It’s April, the sun is shining and we’re back in Blackpool and that can only mean one thing. Springfest is back in town for a second round, with another impressive roster of bands old and new carefully curated from across the UK rock scene.
Read MoreDamnation 2023 is immaculately curated. This is not random bands thrown into some form of inconsistent order. Real thought and consideration has actually gone into who follows who. The entire day works as some sort of cathartic emotional journey, taking you from spiritual highs to desolate lows.
Directly following the astonishing Julie Christmas with Downfall of Gaia is a genius move. Whilst there are real differences between the acts, they share a common DNA strand of emotional resonance. It seems weird to pin this on black metal, but Downfall of Gaia is music to make you cry.
Read MoreWe all love to moan. We are British. Finding fault in everything is our national sport. However the truth is, no matter how hard you look, there is very little, if anything, to criticise about this year’s Damnation Festival (The puddle at the end of the drive may well have been a pain but it was clearly outside of Gav and Paul’s jurisdiction). The snag list from last year's inaugural edition at the BEC arena has been conclusively dealt with. There is not a food queue to be seen, chairs are plentiful, and I am still supping the specially commissioned stout well into Saturday night.
Read MoreFor many moons, Night of Salvation has existed as a low-key informal get-together on the eve of the Damnation festival, primarily aimed at those who found themselves in Leeds a night early. In 2001 the Lords of Damnation (Gav and Paul to their mates) decided to make it a formal part of proceedings with an emphasis on world-exclusive album sets. To say that it has escalated from then would be an understatement.
Read MoreSunday morning and it’s raining, a lot. This doesn’t affect the festival though as it’s indoors, and the lovely people at the venue even put on breakfast for the somewhat soggy campers. Let’s be honest, everything is better with bacon, right? (Veggie options are available!) Being indoors, rain cannot stop play and before we know it it’s lunchtime and the main event is kicking off.
Read Moret’s been a couple of years since I last made it to Rockwich, for various reasons. Prior to that it was a regular fixture on my summer festival schedule, for the simple reason that they somehow always managed to get hold of the best new rock bands JUST before they started to take off and hit the big time. The venue is great, a grass pitch for tents, and plenty of hardstanding areas for campervans and general parking, and it’s just 10 minutes off J19 of the M6 so easy to get to.
Read MoreAnd just like that it’s Sunday and that great stretch of metal that was laid out before us, has now just shrunk to a single day. But what a single day and how many blooming people have turned up to join us! From the get-go, the place is heaving and it feels very obvious that the site has reached its 25,000 cap.
Read MoreThere is a wonderful sweet spot about the Saturday morning of a festival. You have been there enough time to bed in and become familiar with the surroundings, but it is all yet to become a slog. Also, there is the delicious realization that you still have two days to go. Ambrius have the honour of kicking off proceedings on the Sophie stage and prove to be an interesting and enticing mix of power and progressive metals.
Read MoreAnd before we know it, we are straight into the first full day of festivities. The sun is up and blazing away though the plentiful cloud cover, this means it never becomes as inhospitable as last year. Bloodstock has always been about early starts and Lancastrian death metallers’ Bloodyard have pulled the short straw and are first out of the traps at the ungodly hour of 10:30 am.
Read MoreSo after the "help I’m melting" desert-fest of last year, there is a distinct feeling of business as usual about this year’s Bloodstock. Whilst arid festivals are probably an unavoidable truth, this year mother nature very much behaved herself and provided what can only be described as almost perfect festival conditions. Even the drizzle on Sunday morning that seemed intent on embedding itself in actually dissipates before it manages to dampen any spirits.
Read MoreFresh off the back of a hugely successful Metal 2 The Masses campaign, No Play Festival offered a chance to capitalise on the revival of the Liverpool Metal Scene. Situated in the shadow of Evertons new Bramley Moore Dock stadium, the Invisible Wind Factory provided a setting for bands from all over the country and beyond to prove their worth across 2 rather contrasting stages.
Read MoreThe final morning of the festival sees us welcomed by local favourites Where Oceans Burn. The band is growing from strength to strength and there are elements of grunge, tech-metal, and groove metal throughout.
Read MoreWe all went hard on the Friday, but that doesn’t stop us getting to the venue nice and early to make arrangements for access and interviews on the Saturday morning. Modern Error are led by the Pinchin twins on vocals and guitar, and are an early treat.
Read MoreRADAR Festival is only in its third year, but already it’s attracting some massive names in the prog/tech scene. It’s also changed location this year from Guildford to Manchester, and a nightclub to a full-blown venue in O2 Victoria Warehouse. Eager and excited, we get our passes and make our way down to the press area. We eventually find it down in the basement of the adjacent building, and are immediately greeted by some familiar faces.
Read MoreSo how hot off the press are we? We have ditched our long sprawling monologue about how wonderful Helloween are (because they are and that's not up for debate) and we have replaced it with an equally subjective treaty on the wonder of KK Dowling's incarnation of Priest.
Read MoreLet's leave the downright extraordinary to last. Our final entry, our final band you cannot miss is one that is rewriting heavy metals DNA before our very eyes. Zeal & Ardor sound like nothing else you will hear this weekend.
Read MoreThere are few bands that have been as chameleon-like as Swedes In Flames. During their lengthy career, they have been many things to many people. Melodic Death Metal, Groove Metal, Metalcore, Alternative Rock, you name it they have dabbled in it. What is extraordinary about them is that they have done all those various genres impeccably well.
Read MoreIt’s amazing the specific memories we store from our childhoods. I can remember the cover of “Surf Nicaragua” intricately in all its simplistic glory even though I never bought the damn thing. It stared out at me from the pages of Kerrang and made me decide that I was a die-hard Sacred Reich fan even though I had never heard a darn note of their music.
Read MoreI’ve been pretty fanboy gushing over our three headliners, but if I am honest I am much more excited about the trio of special guests that will grace the stage immediately before them. Celtic Frost were a big deal and remain quintessentially influential.
Read MoreIf there is one act who deserve their placing at this year's festival then it is Hampshire's finest Witchsorrow. For 15 years they have diligently and without much fanfare produced some of the finest doom metal you will come across.
Read More
