The Count: 148 Acts, 23 Labels
The full tally: metalcore 27, hard rock 19, metal 17, pop-punk 11, nu-metal and alt rock 10 each, post-hardcore 9, hardcore 8, hip-hop and industrial 6 each, deathcore 4, electronic and death metal 3 each, and 2 apiece for punk, emo, rock, prog metal and thrash metal. Sludge, grunge, EDM, doom and stoner rock get one act each.
The days are close to even in size (37, 37, 36 and 38 acts, Thursday to Sunday) but not in sound. None of the 40 metalcore, deathcore and post-hardcore acts play Sunday. Friday has 13 of the 19 hard rock acts. Sunday has 7 of the 10 nu-metal acts and 5 of the 6 hip-hop acts. All four deathcore bands and both thrash bands play Thursday. Saturday gets 7 of the 10 industrial, electronic and EDM acts, and no pop-punk at all.
Metalcore, Deathcore and Post-Hardcore (40 Acts)
This is the bill's center of gravity, and Saturday carries 15 of it. Beartooth is Caleb Shomo's Columbus band, billed as a hometown show, and the band that took over Alice in Chains' 2025 Sonic Temple slot on less than two days' notice. A Day To Remember still sit between pop-punk hooks and metalcore breakdowns, and Underoath spent fall 2026 marking 20 years of the gold-certified Define the Great Line. Friday has 11 more, led by Bullet For My Valentine, whose eighth album is due in March, and Sleep Theory, who fold Cullen Moore's R&B singing into metalcore; he names Boyz II Men and the Temptations among his early loves.
Thursday is the extreme end, with all four deathcore bands, led by Fit For An Autopsy, whose guitarist and producer Will Putney writes the records but hasn't toured with the band in about a decade, and Shadow of Intent, a symphonic deathcore band that started as a Halo-themed studio project. Post-hardcore runs from Sleeping With Sirens (Thu) to Dayseeker (Sat), whose sixth album sets screams against '80s synths. Start with: Beartooth for the hometown occasion, Dayseeker for the melodic side.
Hardcore and Punk (10 Acts)
The major-tier hardcore bands are the ones most likely to win over people who didn't come for hardcore. Turnstile (Thu) won two Grammys in February 2026 for NEVER ENOUGH, then reworked it with guests from Elton John to Dying Fetus. Knocked Loose (Thu) drew a Grammy nomination for "Suffocate" with Poppy, who plays Sunday, and spent fall 2026 co-headlining with Denzel Curry. DRAIN (Sun) recorded their third album live with no click track. The two punk-tagged acts sit at opposite ends: The Offspring (Thu), whose Smash is still cited as the best-selling album ever released on an independent label, and Ho99o9 (Sun), a duo splicing hardcore, rap and industrial noise.
Nu-Metal and Its 2020s Revival (10 Acts)
Sunday is nu-metal day. Korn headline it, and GRAMMY.com credits their 1994 debut with pioneering the style. Much of the Sunday undercard is first-wave bands back from long absences: Snot, whose only album with the late Lynn Strait was 1997's Get Some, now fronted by Andy Knapp, and Spineshank, who played their first show in nearly 13 years in July 2025. Friday adds OTEP, billed as a rare show after Otep Shamaya announced her retirement in 2024 and then returned, and Chad Gray, singing Mudvayne and HELLYEAH songs under his own name.
The revival half is younger. Silly Goose (Sun) exist because frontman Jackson Foster wanted people his age, mostly born after nu-metal's peak, to hear the music he loved. Empty Shell Casing (Sat) call their sound "thug metal" and trace its heart to French nu-metal. The influence also runs past the tag: Faith No More (Sun), tagged alt rock and billed as a rare U.S. reunion show, were mixing metal guitars, funk bass and hip-hop phrasing before nu-metal had a name. Start with: Korn, then Snot for the backstory.
'80s and '90s Hard Rock and Thrash
Friday is the hard rock day, headlined by a band we tag plain metal. Iron Maiden arrive on the final leg of an anniversary tour with one rule: nothing in the set comes from after 1992's Fear of the Dark. Below them is the era that setlist covers. Skid Row (Fri) return with Broadway singer Justin Sargent after more than two years without shows, and Alice in Chains (Fri), a three-time Rock on the Range act, are back after drummer Sean Kinney's 2025 medical emergency wiped out that spring's tour. Not all of Friday is old: The Pretty Reckless have more Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1s than any woman-fronted act in that chart's history.
