For the 20th anniversary of Damnation Festival, it has expanded to two days, with today being largely bands making their debut whilst tomorrow is mostly returning bands. When the line ups were first revealed, there weren't many bands that made me think 'oh my god, yes' but when I sit down and look at the line up, there are a lot of bands I want to see with very little space for breaks (which my ageing body and ravenous appetite for food absolutely needs).
Oryx are one of the bands which when they were first announced I knew nothing about, but having listened to their 'Primordial Sky' album they have quickly become a must see band. They crush from the very first note. The bass tone sounds colossal. The vocals switch from a high pitched screech to a cavernous growl which adds both blackened and deathly elements to their funeral doom. It's very slow but there is a definite groove to what they do. Even the quieter moments have that building levelling bass lurking ominously in the background, which means that they are always heavy. The drummer, Abbey, looks like she's having a ball behind the kit. The longer they play, the more hypnotic it is. They are often funereal in pace but their mastery of dynamics is such that it never gets boring. In fact, it is downright compelling. Musically, they remind me of Ahab although the vocals often bring Burning Witch to mind. A damn fine combination if you ask me and a fantastic way to start the day.
Overhead, The Albatross open with 'Your Last Breath'; picked post-rock guitar lines backed by flickering, stabbing electronics and strings which builds and builds to something expansive and heavy yet touching and emotional. The final spoken word coda is devastating. The big screen visuals are much more striking and affecting than they were when I saw them in a tiny room five months ago. 'At Sea' adds more electronics to the mix but is equally effective. The 'begging the pain to stay' lyrics on the big screen really get you in the feels. The rhythmic vocals of 'Hibakusha' are jarring yet hypnotic and the Enola Gay visuals are still powerful. The guitars get really heavy and just as they threaten to crush, they explode into a much more expansive passage which is mindblowing. The lyrics are incredible and Luke Daly delivers the spoken word parts with utter conviction. The bhangra infused 'This Is Like Love' sounds years ahead of its time. The onscreen message of 'this is for the ones you've lost' (including Damnation's Brian Fitzpatrick) during Paul Lynch is too much and I shed a few tears. The final singalong is something else. Absolutely otherworldly.
The second stage seems really busy for Necrot and I'm not really feeling it from the steps right at the back so I decide to go and watch Zeruel on the third stage instead. That is the beauty of Damnation's stacked line up. If one band isn't doing it for you, you can go and watch another band, take a short break or go and get a good spot for the next band you want to watch. Zeruel's brand of shoegaze is pretty good; dreamy and hypnotic like it should be but the bass tone adds an element of heaviness in the background. The vocals are almost inaudible and don't really add much. The sound is pretty muddy with quite a bit of feedback which doesn't help them too much. The track with the screamed vocals fares much better as the heavier sound seems better suited to the event.
I quickly pop into the main room to check out Castle Rat's fantasy doom but decide that my time would be better spent having a drink and a sit down before Deadguy. The key to lasting the day at Damnation is taking breaks and sitting down whenever and wherever you can.
Deadguy open with 'Kill Fee', with it's dense hardcore grooves reminiscent of an extreme Rollins Band before it gets heavier and more discordant. 'John Dear' has a groove which reminds me of Helmet. The transition between the fast and slow parts on the classic 'Pins And Needles' sounds a bit off but it still has impact. The slower, moshier parts are definitely more potent than the faster parts. The bassist, Jim Baglino, joins the circle pit for 'Die With Your Mask On'. Maybe it's being in a large room but it doesn't feel as intense as it should. 'Barn Burner' is chaotic but still isn't wild enough. I'm still enjoying them but I just know how good this band can be and it's a few levels below that. The second half of the set is where it suddenly clicks. I've been watching the band members and could see how much they were putting into their performance but it finally begins to translate into what I'm hearing as the volume and intensity suddenly seems to ramp up. The rolling, spiralling riffage of 'New Best Friend' is suitably anarchic. The high pitched guitars of 'Makeshift Atomsmasher' aren't loud enough but the bottom end is dense and punishing. Enjoyable but still a little bit disappointing.
The mix doesn't seem quite right for Messa on the main stage. The guitars need turning down a little to allow Sara's stunning voice to shine. The gothic rock of 'At Races' is fun but lacks the impact it has on record. The occult doom of 'The Dress' is good but still doesn't shine as it should because of the mix. Alberto's little jazzy flourishes are pretty cool though. He is an exceptional guitar player and you absolutely need to be able to hear him too but it doesn't seem like the sound engineers have managed to successfully balance the two elements. The sparser 'Immolation' is much more successful as Sara's voice is much clearer whilst not diminishing Alberto's guitar heroics.
Dimscûa are the band who came out of nowhere to be here. A group of friends who put out a self released album in the Summer. The release was pretty low key but they caught the attention of Damnation promoter Gavin McInally who raved them on the '2 Promoters, 1 Pod' podcast he does. A couple of hundred listeners on Spotify soon became a few thousand and an acclaimed performance at Arctangent Festival followed. They are a late replacement for Crippling Alcoholism who dropped out with only a couple of week's notice. They play post-metal with a frighteningly heavy groove which builds and builds. However, it's the majestic, shimmering guitar lines which add an extra dimension and makes Dimscûa so special. As they only have one release to their name, we essentially get their 'Dust Eater' album in full. 'The Dusteater' starts off with a clean, fragile post-rock guitar line and throbbing rhythm section which shifts in tone to super heavy, crawling post-metal with roared vocals. Again, the melodic guitars are striking. 'Existence (Futility)' starts off pretty dynamic and then they lock into a groove which just gets heavier and heavier. The guitarist Adam dedicates the set to his late daughter which is really touching. Amenra and Cult Of Luna are major influences but at no point does it feel derivative as they are excellent at what they do.
