Damnation Festival, Manchester. 2 Days of Extreme Death Metal takes over B.E.C. Arena Manchester. Sets from Igorrr, Walls of Jericho and Hippotraktor rule the weekend and dominate the UK’s loudest festival.
DAY ONE
Damnation Festival is not your typical festival. For starters - it runs in the first weekend in November, with most of the festival calendar wrapped up - the cold comes in and the winter months draw close. But extreme death metal and classical blastbeat stop for no man, so the show must go on.
It exists in the sphere of influence that is 2 Promoters 1 Pod; a podcast hosted by Gavin McInally and James Scarlett who talk about the many struggles of promoting two different festivals week in and week out, and booking them – which has garnered as much as a cult following as the festivals themselves. If James Scarlett books ArcTanGent in all its many guises; Gavin MacInally takes over the more Northern; somehow more niche cousin of Damnation – a festival over two days and inside Manchester’s B.E.C. Arena that’s often described as a more gruelling task than ArcTanGent’s four due to its marathon, minimal scheduling – that opens bang strong each day; two of the finest acts practically open both days – Holy Fawn and Hippotraktor– so that practically begs an early start, meaning Damnation is gruelling, unrelenting and a whirlwind of chaos – some of the loudest sound you’ll hear just about anywhere. Class is in session.
We make it early doors of course for Holy Fawn; who played the day before in London – where I reviewed them here with MØL; so, it meant very much the same but a shorter setlist. Seeing them again deliver their cathartic; emotional outpouring of heavy/pretty back/forth sonic wall of sound that eschews convention was the strongest start to the first day that we could’ve imagined: ‘Candy’ and ‘Dark Stone’ bring back the old tracks – and then in comes with a sucker punch ‘Beneath a Lightless Star’ – which shines in eschewing convention. It is a shorter set; somehow even shorter than the Garage setlist but a necessary one – a loud explosion unleashed on the audience just waking up. As curtain-raisers go – it’s special.
If there were any doubts about us being awake at that point; Car Bomb provided a jolt to the system. I’ve seen these guys a few times now since Radar 2024, and they have delivered each time – few louder bands in the scene. ‘Blindsides’ opens with a thunderous gut-punch that continues into ‘From the Dust of This Planet’ and we’re off and running in style – the tour-de-force that I was promised of Damnation didn’t let up at all and never slows down once. It is more taxing a festival over two days than over most festival’s four, gruelling and unrelenting – too many bands and not for the faint of heart.
But because of shows like Car Bomb it is worth it – the lighting and wall of fog goes down a storm here. As a special touch, ‘Secrets Within’ has Greg incorporating the Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ into a guitar solo – a novelty mix that is second to none. Their sonic landscape blends metal carnage with enough hardcore touches for a genre crossover that caters to the likes of Meshuggah perfectly – their mastery of the sound system makes them feel utterly and completely distinctive in their own field. It’s a reminder that Damnation can shock you to the system if it wants to and not let up – if anything, it starts its festival too good.
Eyehategod, Crowbar and Health we get to see next. They are veterans of the sludge genre and their thick, oppressive sludge that dominates Eyehategod makes their growling riffs a staying factor. They are blacker than black here – dark and squalid and impossible to ignore. Damnation has found the perfect establishing blend of veteran names and new talent to exist here – and Eyehategod thrive in their scene. ‘Take As Needed for Pain’ is about as classic as they come – so to get such a cornerstone band ticked off the genre at a festival like this feels blissful.
Crowbar also provide a welcome change of pace and showcase the range even at a festival as specialist as this one, no two bands are wholly the same. The southern sludge is masterful, and the veterans really leave their mark with their riffs – soul-crushing and full of despair, with the quintet showing their strength in experience. Henry Vasque’s drums hound through B.E.C. Arena for miles around and the wails of doom from Karl Aggell displays a masterful combination of raw and passionate lyrics that you can hear in the soul. ‘To Build a Mountain’ is rightly the hype track – that leads into set closers ‘Repulsive in Its Splendid Beauty’ and ‘The Cemetery Angels’ that work wonders. The thunderous Crowbar riffs are second to none.
Health are something a bit different; their walk-on track taking a genre-switch almost instantly. They’ve always been unafraid to modernise, their title for 2025 album ‘Conflict DLC’ is borrowed from video games, showing their cinematic touches deployed as you feel like you’re embarking on something that could score say, ‘Mirror’s Edge’ or a ‘Death Stranding’ sequel with little difficulty. The Yōko Takahashi hype track is brave and abrasive – ‘A Cruel Angel’s Thesis’ taken from ‘NEON Genesis Evangelion’ as if to prove this point plunges you into ‘VIBE COP’ that’s a wake-up call for anyone on the fence about Health and helps you embrace their cyberpunk world of the far future that’s as every bit as visionary as one would suggest.
