The Welcome to Rockville festival is about to welcome more than 160 acts onto the World Famous Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, this month. That’s a helluva lot of talent.
Some — like big-name headliners Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance and Bring Me the Horizon — have been uniting rock and metal fans for decades, and will continue to do so forever after. But the deep, deep roster at Rockville is also the perfect place to catch a bunch of stellar artists making a big splash on the come-up.
With the latest iteration of Welcome to Rockville set for May 7th-10th, Revolver are saluting the rising stars in rock, nu-metal, slam and more that attendees should do their darnedest not to miss.
Dorothy
Dorothy’s about to turn Rockville into “Tombstone Town” with her festival-opening appearance on May 7th.
Led by rootsy hard-rock belter Dorothy Martin, her eponymous group have been a favorite around the Revolver offices for a while, especially after they showed us “the way” with their uproariously fun 2025 album of that name.
We’ve said before that Martin’s passionate performance style “is about as exuberant and alive as a shaken-up soda,” and that will come through in spades onstage in Florida, whether she and her band are working through the swaggering revenge anthem “Tombstone Town” or her sometimes scream-powered “MUD.”
Amira Elfeky
To paraphrase Amira Elfeky’s most recent song, last fall’s “Hold Onto Me,” the rising nu-metal phenom has given us all her emotion across a series of adoringly received EP and single releases.
From anthemic hooks to feral screams and everything in between, her mic skills have impressed fans worldwide, and seen her going toe-to-toe with vocal juggernauts like Architects’ Sam Carter. Next up, we hope, is her long-in-the-works and excruciatingly anticipated full-length debut.
She takes the opening honors over on the Apex mainstage, where she appears alongside spring tourmates Bring Me the Horizon, Motionless in White and the Plot In You.
Ladrones
Los Angeles, California’s Ladrones have gained a diverse and ever-growing fandom since forming in 2021, yielding millions of streams with a “Flow Pesado” sound that merges nine-string djent-quakes with trap-cavernous beats and the melodious strains of regional Mexican music. Big things are on the way: They continued their ascent earlier this year with the cross-pollinational “Ay Ay Ay,” their first single for Rise Records.
Throw down with the “Flow Pesado” sound on the final day of Rockville, where Ladrones will be performing on the Garage stage ahead of sets from Sepultura, Coal Chamber and current tourmates Bloodywood.
Snuffed on Sight
Judging by Snuffed on Sight’s band name and their beatdown-imminent fusion of pig-squealed slam and exquisitely ignorant, death-centered aggression, the self-proclaimed “Bay Area Dummy Death” unit are bound to cause some serious harm during their Rockville debut. Just the way we like it.
While it’s been a few years since the group released new music, we know the bodies will be flying once they bring the heat from 2023’s Smoke. Peep Snuffed on Sight on the Vortex stage on May 8th before they set off on the Summer Slaughter tour with Hatebreed and Balmora.
Violent Vira
Violent Vira released debut LP Lover of a Ghost late last year, and will be materializing onto stages all throughout 2026 to bolster the inky, nu-grooving, emotions-haunted dynamism of songs like “Lil Crush” and “Saccharine.”
The Dallas, Texas-based artist mans a headlining tour on her way to Welcome to Rockville, and also has a run of dates coming up with BABYMETAL and Halestorm later in the year. Her songs question faith, love and more, and a flock of followers will no doubt be ready to catch the anticipated, day-opening set.
Get to the Octane stage early on May 8th to catch Violent Vira before she ghosts the festival grounds.