Damnation Festival 2024
Damnation Festival 2024
BEC Arena, Manchester
02/11/2024
Review by Rory Bentley and Rick Eaglestone
Now in its 19th year Damnation has long established itself as the place to be for fans of the Extreme and underground of Rock and Metal, gathering the Post-Rock chin-strokers, the trve kvlt die-hards and the audio sickos for one big, beautiful, twisted party. Like Roadburn for people that have gravy on their chips.
The following accounts are from myself, and the man ‘Slick’ Rick Eaglestone, as we left our Leicestershire bubble and braved the grim North. Here’s the view from the pit/merch stand.
Rory’s thoughts:
A.A. Williams
As a Damnation newbie I could not have had a better introduction to the day than seeing one of my favourite artists kicking off the main stage. For 40 beautiful minutes Williams and her band make everyone do an ugly-cry-face with sublime, melancholic Post-Metal as her haunting voice soars over the arena PA. From the moment the opening chord of ‘For Nothing’ shimmers into the afternoon air, it feels like the assembled throng are all part of sacred ritual as the song builds and explodes to its devastating crescendo.
‘Murmurs’ is particularly gorgeous as Williams unleashes her soaring belt, backed ably with majestic layers of synth and guitars and it was clear that Alex had made many new fans by the end of the set. Album number three can’t come soon enough.
https://www.facebook.com/aawilliamsmusic
Gillian Carter
Despite some unfortunate technical issues, Floridian Post-Hardcore/Screamo trio Gillian Carter do a great job tearing round the Holy Goat stage and abusing their instruments like they owe them money. The angular, screeching riffage, chaotic drumming and filthy bass lines are a perverse delight and provide a wiry intensity that makes the band stand out on the bill. An inspired booking that we’ll hopefully see again.
https://www.facebook.com/gilliancarterofficial
Gatecreeper
Part of Damnation’s appeal is watching filthy unlistenable underground bands play a massive arena stage, however with Gatecreeper it feels like huge stages are the only place they could possibly play. The new songs from “Dark Superstition” sound utterly colossal and dare I say anthemic, without ever feeling watered down for bigger audiences. ‘Caught In The Treads’ is the kind of thing Lamb of God wish they could still write and ‘Dead Star’ and ‘The Black Curtain’ are like Bolt Thrower channelling Bon Jovi (kind of).
Make no mistake, there are huge outdoor festivals that aren’t going to know what hit them next summer when these songs are unleashed on the masses. Give them a Download MainStage slot and watch the place explode.
https://www.facebook.com/@gatecreeper
200 Stab Wounds
I don’t tend to hit the pit very often as I loom ever closer to the big 4-0, however I came out of mosh retirement for some filthy Hardcore-splattered Death Metal from these Cleveland natives. Safe to say I am considering my re-retirement because the pit for this set was truly harrowing! Despite getting walloped so hard, part of me is still in another dimension, I couldn’t resist two-stepping and spin-kicking along to riff after riff of the most savage, thugged-out insanity I’ve witnessed in a long time.
Every song hit like a ton of bricks, Steve Buhl commanded the crowd while peeling out utter filth on the fretboard and the whole band sounded absolutely gigantic. The likes of ‘Itty Bitty Pieces’ and ‘Slave To The Scalpel’ turned the crowd into rabid, fist-swinging beasts with each putrid, colon-loosening chug. Unbelievable.
https://www.facebook.com/200StabWounds
Nails
Drawing possibly the biggest crowd of the day, Todd Jones and his gang of horrible bastards utterly destroy the BEC for 45 minutes of filthy D-Beat/Powerviolence/Death/Hardcore. Each sub 2 minute burst inspires mass violence the likes of which this venue has surely never seen. The filthy, oppressive and downright repulsive guitar tone the band have staked their name on sounds utterly magnificent, backed by fucking pyro for fucks sake!
Opening with ‘You Will Never Be One of Us’ is an inspired choice at a festival that prides itself on a close knit community devoted to messed up underground music. There’s too many highlights to mention, but I’ll remember the cacophonous mountain of sludge that is the riff to ‘Wide Open Wound’ and the collective reaction of mass stink face and head banging for the rest of my days. Heck, even the notoriously grumpy Jones was beaming from ear to ear throughout. Welcome back Nails!
https://www.facebook.com/NAILSoxnard
Bleeding Through
The Orange County Blackened Metalcore legend’s triumphant return also pulls in a huge crowd and ignites some horrifying pits that I was still too injured from the Stab Wounds lad’s attack in Manchester to brave. Unfortunately the sound didn’t project as well as it could to the back of the arena, although it was satisfyingly ferocious further towards the stage.