Afsky play frostbitten, tremelo guitar driven black metal which manages to conjure an icy, foreboding atmosphere. The melodic guitars on both 'Flaggelanternes Sang' and 'Natmaskinen' have an epic, almost anthemic quality. There's plenty of blasting too, only they're better when they don't, having more of an impact at a more measured pace. Torches burning either side of the drumkit also evoke a time gone by. 'Den Der Ingenting Ved Tvivler Aldrig' has plenty of galloping, foot on the monitor, machine gunning the crowd, trad metal parts and is great. 'Vættekongen' has a dark folk opening but then becomes more windswept, with icy cold blasting which reeks of misanthropy. 'Tak For Alt' features razor sharp riffs played at a galloping pace and is great fun. The longer the set goes on, the more I'm drawn into their world and the more I enjoy it.
Over on the main stage, the ever dependable High On Fire immediately rip out some mighty Sabbathian riffs with a biker metal attitude on the colossal opener 'Burning Down'. 'Hung, Drawn And Quartered' has a big fat stoner groove and a rhythm so insistent that it doesn't give you any space to breathe. The bulldozing 'Rumours Of War' is terrific. Ben Koller of Converge does a fantastic job on the drums, keeping up a pounding, insistent beat throughout. 'Fury Whip' is an inspired Sabbath influenced boogie. The bassist, Jeff Matz, provides a rock solid base for the band whilst the legend that is the shirtless Matt Pike brings the riffs. Matt's guitar work on 'Snakes For The Divine' is phenomenal, whilst the slow and grinding part before the climax is amazing. High On Fire are a band whose riffs never let you down.
Panzerfaust play furious black metal which has quite a bit of substance and heft to it. They add in quite a few different elements to separate them from the pack; a little percussive section in 'The Day After Trinity' which adds a slight 'Roots Bloody Roots' feel, and a post metal build during the second half of 'Stalingrad, Massengrab'. The post-metal influence carries on throughout their set and reminds me of The Sun's Journey Through The Night's take on black metal. The singer, Goliath, is a terrifying presence in his mask as he glares out over the crowd. Every track is epic and grim which is appropriate seeing as they are all about the horrors of war. Their weighty sound is beefier than a lot of black metal but it is very satisfying.
The new Deafheaven album is excellent (number six on my albums of the year) but I'm not really feeling it when they play in the main room. Even the genius breakdown in 'Doberman' with those sick bass drops isn't enough to persuade me to stick around and I take another opportunity to sit down before Wormrot.
Singaporean grinders Wormrot are back with their original recording line up and there is a lot of excitement for their performance. Every song is a short, hyperfast blast but every song has something that differentiates it from the previous ones. It's an absolutely glorious racket and it's amazing that they get such a full sound from just a guitar and drums. Arif is a versatile vocalist, deftly switching from deathly growls to stuck pig squeals to high pitched screams. When Arif says they are going to play a slow song, the crowd boos so they play the rapid 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Grind' instead. They do eventually play the chunkier 'Left To Rot' but it is heavy as hell and still has a couple of parts that are a blur. Grindcore can be a fairly restrictive genre but how they manage to make every song sound different but equally as good as the last is amazing. There are thrash parts, punk sections and some chunky chugging riffs all wrapped up with lightning fast blasts. It's all incredible agile and dynamic, and is infused with enough energy to power an entire continent.
Synthwave act Perturbator are one of the wildcards today amongst all the extremity. However, they are a band with crossover appeal and they draw a big crowd on the main stage. They start off with a drumbeat not dissimilar to Cozy Powell's 'Dance With The Devil' before the electronics kick in for 'Lunacy' with its pounding beat, and James Kent shouts 'let's go' as a signal to let our hair down. A warning alarm at the beginning of 'Excess' signals a journey deep into the kind of clubs frequented by the likes of Hatari. The relentless beat drags you along whether you want it to or not. Kristoffer Rygg's recorded vocals are added to the electronics for 'Apocalypse Now' which is a compelling mix of Depeche Mode and modern Ulver. When the bass and beats hit hard, it is incredible and it's great to see James windmilling behind his bank of electronics. The light show is incredible and the risers splitting apart to create two separate islands for the drumkit and electronics is an impressive trick. At their danciest, they're similar to Carpenter Brut's style of synthwave. At other times, it's towering electronic soundscapes powered by a hard, incessant beat. It's as hard and heavy as much of today's bill, only in a different way. Midway through the set, the pit starts to move and it becomes one big dance party. It's a joy seeing metallers of all persuasions getting their freak on. This is the sound of a dystopian future made fun. Heck, if the world's going to hell then we might as well have a party.
Often at festivals, I reach a point where I have seen a band so good that I feel satisfied with my day and am happy to call it a night. After Perturbator, I am at that point even though I do want to watch both Gaerea and the headliners Corrosion Of Conformity. I still pop into the second stage to check out Gaerea. They seem to be one of the few bands making full use of the big screen with the films they have playing behind them. Their brand of black metal manages to create a certain atosphere and ambiance. It also has an air of commerciality, almost making it stadium black metal which may put purists off but I like their widescreen vision. I only manage a few songs because I feel like I've had enough for today and I need to have a decent amount of rest in preparation for another full day tomorrow. This was probably the best single day day of Damnation I've been to though.
Gaerea ****
Perturbator *****
Wormrot *****
Panzerfaust ****
High On Fire ****
Afsky ****
Dimscûa ****
Messa ***
Deadguy ****
Zeruel ***
Overhead, The Albatross *****
Oryx ****
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