DAMNATION FESTIVAL 2008
LEEDS UNIVERSITY - 22/11/08
It must be said that usually I am of the opinion that personal issues do not belong in a review, although in this instance I feel it necessary to explain that certain problems entering the venue put a real damper on my day before it had even begun. Following a chilly walk up through Leeds with a beer or three on the way to get us all in the true festival spirit, I arrived at the door to discover there was no +1 and no photopass (hence the lack of photos) waiting for me. Disappointed and humiliated doesn’t come close to how my other half felt, especially considering the festival had sold out and to make matters worse, ten minutes later the door person revealed he had made a mistake…too late, as he had already been robbed by a ticket tout! (LH)
Standing outside the venue I realised I had been here before as we froze in the queue. This did not make it any easier on entering and looking for life’s essentials such as the toilets, beer and the three stages spread out amongst a massive throng of punters. Finally relaxed from the necessities and beer in hand I ventured to the Terrorizer stage where the magazine CD cover-mount Fear Candy unsigned winners Red Mist were on stage. I stood back and observed songs such as ‘Insecurity’ as it was already busy and those at the front were bruising each other to the group’s hefty metalcore bombast. Not really my thing but with three bands opening the stages all of which were of unknown origin it was a good as place as any to meet up with what seemed like every single person I knew from London, down on a day trip and sip a beer. (PW)
Moving on was a band that we knew in a lot more intimate detail, Welsh death metal bastards Desecration. I have never witnessed the band with that many people watching them and it kind of swelled my heart that so many could be interested in music that is this downright brutal. Singer Ollie normally has an audience that does not move or talk being a mortician and he got perhaps a bit confused announcing a song that was the title track of new album ‘Forensix’ and realising that the album has not actually got a title track, silly Billy! It has to be said that the 40 minutes passed in a blur, there was little room to rock to numbers such as ‘Dig Up, Dig In’ which was exactly what we did, headbanging and playing along to the slew of nasty riffs flailing out the speakers. ‘Overdose was a new track and a cautionary tale about having a premature journey to the slab and as for ‘Sexual Suicide’ it was not quite an INXS cover but related to the band in a way I really shouldn’t need to spell out for you. (PW)
In desperate need of a cold one myself after such initial ordeal, I found just enough time to sink one back before navigating and scrumming my way through to the Jagermeister stage to watch Onslaught. Feeling thoroughly wound up, it was time to get my head down for some thrashing, or it would have been if not for the severe space restrictions as we were all crammed in with little space to breathe, let alone move. With Sy Keeler’s eye op still in the not so distant past, he was equally as rigid on the stage yet that didn’t stop the proto Brit thrashers from delivering a crushing set kicking off with the high octane venom of ‘Killing Peace’, with its crushing combination of razor riffs and drums that steamrolled us all into submission. The sturdy crunch of ‘Seeds Of Hate’ also sought to represent the latest album, while they ladled a modern slant upon such dusty old faves as ‘Demoniac’ and ‘Metal Forces’ where Sy demonstrated that while his headbanging days are behind him, he hasn’t lost the ability to emit those ear splitting shrieks. Yet again, Onslaught dished up a real treat to all thrashers in attendance. (LH)
Now the main reason I was here was due to the fact that this was the first time in 14 years since Sigh had played the UK, in fact apart from Inferno festival in Norway their only visit to Europe in that time. Last time they had ninjas on stage booting off any would be divers but now getting anywhere near the stage was a mission. It had to be said there were too many people for both comfort and a decent view in the venue. On straining to do so there was plenty to watch here as well, Mirai behind a pulpit was busy setting a bible on fire and his new muse Dr. Mikannibal was as downright jaw dropping sexy as photos I had seen has led to believe. The sound was far from good as well but luckily the call of ‘The Hangman’s Hymn’ ‘Introitus / Kyrie’ was unmistakeable even if the manic fervour behind the crazy instrumentation struggled against the PA. I was slightly freaked to notice that Mikannibal was providing the low gruff alto parts here as well. Unfortunately as inspiring as it was to the nether regions watching the lady wrap her lips around the sax on blowing the sound of its clamour was lost in the mix.
