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INKcarceration continues to ‘rest on its laurels’ with 2025 lineup announcement

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MANSFIELD, Ohio (WOUB) – After the reveal of Sonic Temple’s 2025 lineup, and considering the lineups we got for festivals like Louder Than Life and Aftershock in 2024, its not unreasonable to argue that Danny Wimmer Productions is at their peak in terms of organizing earth-shatteringly good lineups.

This, however, would not be taking into account INKcarceration.

The logo for the Incarceration 2025 Music and Tattoo Festival.

In my time covering these festivals, INKcarceration has always been my least favorite. The lineups never hit, and sure, that may be because of a smaller, more obscure location, but in large part, my disappointment is  because of what INKcarceration could be.

A music and tattoo festival at the Ohio State Reformatory is a killer concept, and as a smaller fest, could be a great venue to test out the future headliners for the larger festival stages. So, in theory, if you told me INKcarceration would be headlined by two first time-headliners, and one mainstay of rock, I would’ve said “good, that’s moving in the right direction.”

Unfortunately, as the INKcarceration 2025 lineup was revealed last week, it turned out to just like 2024’s lineup. Incredibly boring.

Let’s start with the “best” headliner. On its face, Falling in Reverse seems like a “risky” pick. They’re controversial and still dominating alt-rock radio. However, Falling In Reverse has been making hits since their debut in 2011, so they’re more established than contemporary hype would have you believe.

I’ve seen Falling in Reverse twice, and both times I was impressed with their ability to command an audience, to truly bring drama to their performance. Unlike many of the other INKcarceration bands, Falling In Reverse isn’t boring.

So why wasn’t I excited? Simple.

Their music sucks.

Falling In Reverse’s 2024 album Popular Monster is unlistenable, with its half-baked excursions into country and a “spiritual lyrical miracle” type of rap. I also have generally found vocalist Ronnie Radke’s “I hate cancel culture, I’m so rebellious and misunderstood” schtick to be generally grating—however, it does seem that the Danny Wimmer festival audience, and alt-rock radio listeners in general, love it. They are “safer” as a headliner than they may initially seem, but at least a lot of people, in 2025, actually like them, even if I’m not one of ‘em.

Five Finger Death Punch, on the other hand, has none of that going for them.

Another first-time headliner for a Danny Wimmer Festival, and like some of their peers from INKcarceration 2024, this is just an incredibly boring band. They’ve got some well-deserved hits, where their pop takes on groove and nu-metal hit just the right spot.

However, they are still fundamentally a watered-down version of the bands they draw inspiration from. Once you’ve heard one FFDP song, you’ve heard them all. What would be really bad is FFDP had to share a bill with one of the bands they’re neutering the sound of, like, say, Pantera or Slipknot.

Oh wait, Slipknot is sharing the bill with FFDP.

Jokes aside, there’s very little point in elaborating on Slipknot. If this is your first Danny Wimmer Festival, Slipknot is always a good time. Incredibly high production values and plenty of hits to energetically burn through.

However, attendees of any 2024 Danny Wimmer rock festival last year have already seen Slipknot headline. That, in addition to a headline tour, and other festival appearances (Sick New World and Knotfest) means frequent concert and festival goers are more likely than not to have seen Slipknot within the past calendar year. This takes away from the excitement of this announcement, especially considering the band has yet to announce any new material to make this set particularly exciting.

Falling in Reverse was also on the bill for four other Danny Wimmer fests, even if they weren’t able to perform at Louder Than Life due to weather complications. Yes, FFDP was only at two, which is notably less saturated, but the point still stands.

Even if this is the first headlining performance from Falling In Reverse or FFDP at a Danny Wimmer Festival, all three headliners are “safe” picks. From a business strategy perspective, it’s probably the right call. But for someone like myself, who wants to see new bands pushed to the forefront of festival lineups, it’s disappointing.

When it comes to the main subgenres, throwback radio rock, clean, accessible metalcore, and straightforward deathcore, your mileage will vary on which of these bands you actually find compelling. Initially, I’m inclined to recommend some of the classics like Killswitch Engage and Architects and more obscure bands like Signs of the Swarm and Crystal Lake, but that’s all personal preference. In general, while combing through the smaller names on the lineup, I mostly found generic deathcore and the flavor of modern metal that is basically just pop music with downtuned guitars.

There are, of course, some bright spots. Kublai Khan TX and Knocked Loose are the type of fresh blood I want to see billed high.

A subheadlining spot for Lamb of God isn’t going to warrant any complaints from me. With good recent output, especially considering a recent tour celebrating their 2004 classic Ashes of the Wake. Kittie and In This Moment is always a huge win for any festival, as their jaw-dropping performance at Sonic Temple 2024 left me craving more. Further down the bill bands like Suffocation, a death metal classic, and weirder acts like The Browning provide some actual variety to this lineup.

Bands like Chiodos, who on their own, don’t do much for me, stand out at INKcarceration. Their post-punk sound is nothing groundbreaking, but at this festival, they’re in an open lane, and provide a breath of fresh air.

As a whole, INKcarceration 2025 is a disappointment, primarily due to its lack of diversity. I’m not even talking about the lack of non-white dudes. I’m talking about how simply interchangeable a majority of these bands are, sonically, on first impression.

I understand if Linkin Park wasn’t willing to make the journey out to Mansfield, but even on a micro scale, getting more death and thrash metal, hip-hop, pop-punk or even more nu-metal would’ve made this a more exciting lineup. Even if INKcarceration wants to just focus on a few subgenres, the bill lacks the biggest names in those genres (Bad Omens, Bring Me The Horizon, Halestorm, Ice Nine Kills, etc).

I wish that this festival would swing for the fences further as the smallest of the Danny Wimmer Festivals, and platform genuinely groundbreaking bands. While there’s a hint of that at INKcarceration 2025, with some international acts and very small local groups, it’s not enough to save the festival from being dominated by the most forgettable monotony of modern festival lineups.