Sunday holds the other veterans, including Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, with a fifth album due in February, and Helmet, whose gold-certified 1992 album Meantime had the clipped, drop-tuned riffs that shaped alternative metal. Thrash has two tags, both Thursday: Testament, the Bay Area band supporting Meshuggah across North America in 2027, and Sylosis, from Britain. Start with: Iron Maiden, then Skid Row to hear the new singer take on "18 and Life."
Pop-Punk, Emo and the Reunion Shows
Pop-punk (11) and emo (2) sit almost entirely on Thursday and Sunday. Thursday's headliner, Blink-182, has been back together with Tom DeLonge since 2022, and Jimmy Eat World (Thu) spent 2026 playing Bleed American front to back for its 25th anniversary. The Paradox (Thu) are the new blood: the first all-Black band to top Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart.
The festival's own billing marks a lot of sets in this corner as reunions or rare shows. On Thursday they're mostly post-hardcore: Circa Survive, billed as an exclusive Ohio reunion show after their 2022 breakup; Saosin, the band Anthony Green left to start Circa Survive, back with singer Cove Reber; and Palisades. Sunday has the pop-punk ones: Forever The Sickest Kids, Cute Is What We Aim For and Relient K, a band from Canton, Ohio. Start with: Thursday, where Jimmy Eat World, Circa Survive and Blink-182 share a day.
Industrial and Electronic (10 Acts)
Saturday has 7 of these 10. Till Lindemann, Rammstein's frontman, brings his solo show. The Prodigy, led by Liam Howlett and Maxim since Keith Flint's death in 2019, are billed as playing their first Ohio show in 20 years. Carpenter Brut closed his trilogy of horror-movie synth albums in 2026, and Sullivan King plays dubstep with a guitar slung over the decks. Sunday has a goodbye: Ministry are on a farewell tour billed here as their final Columbus show, and Al Jourgensen has already set the last concert for October 30, 2027. Nailbomb (Sun), Max Cavalera's 1994 industrial-thrash side project, played only a couple of real shows the first time around. Start with: Ministry, since there won't be another chance in Columbus.
Hip-Hop on a Rock Bill (6 Acts)
Five of the six hip-hop acts play Sunday, the same day as Korn, which is where a rap-rock crowd already is. $UICIDEBOY$ are the biggest: the New Orleans duo's 2025 album Thy Kingdom Come debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and their own touring festival, Grey Day, took DRAIN out in 2026. Ghostemane played in Florida hardcore and sludge bands before he rapped. Waka Flocka Flame already got a pit going at Welcome to Rockville in 2026, and Insane Clown Posse bring a fanbase that has gathered in Ohio before. Start with: $UICIDEBOY$.
Doom, Stoner and Sludge (3 Tagged)
Only three acts carry these tags, though the riff-first sound runs wider. Monolord (Thu) are a Gothenburg doom trio whose 2026 album was produced by Sylvia Massy. SLOMOSA (Thu), from Bergen, call their stoner rock "tundra rock." Crowbar (Sat) have played slow, downtuned New Orleans sludge under Kirk Windstein for more than three decades. And Mastodon (Thu), tagged prog metal, belong here in spirit; Marrow Deep is their first album since founding guitarist Brent Hinds left and later died. Start with: Mastodon, then Monolord.
Metal, Death Metal and Prog (22 Acts)
"Metal" is our catch-all for 17 acts without a narrower lane, joined here by three death metal and two prog metal bands. Thursday has the heaviest. Meshuggah, whose polyrhythmic riffing seeded djent, bill theirs as a 40th-anniversary set, and Blood Incantation's Absolute Elsewhere was Metal Hammer's best metal album of 2024. On Sunday, Poppy was the first solo woman nominated for the Grammy for Best Metal Performance.
Sonic Temple hasn't published 2027 stage assignments or set times, so clashes inside a day can't be mapped yet. In 2026, headliners played the Temple Stage inside the stadium at 9:20 PM. We'll add 2027 times to set times when the festival posts them.
The Bottom Line
Every day has a lean. Thursday puts pop-punk on top and the most extreme metal underneath. Friday is hard rock and metalcore under Iron Maiden. Saturday is metalcore plus most of the industrial and electronic acts. Sunday has no metalcore at all and stacks nu-metal, hip-hop and pop-punk reunions under Korn. Browse the full lineup to filter by genre, see who to see for day-by-day picks, or try our undercard picks.