Carcass come next; and we’re faced with a brutal clash between MØL and Frontierer as our penultimate act of Day One. If you thought you’d seen the loudest Damnation had to offer with Car Bomb that was just the start – Carcass hit you with their run of 1990s staples like ‘Reek of Putrefaction’ and ‘Heartwork’ mixed in with material from their latest work; ‘Torn Arteries’ – that isn’t exactly new at this point, having come out in 2021. By now we are feeling the demands of Damnation’s gruelling schedule but opening with ‘Unfit for Human Consumption’ and continuing with tracks like the cheerfully named ‘Genital Grinder’ really let you know what time of band Frontierer are – incredibly tight and incredibly relaxed in their element.
If we were on the verge of death at Carcass we were jolted back into life by Frontierer, who leave a shock to the system in the best possible way. Loud, raw – ferocious and full of crowd-surfing chaos the crowd are jolted into life with hardcore pits that would shock most fans caught on the edge. Their sonic landscape is raw and hypnotic with turbo-thrash and experimentalism into songs – an underground legend finally given their spotlight in the sun. They are debuting their new album here – ‘Ultraviolet Parasite’ – which is one of the best metal releases of 2026, and they’re there to make you know it exists in the most explosive ways possible. It’s a track opener – and we also get ‘Our Mainframe Earache’ – before they dip into the older ‘Orange Mathematics’ songs with ‘Tunnel Jumper’. This is Frontierer at their most dense, heavy and chaotic – the old bridge with the new perfectly and the band tell the audience that we very much aren’t done yet – not by a long shot; we’re only getting started.
The final band of day one for us is the excellent Cult of Luna. Their constant in the genre is a force to be reckoned with and arriving with their best album in years released the Friday before Damnation they make a statement piece to their greatness as a band – possibly the only outfit in the world that can pull off such a unique set like the special one-off ‘Mariner’ at ArcTanGent earlier this year. Here though they are in their own element and cascade a wall of sound at the audience from start to finish that is titanic and feels like the waves breaking against the cliffs’ edge – this is a centrepiece for ‘In the Shadow of Your Shadow’ and it goes down swimmingly well; the band going into the shadows and exploring the darkness at the heart of the soul.
It is a band that stays with you the more time you adjust to their wavelength and once you come out of Frontierer into Cult of Luna, it takes some readjusting – but you are met with a force unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Johannes Persson’s vocals are tremendously gifted and the artist digs deep for a personal setlist that commands the set. It is just seven songs but when Cult of Luna refuse to bow to convention and hit you with In the Shadow of Your Shadow’ and the live debut of ‘Sadness will Reign’ and ‘The Rift’ – you cannot expect your attention to be anywhere else.
DAY TWO
After a lie-in that was very much needed if at the same time all too brief, we make it down to Manchester for the second day. We get the chance to check out the food malls a bit more and whilst there are disappointingly two AI-generated posters on the food carts, they are easily avoidable – and the amount of vegetarian and vegan food on offer is very much appreciated by our party. The beer selection inside is good too – Guinness and Larger providing a nice variety, and the stalls around the festival allow for battle jacket purchases; a wide selection of merch and items to go on them.
First band up is Hippotraktor who are debuting their new album ‘Annihilist’ and it’s instantly apparent that if this sound sounds familiar than it is because the lead singer is Psychonaut’s frontman – in a different guise – welcome to the world of Belgian metal. It is raw and powerful and abrasive, the sound breaks under any band would prove an error of the sound team but here they almost add to the occasion – and it feels incredibly atmospheric as a result. Two of the tracks we do get are ‘Builder of Eden’ and ‘Annihilist’ - and standout tracks ‘Sons of Amesha’ and ‘A Final Animation’ go down a storm.
There is riffage reminiscent of TesseracT as they owe their debts to the band here – and Gojira – placing them in very good hands. I was an instant fan of their record when I listened to it and knew I had to see it live no matter the cost; they were one of the driving forces behind me going to Damnation in force this year – and it really paid off. I hope it isn’t too long before they come back to the UK and ArcTanGent could do worse than booking them on their lineup this coming year.
