With last year’s event cancelled due to covid, this Autumn/Winter festival is one of worldwide acclaim, where usually artists spanning the globe vie for spots on the bill. Many of the international artists ended up cancelling their scheduled appearance this year to be replaced by home grown acts creating a line-up equally as good and, I’m sure for some, better. Also, this was the last time that Damnation will be held at Leeds University as the event is moving to the BEC Arena in Manchester in 2022, the city where it was originally founded. It is fair to say that the festival has been outgrowing Leeds University for a number of years with the individual rooms often rammed uncomfortably solid, making it difficult to watch bands and even get around the place. Like previous years it was sold out months ago and at one point this year’s event had over a thousand people on the waiting list for tickets, of which I was one of them. As you have deduced, I was a lucky punter to get a ticket on that list and was looking forward to a packed day of astounding diversity and accomplished musicianship. I was not disappointed as the whole day had enough for any type of metal you care to name, though I was disappointed that Green Lung had pulled out due to one of their members contracting covid.
Daring to venture onto public transport where I live can often be a lottery on the times so the plan was to set off early and wait it out until doors opened at midday. The organisers had everything running like a well-oiled machine, wristband exchange was quick, though I was about fifth in the queue I might add, as the venue opened to greet the gig starved hordes with a multitude of vendors plying their wares, alongside the bands selling their own merch, of which there was plenty. Damnation is split into four stages with decreasing size and capacity spread throughout the University, as my first job was checking what was on offer and making mental notes of what I might want to get my hands on from the merch tables, then buy a pint and head off to catch my first band, Mountain Caller from London, on the Eyesore stage. The room was already fairly packed, though quite why they always hover around the entry blocking people from going in is baffling to me, as once I was in there was tons of room. Mountain Caller weren’t your typical starting band for a festival as they delivered a rugged yet polished set of tracks within the instrumental progressive post-rock genre. Indeed, this three-piece played like it was a jamming session, utterly relaxed as guitarist Claire and bassist El commanded your attention. As the band drifted on stage Claire casually said the crowd are the new best-looking crowd she’s seen, and indeed the lady was full of little anecdotes like that during the, set as they opened with ‘Beyond This Black Horizon’. There was something evocative about their music, blanketing the audience with subtlety as their riffs were tinged with a Sabbath flurry I detected. With tempo dynamics in abundance, drummer Max was a swirl of activity, impacting all the songs with ability and power as ‘Trial By Combat’ followed, but not until Claire espoused about travelling from London, saying she always loves it because the signs just say the north in capital letters and that’s all you need to know. With an oppressive sludge foundation, the track had a tar like quality, creeping with atmospheric morosity, but balanced by delicate guitar work as ‘The Library’ continued their set, a new tune that will appear on their upcoming sophomore at some point. With bass work adorning its opening the song was awash with catchiness and surreal eeriness that the audience appreciated. At one point we were given a natural history lesson on cockroaches and their behaviour whilst tuning up as the band finished their set with ‘Dreamspirals’, I believe. I particularly enjoyed this song, its weaving guitar work, amply demonstrated the obvious ability and ingenuity as I took my leave to make sure I got into the Cult Never Dies room for Abduction.
Even setting off early for Abduction wasn’t enough as I was greeted with a wall of people already awaiting the black metal band. Standing at back meant I could hear their set and only briefly observe cloaked heads on stage. I must admit it was uncomfortable to try and watch whilst people attempted to crush themselves into the room, but Abduction set about their barbaric set with nihilistic abandon, every piercing riff and throat scraping vocal penetrating the crowd, as the speed of the songs was tempered with catchy segments.
‘Convulsing At Baalbek’ slashed at the audience with murderous glee but backed by Abduction’s atmospheric positioning when required. Abduction had an inhuman quality at times though the songs were balanced by calmer more ambient sections that I couldn’t really absorb due to the all the chatter where I was stood.
