Festival Preview: Damnation Festival - Saturday

Festival Preview: Damnation Festival – Saturday

Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch

It’s barely the beginning of autumn but the days of 2026 have already become noticeably shorter, those blotchy, outdoor festival tans have started to fade, and my Stonedead trench foot is on the mend. But next stop for the UK festival aficionado is the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre in Manchester for the annual extreme metal knees-up that is Damnation.

Last year’s anniversary format of having two full days of music was such a rousing success that Gav and the team have decided to do it again, assembling an early November weekend with some of the genre’s most tantalising names.

Headlining Saturday are Swedish post metal titans, Cult of Luna, who’ve been away from a Damnation stage for far too long, with their last appearance, back in 2016, where they brought their Mariner masterpiece to life, accompanied by Ms Julie Christmas. Still one of my Top Five Damnation sets – maybe even my number one – but it will be great to see them make their Bowler’s debut this year.

As Damnation seems to be the only extreme festival to give fair representation to the Post Metal genre we can again expect a plethora of similar acts to CoL, with Chicago instrumentalists, Pelican, making their first visit to the Bowlers, in fact their first visit to Damnation, with a headline appearance on the Eyesore Merch stage. In fact that seems to be the place for mind-bending and body-crushing riff today, with Swedish sludge gang, The Moth Gatherer, German psychedelics, Coltraine and a home-grown Hundred-Year-Old Man all warming cerebellums and muscles for the headliners. Away from the Eyesore stage, opening the main arena come Holy Fawn and their post rock shoegaze introspection.

Another band vying for the title of Damnation House Band is British Extreme Legends, Carcass, who make a fourth festival appearance and are another band making a Bowler’s debut. Headline shows in 2008, 2013 and 2021 have given the scousers a high bar, but their shows with Kreator back in the Spring prove age is not mellowing the band in the slightest. Carcass-worshippers and Aussie gabba-grinders, The Berzerker, make a first appearance at Damnation in eighteen years and are locked and loaded for the headlining slot on the Holy Goat stage – after appearing headlining the Night of Salvation the previous evening over at the Bread Shed. Nearly two decades away and they’re pulling double duties. Bringing the brutality earlier in the day will be NoS act, Gorerotted, who appeared at the very first Damnation back in 2005 and have been on hiatus since 2014. They play the Only Tools and Corpses record in full the previous night, so one can only wonder what death-grindy delights awaits us on Saturday. Spanish brutal technicians, Wormed, have the honour of being the first band of the weekend, and promise to start proceedings with a blast.

If you prefer your extremity a little darker, Damnation have laid on Denmark’s Møl, with their emotionally devastating take on black metal, New Yorkers, Krallice, who use the genre as a platform upon which to conduct all manner of insane experimentation. Dutch horde, Dödsrit blend their atmospheric black metal with elements of downbeat crust and blast beats, resulting in an oddly organic sound.

NOLA sludge lords, Crowbar, led by the indominable Kirk Windstein, have been laying down primal riffs and doomy moods for the past thirty-five years and across a dozen records, drawing influences from the obvious places, alongside a distinctly hardcore vibe. Fellow Down alumni, Jimmy Bower, will also be making the trip from the fetid Louisiana swamps to a more-than-likely damp Manchester with Eyehategod, his own take on all-things sludge, with added down-tuning and damaged, droning riffs alongside Mike Williams’ tortured vocal delivery. The South is further represented by Arkansas’ Rwake, who’s psychedelic sludge goes some way to showing the genre is anything but strait-laced. Brittany crew, Fange, add an industrial element to their sound, while Connecticut’s self-proclaimed mutant noise brigade, Intercourse are sure to bamboozle and entertain in equal measure.

Taking the mainstage slot between Crowbar and Carcass will be LA industrial rock act, Health, who’s dalliances with the electronic could well see the band as this year’s Perturbator who, let’s face it, were an absolute blast last time around. Aggy Danes, John Cxnnor is sure to stir things up with their combination of hardcore blasts and electronic rhythms. Early on the mainstage will be Meshuggah-adjacent metalcore maulers, Car Bomb, who promise to make their debut appearance memorable; more ‘core comes from Cabal, the Danish deathcore mob how are sure to pack their biggest beatdowns for their appearance at the Bowlers. Frontierer’s new record, Ultraviolet Paradise, will be out by the time they hit the stage and early signs suggests it’s going to be another barrage of intensity we’ve come to expect from the band.

Pins & Knuckles Stage: CULT OF LUNA / Carcass / Health / Crowbar / Eyehategod / Car Bomb / Holy Fawn.
Holy Goat Brewing Stage: THE BERZERKER / Frontierer / Krallice / Cabal / Dodsrit / Rwake / Gorerotted / Wormed.
Eyesore Merch Stage: PELICAN / Mol / John Cxnnor / The Moth Gatherer / Fange / Coltraine / Intercourse / Hundred Year Old Man.