Still this was a price we had to pay and it was not going to really hinder the enjoyment of numbers such as ‘Hail Horror Hail’ which actually sounded better on moving further into the pit. The lighting was excellent too and bathed the music in a stewed up psychedelic hue in time with the lunacy of the music. It was time for some ‘Ghastly Funeral Theatre’ in the form of ‘Shingontachkawa’ (mines a pint of that please) an ancient number that had lost none of its bite. Musically this was all fantastic and the animated performance really went well with it having me thinking of the soundtrack to a Japanese movie with zombies, big guns and bigger breasts as they romped into ‘Bring Back The Dead.’ Finishing with a mental ‘Me Devil’ and, as a tribute to England, a cover of ‘Black Metal’, Sigh had come from the land of the rising sun and conquered. Let’s hope they come back soon to a more intimate venue with better sound. (PW)
Local miserablists My Dying Bride had their work cut out for them in following up such a stunning performance from Sigh, but if anyone could pull it off it would surely be them. I must confess to being a late convert to this band and, as such, have never caught them live until today. My Dying Bride are very much the sort of band I find are best enjoyed in one’s own company, where you can allow their romantic splendour to wash over your soul and shroud your senses entirely within their dark world. To a certain extent, their vaporous atmosphere managed to shrink the room and the mesmerising ‘Snow In My Hand’, with it’s doom laden heaviness, came close to inviting me to drift off on a flight of fancy, although much of their appeal seems to be lost in the capacious venue hall, which, I guess is the danger when a bands popularity is so vast.
‘Here In My Throat’ made for an ideal opener as it drew me into the music with it’s subtle introduction before kicking in proper with a succession of storming drums; Dan Mullins concealed behind a thick, ethereal blue miasma as the violin cut through the mix. With a back catalogue more extensive than most from which to draw from, they played a varied set of tracks spanning their career, including a good few early ones. ‘She Is The Dark’ was a real highlight with it’s stark contrast between the light and shade in the song as callous violins agonisingly scourge through the PA lending a sparse backdrop to the sorrow drenched cries of Aaron Stainthorpe whose mournful misery projects through his whole persona, before throttling into an intense foray of monstrous drums and heavy guitars that are steeped with ambience.
“I guess we’re the local band, so it’s nice to see so many friends” the frontman states
to the relatively colossal crowd, in an ephemeral lapse from his miserable mien.
While my interest does begin to wane somewhat through the later tracks, they end on a high (or should that be low) note with a finale of ‘The Dreadful Hours’ which rounds off a performance that is, frankly, anything but dreadful. (LH)
What an insane clash My Dying Bride and Napalm Death; crazy! Choosing between fast and slow I wandered out after MDB to catch the end of Napalms set but even a short set is a lorra songs (as Cilla would say) for our favourite Brummies. The audience seemed well and truly into the swing of things attempting to dive off the stage and not get trampled by a rampaging Barney or caught in Shane’s hair. Security seemed bewildered as was obviously the sound guy; where the hell was the bass? ‘When All Is Said And Done’ was the hit song of the moment, ‘Scum’ certainly wasn’t and never will be and with ‘The Kill’ causing mayhem I already felt like I had got my moneys worth from the set. Sticking around for the majestic ‘Persona Non Gratis’ it was time to head to the smallest stage where another former member of this lot was playing with his popular doom metal hippy combo!
Watching Cathedral was no problem despite the fact that I was missing Carcass and Pitchshifter (the band that simply refuse to die) on the other stages. They played an absolute blinder it has to be said, starting with ‘Utopian Blaster’ the crowd was dancing and the beer was flowing before you could say something completely nonsensical “huggy bear ooh yeah.” It has been a couple of years since I last saw Cathedral and indeed Download 06 may have been one of the last shows they have played but it was easy to get back into the swing of things and indeed this was one of the most enjoyable shows I have seen from them and boy have I seen a lot.
