FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Damnation Festival 2025
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
It’s Damnation’s twentieth birthday this year and to celebrate Gav and the team have pulled out all the stops to make this the happiest and most memorable of events.
At the time of writing the details of the now obligatory A Night of Salvation’s line-up are sketchy, save for the confirmation that Damnation will be getting Deadguy to pull of double shift this weekend. Rather than taking place at the Bowler’s, this Night of Salvation is a sold-out Friday foray in Manchester’s Bread Shed venue, no stranger to the festival environment as it played host to the UK Slam Fest mere weeks before.
No matter who else is booked for the show, it’s sure to be a notable curtain raiser to the extended – and confirmed to be the case going forward – new two-full-days format of Damnation.
It’s all change as Saturday dawns and it’s back to the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre for day one. Generally speaking, the days have been divided into a bill of band who haven’t played Damnation before and one that – generally speaking – is filled with bands that have. Exceptions to that rule do exist, but the overall ethos remains.
Saturday headliners and North Carolina legends, Corrosion of Conformity, make their Damnation debut a different looking band from the one that played in town at the Ritz, back in 2018. The tragic passing of original drummer, Reed Mullin, in 2020 and the subsequent departure of OG bassist, Mike Dean, mean CoC have a reasonably new rhythm section. Still orchestrated by Woody Weatherman and Pepper Keenan, it’s unlikely that their show will be anything less than a masterclass in laid-back smoky southern grooves and punk-infused sludge.
Not to be outdone in those stoner vibes will be Matt Pike led trio, High on Fire, who return to Damnation a decade after special guesting for At the Gates back in Leeds. Last year’s Cometh the Storm album, the band’s nineth was, start to finish a frenzy of hypnotic spells of sweet-scented charges, is sure to be a big draw. Fantasy doomsters, Castle Rat are straight out of Brooklyn, with the sound of classic heavy metal screaming from their speakers. Sophomore full-length, The Bestiary, has barely hit the shelves and folks are already tipping these New Yorkers to be the hot tip of the show. Not to be outdone, Italian doom collective, Messa, also have a new album in the shape of The Spin, and will be looking to capitalise on their ability to built dark ambience into their take on classic metal, knowing that Damnation is a sucker for such things. Oryx promise a droning doom filled void, where only misery and despair exist. Akin to Primitive Man’s approach to music, it’s likely to set the tone for much of the rest of the day.
At the other end of the extreme music spectrum is French Industrial Synthwave artist, Perturbator who latest record, Age of Aquarius will be released on Nuclear Blast just in time for the show. Blending gothic postpunk with danceable electronics will be sure to turn the Bowler’s into raving mass of sweaty bodies, different yet somehow the same as when guitar bands do it. More synth-oriented tunes will come courtesy of Michigan’s Gost who lurk in the dark crevasse between modern electronics and old school black metal. Last year’s Prophecy album found the band in particularly fine form, and being invited to tour with Mayhem, no less.
Breaking the idea that Black Metal needs inverted crosses and corpse paint, San Franciso’s Deafheaven emerged from a time when the walls of the genres were under siege from the likes of Alcest, Oathbreaker and Amesoeurs, who would combine atmospherics with post rock and emo to redefine the direction of travel. Their sophomore record, Sunbather, was on the lips of almost every rock journalist back in 2013, giving the band momentum that is still felt today, through 2025’s sixth album, Lonely People with Power. Taking a similar direction but adding elements of grind and post-hardcore is Texan trio Portrayal of Guilt who have four albums in the eight years of their existence, the last two being Christfucker in 2021 and Devil Music in 2023. Make what you will of those titles. And performing for the second time this weekend will be Deadguy, whose noise-infused metal/ hard core assault will sure to be one of the “to watch” sets of the day. Taking the post-rock and ambience to its furthest degree is ambient dark-gaze troupe, Zereul as they blend colossal riffs with emotional charged passages.
Perhaps a little more traditional in their approach to Black Metal are Portugal’s Gaerea, certain to bring atmospherics and a sense of the occasion to whichever stage they find themselves on. Is it possible not to get Marduk vibes from Canadian’s Panzerfaust? If not just through the band’s name, but through their devotion to war-torn themes and The Sons of Perdition series of records. Theirs is a more updated sound then the Swedes, but no less destructive. The darkness continues with Danes, Afsky and their obsession with the subject of their nation’s history. Incorporating folk and doom elements, there’s a very good chance no one will get out unscathed. Derby’s Devastator were main tour support to Bewitcher earlier in the year and therefore contributed heavily to one of the most METAL shows of 2025. The blend of Bathory-meets-Sodom with a big dose of Venom is manna for a show like Damnation; it’s going to be a corker.
