[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]J[/dropcap]ust in case the inevitably dark, roiling skies aren’t metal enough for you…
the fine crew over at Damnation have assembled themselves a blistering lineup for this year’s event, held on Saturday 1st November at Leeds Student Union.
Whereas Bloodstock can quite comfortably take home the outdoor festival gold horns (or, as I like to call it, the Horny) for the UK’s metal community (…and how! Check out this year’s Bloodstock review here), over the last 10 years Damnation have been doing some great work up in Leeds – bringing some really great headliners like Carcass, Electric Wizard and Devin Townsend Project, with consistently strong and varied bills underneath.
For their 10th anniversary, they’ve put together another mighty one – especially if you love your Death Metal! Bolt Thrower’s UK exclusive show should be enough to moisten your right index finger upon the mouse left-click of [insert preferred ticket outlet]. Then there’s Cannibal Corpse, who I’ve been waiting to see since I was 12 and learned that there was a band called Cannibal Corpse. In all seriousness though, these bands have been at the forefront of the sub-genre for decades, with indisputably solid back catalogues of recorded work – take Cannibal Corpse’s The Bleeding (1994), for instance. It’s a dropkick to the jaw in the key of fuck you.
I mentioned variety earlier, right? Well Saint Vitus are bringing the down-tempo and playing Born Too Late (1986) in full, oozing brooding riffs for the slow headbang after ten or twelve pints with their Black Sabbath-reminiscent vibe.
Orange Goblin also feature prominently, boasting a riff-laden assault swinging between the fast-paced and doomy, with consistently impressive drum-work and beefy tones. Definitely one to catch live!
The rest of the lineup also features some great live names I’m keen to catch (or catch again, as it may be) including Icelandic underground veterans Sólstafir, whose measuredly melodic and progressive post-metal brings further depth to the top half of the billing, as well as sludgy merchants Raging Speedhorn (who’ll be warming up for Damnation at my local Metal emporium, Bolton’s Alma Inn), heavy fusioneers Anaal Nathrakh and Black Metallers Winterfylleth
[button link=”http://damnationfestival.co.uk” newwindow=”yes”] Damnation Festival Homepage[/button]
Jed the Music Ed. is a Music Promoter/Booking Agent and general fixer with Rawkus Events. Jed’s interests include a constant and reckless over-caffeination, irrationally spontaneous travel plans and maintaining an over-expensive (borderline hoarder) PC/retro gaming habit.