Drawing heavily from the classic “This is Love This is Murderous” the likes of ‘Love Lost In A Hail of Gunfire’ are greeted like the noughties anthems they are. ‘Revenge I Seek’ was particularly vicious, and once again the band seemed thrilled by the crowd response.
https://www.facebook.com/BleedingThrough
Inter Arma
Now this was something else. The Virginia (Sludge? Post? Southern Rock? I don’t even know?) five-piece have become the benchmark for fearless, galaxy-brained Extreme Metal. To witness them unleash the title track from this year’s incredible “New Heaven” is to touch greatness. The squalling pterodactyl riff and frantic, Zappa-esque drumming have no right to be that catchy, particularly when accompanied by Mike Paparo’s cavernous, impossibly deep growl.
Over their 50 minutes we are treated to gorgeous, soul-stirring soloing, building-levelling riffing (‘Citadel’ blew my skull apart) and even a little bit of Van Halen’s ‘Hot for Teacher’. This is music from another dimension and despite it often being terrifying, I wouldn’t mind living there.
Also, without wishing to resort to hyperbole, I actually think T.J. Childers might be the best drummer in the world. Thousands of us were transfixed by his technical brilliance and pure soul as he put in a performance that was beyond mortal comprehension.
https://www.facebook.com/INTERARMA
Ahab
Look, I’m not gonna complain about the most painful clash since Download scheduled Slayer against Tool in 2019, but I will say I had no regrets about my decision to watch some nautical Funeral Doom from the masterful Germans over the Dragged Into Sunlight sensory assault. While everyone in the other room were apparently getting slaughtered, myself and a thousand or so people that bloody love sea monsters and shot were treated to a majestic hour of crushing riffs and melancholic melodies with the best low-end gutturals in the game.
Last year’s stunning “The Coral Tombs” is represented by the tri-monoliths of ‘Mobilis in Mobili’, ‘The Marlstrom’ and ‘The Sea As A Desert’, which already sound like Doom classics. Meanwhile elsewhere old school classic ‘Old Thunder’ loses none of its pummelling impact and one could never get tired of ‘O Father Sea’. Unless you don’t like lurching 7 minute riff fests with vocals deeper than the Mariana Trench. Daniel Droste’s miserable yet kind of beautiful cleans are especially effective here, coming across like Funeral Doom Morrisey, which is actually a compliment believe it or not.
https://www.facebook.com/AhabDoom
Rick’s Thoughts:
On the 19th incarnation of Damnation festival, I was incredibly fortunate that the clash finder gods were looking down on me.
Among the sets I saw on the Saturday the highlights for me are below – I of course did take in some other acts but as this is put together like Ever Metal Assemble with a trio of us writing well we have pretty much covered them all! And I am fairly certain that all of us have now blind bought for the 2025 event, which will now be 2 days, so one for each decade.
Dool
Dool were a band that I discovered via a cover version Killing Joke’s ‘Love Like Blood’. Their combination of woeful, tinged with a deep-rooted rawness, kept me transfixed throughout their set, and I think out of everyone I saw play that day, their music is the one I have gone back to the most.
https://www.facebook.com/allthosewhowanderaredool
High Parasite
Out of everyone that day High Parasite was the unexpected addition that made me happy. They were added as a last-minute replacement, and even though they’re in their infancy, their Gothic Metal pedigree is not to be sniffed at. Their debut album has only been out a brief time, yet the majority of the audience, myself included, sang along with every word whilst being swept along by the Paradise Lost style tones.
https://www.facebook.com/highparasiteofficial
The Ruins of Beverast
Ruins of Beverast were shrouded in gloom and incense. This was my first time seeing them and their brooding atmosphere translates just as much on stage as it does through my speakers. There were no breaks, no interactions with the audience, just an unassuming essence of ominous fury.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050277618207
Now, I have seen Cradle of Filth countless times, and I had considered seeing them on other dates on their current tour. But the promise of an “old school exclusive” set was still quite the pull, as I’m approaching my third decade of becoming a fan.
As far as the set goes there were some welcome additions such as ‘Heaven Torn Asunder’ and ‘The Forest Whispers my Name’, and this latest version of Cradle seemed to have really come together musically to perform the back catalogue. There were some tracks I would have loved from the Principle era. but that will hopefully be another time.
Technically and from a showmanship point Dani and legion served up a worthy headline performance and easily one of my favourites in recent years.
https://www.facebook.com/cradleoffilth
Loved the venue, Loved the vibe, loved the people, and loved the food – Already creating wish lists and counting down the days to 2025.
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley, Rick Eaglestone and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.