We also get to check out two bands on the Cult Never Dies Stage, Medulla Nocte, who are now aged, and with age comes reckoning of growing morality and brutal riffs and pits that feel intense even with so few people in them. ‘All Our Friends Are Dead’ reckons with mortality and loss – they’ve had multiple members pass but through grit and determination just keep going as an outfit. This is old school hardcore, raw and therapeutic – back from the dead and reformed in a way that only Damnation could pull off. Final Dose are also on this stage too – black metal punk from London that leaves a mark with raw energy and evocative, powerful riffs – their ‘Endless Woe’ wordplay is triumphant. I went into Sunday knowing more bands on the Saturday but came away – instantly, thinking the Sunday was the stronger and the more consistent of the two days – and that was part because how it came out the gates flying – Final Dose are instantly eye-catching and full of bravado with d-beats and a gritty punk edge to black metal.
The best discovery for me of the weekend was the utterly incredible Walls of Jericho. Candace Kucsulain’s screams echo around the room and dare the audience to get stuck into the pit – back with their new album ‘System Error: Humanity’ after a decade away reigniting their flame and ready to burn everything around them to the ground – they are true legends of Detroit’s hardcore scene and to get the chance to see them live was instantly a bucket list moment. They do not waste time with plenty of breakdowns and riffs and snarls that aggravate a pit into a raw and polished revolt. The brooding howls are terrific – with Patsy Pupolo, Buckingham’s daughter, joining the band alongside the son of Aaron Ruby, Matthew Ruby, for a passing of the torch from one generation to the next. It is a passing of the torch set that sounds triumphant live – and having now had the chance to listen to their new album it feels an incredibly memorable, ferocious and headbanging return for the ages. This is Damnation at its best – capable of paying respect to the scene whilst offering something new - Candace Kucsulain putting in the passion that’s able to convert even the most skeptical doubter.
Triptykon and Black Sheep Wall came next; and we had the added wholesome moment during Black Sheep Wall’s gnarly, grizzled breakdowns of an emotional noise rock that really stood out as a festival highlight of a parent face-timing his baby so the baby could see the band live with their father – that kid about to have their eardrums shattered. It is incredibly cathartic and then when they played ‘Nihility’ with the screams for ‘Modest Machine’? Talk about a band that knows what their audience want – and delivered on it. Triptykon are not for me - but it’s easy to admire their work.
The closing band for us of Damnation was Igorrr due to an early train back the following morning, and what a way to go out. If you think you have experienced music live you have not experienced music like Igorrr yet – and from the word go, the combination of classical lyricism and pointed heavy blastbeats really makes you aware that this is something special, something biblical, the heavens opening on the walls of B.E.C. Arena and descending on the audience - an opera show as much as a death metal festival. From the start - ‘DAEMONI’ is unique and different from the rest of the lineup before it - in a genre that can risk repetition this is a reminder that you can still do inventive and new things with it. Gerda Iguchi’s vocals go down an absolute treat - utterly unique and the energy that she puts in has the crowd giving everything back.
Much of the setlist is deployed from 2025 album ‘AMEN’, a year-best, and this feels like a victory lap of a tour after the terrific set at ArcTanGent that shows Igorrr are ready for the bigger stages in themselves, theatrical metal elevated to the highest degree. The combination of vocal range and the classical music/extreme breakdown back and forth allows for a unique combination that you can’t help but respect and admire. ‘ADHD’ is perhaps a track that represents the best balls-to-the-wall organised chaos of an Igorrr set, and there are throwbacks to ‘Spirituality and Distortion’ to boot. If you’re a fan - you’re in for a treat. It might just well have been the best metal set I’ve seen all year; never mind at Damnation - the sound quality was superb and the carnage at the front that we observed from a safe distance unrivaled across the weekend.
Conclusion
In terms of my first year going, Damnation made me a fan. It is grueling, an endurance test and a marathon not a sprint. But my god, what a marathon it is - thanks in no small part due to an excellent community that really help get this over the line - friendly faces everywhere you go. The highlights were many, the lowlights were little - I was about to call time on the festival season but Damnation once more stirred me into life. I’ll be making the pilgrimage back north to Manchester next year and I suspect many first-time attendees in 2026 will be as well. There’s nothing else quite like it. Bands of the weekend are too consistent to count, but Walls of Jericho and Frontierer were my favourite discoveries, Hippotraktor and Holy Fawn the darlings, Igorrr the legends.
Damnation 2027 tickets are on sale now; with one headliner Zeal&Ardor confirmed alongside a whole host of names below.
Photography by Jake Owens