With time being short for these early acts, and knowing I had to leave to make sure I got a spot for the next band by vacating the room and venture to the Tone MGMT Stage to catch Party Cannon, with an absolutely sardined room of slammers awaiting their caveman riffing and gutter trawling density. With beach balls thrown into the crowd I knew their set was going to be chaos as a techno intro piece was used. With slam riffs raining down blows from start to finish, this was a set of the lowest common denomination, punishing brutality within the blasted sections hooked into the groove laced slam phases, that the now very active crowd was appreciating.
As the pit did its business so did Party Cannon by launching a couple of inflatable sharks (one of which made a reappearance later on; more on that later) into the crowd creating an image of slamming sharknado as the pit revolved. Their opener was followed by Jack Vs The Exotic Crustacean, a song about a giant crab we were told, as the blast beat oblivion was peppered with slam riff exploits that the crowd lapped up. Always wanting a laugh, the band had plenty of one liners for the crowd, backed by the crowd having their own as their set became a blur and the songs blended into one, giving me cause to search out pastures new, namely the main Jagermeister stage for Evile.
Evile were insanely intense at Bloodstock this year when I saw them, as I was hoping for more of the same, where they duly obliged as the reinvigorated act, now with Ol on vocals and guitar, after his brother departed. The Yorkshire act has not played Damnation for ten years so there was a point to prove, and prove it they did with immeasurable aplomb. The momentum and sheer scything rabidity unleashed by Evile was as brutal and savage as anything on the day, as they opened with the title track of their latest and excellent album, ‘Hell Unleashed’. The scathing riffs stripped skin, slicing off limbs as the pit eventually kicked off when ‘Killer Of The Deep’ started up.
Spiralling lead breaks were duelled constantly during the set as the venom and ferocity of ‘Head Of The Demon’ was there for all to witness. The attempt at audience participation for ‘Cult’ was appreciated by most, though not all as I heard someone shout get on with it, as Ol told us the song is not called cunt and introduced the band members too. ‘Cult’ is a catchy number and that wasn’t lost on the amassing crowd, but nothing compares to their immense ‘We Who Are About To Die’, its riff and groove is utterly infectious with vicious riffs coupled to the fret blazing lead work as they aired ‘Gore’ from the latest album too to maintain momentum. Like I said you had to be very conscious of the time when getting to the next stage for your next band as by the time they got into ‘Thrasher’ I had to leave for my next act on the Tone stage.
Glaswegian brawlers Man Must Die were quite probably the heaviest and most brutal band I saw; their modernised bludgeoning sonic devastation was unparalleled, all backed by the formidable larynx of Joe McGlynn whose predatorial use of the stage was enough to catalyse the crowd towards frenzied action. It’s been a few years since I saw Man Must Die back in 2018 at the immense Stonehenge Festival in Holland and here, they were equally savaging, battering the amassing crowd into a bloody pulp as their obliterating power was exemplified through ‘It Comes In Threes’ prior to which Joe said “how the fuck are we doing. We’re from Glasgow to play for you crazy cunts” or words to that effect.
Remember that shark I mentioned during the Party Cannon set, well it resurfaced for an encore as it was flung here there and everywhere as once again we had sharknado as it eventually ended up on the balcony, from which some bright spark sent it down in the access lift behind me. I only know this cos Bruce, as I’ve now named him, shoved the door open to re-join the pit. ‘Bring Me The Head Of The King’, was aired as a taster for the upcoming new album, due next year, as the audience was really starting to appreciate what the Scots had to offer. More chat asking for hands for the old bastards as ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ mauled the crowd with pulverising power and electrifying energy before a diatribe eschewing the ills of people glued to their phones, then proceeded to kick the crap out of us with ‘Antisocial Network’ before they closed with a crowd favourite, and one they knew extremely well, ‘Kill It, Skin It, Wear It’ that the crowd bellowed back at the band on the chorus. With plenty of groove the song was damaging on all fronts and left the crowd beaten, bruised and battered.