If that’s just a bit too dark for you, how about popping into to see Sweden’s Orbit Culture making their Damnation debut before assuredly heading off to world domination. Their take on modern thrash, groove and melodic death metal has seen them gathering a legion of fans and the very recent release of album number five, Death Above Life, has solidified them as being one of the genres brightest hopes.
Singaporean grinders Wormrot are back with the original line up and ready to tear Damnation a new one. Abuse and Dirge showed they cede no ground to anyone on the extremity front, whereas later albums, Voices and Hiss, introduced an experimental tone. Regardless, the ‘rot can only devastate and what a glorious devastation it will be. US brutalists Brodequin promise – or should that be threaten – a performance as vicious as the medieval torture implement from which they take their name. Making their UK debut, Damnation is the stage to allow the Knoxville trio to play out their ruthless and savage script. Old School Death Metallers, Necrot use their classic sound to ponder the mysteries of life, while still battering the audience with Scott Burns-style vibes.
One-man post punk rage peddler Meryl Streek is more a poet than a singer, delivering vitriolic verdicts on the stage of the world through electronics and a sense of injustice. Crippling Alcoholism cite the likes of Swans, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen as influencing their brand of post punk gothic noise. Damnation will be Europe’s first chance to catch the Bostonian’s dark murder pop.
We all know by now that Damnation is the festival to see post rock and for this first day, the organisers have not let us down. Swedes EF are all set to give us a run-through of their 2006 debut album Give Me Beauty… or Give Me Death; Irish instrumentalists Overhead, the Albatross, clearly taking their name from Pink Floyd’s Echoes, will be aiming for the cerebellum rather than the gut, and The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die mix their post rock with indie and emo sensibilities.
Damnation Sunday is much more a trip down Memory Lane as pretty much every act has graced a stage at the festival at one time or another. Headlining today is 2018 bill-toppers and all-round British Institution, Napalm Death who no one this far down this piece needs to be introduced to. Time and again these Brummie Blasters have shown there’s plenty of life and creativity in those experienced legs, and every record seems to be an improvement on the one previous.
The grinders are particularly well served this year, with Wormrot playing yesterday and both Pig Destroyer and Anaal Nathrakh making swift returns to the Bowler’s. Virginia’s finest amazed and entertained in equal measure back in 2022 with the full run-through of their seminal Prowler in the Yard album. This time we’re getting a UK exclusive show that allows the band the freedom to visit any part of their impressive discography they see fit. Whereas Nathrakh are damn-near Damnation’s house band and step up to the mainstage after their Holy Goat headliner in 2023, bringing their distinctive destructive misanthropic world view back to town. Hatred for Mankind’s bleakness from Dragged Into Sunlight from last year could well be Nathrakh’s ‘Hold my Beer’ moment as they once again, tear savagely into Damnation.
While on the subject of Damnation House Bands, headliner of the first ever Festival, Corby’s Sludgecore hooligans, Raging Speedhorn will be rocking up for a fan picked set, the voting for which is open, so get your ballot cast and watch the carnage commence. Coming back from a ten-year hiatus – which saw them play the 2014 festival – is Stampin’ Ground, the hardcore thrash machine responsible for some of the early noughties’ most belligerent releases seem to gearing up for a busy 2026 of festival appearances, already being booked in at Bloodstock and Uprising. It’ll be great to hear the likes of Officer Down and Dead From the Neck Up ripping through the PA at the Bowler’s, spat with the appropriate amount of spite. Deathcore band, Ted Maul were everywhere in the mid-noughties, playing Damnation in 2007 and Bloodstock Open Air the next year, yet only issued a single full length, White Label. Sadly, they seemed to fade away rather than explode in a blaze of glory, but now they’re back, a little older, certainly, but hopefully no less insane.
2006 headliner The Haunted have a sterling new record out this year, Songs of Last Resort, their first since 2017’s Strength in Numbers, which finds the Swedes back to firing on all cylinders. Most of the current members of the band were off elsewhere when The Haunted took the stage at Jilly’s, with the most noticeable one being vocalist Marco. It’ll be great to see them back on stage and ripping through classics Bury Your Dead, DOA and All Against All, as well as a host of new numbers. British Thrash legends, Onslaught need to introduction and are promising a complete playthrough of their 1985 debut Power from Hell. The show will also be notable for the return of original vocalist, Sy Keeler, who’ll make his debut comeback appearance at Damnation.
