Magnetic Eye Records showcase feat. GREENLEAF announced at Ripplefest Texas 2026

Scandinavian riff rock legends GREENLEAF will headline the inaugural Magnetic Eye Records label showcase at this year's Ripplefest Texas heavy music festival in Austin, TX. Their performance will mark the band's first live appearance ever on a US stage, as well as the first time the label will take over an entire festival day at the premier destination event for desert, stoner, doom and heavy psych in North America.

Ripplefest Texas runs from September 17-20, 2026 and features headline sets from major artists like YOB and KHEMMIS (a previous guest on Magnetic Eye's "Dirt Redux" release) alongside a plethora of luminaries from throughout the heavy underground.

The Magnetic Eye Records label showcase takes place Sunday, September 20, the final day of the festival, and features five of the label's top live acts supporting their latest MER releases:

• GREENLEAF
• HIGH DESERT QUEEN
• HOWLING GIANT
• FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS
• WITCH RIPPER

The label will also be represented at Ripplefest Texas by SOLACE on one of the New Jersey dirt metal heavyweights' only US performances supporting their July 2026 MER release "Fading Failing Ruin".

The full single day lineups for Ripplefest Texas 2026 have now been revealed, with an array of bands from around the world descending on the Southwest rock capital for four days of amp worship and fuzz-driven power.

Please see below for all artists performing and single day lineup listings.

RIPPLEFEST TEXAS 2026 Individual Day Lineups (not in performance order):

Thursday September 17 at Sagebrush - Ripple Music label showcase

• ZED
• Borracho
• Plaindrifter
• Mr. Plow
• Demons My Friends
• Shadow of Jupiter

Friday September 18 at The Far Out Lounge

• YOB
• Dopethrone
• Thunder Horse
• Fister
• Skloss
• Rebreather
• Blue Heron
• Lake Lake

Saturday September 19 at The Far Out Lounge

• Khemmis
• Kal-El
• Daily Thompson
• Dirty Sound Magnet
• Solace
• Gran Moreno
• Robots of the Ancient World
• Unger
• Plaindrifter
• For Fucks Sake

Sunday September 20 at Sagebrush - Magnetic Eye Records label showcase

• Greenleaf
• High Desert Queen
• Howling Giant
• Friendship Commanders
• Witch Ripper
• Light show by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show

GREENLEAF "Different Horses" Music Video

https://youtu.be/ZdB0HzZ6oNQ

With their ninth full-length "The Head & The Habit", Swedish heavy rockers GREENLEAF have reached the pinnacle of a long evolution. The musical handwriting and well-honed mastery of guitarist Tommi Holappa, who has been a pioneer and pillar of the European stoner rock scene for more than 25 years, shines clearly through. This is perfectly complemented by the soulfulness, intuitive sense of melody, and depth of character that the vocals of classically-trained singer Arvid Hällagård bring to the sound of GREENLEAF.

Apart from world-class vocal lines and massive riffs with electric fuzz-power, GREENLEAF have put extra thought into the themes of "The Head & The Habit", which lift its lyrics far above much of the often cliché-ridden genre. As the album title implies, the new songs resemble symbolic short stories that revolve around emotional struggles and even mental illness. Written by the vocalist, the lyrics reflect real life experience as Hällagård works with people who suffer from problems with drug abuse and psychological health.

Heavy rock afficionados GREENLEAF were initially formed as an informal project by friends that were already playing in other bands including such notable names as DOZER, LOWRIDER, and DEMON CLEANER. The Swedes simply wanted an outlet for their mutual love of '70s-era hard rock and proto-metal while being free from the expectations and pressures of their main bands.

Despite intentions to keep GREENLEAF purely for pleasure, the undiluted joy of creating catchy songs led to everyone demanding for that material to be recorded. This eventually resulted in the release of a self-titled debut EP in 2000, which was quickly followed by first full-length "Revolution Rock" only a year later.

With guitarist and founder Tommi Holappa firmly at the helm, the sound of GREENLEAF remained remarkably consistent throughout the years and releases that followed, even through a variety of personnel changes.

Inspired by growing popularity and the success of "Secret Alphabets" (2003) and "Agents of Ahriman" (2007), they began to shift gears in 2010, moving from "the side project that refused to die" toward something closer to a band with the release of fourth album, 2012's "Nest of Vipers".

Having turned from an on and off fling to a full-time love affair, the years of rotating line-ups ended and GREENLEAF's newfound focus and stability was crowned by their fifth album "Trails & Passes" (2014), which featured new permanent vocalist Arvid Hällagård. This milestone also marked the beginning of a new phase of the band.

Their next two full-lengths, 2016's "Rise Above the Meadow" and 2018's "Hear the Rivers", won the band prime performing slots on European festival stages, while "Echoes from a Mass" (2021) reached the global streaming and European album charts – reflecting the quartet's ever-growing popularity.

Weaving together psychedelia, hard rock, and metallic blues in a warm, serpentine mélange that leaves behind none of the punishing immediacy of their earlier recordings, today's GREENLEAF merge road-tested tightness, swirling guitar-driven soundscapes, and captivating blues-laden vocals into one of the most reliably mesmerizing acts pushing the sonic horizons of desert rock to new frontiers.

With "The Head & The Habit", GREENLEAF combine an awareness of past triumphs with mature craftsmanship, showcasing their confidence in how to rock stronger, harder, and more to the point than ever before. The Swedes melt thunderous riff-magic, enrapturing and soul-heavy vocals, frenetic rhythms and driving attacks into a ear-catching, sparkling alloy of hard rocking anthems!