Glancing out of the hotel window was enough to know that the second day was going to be a damp affair. However, with bands not starting until 6pm it gave our group a chance to head out. But first, no trip to Ulverston can ever be undertaken without paying a visit to the museum of the greatest comedy duo that has ever existed, namely Laurel & Hardy which I whizzed around, taking note at how much memorabilia there was and vowing to return at some point after buying some merch, as my friends and I headed to a rammed Keswick on Saturday afternoon for food and beers, which set us up brilliantly for the second day and began with ultra-noisy act Necro Ritual.

The perfect antidote to any hangovers lingering around at 6pm, there was nothing subtle about Necro Ritual, their raw, abrasive offensive was nihilistic, caustic and unashamedly vicious from start to finish, utilising an ornate antler type mic stand the band garbed in suitable attire and corpse painted so they looked like they had been dug up from the surrounding wood.

Retro black metal was on order delivering a malice and scathing assault as my song title interpretation mechanism was extremely rusty but I do believe they ripped us a new one with ‘A Corpse Was Born In Bethlehem’ though I may be mistaken and I apologise if I am incorrect. One of their songs had clean vocals that caught me unawares and just about worked with the ravenous tirade of the rest of the set but suffice to say Necro Ritual injected that air of sinister malevolence to open the second day.

I was fairly familiar with Devastator in their studio output, having reviewed their debut full length ‘Baptised In Blasphemy’ for Ave Noctum during 2020, which you can read here.  Devastator do just what their band name suggests, their unmitigated rancour was backed by fine riffs and deluges of speed, unveiling their black thrash credentials in all its spike festooned glory. They also played every song from that said debut album and cranked up the vitriol, after the intro, with ‘Howling Night’. The raw primitive riffing was awesome and whilst the songs were not necessarily fast, they had power and intensity linked to their proto black barbarity. ‘Worship The Goat’ followed and if you weren’t paying attention you could say they descended into a noise at times but this was highly controlled playing, blurring speeds linked to caustic groove on songs like ‘Merciless Onslaught’.

Crowd numbers were distinctly higher today, whether due to the myriad of band members knocking about or just more punters were around at the start of the day I’m not sure, but one thing is certain they grabbed the audience by their throats on every song and even aired a bastardised version of Venom’s ‘Countess Bathory’ which I am always going to appreciate, being the old git that I am. ‘Death Slut’ was pugnacious and hostile, as was ‘Spiritual Warfare’ incorporating some very cool riffs on the latter which seemed to plunge into depths of sonic depravity. A Sodom cover was aired too, ‘Blasphemer’, a song I’ve always loved and they did it justice, and was probably a tad a cleaner than the original, if that’s possible, as they closed with a doublet of ‘Baptised In Blasphemy’ and ‘Hail Death’. The former was dedicated to Quorthon as the band utilised the stage fully, engaging with the crowd and ensuring they sent everyone off sincerely satisfied with their black thrash mauling, and I waited for their merch to come out.

Manchester’s Burial have gone from strength to strength, their straight death metal beginnings are now blended with blackened highlights constructing a band that is fast developing into one of the UK’s best blackened death metal acts. And having the ever-amiable Derek Carley, who also played in Wolfbastard the previous day, is always a plus, as every minute was peppered with one liners amidst their rampaging deathly tracks which I felt were the most aggressive and bludgeoning of the weekend. No intros here, they battered the crowd with tracks like ‘Encircled By Wolves’ and ‘Void Of Decay’ and what they lacked in finesse they more than made up for in sheer aggression. Shouting Yorkshire at a band from Manchester was never going to go down well, and didn’t, telling them where to go before smashing into ‘Destruction Absolute’.