At this point a breather was in order so I retreated to buy another kraken and coke and chill for a while to digest the day and prepare for Gama Bomb on the same stage as Man Must Die, some half hour or so later. This was a difficult decision as they clashed with Green Lung replacements Svalbard but having seen Svalbard the previous evening at the A Night Of Salvation showcase I opted for the Irish thrashers Gama Bomb who are always excellent live, much like Svalbard were the previous evening. I’ve never seen a show by Gama Bomb that wasn’t great, as they fun infused violence was the perfect antidote after my breather. Using the Bonanza TV theme as their intro they quickly set about chopping off some flesh from the gathered rabid horde, as Philly Byrne was decked out in some psychedelic garb that didn’t do your eyes much good.
Sea Savage’ was their opener and at first I thought the guitar sound mix was terrible and whilst I understand the use of left and right differentiation of both guitars, live it left the sound lop sided at times because I was stood to the front left of the stage, cowering in a corner whilst the pit did its business. ‘666teen’ followed the opener and continued their unabating speed onslaught. Chat was minimal as Joe said “Oh my god, we’re back. I can’t believe I’m back, this is amazing” as ‘Final Fight’ levelled the audience with pulsating power and unadulterated speed. A new tune was aired, ‘Sheer Khan’ I believe that I actually missed because of the surging crowd as they continued to demolish the assembled seething mass that was the crowd, as their blisteringly short and incendiary tunes were fired out like missiles as Joe told us the next song was about Robocop and smashed into ‘OCP’ requesting the crowd to shout Dick Jones during it; we duly obliged of course. ‘Thunder Over London’, ‘Hell Trucker’ were hurled out also as by now alarm bells were ringing in my brain to head out for Onslaught and not get caught in the herd movement of this crowd, who I expected to do the same at the end of Gama Bomb’s set.
Grabbing another bevvy on my way to the Jagermeister stage, I was hoping that Onslaught would repeat their annihilating set of Bloodstock. With an intro sample that I didn’t recognise Onslaught did indeed repeat the feat of Bloodstock, their unwavering power and outright viciousness was palpable throughout their set. ‘Sound Of Violence’ crashed into the crowd who had indeed moved into here after their shift for Gama Bomb. Old tune ‘Let There Be Death’ gave us old fogies something to latch onto, though I would say that their old tracks are nowhere near as violent as the new ones.
Case in point was ‘Destroyer Of Worlds’ and the immense ‘Killing Peace’ from the same album, the latter of which has one of the best openings in any thrash tune to me, venomously spraying out the words ‘Spitting Blood In The Face Of God. ‘66’Fucking’6’ continued their momentum before returning to old school material with ‘Metal Forces’, one of my favourites by the band and containing its fantastic riff as I stalked away to the Eyesore stage for Sylvaine.
In my intro I said that this was day was about contrasts and there was nothing more contrasting than progressive post-rock act Sylvaine. Indeed, it was clear that many wanted to see what she had to offer as the stark contrast was there for all to hear, the poignant, atmospherics compositions were superb and whilst I have never listened to Sylvaine, I was hooked from the moment the band started. This multinational act appeared on stage through dimmed lighting and a weird intro opener as they breezed in. Kathrine Shepard, aka Sylvaine, was mesmerising, as was her cohort of accompanying musicians as I got a wave of alcoholic euphoria wash over me that was wholly appropriate, as the band balanced the ambient atmospherics with acerbic metal segments brilliantly. Telling us it was her first time on stage in over two years, was greeted with a cheer as clean vocals adorned the next track penetrated by the sublime guitar work that infested all the songs. I would say the constant tuning up between tracks dulled momentum but the crowd didn’t care as a false start ensued on one making them start it again as the eeriness of the music blanketed the audience with its ethereal qualities enabling confidence to grow and became more animated. Usually, I would have vacated to catch my next band, but I just couldn’t, there was so much to absorb from Sylvaine, so much to listen to and feel as the subtleties of the musicianship were unmatched on the day as the crowd remained generally respectful on the tranquil sections. There was nobody like Sylvaine I saw on the day, as they ensured I would be checking them out at home for sure.
