage clashes I hope to catch them again somewhere sometime soon.   

Crashed Out played high energy folk pop-punk that got everyone up and dancing. Again they had fewer people than they deserved due to clashes on the main stage so I will be looking out for them too. 

Sunday opened with a totally different sound. Stone Cold Sweethearts were jangly indie in the vein of the Arctic Monkeys. They were a three piece and both guitarists sang together so the lack of a bass player was barely noticeable. The drummer had a bucket hat, the songs were cheerful and summery and they were something different.  

I was expecting Paradise Sins to be influenced by Guns N’ Roses because the singer looked like the bastard lovechild of Ozzy and Axl when they were setting up, but no. He took after the other side of the family because the first song could have fallen off any of Ozzy’s first three solo albums! The set continued in a trad metal vein with lots of bass, lots of power chords, vibrant drumming and some really tasty vocals. Recommended.  

Eld Varg take us in yet another direction – they are a power trio singing power metal and doing it in an expressive and fiery way. They sing songs about battles and victory with double speed kick drums and all the epicness one would expect from a band on the verge of war. They were really really good at what they do and what they do was really good too.  

Silveroller are not strangers to us as they are based in Liverpool, but they have evolved since we covered their debut gig a little while ago. The lineup has changed and the sound too has matured. It’s still 70’s-inspired groove rock enhanced by singer Jonny with his Jagger moves and his harmonica, but it’s just a little harder, a touch more rock than I recall. They got a fantastic crowd reaction and people were still talking about them outside after the show so I guess they made a pretty good impression.  

The Head Hunters take us back to a more basic sound, they are gravelly and very loud but with some nice melodies interwoven. They remind me a bit of Wolfsbane, not quite grunge but skirting the edge of it. 

Finally we get another contender for band of the weekend. Kardang are from Norway and they are utterly batshit crazy but so much fun! They start the set in matching white shirts and black ties but all smartness is soon discarded in favour of dirty AC/DC-inspired 4/4 riffs, great songs and a singer who climbs the marquee tent pole before ripping off his sensible shirt and running headlong into the crowd. This is proper party music, the band are tight and don’t miss a beat whilst the antics continue but the guitarist too blurs the line between stage and crowd, and Kardang just have the knack of getting people on side and making them dance. The madness also reminds a little of D.A.D, both musically and style wise. They are a serious band but with a very silly attitude. Everyone got to join in, to feel like part of the show, and they absolutely stole the show. Hopefully they too will return next year to enhance the bigger stages. 

So that was this year’s Trailblazers. Something for everyone, and a chance for some of the bands to get in front of a new crowd and make a good impression. A couple of them may not have been to my personal taste but there wasn’t a bad band amongst them and it’s not often you can say that about 18 bands that you have (mostly) never heard of before! Congratulations Call Of The Wild, and thank you for championing the underdogs and the up-and-coming. Can’t wait to see how some of the bands you picked this year continue in their careers! 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!

Kardang + The Head Hunters + Silveroller + Eld Varg + Paradise Sins + Stone Cold Sweethearts + Crashed Out + Mint + Silk Spinster + retsecroWs + Sydney Fate + To Nowhere + Tom Killner + The Soul Revival + Reckoner + Heartbreak Remedy + Jehenna + Poole Vigilantes