Aftershock and Relentless Beats are bringing Arizona a brand-new bass-only Halloween experience at Rawhide Festival Grounds on October 30 and 31, 2026.
Words by Isaac J. Pena | @Tempo.Setter
Something heavy is being summoned in the Arizona desert this Halloween.
HEX Music Festival, billed as a “Bass Music Halloween Experience,” will make its debut across two stages and two nights at Rawhide Festival Grounds in Chandler, Arizona, on October 30 and 31, 2026.
Presented by Aftershock, the bass-focused sub-brand of Relentless Beats, HEX arrives with a lineup built to shake the ground from the moment gates open. Subtronics, Excision, INZO, and ATLiens lead the inaugural edition, while a deep supporting roster adds riddim, tearout, experimental bass, dubstep, and high-impact festival energy throughout the weekend.
Gates open at 5:00 PM each day, with the event running until 12:30 AM. HEX is restricted to attendees ages 18 and older.
Arizona’s Bass Community Has Already Proven the Demand
HEX is not entering an untested market.
Arizona has long been one of the strongest destinations in the Southwest for bass music. When dubstep and experimental bass artists appear on multi-genre festival lineups, their stages routinely become some of the most crowded areas of the grounds. Headlining bass shows consistently move tickets, and the state’s fan base has shown that it will travel, arrive early, and stay engaged from the opening set through the final drop.
Relentless Beats confirmed the depth of that demand with the launch of System Overload in February 2026. The bass-only festival brought artists including SLANDER, WOOLI, NGHTMRE, Liquid Stranger, Eptic, HOL!, and more to Rawhide for a weekend that balanced major bookings, high-level production, and strong attendance without sacrificing crowd flow.
HEX feels like the next step in that progression. Instead of giving bass music one large weekend in the winter, Aftershock is now building an entire Halloween ritual around the genre at a time of year when darker visuals, aggressive sound design, masks, costumes, and theatrical production naturally belong together.
Four Headliners Built for Massive Bass Stages
Subtronics: Sound Design Without a Safety Net
Subtronics will lead Day One with the kind of set that pushes both the crowd and the sound system toward their limits.
His imaginative production style has made him one of the most recognizable names in modern bass music. Each performance moves rapidly through detailed sound design, unexpected edits, heavy doubles, and transitions that keep the audience guessing. Just as importantly, Subtronics and his team understand how to use a large stage as part of the performance rather than treating production as background decoration.
His shows regularly combine synchronized visuals, lasers, special effects, and high-impact audio cues into a complete audiovisual experience. On a debut festival weekend where Aftershock will want to establish the identity of HEX immediately, Subtronics is the type of artist capable of making the first night feel fully realized from the start.
INZO: Heavy Bass With a Spiritual Core
Also headlining Day One is INZO, an artist who has built a lane of his own by combining experimental bass with introspection, emotion, and a sense of spiritual release.
INZO’s sets can move from delicate melodic passages into chest-heavy low end without losing their emotional thread. Rather than delivering nonstop aggression, he builds a journey that gives the audience room to breathe, reflect, and then surrender to the next wave of sound.
His February 2026 headline performance at Mesa Amphitheatre demonstrated how naturally that approach expands into a large venue. The music, visuals, and pacing worked together to guide the crowd through a wide range of emotions before returning to the full weight of his bass production. That balance should make INZO one of the most distinct performances of the entire HEX weekend.
Excision: A Festival Architect Steps Into HEX
Excision will take control of Day Two with a reputation that extends far beyond his own headlining performances.
He is not only one of dubstep’s most established artists, but also one of the genre’s most influential festival curators. His team is responsible for large-scale experiences including Thunderdome in Tacoma, Bass Canyon at The Gorge, Mile High at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, and Lost Lands in Thornville, Ohio.
That experience places Excision in a category of his own when it comes to understanding how heavy music should translate through giant sound systems, oversized LED structures, lasers, pyrotechnics, and crowd-moving visual sequences. Whenever his name appears on a festival lineup, the masses follow because attendees know the performance will be built for scale.
His presence at the first edition of HEX immediately raises the production expectations for the entire event.
ATLiens Bring an Otherworldly Closing Presence
ATLiens complete the headlining group with a performance identity that already feels designed for Halloween.
The masked duo has built its world around mystery, extraterrestrial imagery, and a darker approach to experimental dubstep. Their sets are fast, aggressive, and theatrical, combining trap-influenced rhythms with heavy bass drops and a stage presence that keeps the artists visually separate from the ordinary.
At Circuit Grounds during EDC Las Vegas 2025, ATLiens demonstrated how effectively their sound can command a major festival crowd. The harder edge of their music, paired with their alien-like presence, made the performance feel more like an invasion than a standard DJ set.
Inside a festival called HEX, on Halloween weekend, that atmosphere should feel completely at home.
The Supporting Lineup Is Far More Than Filler
HEX’s depth is one of its strongest selling points.
LAYZ brings proven dubstep weight to Day One, while rising names including Dennett, Izzy Vadim, Inaktiv, Nikademis, Onara, and Sora give early arrivals plenty of reason to be inside the grounds before the headliners begin.