Their barrage equated to sticking your head in a jet engine on full thrust as they continued with the excellent ‘Decayed By Time’, brandishing an awesome riff break that was pure old school black metal to these wizened ears. The banter was continuous too between songs, as someone asked Derek to take his coat off or he won’t feel the benefit, to much laughter… he duly obliged. ‘Hellish Reaping Screams’ was greeted by the band handing out beers to those down the front before lobbing one at someone who dropped it to much jeering and the comment of ‘fucking hell, do you play for Oldham’ and then sprayed the crowd with riffing bullets into all quarters. Asking for a triangle of death during the song was a step too far geometrically for some as they closed with ‘Nun Fucking Black Metal’ and more banter about the organiser which I won’t publish here for fear of offending any dogs reading… if you were there you’ll know what I mean. In conclusion, Burial, were utterly bludgeoning, they took no prisoners, their relentless songs carved the crowd with homicidal glee and all done with an air of humour, superb set.

I didn’t watch Necronautical at Bloodstock, but instead waited to catch them here and was really looking forward to what they had to offer, even though I have seen them previously in 2019. With rain incessantly pouring for the previous acts I was glad of some respite when the band hit the stage and could take my raincoat off, though it didn’t last for long. The band decked the stage in candles, nothing new there, they used an intro too, nothing new there either but as they got into their set, they also had clean male and female vocalists, the latter of which was full on operatic which for me just did not work. Their melodic black metal was infused with those extraneous bits and whilst Vicky Harley was clearly a gifted vocalist the blend with Necronautical’s music just sounded off, an amalgamation that I just found hard to digest, and I love operatic metal.

However, when the band was playing their straight black metal the results were astounding and breath-taking, capturing the genre effortlessly on songs like ‘Spitzenkörper’ with its light symphonic toning. Same applied to ‘Hypnagogia’ delivering blackened subtlety alongside their acerbic riffing that continued into ‘Slain In The Spirit’. After some time the operatic vocal insertions started to grate on me, and glancing around the fest I could see people’s attention waning, maybe not for the same reasons, but probably, as I decided to take a breather, sit down, break out my Kraken rum and dissolve what was left of my brain cells.

Winterfylleth, were also on at Bloodstock, but again decided to wait to see them here and hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed like I was with Necronautical. Winterfylleth were majestic but their set was fraught with technical issues before they even started. With problems with the guitar cutting out and generally things just not being right the band said they’ll just get on with it and professionals that they are, they did just that and their intro was piped through. By now the rain was absolutely tipping down, the sky shedding bucketloads on the gathered masses and if you weren’t under the awning then you did get soaked if you didn’t have water proofs on, which I did plus the brolly of course. Launching into ‘Absolved By Fire’ they started their set superbly, their massive epic soundscape was there to behold in all its glory and if truth be told the rain just added to the magic of their set in Fell Foot Wood. As they battled through the tech issues ‘The Reckoning Dawn’ was aired to the appreciative and patient crowd.

Like I said Winterfylleth are as epic as it gets in atmospheric black metal, their ability to write such sweeping soundscapes is unmatched as new guitarist Russell Dobson, also of Necronautical, blended into the band’s sound seamlessly. You could see their frustration but they jostled with the tech issues and never let it get the better of them as they played the staggering ‘Ghosts Of Heritage’ and dedicated to all those who have been around since the beginning. The power and stratospheric grandiosity was palpable as they contrasted it with the more punk infused riff start to ‘Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain)’ before plunging the song into the inimitable riffing atmospherics. The clean vocal harmonies only added to how engrossing and captivating this band is, adding layers of ambience to their already imposing tracks as they closed with a doublet of ‘A Hostile Fate (The Wayfarer Pt.4)’ and ‘Ensigns Of Victory’. Despite all the technical issues Winterfylleth continued to deliver on all fronts, professionally and calmly, ensuring that their performance was still one of the best if not the best of the entire festival. Stunning performance!

With the rain almost sheeting by now I took my leave as Winterfylleth were in the last minute or two of their last track and reflected that Northern Darkness Open Air was a fabulous addition to the summer festival program and I sincerely hope they do it all again next year, as I’m sure everyone of the 120 tickets sold will agree, it was brilliant.

https://www.facebook.com/NorthernDarknessOpenAir

Review: Martin Harris

Photos: Andy Pountney