The set list took in the recent, the old and the brand new. I absolutely loved the singalong feel good vibe of ‘Corpsecycle’ and older tunes such as ‘Cosmic Funeral’ and ‘Cathedral Flames’ brought the doom and the sludge with them. Lee when not wrapping the microphone lead round his neck gooned out over the crowd and finally gave them the announcement that they wanted saying a new album was on the way. They played a track tentatively entitled ‘Open Mind Surgery’ from it and on first drunken encounter it was a belter. Stomping in with a full on mindset (ahem) there were even some backing gang shouts and it was confusing at first to call this death-doom-thrash-punk before settling down and allowing me to stroke existential beard to a guitar solo. In a word this was cosmic and cannot wait to hear the album. As it went out to the Amebix I do not feel so out of place mentioning punk and Cathedral in the same sentence. The only disappointment was having to cut things short before the encore due to public transport (glad London isn’t alone with this problem) and it was no surprise to learn that they finished with ‘Rise’ and ‘Hopkins’ great set! (PW)
I must be entirely honest here and confess that I feel like a bit of a cheat writing a review for Carcass, as from where I was stood, at the back, the band weren’t even visible. For me, Carcass was the real selling point for this festival, with Heartwork being the album that first turned me on to more extreme forms of metal, and having never had the chance to see them. As they crunch into ‘Buried Dreams’ with it’s familiar mid paced grinding guitar riff that the album breaks in with, I get the feeling that I’m not about to be left disappointed with their set.
Admitting defeat and accepting that watching the band was an impracticality, I surrendered to downing tubes of Jagermeister and windmilling with enough vehemence to cool down whoever was in near distance (which I’m sure would have been welcome as the bar had sold out of pretty much everything!). The band teared through the likes of ‘Corporeal Jigsore Quandary’, ‘Reek Of Putrefaction’ and the subtly titled ‘Genital Grinder’ with a great deal of togetherness and demonstrated that they genuinely had enough steam left in them to fuel this reunion. Steer’s snarl sounded as insalubrious as ever as he barked out enough unpronounceable words that you’d have to assume that a medial dictionary wound up on his food rider before the show. A valid question greets my ears as a friend ponders whether Carcass are in fact playing Heartwork in it’s entirety; valid in a sense that at one point, having played ‘No Love Lost’, ‘Embodiment’ and ‘Heartwork’, I couldn’t give a certain answer one way or the other. Doubtless to say that, while they played their best, and I’m sure those who could see would tell me they played a fantastic performance (alright now, don’t go rubbing it in!), the experience just didn’t quite live up to expectation. Smaller venue next time, please! (LH)
While this was an excellent line up to get in the UK, there was a number of issues that made the festival a less than ideal experience. First of all, the overlapping set times meant people had to choose which of three bands they wanted to see the most, and it would have made more sense to spread the stage times out a bit more and kick things off at midday. The only problem would be that in such a small venue, it would mean even more people would be crammed in to watch some of the bands so in that sense I can see why it may have been done in this way. Definitely a bigger venue is needed next year if the festival is to continue, or could be made into an outdoor event.
The rooms were badly signposted and for this reason, I missed out on a couple of bands I had planned on watching. This was a problem encountered by the majority of people spoken to who were at the festival.
The other problem was that with the stage times being squashed in so close together, it meant a lot of rushing around between bands to get from one room to another, with little chance to grab a beer, check out merch or simply chill. This no doubt contributed immensely to the tenseness of atmosphere at the festival, as I generally encountered a lot of pushing and shoving and general hostility rarely seen at festivals and all day events. (LH)
Review by Luci Herbert & Pete Woods
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