LIVE: Offal Festival Pre-Show
Offal Festival (Pre Show)
Friday 25th July 2025
Rebellion, Manchester
Live Review by Oli Gonzalez, Photos by Rob Lindesay
“I’m off to a slam festival”
Not a sentence I had ever uttered before. But then again, this summer has been all about discovery for me. Especially with smaller independent festivals here in the UK, having visited Mangata and SOS for the first time in recent weeks respectively. Though the ‘smaller’ tag may no longer be appropriate for Offal Fest, given that the festival sold out weeks before, thus making you wonder if a venue upgrade is on the cards in the future. Until then, Rebellion will play host this weekend, as it has hosted so many incredible events as a crucial cog in Manchester’s underground music scene.
Upon arriving at the venue, the reach of the festival becomes clear after chatting to people who had travelled from Portugal and Ireland! It’s also clear that the 15 minutes between doors and the first act was going to be very tight. Would I have time to head to the bar for liquid refreshments? We’ll see..
It was an early start, 17.15 to be exact. Many were still shuffling in as the Ipswich based bruisers played their first notes of the evening. This was raw and primitive with no being eased into this sadistic bunch. Try to imagine the horrid offspring of Rotten Sound and Napalm Death. This was an early and forceful injection of energy and dynamism to the evening and set the tone for the weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/MincerBand
“Slam takes no skill”, apparently. Tell that to the band’s drummer who unleashed the most thunderous of blast beats while simultaneously summoned up the most vile and venomous guttural vocals from behind the mic. The crowd had grown considerably at this point with many right at the front to secure prime viewing spots! Though with literal seconds, some retreated to the safety of the edges of the venue whilst others dived into the newly formed pits to hell. The first of many this weekend! Yet the band’s vocalist incrementally instigated more chaos and carnage. Was anybody planning to pace themselves for the long weekend ahead?
https://www.facebook.com/people/Hacked-Up/61556225013796
Ruimation
Despite some apparent technical issues during sound check, there seemed to be zero issues with the band’s audio output on stage! Easily the most technically refined of the night so far, each musician offered a glimpse into their musical prowess. It took the crowd a lot longer to warm up to Ruimation it would seem, though they can take the crown of starting the first circle pit of the weekend, which looked savage from my view in the safety of the venue’s fringes! The introduction of slammerhead sharks running around the pits just looked comical though, in all the best ways! A pleasant surprise for me.
Time for some pyar Scouse Death Metal next with Liverpool’s Exhumation up next. They’re no strangers to festival line ups nor big stages with a Bloodstock Open Air slot and support slot with the likes of Suffocation and Cattle Decapitation to their name, among over accolades. It wasn’t long after the first few notes that insanity was resumed with the pits opening up again!
The old school death metal in the vein of early Suffocation was responsible for this and made them stand out for all the right reasons.
https://www.facebook.com/ExhumationBand
Feral. Adjective; not domesticated or cultivated. Or in this case, the circle pits and walls of deaths were FERAL. That’s the only word to describe it and there’s not much more to add! Though things were way more civilised with people queuing to get on stage to join in to perform guest vocals at the request of the band to ‘respect the venues rules’. Is there any better way to make the crowd feel more engaged and part of the way?
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552234261489#
It had been 2 years since I last saw Foetal Juice, and it was in this very same venue that they opened for Death Metal legends Deicide. They were perhaps the band I was most looking forward to of the evening. Though the crowd was thinning and their energy had been sapped, vocalist Dez did his very best to engage them, unsatisfied with the movement in the pit, and decided to take matters into his own hands and join in! That’s just who Dez is, always a joker and is always entertaining to watch on stage. Though they’re absolutely no joke on stage with a seemingly never ending supply of punishing riffs!
https://www.facebook.com/FoetalJuice
Closing Thoughts
Feeling more like an all dayer than a pre-show, nobody can argue about value. The very tight door to opening band time is the only real slight on what had been a very well organised evening. I was excited to come back for more the next day, but was still mindful of needing to pace myself.
Promoter:
https://www.facebook.com/RxOxPromotions
Venue: https://www.facebook.com/rebellionmanchester
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