The choice between trying to get into the Cult Never Dies stage to see Winterfylleth or have more chance with Godflesh on the Jagermeister was a difficult one to make as I prefer the atmospheric black metallers, but the thought of being crushed in the smallest venue was enough for me to plump for the industrial metallers Godflesh. I’ve got a couple or so releases by Godflesh and previously have enjoyed their nihilistic industrial noise but my tastes have changed as they had a hefty number of people watching them.
With no idea of song titles, I’ll make my guesses as their often loud, ear-splitting torture was enough to vibrate my skeleton at times as I think they opened with ‘Jesu’ as my friends were not fans of this band and wandered off for some grub, only to be told that noodle bar had a one hour waiting time, which is ridiculous. Still, Godflesh provided food for the corrupted soul, as I recognised ‘Pulp’ from the band’s early days but I must admit their droning dissonant deluge was not my thing as I decided to cut my losses and head off to the Eyesore stage again to await Regarde Les Hommes Tomber.
Conan clashed with the French act Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, but having seen Conan at Bloodstock I stuck to seeing someone new. This was probably my best decision of the day as the atmospheric metallers were a total revelation. With incense sticks burning that I could just smell them after having my taste and smell senses decimated by covid in recent weeks there was a lot of anticipation for RLHT, you could feel it in the air, a static electric expectancy permeating the now big crowd that had assembled. The band floated on stage whilst a backing track was played and launched into their sludge filled opener with confidence and unassuming prowess.
The gradations in texture were scintillating from start to finish, coupling intense workouts to an atmospheric blackened backdrop as the band looked to have some minimal corpse paint on. Flowing into the next song, their set was awash with expansive hooks and melodies that enveloped as it was quite clear the audience was totally enthralled. With no breaks between the first four songs there was a cohesive stream, each track leading into the other, linking in superbly as blasted fury was met with intense atmospherics and ambient passages. The empowering dynamics this band purveyed was supreme as they used bridging pieces at times, building up each song with elaborate flair incorporating semi acoustic breaks to stunning effect as time was once again upon me to make my way for Paradise Lost on the main stage, but not before I bought RLHT’s latest album and picked up some Mountain Caller stuff too.
Paradise Lost are more or less on a roll of anniversaries for their early albums as the band played all of ‘Draconian Times’ at Bloodstock. I was looking forward to something similar here as they celebrated 30 years of ‘Gothic’. Annoyingly I could have stayed to see the end of Regarde Les Hommes Tomber’s set as Paradise Lost started ten minutes late. Compared to their Bloodstock performance, which was excellent, there was something remiss for me here, a lack of atmosphere as the band was to play ‘Gothic’ in its entirety. Maybe it was due to me standing at the back and watching from afar but I wasn’t on my own as some people started to leave after a couple of tunes.
If you know the ‘Gothic’ album then you know it is saturated in atmosphere, a ground breaking release that spawned a whole subgenre of metal back in the early 90s. The opener ‘Gothic’ seemed to drift by nonchalantly without much energy, though ‘Dead Emotions’ did add an injection of impetus, likewise with ‘Shattered’ but by now I was actually yawning with boredom and decided to head off to see if I could see Hellripper.
The Cult Never Dies stage was absolutely rammed solid, again, making it virtually impossible to write any notes. The bands dirt infused thrash was a welcome antidote to the drear of Paradise Lost, but standing to watch the band in comfort was nigh on impossible, as they ripped the gathered heaving audience plenty of new ones. Grabbing another drink and holding it close I stood at the back against a wall and absorbed Hellripper’s assaulting blackened speed metal nihilism. If they had a pit, I couldn’t see it as this cult UK act has gone from strength to strength in recent years gathering a healthy horde of rabid fans along the way as track after track was hurled out with homicidal fervour. Knowing that the Tone stage has been regularly packed out on the day I squeezed myself out of Hellripper’s set to find a spot for juggernaut death metal troupe Memoriam and so missed their cover of Venom’s ‘Black Metal’ I was told after.