Doomsters Warning played the Leeds show back in 2017 as part of their brief reunion at that time; though singer, Patrick Walker, has visited several times previously with his ambient outfit, 40 Watt Sun. For this appearance, Warning is playing their sophomore album, Watching From a Distance, originally released in 2006, it’s a record that was way ahead of it’s time in the way it approached a strictly established genre. Sludge duo, Mantar make their Damnation debut this year, sporting a new(ish) album, Post Apocalyptic Depression, their sixth, and coming with a well-deserved reputation as old hands at this festival caper. Perhaps due to their fresh and modern sound, but I always have to remind myself that Conjurer have been around for more than a decade and have been killing it since the release of the debut, Mire. New album, Unself, is scheduled to hit the digital shelves a couple of weeks before Damnation so we can reasonably expect a host of new tunes.
For those with a darker interest there’s Dublin’s weavers of epic blackened folk Primordial making their first appearance at the Bowler’s. Blending both traditional themes with edgy riffs, the band entered their third decade on the back of ninth full-length, Exile Among the Ruins, following that with 2023’s monumental How It Ends. Every Primordial show is an emotional journey through time and space, assured to leave even the stoutest of hearts in tears. Belgian’s Wiegedood are always a fascinating booking and this time they bring the black metal masterpiece, the De Doden Hebben Het Goed trilogy of records to the show, clocking it at over an-hour-and-a-half it promises to be a special event that will transport the listener to places not expected when physically being still in Manchester. James McBain’s black/ speed metal project Hellripper is proof-positive that persistence pays off, as the band have rapidly found themselves as festival favourites across the length of Europe. Last time at Damnation they had to grave misfortune of a clash with Paradise Lost performing Gothic, so hopefully the powers that-be won’t be as cruel this time. Spectral Wound adopt a far more traditional take on the genre when laying down their icy riffs and torn-throated vocals, sure to get the gathered masses concerned they missed church this morning. Progressive Black Metal outfit <Code> show the more accessible side of the genre by eschewing Satan and focusing instead on more Humanistic concerns, such as paranoia, death and disease, which sort of makes you yearn for the horned guy to come back and bring some levity.
For those with a hankering for less eternal suffering and more of a tickle to the cerebellum, Damnation is never far from a post metal / post rock fix and this Sunday’s main attraction on that front is Belgium’s Amenra, a friend and perennial favourite of Damnation who graced the stage here as recently as 2023. Always an astounding live experience the band batter with sheer weight of the riffs and uncompromising delivery, to the point it has a physical effect on your person. One of my most anticipated artist this year is Author & Punisher, the one-man industrial/ drone/ doom project in which solo artist, Tristan Shore, uses his background as a mechanical engineer to fabricate and operate his bespoke instruments. New album, Nocturnal Birding released recently, so we can expect an updated live set, featuring favourites from across the discography.
Another act returning from 2023 is post rock instrumental duo Nordic Giants whose mainstage opening show a couple of years ago was frankly mesmerising. The third band to be returning from 2023 is another instrumental post rock band Din of Celestial Birds who found themselves as a late – though extremely popular - addition to the bill when Tuskar were unable to play. It seems like there’s a Belgian invasion in the offing with 70s influenced post metal trio Psychonaut scheduled to issue their third full length, World Maker, at the end of October.
A later addition to this year’s bill, but no less enthusiastically welcomed, was post hardcore outfit Devil Sold His Soul whose last appearance was in 2012, alongside Electric Wizard, My Dying Bride and Primordial, and who are lining up Damnation for the one-two shot of their 2005 EP Darkness Prevails and the debut full length, A Fragile Hope. Hidden Mothers put out an awesome debut album themselves last year in Erosion/ Avulsion, seeking no quarter and getting none, it’s an album that shows the world as a place of sadness and despair. Blending post hardcore with punk fury and noise aesthetics, Coilguns have been doing their own thing since their inception in 2011. Theirs is an angular Dillinger type of vibe, uncompromising and confrontational.
Saturday 8th November
Pins & Knuckles Stage: CORROSION OF CONFORMITY / Perturbator / Deafheaven / High on Fire / Orbit Culture / Messa / Castle Rat / Overhead, the Albatross.
Holy Goat Brewing Stage: GAEREA / Wormrot / Panzerfaust / Brodequin / Portrayal of Guilt / Deadguy / Necrot / Devastator.
Eyesore Merch Stage: THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE / Ef / Gost / Afsky / Crippling Alcoholism / Meryl Streek / Zeruel / Oryx.
Sunday 9th November
Lou’s Brews Stage: NAPALM DEATH / Amenra / The Haunted / Anaal Nathrakh / Pig Destroyer / Primordial / Onslaught / Conjurer.
Cult Never Dies Stage: WIEGEDOOD / Spectral Wound / Author & Punisher / Hellripper / Raging Speedhorn/ Stampin’ Ground / <Code> / Ted Maul.
Meliora Stage: WARNING / Mantar / Nordic Giants / Devil Soul His Soul / Psychonaut / Coilguns / Din of Celestial Birds / Hidden Mothers
Photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