Day Two pushes even deeper into the heavier corners of the genre. Riot Ten B2B PhaseOne brings together two established forces for a rare collaborative set, while Modal Nodes represents the sharp, groove-driven side of modern riddim. YVM3 offers one of the weekend’s darkest and most punishing tearout performances, and Hurtbox arrives as one of the genre’s most relevant rising names.
The lineup also includes Badklaat, Decimate, Proxxxy, Softest Hard, Xaebor, and local artists DeathBeat and Linz.
For a debut festival, that level of support matters. HEX is not asking fans to wait through interchangeable opening sets before the recognizable names arrive. Its lower and middle lines include artists who already command dedicated followings and who could easily become highlights of the weekend.
A Halloween Market With Real Competition
HEX is also launching during a significant shift in Arizona’s electronic music market.
Insomniac has continued expanding its presence in the state, including events at WestWorld of Scottsdale. This Halloween, BOO! Arizona is scheduled for the same two nights as HEX: October 30 and 31.
That direct overlap creates a true head-to-head weekend. Arizona attendees will have two large electronic festivals competing for their attention, each with its own identity, venue, lineup, and production style.
For Relentless Beats, which has spent years developing the Arizona market through festivals such as Goldrush, Decadence, Better Together, and System Overload, HEX is more than another date on the calendar. It is an opportunity to remind the region why local knowledge, a loyal audience, and an established understanding of the state’s bass community still matter.
Competition can be healthy for attendees. When two major promoters operate in the same market, expectations rise. Lineups must be stronger, production must be more intentional, and the overall fan experience has to earn loyalty rather than assume it.
Production Details Remain Under the Spell
The exact stage design and production package for HEX have not yet been revealed, which adds to the anticipation surrounding its debut.
What is confirmed is that the festival will operate across two stages at Rawhide Festival Grounds. Beyond that, Aftershock has kept the visual identity of the physical event largely under wraps.
That mystery may work in HEX’s favor. Relentless Beats has already established a high bar through productions featuring large LED walls, powerful sound systems, lasers, pyrotechnics, CO₂, theatrical visuals, and carefully programmed special effects. System Overload showed what Aftershock can do when given an entire festival built around bass music.
Now, with four headliners known for demanding massive audiovisual environments and with direct competition arriving elsewhere in the Valley on the same weekend, the pressure to deliver something memorable will be high.
Fans should not assume that any specific production feature is guaranteed until it is officially announced. Still, the combination of the artists, the venue, the Halloween theme, and Relentless Beats’ recent history makes HEX one of the most intriguing production reveals left on Arizona’s 2026 festival calendar.
What to Know Before Entering the Ritual
Dates: Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, 2026
Venue: Rawhide Festival Grounds, Chandler, Arizona
Hours: Gates open at 5:00 PM each day; event curfew is 12:30 AM
Age Requirement: 18+
Ticket Options: Single-day and two-day passes are available across GA, GA+, and VIP tiers.
Additional options available during checkout include merchandise, reserved tables, shuttles, parking, and hotel packages.
Because HEX takes place on Halloween weekend, costumes feel like a natural part of the experience. However, specific costume, mask, prop, bag, and prohibited-item policies should be confirmed through the official festival guide before attendees arrive. A creative look is never worth losing time at security because part of the costume violates venue rules.
Tempo Setter’s Take
HEX feels less like a random addition to Arizona’s calendar and more like the result of a market finally becoming too large to ignore.
The state’s bass audience has repeatedly shown up for heavy artists, whether they are playing standalone headline shows, mixed-genre festivals, or Aftershock events. System Overload proved that a two-night bass-only concept could succeed at Rawhide. HEX now takes that foundation and attaches it to one of the strongest visual and cultural weekends of the year.
The lineup also avoids relying on only one type of bass fan. Subtronics and Excision bring enormous mainstream draw within dubstep. INZO offers an emotional and experimental journey. ATLiens bring masks, darkness, and high-speed aggression. Beneath them, LAYZ, Riot Ten B2B PhaseOne, Modal Nodes, YVM3, Hurtbox, Dennett, Izzy Vadim, and the rest of the support ensure that riddim, tearout, experimental bass, and festival dubstep all receive space.
The biggest unanswered question is production. That is not a weakness yet; it is the hook. Relentless Beats now has every reason to make the first edition feel like a statement.
If Aftershock can pair this lineup with the same level of crowd management, sound, and production ambition that defined System Overload, HEX could become more than a one-time Halloween experiment. It could establish itself as Arizona’s dedicated annual gathering for the heavier side of electronic music.
Legendary Life Media and Tempo Setter Will Be On Site
Legendary Life Media and Tempo Setter will be on site throughout HEX with festival photography, artist-focused coverage, crowd moments, social content, and a full post-event recap.
Follow @legendarylifemedia and @tempo.setter for continued updates as stage information, festival policies, and additional experience details are announced.
Will You Answer the Summoning?
HEX Music Festival takes place October 30 and 31, 2026, at Rawhide Festival Grounds in Chandler, Arizona. Tickets are on sale now through the official festival website.
Visit SummonTheHEX.com for tickets, travel packages, and official festival updates.
Graphic Credits: Caren West PR | Relentless Beats
Photo Credits: @Tempo.Setter | Isaac J. Pena
Words: Isaac J. Pena | @Tempo.Setter
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