I’m sure you know that Memoriam was founded by Karl Willetts out of the ashes of seminal act Bolt Thrower and ably assisted by a gaggle of established musicians from other UK death metal bands; Frank Healy (bass), Scott Fairfax (guitar) and Spike Smith (drums) filling the ranks, creating an undeniably formidable band. Memoriam’s war themed death metal bulldozed the huge audience that had crammed into the room as their noise-based intro led into ‘Undefeated’. Karl’s cavernous vocals were the most monstrous of the day, his depth of tone unequalled as the band powered into the crowd like a tank battalion with ‘Shell Shock’ and bombarding us with implosive drum work.
Some chat about how are we doing, pissed and knackered I said to myself, as they added ‘Onwards Into Battle’ to their strategic sonic repertoire with the pit a flurry of frenetic bedlam, though I’ve never quite understood why so many of the fellas take their shirts off; it wasn’t that warm to me. ‘War Rages On’ and ‘This War Is One’ crushed the audience as did ‘’To The End’ as Karl asked us to think a moment about people we’ve lost, as some tech issue prevailed but was quickly rectified as the song flattened the now sweaty pit masses. With the prospect of Carcass to come I made my way out just as the band started up with ‘Vacant Stare’ to have a breather and hopefully find a decent spot for the main stage headliners.
It is fair to say that Carcass are more popular now than they’ve ever been or probably were during their ground breaking days of the late 80s and 90s. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band but, I wasn’t disappointed one bit from start to finish as they played a virtually seamless set complete with scrolling backdrop images and videos ensuring that every song had been thought about sonically and visually. The question of what they would play from their latest excellent album ‘Torn Arteries’ had been discussed between my friends and I, and in particular whether the band would play the epic tune from it, they didn’t.
As the stage darkened a roar was bellowed from the crowd and the band launched into ‘Incarnated Solvent Abuse’, bathed in incandescent white light the clinical sound was perfect, every instrument given equal prominence as they followed it with ‘Buried Dreams’. I couldn’t quite get what Jeff was saying before the song started as I was stood at the back but with its infectious hook it clawed into the crowd as those disturbing images took your attention at times. Sticking with older material ‘Exhume To Consume’ was guttural, grisly and ghastly effective as a blended doublet was aired consisting of ‘Black Star’ and ‘Keep On Rotting In The Free World’. I was thinking by now that they weren’t going to play new songs as the momentum and flow was undiminished and whilst Carcass have never been the most animated band on stage the music was certainly doing what was required as the set list modernised with ‘Unfit For Human Consumption’ from the ‘Surgical Steel’ album.
This was the trigger for new material as ‘Kelly’s Meat Emporium’ came next and was merged with ‘Dance Of Ixtab’ or ‘Dance Of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No.1 in B)’ to give it the full title, producing an elongated section of the set that flew by with cohesive brutalising finesse. Chat was minimal which added to the thrust of the set as ‘This Mortal Coil’ returned us to older material and was followed by the gruesome ‘Genital Grinder’ that linked superbly into ‘Corporal Jigsore Quandary’ with its instantly recognisable riff. Carcass were an unstoppable force, perfect headliners for Damnation as the songs were reeled off culminating in an encore of two tunes that began with a new one ‘The Scythe’s Remorseless Swing’. Slower and more groove infested the new song was excellent as the bands trademark death ‘n’ roll gave some people something to ‘dance’ to and was followed by closing track ‘Captive Bolt Pistol’. Carcass proved easily why they headlined this festival and why they are still as ground breaking and essential as they were over three decades ago, leaving everyone who watched their set completely gratified and grateful for playing.
The last Damnation Festival to be held at Leeds University was a resounding success, I only wish I could have seen every band and reviewed them, but what I saw was fantastic, a colossal day of contrasts, brutality mixing with dexterity and always with astounding musicianship that no one can deny as I headed out into the surprisingly mild November evening.
Next edition of Damnation Festival takes place 5/11/22 at Manchester Arena. So far Ministry, Converge, Pig Destroyer, Destruction, Wolves In The Throne Room, Despised Icon, Elder, Pallbearer, Toxic Holocaust, Bell Witch & Ariel Ruin and Irist have all been announced.
Review: Martin Harris
Photos: Phil Pountney
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